Washing machine broke

[LtlGary]

Only a few months into my switch to cloth diapers. New one comes in Friday, so now I'm washing them at the local laundromat. 

?

[DailyDi]

Heavy, wet cloth can tax an older washer. New one should do nicely though.

[LtlGary]

It was 8+ years old, so it was time. Got a great deal on the new one thanks to Black Friday deals. And fortunately there was very few people at the laundromat.

[Alyeskabird]

Washing diapers, I find its best to run with smaller loads, rather than stuffing it full. Yah more of a pain in the rear, but, diapers are heavy, and worse, if they are packed in, they can end up unbalanced, and that will tear the washer up.  Its not the wash that is the problem normaly, its the spin cycle.

[Cruiser 03]

My washer is at least as old as I am , my friend gave it to me when his wife wanted a new Fangled front loader like 18 years ago , they have replaced that front loader 5 times ! Well my washer keeps washing ,it went from doing laundry for a family of four to doing my clothes and a load of diapers every other day , and yes my aide has to use a set of pliers to adjust The water level occasionally because the knob broke and would cost a 1st born child to have replaced if a 55 year old washing machine knob could be found .

[LtlGary]

Funny thing is, our dryer is indestructible. It has already outlasted the last 2 washing machines. Mom got it shortly I went to college 15 years ago.

[Alyeskabird]

13 minutes ago, Cruiser 03 said:

My washer is at least as old as I am 

Honestly, if I could find one that old that was in good shape, I would be very interested.  Been actualy looking at some of the older ones, where you had to hand wring your clothing, rather than have a spin cycle, still, that should be doable with diapers, and I expect less damaging to the cloth as well. Most do not like the older machines as they are not fire and forget, you gotta remember to add soap at the right time, and the fabric softner and such.

[Dubious]

My washing machine is 21 years old.
It is now legal. 

[feralfreak]

it might be something simple to fix, our dryer for example one day stopped working, turns out there is a door switch that broke off, but we can manage to push it with a spatula or putty knife to get it started, if we could afford it id change the part out, you might try looking up the symptoms and see if you can get a new part for it, save some money.

[rusty pins]

I fix a lot of appliances.  Stove burner went out a few years ago, got a new one off the internet and put it in.  Not easy because we have a glass top stove so we had to take the glass top off by removing the trim around it.  Wire coil was broke so I replaced it.  A few years after the switch went out.  This is a dual burner, small and large together so again I found a switch on line and replaced and rewired it.  Refrigerator/freezer stopped cooling.  It was the auto defrost modual.  I found one for $15 new old stock and replaced it.  Took about 45 minutes but $15 is cheaper than a new $2,000 refrigerator.  I recently fixed the heating element in the oven by taking off the side panel and replacing a burnt wire.  I also fixed the heater in my Jeep as well as the cruise control.  You can fix a lot just by typing in the name and type of appliance or vehicle and the problem in a Google search.  I also do that with Youtube and just by watching Youtube how tonvideos it will often show you step by step how to fix the problem or replace a part.  You can find most parts by looking up the part number on line just by entering your appliance model number.  Then it's easy to do a google search for "discount appliance parts".  I've saved a tom of money over the years by using the internet and fixing things myself. 

[feralfreak]

6 minutes ago, rusty pins said:

I fix a lot of appliances.  Stove burner went out a few years ago, got a new one off the internet and put it in.  Not easy because we have a glass top stove so we had to take the glass top off by removing the trim around it.  Wire coil was broke so I replaced it.  A few years after the switch went out.  This is a dual burner, small and large together so again I found a switch on line and replaced and rewired it.  Refrigerator/freezer stopped cooling.  It was the auto defrost modual.  I found one for $15 new old stock and replaced it.  Took about 45 minutes but $15 is cheaper than a new $2,000 refrigerator.  I recently fixed the heating element in the oven by taking off the side panel and replacing a burnt wire.  I also fixed the heater in my Jeep as well as the cruise control.  You can fix a lot just by typing in the name and type of appliance or vehicle and the problem in a Google search.  I also do that with Youtube and just by watching Youtube how tonvideos it will often show you step by step how to fix the problem or replace a part.  You can find most parts by looking up the part number on line just by entering your appliance model number.  Then it's easy to do a google search for "discount appliance parts".  I've saved a tom of money over the years by using the internet and fixing things myself. 

youtube videos, i did the same thing to clean a friends mossberg 410 pump, good grief you woudlnt believe how much dog hair was in it, it was so full of dog hair that  it felt like it had sand in the action of it, i had to take apart and clean it all out.

[Crinklz Kat]

I'll generally try to repair something until it becomes impractical to do so.   Such as when the pump case on my washer exploded.   That's pretty much the most expensive component and it was far easier to go out and get a new washer, have it delivered and the old junk hauled away than to order a part, wait for it, tear the washer apart -- and hope to hell it was the right part received in the first place... then put it all back together and hope you didn't break anything else in the process. 

[LtlGary]

My dad is the same way. I grew up doing electrical, plumbing, tile and appliance work. I even built my own PC to play games on. 

But things have gotten harder these days as the newer tech is more complex and the main companies make it difficult to fix it yourself.

New washer is installed and works great. We got a slightly larger one as we use it a lot with 4 people in our house.