# It's a sad day in the steamer household.



## steamer (Apr 26, 2012)

Alas , the old girl has come to her end. she gave a good fight....as much as the good doctor steamer tried, there was little hope...and she was dutifully pronounced deceased by Doc steamer at 8:48 pm last night...



.....time for a new washing machine........
 ;D

Gear box drained and it "ate itself"......I'm not even going to try!...

Mama say's she'll just go buy the new one.....sweeeeeeeeeet!  no endless shopping trip!

Now before you say it, keep in mind Mama found the current one 3 YEARS ago through freecycle.....yes for FREE! I just had to go and get it....it has survived 3 YEARS with our twin children ect!......she can buy anyone she wants!

Dave


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## rhitee93 (Apr 26, 2012)

Heh, I can understand this one. After 13 years with my twins, our old washer is getting harder and harder to fix. Ours has as many home made parts as factory ones anymore.

I keep saying we are going to go out and buy a new one, and then say oh well, one more patch...


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## rake60 (Apr 26, 2012)

Where I come from a worn out, tired old work horse is dispatched quickly and humanly.
I hope you treated yours with the same respect.

Shopping Tip.
Keep the wife away from the isle with the front loaders.
They'll save you a fortune on water and hot water heating costs, *IF* you live long enough
to recoup the cost of the dern machine! 

Rick


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## stevehuckss396 (Apr 26, 2012)

steamer  said:
			
		

> Alas , the old girl has come to her end. she gave a good fight



You butt head!!

I read that and thought you lost the family pet. Glad it was just the washer!!


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## Maryak (Apr 27, 2012)

Ah, matrimonial bliss,

Galina has what can only be described as a mental block when it comes to anything with any sort of a thread, bottle tops, jars, filters on washing and dish washing machines etc.

Last week I was advised that the dishwasher had developed this "funny noise." Sure enough, it had a "funny noise" on the wash cycle.

Of course when she stopped it in the middle of this cycle it was full of hot soapy, greasy water. Risking 3rd degree burns I bravely plunged my hand into the morass to find that the filter had not be screwed into place. Removing this, I again ventured unto the murky depths only to be confronted with a sharp pain in my finger which traveled up and out at the speed of light firmly attached to a largish piece of glass. AHA! "Did you break a glass?" "Oh yes that was yesterday!!" 2 hours later, fiddling about with the folded over end of a coat hanger I had retrieved some 8 pieces of glass from the circulating pump suction. The last one being extremely difficult as it was caught up in the impeller blades. Hence the "funny noise." I looked at Galya and said, "That will be $300, $150 call out fee and $150 for my time. Do it after I'm gone and that's what it would cost you."

This seems like a good place to end my soggy tale.

Best Regards
Bob


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## tel (Apr 27, 2012)

Geez youse blokes!!!!!! What's wrong with taking the clothes down to the creek and bashin' 'em on a rock? If Mrs Tel sees this she'll want one as well! *knuppel2*


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## steamer (Apr 27, 2012)

stevehuckss396  said:
			
		

> You butt head!!
> 
> I read that and thought you lost the family pet. Glad it was just the washer!!



 Rof}


Mama by profession......and in addition to being Mama...is a first class buyer.....I can assure you she'll do and has done the research!

She's looking at the scratch and dent isle.... ;D.....she Say's "you'll put more dents in it bringing it down the cellar stairs! ....I wonder if they'll do free delivery from the scratch and dent isle.?..."  God I love her!

Dave


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## steamer (Apr 27, 2012)

rake60  said:
			
		

> Where I come from a worn out, tired old work horse is dispatched quickly and humanly.
> I hope you treated yours with the same respect.
> 
> Shopping Tip.
> ...





Yup....even put it through the spin cycle to get the water out first..... ;D

Dave


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## b.lindsey (Apr 27, 2012)

Deepest condolences Dave ...the good news is that once Mrs. Steamer picks out the new one, you won't have to worry about it for another 12-15 years. Of course then the dryer will be jealous and probably kick the bucket too :big:

Bill


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## tel (Apr 27, 2012)

Dryer? One of these?


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## peatoluser (Apr 27, 2012)

Tel, if I ever tell my better half to take the washing down to the creek, she'd take ME down there and bash ME against a rock!


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## steamer (Apr 27, 2012)

Mama says it's very difficult to find a plain old top loader, they're all high efficiency!.....Want's to know if I can put a new tranny in if she can get it!

 :redface2:



the response was .....Yes Dear!...... ;D

Dave


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## Mosey (Apr 27, 2012)

While you are basking in her appreciation after you fix it, is the perfect time to bring a new machine in!


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## steamer (Apr 27, 2012)

Heh...I still got to get the bed ground on the SB.....that'll be the carrot...... ;D

Dave


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 27, 2012)

> Mama by profession......and in addition to being Mama...is a first class buyer.....I can assure you she'll do and has done the research!
> 
> She's looking at the scratch and dent isle.... .....she Say's "you'll put more dents in it bringing it down the cellar stairs! ....I wonder if they'll do free delivery from the scratch and dent isle.?..."  God I love her!
> 
> Dave



Mrs Tin and I shop for appliances a the scratch and dent STORE AKA sears apliance outlet. a little google bird tells me there is one a mile from your house may want to check it out 100 Comercial Drive ,your town USA
Tin


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## ninefinger (Apr 27, 2012)

IF you end up with a front load see if it can be delivered to your basement - I brought mine down by myself and it was the 2nd stupidest thing I've ever done and lived to tell about it (the 1st ..that is another story)

It was #$%@& heavy - bringing lathe and mill parts to the basement was easier...

