Sunday 22 June 2014

Just call me Ms McGuyver

Went to do a load of laundry tonight. Water running, putting clothes and detergent in. I had a few things to spray with Shout so the tub filled completely before I was done. I went to close the lid to let it run the cycle...

And nothing happened!!!

The words that came out of my mouth were "aw fuck!"

Sunday evening. Nothing is open. I have a washer full to the brim with warm water (rapidly cooling), suds and clothes. Groping around, I discovered a piece of plastic wobbling just under the edge of the opening.

What's a girl to do?

Well, google the repair, of course! Discovered a faulty lid switch was the culprit. I found some youtube videos showing how to get at the lid switch, swap it out and put things back together again.

Since I had a piece of it in my hand, I wanted to see if it could be put back together again.

So I followed the video's instructions (it wasn't difficult at all) (yes, I unplugged the electrical first), took the control panel off, unclipped the lid switch cables and pulled the body of the machine off. I could get at the switch easily and discovered the adhesive that holds the upper and lower switch housing had failed. Hence the piece that fell out. The housing was gaping open.

So I put the piece back in, held it together and yes it clicked just like it should. So I got a strip of double sided velcro, wrapped it snugly around the housing (making sure it didn't interfere with the switch itself) and then put the whole machine back together.

Voila!! I am back in business and my clothes are merrily sloshing away.

8 comments:

  1. Congratulations, McGuyver! Kudos on fixing that washer! You saved some money and time (and headaches) on repairs. I am impressed! It's amazing the things you can find and learn online now.

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    1. I've learned *a lot* by watching youtube videos. Very informational stuff on there.

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  2. Excellent resourcefulness and initiative in making that repair! Well done!

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    1. Thanks, LX! I do tend to try and repair things myself first before calling in the big guns. ;-)

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  3. Ahem, what ?
    I have not the smallest idea what you are talking about. And no, there's no need to explain, thank you :)

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    1. McGuyver was a TV show secret agent guy who always had a swiss army knife and duct tape on hand and could solve pretty much any problem using those items. Lots of ingenuity and resourcefulness. :-) Being able to "McGuyver" something means you can fix it with whatever is handy. Went from a tv character to a verb!

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  4. Ah, the art of self reliance....you go girl!

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    1. Thanks! Hope your storm and tree situation is cleared up. My delinquent washer pales in comparison.

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