We have recently moved into a new house and I have to say, it was probably our most difficult move ever. I can't say it was difficult for any one specific reason, but for a combination of reasons. We have a lot more stuff now than we have before. We have more kids now. Etc. But with how hard it was, I remember I was finally starting to feel accomplished as I was setting up the washer and dryer that we hadn't used in several years. The hookup was pretty easy, but I did have to change out the plug for the dryer which I had only done once before with the help of my father (who is very good at stuff like that). Well it was a pretty straight forward switch out and I can say I did it without electrocuting myself … yea!
After hooking up the two machines I setup a table/counter that came with the house and sits just above the machines to provide a nice laundry work area. It looked nice and I was excited to use our machines again. They were the first big thing we purchased after I got my first job with Intel so there is some sentimental value to using them. I was excited to put the first load in the washer (yes, I was excited to do laundry) and got it started. The timer said it would be done in about 50 minutes. I watched it for a little bit as the drum filled with water and turned the clothes. Then I went on to unpacking upstairs. About 2 hours later I came back down and saw that the washer still had 10 minutes left. I also noticed an electrical burning smell … which is never a good thing. I turned the washer off, let it sit for a few minutes, then tried just a rinse cycle. It started just fine, but then appeared like the drum got stuck trying to spin making a weird clicking/stuttering sound. Thinking it might be a pulley or a belt issue I took the panels off and saw no pulleys or belts. In fact I didn't really have any idea what I was looking at all. Great! The washer was broke!
I spent quite a bit of time looking at the washer hoping something inspiring would come to me and I would be able to fix it … nothing. I spent some time online and found some not-so-helpful tips. Annie and I discussed our options, none of which we really cared for. We decided to start with the serviceman route. Just finding someone that serviced LG appliances was more difficult than expected, but finally Annie was able to find a couple which charged between $70-$90 to just come look at the thing. Okay, well that's still cheaper than purchasing a new one and a time was set for one of them to come the next day. After some more exploration the washer started giving an error code which was reported to the serviceman. He said it was a pump and would be about $200 to replace. That plus the cost to come out to the house and we're nearing $300. And that's assuming the service man has it right the first time … so we cancelled the visit and started looking for replacement washers.
And then I found it. I don't remember the search terms I used this time, but it lead me to a specific page on the www.fixya.com website. The problem described was exactly the problem our washer was experiencing. There were about 10 different follow-up posts all providing the same solution. Indeed they were all confirming that the initial solution worked and provided additional tips to making the fix easier for the reader. The post even included a link to the replacement part on the www.mcmelectronics.com/ website. The part was $18 and to 2-day air ship it was $25. I thought it was worth the risk so I ordered the part for less than $50. Following the instructions on the www.fixya.com website (which also provided links to the actual service manual and exploded view document which were very helpful) I replaced what is called the hall sensor in about 30 minutes.
After hooking everything back up to the washer, I pressed the appropriate buttons to start a short cycle … Then the heavens opened, angels were singing, and I was doing a little happy dance because the washing machine starting working just as well as it did 3 years ago.
In the end it was a very small part; relatively cheap and simple to replace. It's crazy to me how such a small thing can have such a huge return on investment. And it was almost ignored before I had the knowledge of it even existing. Thank you internet for saving our washing machine.
