{"id":16,"date":"2012-02-16T02:06:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T20:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=16"},"modified":"2023-05-15T21:23:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T15:23:44","slug":"the-washing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"THE WASHING MACHINE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here we go, two weeks later and another blahg.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"ScottThese past few weeks have been filled with many trials and tribulations.\u00a0 I’ve been fighting with my father over his health and now the struggle has started with my mother.\u00a0 She has more aches and pains than anyone should have and more medication than anyone should legally own.\u00a0 Her Doctor is a quack and I don’t care who knows it.\u00a0 A late night call also resulted in a trip to the emergency room of the local hospital to deal with a gall-bladder attack with my mother which we thought was a heart attack.\u00a0 Her Doctor had misdiagnosed her or missed a diagnosis would be more accurate.\u00a0 The short of it is that I’m getting a new Doctor for my parents.\u00a0 Oh, and our Washing Machine went on the fritz.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This blahg is not going to be about medical tribulations but the struggle with our Washing Machine.\u00a0 I love my parents but I don’t want to air their medical history here…not yet anyway.\u00a0 Let me be clear, that our struggle with our Washing Machine wasn’t all that intense or prolonged.\u00a0 It just wouldn’t spin fast enough to release all the water from the clothes that had just been washed.\u00a0 It’s a Kenmore and we’ve had it for 8 years.\u00a0 I guess that’s pretty good in the term of Washing Machines but I was determined to don the handy-man hat and at least see if I couldn’t prolong the the life of the Machine.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You are probably wondering, at this point, why I keep capitalizing the word “Machine”.\u00a0 It’s simple.\u00a0 There are so many Machines in our lives and I’ve read so many stories and watched so\u00a0 many movies where the Machines eventually revolt.\u00a0 I’m being respectful.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/a>I don’t want Killdozer happening all over again.\u00a0 (By the way, that was a fun movie from my youth that I viewed again recently…from a short story by Theodore Sturgeon).\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One thing you should know about me, is that I keep manuals for all of my appliances long after I no longer own the device.\u00a0 When the Washing Machine started to suffer slower spinning speeds I believed it was a belt and kept putting off replacing it.\u00a0 Finally, my wife prodded me enough to look up the model of our Machine and see if I couldn’t purchase a replacement belt.\u00a0 I thought this would be an easy task because the Internet is vast and convenient and I was sure I could find a replacement belt and instructions on how to replace it.\u00a0 Quick research however showed me that there was no belt in this model.\u00a0 I checked that against the manual and list of parts in my manuals pile and sure enough, there’s no belt.\u00a0 It’s all gear and motor driven in these confounded new devices (I didn’t really mean confounded in case anyone or anything is reading this).\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My research via the Internet suggested that the poor spinning problem might be caused by one of three issues.\u00a0 The first was drive motor to transmission coupling sleeves.\u00a0 Original parts were all plastic or rubber but the replacements are metal for added strength.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"DriveOne website even had a video that showed how to access these to see if they needed replacing.\u00a0 I’m no repair person, and I bow to those who are, but the video was fairly simple and something I knew I could do with the help of my wife supervising (it would be foolish of me to suggest any other role for her to play…I bow to her too).\u00a0 The major obstacle would not be accessing the location of these parts but easily accessing the Washing Machine.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’ll digress for a moment here because the location of our laundry pair is significant because it will play a bigger part in the resolution of the Washing Machine dilemma.\u00a0 Our bathroom has two closets.\u00a0 The rear closet contains linens and the front closet houses our Washer and Dryer.\u00a0 Both closets have bi-fold doors.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"Bi-FoldThe linen closet has a single bi-fold door but the laundry closet has two bi-fold doors that meet in the middle.\u00a0 The laundry closet also contains a shelf with a hot water heater and all of the water and electrical hook-ups for the laundry duo.\u00a0 This limits the size of what Machines can fit in the closet and have the door closed.