Urgent Repair: How I Overcame a Broken Washing Machine
Taking the Project Back to the Beginning
One of the first blog posts I created entailed replacing a lid lock switch. After I had cleaned too thoroughly the lid lock was ruined on my washing machine. Now that I face an ever-growing pile of clothes it is imperative that I fix the washing machine again.
The Plan of Attack
The plan of attack is to look at the Maytag washing machine hooked up and see what is wrong with it. If for some reason I cannot fix the washing machine not all hope is lost. Thankfully I do have another washer I was given, but it too is broken (or so I thought).
Honestly, I have more hope in fixing the newer Whirlpool washing machine than the old Maytag one. The newer machine machine has a screen which might be the key to success. The LCD screen allows for error codes to be displayed which could aid in it being fixed altogether.
I know what some people may think: “The older Maytag also displays messages.” Yes, the old Maytag does display error messages, but it does so using a combination of different lights on the machine.
Trying to understand what the combination of lights means is a total headache and adds a step that could lead to misdiagnosis.
I speak from experience, as I have replaced many parts on the Maytag that did not need to be replaced due to not understanding those error codes.
The Whirlpool washer graciously gave me this error code to help me explain the easy-to-understand error codes. Without even Googling, I can tell it is an off-balance error code.
Unlike the older Maytag, the Whirlpool has a combination of letters and numbers that are easy to Google and find out what is wrong. Hopefully between the two washing machines I can fix one and get my laundry done.
The Neurodivergence Strikes Again
As one could see, the above was written before working on the washing machine. I left most of the prewrite-up in because I felt it was important to show my thought process and how I tend to assume things to be harder than they are.
To give myself some credit, the project would have turned out how I predicted if it were not for Google Gemini. I won’t go into a sales pitch for AI, but for diagnostics it can be very helpful (oh, how wrong I was).
For example, when trying to test the capacitor, I had the dial set wrong for the multimeter and was unable to get a reading. I would have had to either read the owner's manual or Google the issue and look through forums. With Gemini I was able to snap a picture and ask what was wrong.
Here I had the multimeter set wrong. It should have been set to the furthest right setting. AI was at least correct here and was helpful in ruling out the capacitor.
Thanks to Gemini, I had now correctly set the multimeter and was able to see that the capacitor was well within spec. I had an assumption that another part was at fault, so I was glad to see the capacitor reading correctly.
But First, Some Context
When I originally built the washing machine the error codes were so difficult to understand that I had given up on reading them. Instead through parts at the washing machine where as I should have taken a moment to step back and look things over.
The original issue will likely never be known, but the one that was causing the washing machine not to work was an unplugged hose.
AI might not be as helpful as I once had hoped, but it does slow me down in a way that leads to a better understanding of the issue. Not having AI back then made diagnostic work feel too burdensome which led me to forgo it altogether.
Here Lies the Issue
What could go wrong with throwing parts at the washing machine? The Maytag was already 10 years old anyway. The prior statements were my thought process on the Maytag when I was repairing it. Due to the recent events with it I am now confident those thoughts were wrong.
It would make sense that a 10-year-old actuator would not have been any better than a two-year-old Amazon replacement, but oh boy is that wrong to assume.
The Amazon generic actuator lasted roughly two years compared to the nearly 10 years of the original. What’s more, the original would have likely lasted much longer had I not replaced it.
To remedy the situation, I ordered a used actuator on eBay. Not only will the part last longer (that is if the actuator is not old already), but it was cheaper by about half of what the Amazon listed offerings were going for.
The Moral of the Story
As a person who likes to tinker it can be difficult to leave things alone, but today was reassurance of the age-old wisdom that OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is best.
I take the above from the car repair world where there have been plenty of tests (such as oil filters and air filters in particular) to show even reputable brands like Denso or Bosch parts can be worse for the car than the OEM parts intended for it.
Had I left the OEM actuator in the washer it likely would have lasted much longer than the replacement part. However, that is not what I did, and that is okay because life is about making mistakes and learning from them.
Wait what was the issue?
For those curious I was about to deduce the actuator as the culprit from two key issues. The first was blatantly obvious, and that was the actuator made a loud clicking noise when trying to start a wash cycle.
I know better now than to give the death sentence to a part based on just one reason. Thus I tested the actuator with a multimeter and found out it had zero ohms of resistance, which, according to AI and intuition is no good.
The Above Proved Less than True
Unfortunately for me, my intuition and AI led me astray. Let me explain. So as soon as the part arrived I hooked up the multimeter to test the ohms. I had initially done this test to make sure the part wasn’t faulty.
The Results Were Interesting…
The results of the multimeter reading on the new actuator were… zero ohms. For those keen readers, yes, that is the same reading as the old actuator. So what gives?
The reading could mean that the new actuator is also bad. I could see this being the issue if I did not discover that the new and old actuators function differently.
The difference in how the two actuators functioned gave me a strong inclination that the actuator was still the issue.
The old actuator allows me to move the plastic piece (as shown in the video). Whereas the plastic piece on the new actuator did not move freely.
The only sure way to get to the bottom of this mystery is to hook the old washer up which is precisely what I did. At first the washer did not want to work, but after shutting it off and changing the setting to a normal wash it worked!
The news is great, but it also means that the ohms test was wrong. The other implication is that AI was wrong which was not the first time and cannot really be blamed as Gemini warns that the information can be inaccurate at times.
Regardless of the poor diagnostic work on my end. I am thankful that the actuator was still the issue.
A Lovely Addition
We recently adopted into our family a lovely but high-energy blue heeler puppy. Lilly is great but also not potty trained which means we have a lot of laundry to do.
Meet Lilly, our Aussie Heeler puppy!
The used actuator from eBay was only supposed to take a few days, but of course it was taking longer to arrive than I could wait.
My Attempts at a Quick Remedy
I at first thought that I could use the Whirlpool washer’s actuator, but the entire bottom of the washer is designed differently.
With how different the Whirlpool washer was I did not even try to use its actuator. So with no other option, I hooked up the washer and ran a few test cycles.
To my surprise, the washer seems to now work fine. The washing machine did fail on the “clean washer” cycle, but this was due to using only hot water which is too hot and causes an error.
I had switched to the Maytag due to the Whirlpool stating it had an hour left multiple times but never finishing the wash. I have the washer on a quicker setting for testing, so maybe it was the setting I had it on.
Or perhaps I had the washer overloaded? I am not really sure what caused the washer not to work and it has been easily 6 months since I had switched over so it is hard to say.
Conclusion
For now I walk away with a valuable life lesson and two working washing machines (we shall see how long both last).
Other than the washing machine, I have recently redone the site, which is why there was an absence of posts. Hopefully new posts will come out more regularly again.
As always this post is not sponsored by anyone, though I do ask for donations to my Buy Me a Coffee if one can. Thanks for reading, and catch you in the next one.
