A Washing Machine and How to Save $346 and Make $6.75

Five years ago, Becky decided she wanted a front end loading washing machine. Having been loyal customers of the Sears Kenmore brand ever since we married, we drove up to the local Sears store in Decatur and bought an Kenmore HE2 which is made for Sears by Whirlpool, along with a matching dryer. Since then, the only complaint I've heard about either has been not having bought the pedestals to go with them which would make them easier to load and unload.

About two months ago, Becky told me she thought something might be wrong with the washing machine. She said it was making a sound that she hadn't heard before, but it was still working, however, about three weeks ago, while she was washing a load of clothes, it stopped working when it got to the spin cycle and all the green lights on the front began to blink. After switching to the express wash mode, she was finally able to get it to finish the wash cycle. This went on for about a week and then 10 days ago, it again stopped working when it got to the spin cycle, and, this time, nothing she did could get it running again. At this point she told me I needed to call Sears and have one of their repairmen come out to fix it.

I called the Sears service department to set up an appointment and was told that they couldn't get anyone up here until June 22nd because of the response to a special they were running on washing machine repairs.I was told that for a flat fee of only $316 (not sure why I thought that was a good deal), I could take advantage of the special on the repair which would include a one year warranty. Thinking there might be an electronical problem, which I thought might be expensive and knowing the total cost up front, I agreed to the deal.

Then, yesterday, Becky had some clothes that needed washing which she was going to take to my son's house to wash, but for the heck of it, she decided to try to see if she could get the machine to wash a load and it did without any problems. In fact, she ended up washing two more loads without a problem before it stopped again at the spin cycle, though she was able to get it to finish by switching to the express wash mode again. At about the same time, I was checking my credit card charges online and discovered that Sears had already charged my card for $346 which is $30 more than the representative had quoted on the phone for a service that was still a week from being done. It kind of ticked me off that the amount was more than I had been told and close to half the cost of a new washer. Becky and I decided we'd just as soon buy a new one than pay that much for a repair, so I called and cancelled the service and made sure they would credit my credit card account.

The fact that the machine would work at times and not at others piqued my curiosity, and I decided to go online and see if I could find any information on the HE2 regarding what might be causing it to shut down. As it turned out, I found plenty of posts by people who were describing similar problems with their HE2's and a few replies to their posts offering possible solutions. The most recurring reply suggested that the drain pipe might be clogged and not letting the water drain fast enough at that point in the wash cycle. A couple of posters explained how to check to see if the drain was clogged. It seemed rather easy and simply included removing the bottom panel of the washing machine by unscrewing three screws and unscrewing a plug at front of the drain pipe beneath the tub.

Not seeing how I could be out anything other than my time, I sat down in front of the machine this morning and took the panel off and, using a pair of pliers, removed the plug attached to the drain. This is what I found jammed together and plugging up the drain.



Nineteen quarters, sixteen dimes, three nickels, twenty-five pennies, three screws of various sizes. a bobby pin, three toothpicks, five flossing sticks (gum cleaners) and two or three other assorted objects which I can't Identify. It was all wadded up mixed in with other black yucky material some of which had hardened. I had to dig and scrape to get it all out, but when I was finished I had $6.75 in change. After cleaning everything as best I could, I screwed the drain plug back in, put the cover back on,turned the washing machine on and ran it through a regular cycle which it completed with no problems. Between the money saved on the repair and money found, I figure I made at least $352.75 ( could have been over $700 for a new washer) by simply undoing three screws and a plug. Not a bad day I think.