Mike


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## steamer (Apr 27, 2012)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> Mrs Tin and I shop for appliances a the scratch and dent STORE AKA sears apliance outlet. a little google bird tells me there is one a mile from your house may want to check it out 100 Comercial Drive ,your town USA
> Tin



Oh yea!

Dave


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## steamer (Apr 29, 2012)

OK ...here's the latest regarding this Saga.

Mama researched all the various brands. It appears you can't buy a new conventional "top loader" anymore!  They all by law have to be "high Efficiency"

With one possible odd ball exceptions

A GE unit that has both cycles.  

Without exception, every HE washer by every manufacturer had aweful reviews!  Seems they don't work or require an operating license to debug.

And even the cheap ones on sale ar 5 bills!

It would appear that "lean design" philosophies are being used with great gusto!  These machines no longer have transmissions, they are direct drive with electronic control....problem is , as with any paradyme shift,...they haven't worked the bugs out yet

You'll love this little instructive video

http://www.geappliances.com/videos-media/?vuuid=y2y8006j&categoryid=13830

Seriously!.....OK...the board of directors conviened and we both agreed that rebuilding the existing one....and squeeze another 3 years out of it....would allow some time to pass and maybe the manufacturers will have enough time to get their heads out of their A$$e$

For a new clutch, transmission and pump...essentially a new machine! ....on ebay.....about $200.  We'll order the parts this afternoon

GE wantd about $500 for the same parts!....of course they do!

Stay tuned........she will be brought back from the grave....HA HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!

It's ALIVE!!!

 ;D....ok over the top.....couldn't resist..

Dave


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## steamer (May 1, 2012)

The parts are ordered.  Now the wait and the disassembly of the cadaver....er um washing machine.

Dave


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## Troutsqueezer (May 1, 2012)

tel  said:
			
		

> Dryer? One of these?



What's interesting is that two people clicked on the rope image to get a better look! scratch.gif


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## kustomkb (May 1, 2012)

> Without exception, every HE washer by every manufacturer had aweful reviews!  Seems they don't work or require an operating license to debug.



Not even one!? We were thinking about "upgrading" too.



> You'll love this little instructive video



So every time the Mrs. washes the sheets, I'm going to hear "can you come fix the washer" and there I'll be "powering down" the machine and flapping the lid like some kind of idiot!?!

Modern convenience eh? The creek isn't too far from me.... We still use the rope though.

2 days ago I snaked the drain line and stepped away without putting the hose back in the drain pipe. We went out for an hour and guess what she did just before we left. 

At least the basement was already gutted. maybe I am some kind of idiot.


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## Ken I (May 1, 2012)

steamer  said:
			
		

> They all by law have to be "high Efficiency"



And I'll bet you they aint.

Don't you just love government interference in free choice or engineering decisions.

Ken


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## steamer (May 1, 2012)

........"Not even one!? We were thinking about "upgrading" too...."

Kevin, if you find one I want to read it.  My wife looked on line and with Consumers reports for a day and a half.....When we went to the Sears "scratch and dent place" I bet there was at least 60-70 washing machines of all shapes and budgets....everyone had a tag that said

Returned/tested.

Not one was a standard top loader....they were all HE.

GE has one that you can "choose not to use" the HE feature and it has a agitator.....but the 1 online review on it said it was aweful!

Every person I've spoken to hates their HE washer.

don't know what to believe....but what I got...when it's running works!

I'll let the dust settle for a couple more generations of products before we dish that kind of money out for junk.

If someone has an HE washer that works well and has large capacity and doesnt take an hour to run a cycle....I want to hear from you!

The sad thing about the video....it doesn't let you know that you have a fault...you don't even know if you just lost power to the outlet!

It just sits there!...Nothing you do would change the state other than that stupid door open/ close procedure.....how moronic is that!

At least give the poor person a idiot light that says "fault"....and a button to clear the fault!....if it reoccurs...you can call someone.

And as far as "high efficiency" is concerned....I wonder what perameters dictate high efficiency?....run time an ease of use is certainly not on the list!

Dave


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## Groomengineering (May 1, 2012)

steamer  said:
			
		

> Every person I've spoken to hates their HE washer.



Sorry Dave but I love like am satisfied with mine. : It's a scratch & dent Whirlpool Duet Sport (Sport!??? :shrug: ), and yes the reviews were bad, and yes it takes forever to do a load, but I got good deal on it and it's been chugging along happily for about 5 years now. It does seem to have a bit of an issue with plugging up the detergent tray, but a quick washout every 6 months or so seems to fix it.

Would I recommend one? Probably not. But it gets the clothes clean and as you've learned we're going to get shoved into HE's whether we like it or not.

$.02

Cheers

Jeff


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## steamer (May 1, 2012)

OK everybody but 1 hates their HE washers!..... ;D


I'll poke at them again in 3-5 years......maybe they'll be better.

Dave


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## steamer (May 6, 2012)

OK we're in dissassembly mode!  I have the tup out of the machine!  The Exxon Valdiz got nothing on the bottom of that machine! The tranny obviously drained itself....

The last nut is a large left hand ALUMINUM NUT on a rusty STEEL shaft under the agitator..All I have room for is channel lock pliers.......brilliant design work! :

They warn to have a cutting chisel and hammer on hand.  I opted for the PB blaster...and some patience....we'll see which way it goes!

Dave


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## Mosey (May 6, 2012)

Did you ever think about what appliances would be like if men did the housework? Shhhhh!
They would be more like lawnmowers or power screwdrivers. They'd work and be repairable.


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## steamer (May 6, 2012)

Oh can you say line shaft!....and a coal fired boiler....just to have something to get the clothes dirty in the first place.....

If I chisel this nut off, I'll just make up a new one.....

Dave


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## steamer (May 6, 2012)

Still no love! More PB on the nut for the overnight.....but the chisel is all nice and sharp!

Dave


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