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Whirlpool Washer Trouble [Fixed!]
Figgy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Having problems with a washer, it's about 11-13 years old.
It's always worked fine since we've had it, but today it put black oil-looking marks on a load of white towels. This wasn't discovered until it was too late, and the next load just stopped halfway through. It won't spin anymore, it's full of water, and the water is murky and dark grey. It will agitate, but it makes an awful grinding noise.
Fixable myself? Expensive? I hope for someone knowledgable about this sort of thing this is rather easy to diagnose.
It's always worked fine since we've had it, but today it put black oil-looking marks on a load of white towels. This wasn't discovered until it was too late, and the next load just stopped halfway through. It won't spin anymore, it's full of water, and the water is murky and dark grey. It will agitate, but it makes an awful grinding noise.
Fixable myself? Expensive? I hope for someone knowledgable about this sort of thing this is rather easy to diagnose.
Figgy on
XBL : Figment3 · SteamID : Figment · Website : www.nathanswyers.comdaniant wrote:Alright, looks like I'm giving up golden showers for Lent.
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Just get a new washer.
"If you don't know who Kendra is, I'm officially not speaking to you."
If going the new route, we'd want to replace the dryer too, so about $1000 total.
If we're going to be buying new appliances, we're going to buy something nicer. If I want just a basic, bare bones washer, I can always try Kijiji. Heck, even your most basic washer here is $300. I'm going by online prices at Futureshop/Sears/etc. Is there a better place I should look at in Canada?
@Bowen - Maybe this a regional thing, but by me at least, the prices on such appliances have skyrocketed over the last couple of years. The dryer I mentioned earlier, I was expecting to replace for around $300 and it ended up costing just over $500 - that was to get a bottom of the line, but still name brand dryer. The matching washer would've been something like $100-$150 cheaper than the dryer.
I have a ton of features and options on and I still pick white, colors, and delicate. Maybe jeans if I'm feeling adventurous. Which I probably could've saved more money and not have missed it in the slightest. I guess if you want those nifty side loading ones or whatever that are the size of a room more power to ya. But as it stands now after washing clothes for 2 months, I use what was offered on the basic models.
It would benefit us to get a stacking model to save space, since our laundry room is in a side-room of a finished basement, and the builders decided to get the most out of the finished portion of the room. The furnace and water heater are in there as well, and the room can't be any bigger than 8x6.
We're not really interested in spending more for fancy features, but we're interested in spending more for reliability, efficiency, etc.
All the stacking models I've seen have significantly smaller load capacities, in case that matters.
I've heard the same, and I've also heard there are mold problems with them.
Edit: And then there are the high efficiency models where you have to buy special soap, at a premium.
Stay clear of stacking ones, they suck. Front loaders are a pain in the butt to deal with too, I've noticed just from doing laundry at the laundromat.
Biggest gripe about the HE washers I've seen is most people just chuck and cram everything in them but the lack of the agitator fucks up with an unbalanced load. So just be cautious of that.
They take a little getting used to, in that you can't be a blithering
idiotgoose and overload the damned thing and expect stellar results.Also, you'll need HE detergent. I don't see much of a price difference here, but YMMV.
So upon further inspection it's not agitating properly. The plastic bit is moving, but I can stop it with my hand. He says it will lead at least a new coupler, which is $25 + $150 labour. So, new machine it is!
Is there any way to get this thing to drain manually? I've tried every cycle setting and it either starts to add more water, hums without moving, or agitates with just the plastic part and grinds. It's just under half full.
I did not, but it would be a pain to get to given how it's situated down there. Would that just drain water all over the floor? Not ideal.
I guess I can siphon it out with a hose or something. Guh.
From my experience, the new ones are only made to last about 5 years and 1 day, so that the warranty is past. There are only like two, or maybe its three, actual manufacturers, but they each have like 7 or 8 brand names. Essentially, it's like Ford Motor Company owning Ford, Mercury, Cougar, Lincoln, and Aston Martin. I'd have to go home to get your the complete breakdown, but you can find that info online just as easily. With each Whirlpool brand, there are completely different levels of quality. Whirlpool brand Whirlpool washers have slightly more reliability and quality than their Amana brand Whirlpool counterpart. I hate to be throwing it out there, but I don't have my stuff in front of me. I'm sure Consumer Reports has that info available if you really care.