\u00a0 Width and height have never been issues but depth from back to front prevented us from…ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Removing the left bi-fold door from in front of the Washing Machine was fairly easy.\u00a0 It just required tilting the door and removing it from the tracks at top and bottom.\u00a0 Following the steps laid out in the video for the Washer, I was able to easily access the couplings I needed to inspect.\u00a0 The video suggested that the first thing I might notice would be rubber shavings beneath the machine as this occurs with time.\u00a0 There were no shavings on the floor and when I inspected the coupling components, I found that they were in good shape and didn’t need replacing.\u00a0 Step two required following another video, which I’ll detail momentarily, but it would require another day before I could get at this new part.\u00a0 The major problem was replacing the bi-fold door.\u00a0 I took 30 minutes, lots of jostling, and threats of injury, before my wife and I could re-secure the door.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I said, the inspection of the second faulty part required another day.\u00a0 The main reason for this was that the part, a clutch assembly, was a little more expensive and a little more difficult to replace.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"ClutchThe video for replacing this part suggested having a replacement clutch assembly on hand in case it needed to be replaced so that it did not need to be removed more than once.\u00a0 $70 later, I had the part, the bi-fold door was removed again, and my wife was supervising.\u00a0 I should note that when I purchased the part, I asked if I could return the part if I found that the original on the Machine did not need replacing and if I did not open the packaging.\u00a0 I was assured a full refund and was given further advice that the problem with my Washer might be a faulty transmission and that I was to look for a ring of oil around the inside of the Machine or to feel the bottom of the transmission to see if oil was leaking from there.\u00a0 This was good advice because I found a ring of oil around the Washer casing and it was leaking oil from the transmission.\u00a0 I did follow the video and check the clutch assembly but those parts looked fine.\u00a0 I returned the unopened new clutch assembly and received the full refund as promised.\u00a0 I also researched the cost of a new transmission and informed my wife we would needed a new Washing Machine.\u00a0 We left the bi-fold door off because we didn’t want to have to fight with it if we had to remove the old Washer and replace it with a newer model.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is where things get complicated.\u00a0 If you thought repairing anything was difficult, barring the struggle with removing and replacing the bi-fold door the first time, then you should consider that researching the purchase of a new Washing Machine is much more difficult.\u00a0 We’ve always had a top loading machine but in the eight years since we purchased the Kenmore, front loading Washers have become more popular.\u00a0 We thought about updating the Washer to one of these fancy front loaders but of course it wouldn’t match our Inglis Dryer which is a normal Dryer that we have had for 3 years.\u00a0 We went first to view Washers at our local Future Shop.\u00a0 If you don’t know what a Future Shop is, it’s the Canadian version of Best Buy except the real Canadian version of Best Buy does not carry appliances.\u00a0 We had had success with Future Shop in the past and our Dishwasher, Dryer, Refrigerator, and Stove were all purchased there with great savings.\u00a0 The salesperson was very nice but of course he was pushing us towards a new LG front loading Machine and spouting the benefits of this type compared to the top loading Machines.\u00a0 Future Shop did not have any top loading Washers in the store.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\"Whirlpool<\/a>Oh, there was an empty spot in the appliance display where there had been a Whirlpool Washing Machine (model # WTW4800XQ) but they had none in stock and they had sold their floor model.\u00a0 This intrigued me because out of stock and selling the floor model suggested to me that this might be a very popular Machine.\u00a0 Certainly the price was right at $498 and Future Shop was going to pay all taxes…a savings of an additional $65.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The front loading LG Washing Machine that the salesperson suggested was also a good a model and a good deal with Future Shop paying the tax.\u00a0 We did like the look of it and the details about the Machine but we were concerned about the dimensions of the Washer.\u00a0 Height and width were fine but the depth was 32 inches and I wasn’t sure that this would fit where the old Washer was and that we could close the bi-fold door without hitting the front glass door of the Machine which sticks out a couple inches alone.\u00a0 This was our excuse to not make a purchase at Future Shop that day and to be able to go home and do a little more research.