Today i’m actually proud of myself. I’m good with wood, textiles, gardening, trees etc. But metal, machines, electronics don’t come natural to me at all. I learned to take care of bicycles or chainsaws because I had to but those scary household machines never. Until today. The machine stopped midway, full of water and clothes. Panic ensued. I already saw myself forced to buy a new one. After mere 20 years!
But mommy raised not quitter, so i took the stuff out, drained the water (without flooding the bathroom!) and had a look at that debris catcher thing and the lye pump. Both a bit dirty but easily cleaned and the pump’s screw still moved. After looking into the waste tube I put everything together again and run an empty cleaning cycle. At first everything seemed fine but coming back from a short nap the machine was full of water again. So rinse and repeat it is.
This time i watched a few videos on how to dismantel the machine to get to the inner tubes. I had a hard time finding something since i’ve apparently got a rare top loader model. Luckily i watched one vid with a guy looking at the lye pump with a flash light instead of just feeling for coins or buttons with my fingers. So back down on the belly it was.
Lo and Behold! There was the culprit! A bloody rubber band had wrapped itself around the screw. Not nice. At all.
Being the good hoarder i am, it wasn’t difficult to find some long hooks (spare bike spokes) to fish it out. Doing it was though. But with a good amount of patience and some luck (and an astonishing lack of cursing) i managed to untwine it and ease it out, without leaving anything stuck around the screw. (Funny thing is I don’t use any white rubber bands, ain’t got a clue where it came from.)
All in all it took me “only” two hours. But I fixed my first washing machine!
I hope you enjoyed my little Saga of “The Washing Machine and The Rubber Band” and I wish you at least the same amount of success for your own projects. Be they voluntary or not.
That’s awesome! Feels great don’t it? I got my garbage disposal going again without having to call a plumber, I’m not a household handy person.
What is a lye pump?
Thank you! Yes, I’ve got a large load of dopamine from it.
So you mean those finger mincing knive things in the sink? I’ve seen them only in the movies. Don’t know if I’d touch one of those.
I googled for the translation, so i’m not entirely sure it’s the right word. It’s supposed to be the pump which moves the waste water out.
I think they’re called “drain pumps” in the US, but I’m not a washing machinist (definitely not the right word, but sounds more badass).
In German we usually call it simply a/the pump (Pumpe). I had never heard the official term “Laugenpumpe” (lye pump) before today.
Yes, I always thought everyone had them, but I guess it’s more regional. They are definitely dangerous and scary, but I grew up around them and I kinda developed this deep down knowledge to not stick my hand in there without being super aware. Now that I write that out it sounds crazy lol, just stick my hand in the meat grinder to find a clog.
Yes it does, lol.
AFAIK they are not common outside the US. I think they are even banned in my country (Germany).