We got an HE washer and dryer. I think soap is just a tiny bit more expensive, but I think you actually use less of the detergent per load, and as has been mentioned, the savings in electricity.
The only problem we've had so far is that the washer is kinda moldy and stinks. It's a topic that's come up here in the forums before, and seems to be a common issue. There is stuff you can pour in with your loads of laundry to remove the stink, and you have to leave the lid open a bit so it can breathe and air out. I haven't noticed the smell transferring to my clothes, but I don't know if I'm exactly someone who should be telling you that, as I can't really smell it on my clothes and I don't know what I smell like. So far no one has told me I stink, so I think I'm good...
If you get a decent price on an extended warranty, I'd go for it. If you buy a washer and dryer for $600, for example, and the warranty is another $50 or less, go for it. At least, I would.
Is the mold smell problem in relation to HE machines or front-loading machines?
I think more Front than Top, but both are affected.
The using less detergent per cycle seems to be a YMMV thing, too. At least it is according to the brand I use - 100 oz. equals 64 "loads" for either normal or HE.
It uses about 7 gallons of water per load, as opposed to the 40 or so for an average top loader.
It has a built in heater so it doesn't use our hot water when we need the sanitize feature for extra gross soils, etc.
And as for soap costs, yes you have to use HE detergent, but you DON'T have to use the capful that the detergent companies would love you to use. The directions for our washer recommended 2tbsp of detergent. So a thing od detergent lasts close to 8 months. We just now ran out of our second bottle, and we've had these appliances since May of 2010.
We haven't run into a mold issue, but it can be a problem if you don't take care of it. The rubber seal for the front loader has little grooves that stuff gets stuck in. So leave the door open a little bit, or run a cleaning cycle (they make cleaner for the machines that isn't too expensive, and you run it about once a month), and it's fine.
Not that I can probably convince you otherwise but this is something I learned the hard way being frugal for the past year or two when I bought a luxury item that I already had that wasn't broken and something else broke that was a necessity.
@bowen I hear you. Personally, I'd rather just use the laundromat once a week for the rest of the year, especially with our wedding coming up in two weeks.
Maytag 2000 Series MHWE200X[W] (CR score 76, $650 USD) Maytag MEDE200X[W] (matching dryer, CR score 74, ~$500 USD)
LG WM2050C[W] (CR score 81, $700 USD) LG DLE2050[W] (matching dryer, CR score 78, $700 USD)
Top Loading:
Kenmoore 2800 (CR score 74, $620 USD)
Those prices are all around the $1000 USD mark, but that uses CR's price-as-tested, so prices may differ according to sales, etc.
If you plan to go this route check to see if it is indeed the coupler first, the plastic portion will be obviously broken.
http://www.amazon.com/Whirlpool-Washer-Motor-Coupling-285753A/dp/B00064NX68
.50 cents US to repair this.
I decided to see if I can't just fix this myself and buy us some time. My fiancee brought up a good point about buying new machines. We're in a town home now, and not too far down the road we're going to want to have kids. We'll want to look at selling this place once that happens, and it'd be harder to sell a 3 bedroom starter-style home without laundry appliances. I'm not about to spend $1200-$2000 on a new washer/dryer set only to give it away a few years from now.
Here is what the coupler looks like. Looks fine to me:
from the motor
on the tranny
So, any other ideas?
The cost of those machines is probably what, $1.50 per load? Drying can be hit or miss, you may need to spread it out some more, but let's just assume 6 washing loads, and 6 drying loads. That's $18 a week, which is $78 a month. My laundromat is $2.00 a load to wash and $1.50 to dry, so I'm discounting it a bit because it may be better by you. $936 a year. After less than two years you've paid off your washer and dryer. So long as you move before two years, you're okay.
Plus the inconvenience of going to the laundromat. If someone spills shit on your blankets, and other such holy shit moments like that.
But it may be worth to repair it if you're considering dropping $2,000 on a new set.
Edit: And yeah, I'm not considering just going to the laundromat for any ungodly amount of time. Yesterday it cost me about $12 to do 2 loads, including a comforter.
Hm. I still don't think I'd call a repair guy at this point, I'd probably still buy new. You'll end up probably repairing it 3-4 times in the few years.