Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Oh Joy

Ranking right in there with plumbing repairs are broken washing machines. Our Kenmore washer began making an unpleasant whirring/clicking noise on Monday and would no longer spin. It would agitate, so I had hopes that it was not the transmission. We were able to look up a trouble shooting guide on the internet, and disassembled the machine to reach a diagnosis.

The coupler between the motor and transmission had failed, which is not too bad after nearly fifteen years of washing. Mrs. TBS ordered a new replacement part, and she should be able to use her machine again by the weekend. If not for the internet we would have had to call a repairman, and spent big bucks. If I can successfully put it back together again, we will get off for only $22.92. Not Bad.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! Isn't it amazing how easily these newer washers can be worked on? The first time that little rubber coupler went out on me was when I tried to wash a couple of heavy cotton bathroom rugs. The little rubber gizmo acts as a torque limiter as well as a vibration dampener. When I went to the local appliance parts distributor, they had a barrel full of the things in front of the counter, so I bought two of them. Now I just replace them when I detect a bit more vibration than usual, maybe every five years or when I replace the filler hoses. If you catch it soon enough, you don't even have to replace the plastic fingers that press on to the shafts, just the donut itself. - gsc1039

David aka True Blue Sam said...

There were a total of four screws to remove to disassemble our washer; I was amazed. When I first was introduced to appliance repair, replacing rollers in the wringer was an every day activity.