Faulty Washing Machines | DIY Tips for Washing Machine Maintenance

With the rise in the number of tasks we need to accomplish each day, there is the growing need to relegate some of them to machines for convenience and time saving purposes. It is exhausting to come back from work and have to embark on a heap of laundry.

This is where washing machines have revolutionized the whole concept of home living, where dirty clothes can now be cleaned and dried at the click of a button. However, sometimes these very important machines develop failures or even break down completely. This article will give you basic repair skills that can prove helpful and cost-effective.

Having problems with draining?

At some point, you might forget to remove jewelry attached to clothes before putting them in a washing machine. This can cause the jewelry to tangle up and stick in the hose of the pump, or even the pump itself. This can be corrected by:

• Remove the hose connecting the tub and the pump and tilt it to drain the water into a container. Check the pump for any stuck objects and run a cloth hanger through the tube to dislodge any stuck item.

• Check the pump for debris by shaking it. To make sure the pump is free from debris, rotate the shaft. If it is damaged, replace it.

• Replace any parts of the belt that may be burned or melted and replace them.

Does it fill slowly or fail to fill completely?

Clogged inlet screens are the cause of this. Inlet screens are allocated on the water valve of the washing machine. Clogging is caused by mineral deposits and tiny debris, leading to an increase in the time required to fill up the washing machine. The purpose of inlet screens is to filter particles of the incoming water to protect the machine. Therefore, instances of clogged screen often occur after work is done on sewer or water lines, which bring in many types of sediment that plug screens.

If the screens are stuck, pry them out carefully by gently twisting and squeezing. They can be easily reshaped in case of distortion. If the screens are permanently stuck, they cannot be removed without causing damage to them. However, they are easily available and are cheap.

In case the water valve needs to be replaced, gently loosen the old one and remove it before the new one is installed. Then, transfer the respective electric connectors to the new hot and cold sections of the new valve, before compressing the spring clamp to transfer the fill hose.

Does it make a grinding noise?

This problem is caused by overloading the washing machine. It can be corrected by popping the snap retainers with a screwdriver and separating the motor shaft and the pump. Then, disconnect the electrical connectors and the motor. If broken, the coupler may need to be replaced.

Your machine will not spin?

A broken lid switch causes a machine to fail to spin. You may need to test the switch using a multi-tester. To do this, remove the wires leading to the switch and connect the probes with the connectors. The correct readings should be either continuity or no continuity.

Having a leaky washing machine

At times, a washing machine may leak water and mess up the whole washing area. This fault is easily corrected in the following steps:

• Replace leaky supply hoses. Empty the washing machine, pull it away from the wall and switch on the water supply while checking for leaks. Remove any worn out, cracked, corroded or rusty hoses and install new ones.

• Replace a leaking pump. This is easy as the pump only leaks in one place- the pulley seal. If it leaks, the pump should be replaced.

Reading this article does not make you a repair specialist

The truth is though this article informs you on how you can fix certain problems, there are far more problems that are behind the cause of your faulty washing machine. If you want your appliance to work for you as it should, then hiring an appliance repair company for repairing them makes the best sense.