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our excursion to Future Shop was on the afternoon of February 5th.\u00a0 I immediately came home and looked over the details of the LG Washing Machine they had in stock and the Whirlpool Washer that they couldn’t get us.\u00a0 Both had their merits and there were good reviews for both.\u00a0 The dimensions of the LG Machine suggested that it was going to be close when closing the bi-fold door.\u00a0 The door might bang into the front loading door or have an inch clearance.\u00a0 The dimensions of the Whirlpool Washer were well within range.\u00a0 I should add that the Whirlpool had an agitator which is significantly different to the high efficiency top loaders that are essentially front loaders turned on their back.\u00a0 Without an agitator in a top loading Machine then clothes don’t get as clean.\u00a0 In fact, I read a review for the Whirlpool by a University Professor where he “made a conclusion that a top load washer lasts longer than front load type, even though it is less eco friendly. (But if we have to change the washer frequently, is it eco friendly?)…this washer is extremely satisfactory and washes very well. Also washing cycles are much shorter than front load ones. So, even though it uses more water, it saves electricity and lasts longer (hopefully) in addition to lower price.”\u00a0 This review sold me on the Whirlpool.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now we knew what type of Washing Machine we wanted but the problem was that Future Shop could not get us one.\u00a0 I visited Future Shop’s website and found that they did have one in stock in another store and they could ship it to us for an additional $90 but we would also be paying the tax not only on the Washer but on the delivery fee as well!\u00a0 That ended my long run of purchasing appliances from Future Shop.\u00a0 I then began to check the websites for other local stores that carried appliances.\u00a0 I found that our local Lowe’s carried the Whirlpool and the price was $448.\u00a0 This was $50 less than Future Shop but I would have to pay the taxes and it would cost me $8 more in the end than if I purchased it at Futures Shop if they had stock.\u00a0 Don’t get confused.\u00a0 The Future Shop in store price was $498 (including tax) but the online price with delivery and taxes was going to be $664.\u00a0 The Lowe’s deal was looking better and better.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was still Sunday February 5th but by this time it was 5:20 PM.\u00a0 I telephoned Lowe’s and asked if they had the Whirlpool in stock.\u00a0 I was informed that they had two in stock and that the store closed at 6:00.\u00a0 We live 30 minutes way from Lowe’s so I motored into Belleville and got to the store at 5:45.\u00a0 Of course the person I spoke to on the phone had gone home but someone else told me they could sell me the Machine and they just had to retrieve it from the warehouse.\u00a0 I waited 25 minutes before two people came out, now the minutes past the time the store was to have closed, only to be told they couldn’t find the Washer.\u00a0 Their computer told them they had two in stock with one being the floor model.\u00a0 They suggested I come back the next day and speak to the head of the appliances department and that he might have better luck finding the Washing Machine.\u00a0 I thanked them for their effort and left the store.\u00a0 I still had the old Washer with the spinning problem but I had so wanted to come home with the new one.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I did not go back to Lowe’s the next day because I wanted to check and see if any other store had this Washing Machine in stock.\u00a0 I didn’t want to have to order one and wait a week to get it.\u00a0 I checked out the websites for Sears, Leon’s, The Brick, and Home Depot but none of them had the Washer in stock in their local stores.\u00a0 On Tuesday, February 7th, I visited the local Home Depot on an off-chance that they might have one in the store.\u00a0 They didn’t even have a floor model for this Washer!\u00a0 They did, however, have a sale on for all of their appliances where I could take an additional 10% off the ticket price.\u00a0 With this incentive, I began to look seriously at the Washing Machines on display at Home Depot.\u00a0 One, I really took a shine to was a front loader from Maytag, Model # MHWE400WW.\u00a0 I cannot remember the exact price but it was already discounted by $200 and with the 10% discount the price would be around $600.\u00a0 I wrote down the model number and went home to do more research on this Maytag.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’m going to bring to a quick close this narrative about the Maytag MHWE400WW.\u00a0 The reviews were not good and the clincher for me to avoid this Machine was the following Youtube video showing the Washer, apparently possessed, vibrating violently and eventually attacking the Dryer. It was Killdozer again or maybe Killwasher. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n