I was doing laundry Wednesday night, and went to put things in the dryer and they were soaking wet. I tried just spinning them, but they remained soaking wet. Then, I got an E21 error code. I knew that if I waited for a repairman it would take near a week to get one here, and the last time it was a door latch problem that he fixed in less than 30 minutes and cost me $375, more than 1/2 of what I paid for the washer. My husband is on crutches with a broken ankle, and besides, I have a degree in mechanical engineering. It can't be that hard, can it? Google and youtube to the rescue. I looked up my error code, found a youtube video showing how to repair the pump (awesome video from repairit.com) and off I started on my morning long odyssey. I got the dryer off of the top, yes we stacked to save space, but what a pain it is to get to the washer parts! I got all the doors off, could they make repair any harder? Yes, yes they could. I got down to find the pump knowing that the problem is a blockage somewhere. I started with the hoses.
Okay, now I am beginning to see why people sneak their horse blankets into laudromats. I pulled that big clump out of the hose, then went to get the pump out. I found out there was a coin trap before the pump and pulled that out and it was full of coins, bobby pins, and hair, lots of hair -- dog, horse and human! I cleaned everything out with water, reattached all the hoses, got the sump back on with its three connectors, which took me 20 minutes of struggle, a lunch break with my daughter who is home sick with a fever, and another 20 minutes of struggle. I plugged it all back in and lo and behold! it works. Okay, so the washer tried really hard to get the water out of my clothes, but the pump was shot. So, I tried to buy local, and couldn't find any repair shops in our town with the pump, and went back to google and found a part and had it shipped overnight. So, here I sit waiting for the Fedex truck.
I have to say though, we bought this washer in 2007 and this is the first time I have had a clog and have washed my horse blankets for a couple of years now. But, the designer of these washers are definitely men who do not have to do laundry on an ongoing basis. Why put a sump that is supposed to catch stuff that will kill the pump in a totally inaccessible place such that it can't be cleaned out? Besides that, there was no filter before the pump. All of that dirt that my kids accumulate in playing on our farm, playing soccer, and playing in my sand riding arena is now deposited in the pump. So, what we really need is design company of women engineers that know how to do tough laundry to design a new washer with features that we all want.
Now, I have to go back to the laundry room to take out the pump before my replacement pump gets here. Keep your fingers crossed that my washer works after this. Our laundry basket overfloweth and my son has a soccer tournament this weekend and no clean shorts, socks or jerseys!
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