Ever just tackle something you haven't the least bit of experience with?

[Pixelpiper]

Time for some washing machine repair… There's a first time for everything.

 

[hoodonit00]

Look for videos on Youtube. Did a lot of work on my daughters car that I never did before because of videos on there.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I know a little bit about motors, so I did search youtube for brushes and washers, which lead me to a video showing a similar machine and how to get the motor out. Sometimes a video is all about inspiring confidence. So far the biggest PITA was yesterday's trouble-shooting trying all the different modes to find out what was wrong in the first place - had to figure out it was the motor that wasn't running as I don't normally sit in front of the washer.

The only places/people I can find online for replacement brushes are all in Europe, mostly in the UK. About $40 shipped via a seller on eBay for genuine parts.

The funny thing is, it died as I was washing a bunch of fabric for a 1/6 figure project I'm working on. Oops coincidence.

I see your location is "Mechaniscsburg" so there must be a lot of reference material and people around for advice for auto repairs and this kind of thing.

 

[fosing]

you only need a brick.

 

[robbiethepainter]

I never know till you jump in.

 

[Pixelpiper]

you only need a brick.

Wow, I'm surprised the belt didn't fly off right away. Classic.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Yeah. With occasional exceptions, I do my own truck repairs. Replaced a side-mirror last weekend (18-wheeler crushed the original one. Duct taped it together for a while. Replaced Saturday.). Never done that before. Wasn't that difficult. There are exceptions ... I'm putting the truck in the shop to have the ball joints replaced next week. Taking the truck off the suspension seemed overly complicated.

I need to replace a switch on the washing machine. Keeps cutting off between the wash cycle and the spin cycle. If you bang on it, it starts back up.

SnakeDoc

 

[Pixelpiper]

Replaced a side-mirror last weekend (18-wheeler crushed the original one.

If that happened while I was in the car, I'd have had to replace my underwear and possibly the upholstery on the seat too.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

I was in the truck. Wasn't a horrifying as it sounds, though. He wasn't going all that fast, and I was stopped. If I recall, I said "Well ... s#*t."

Trucker stopped and gave me his info. Trucking company sent me $750. Cost me $104 for the mirror, $20 for a special torxdriver I didn't have, and 45-minutes of work.

SnakeDoc

 

[Solidus]

Neat repair project. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. How much would it cost to just replace the motor if you can't find the parts?

In terms of the thread topic, I've made numerous fixes to my DLP television set over the years, and I tried to replace some parts in my dying Playstation 3 (to no avail). It was no easy task, but there was a lot of help on YouTube with tutorials.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Over $200 for a new motor if I could locate one - I haven't been able to find one yet at 220v/60Hz for suitable for this model in this country. Fingers crossed I don't have to get back to that search...

 

[kreaturekomfort]

My dad always wanted to instill in me the confidence to do things myself whenever I could, as a way to save some serious bucks, a way to build character, and
(sorry if it comes across as a bit sexist here) a way to not be taken advantage of as a girl (it happens). Similarly, my mom always said 'if you can read a recipe, you can cook'. Well, I have found that repair manuals and instruction booklets are almost like recipes, aren't they?

In my 39 years, I've done all kinds of electrical work on my house- replacing outlets, baseboard heaters, installing lighting and ceiling fans, to wall mounting a 55" plasma the other day, running all of the cable wires behind the wall.

I also recently pre-cut and installed a porcelain tile backsplash in my kitchen with a somewhat complicated diamond pattern.

A few years ago, I demo'd a room and re-sheetrocked it, taped and mudded it, painted, decorated, even re-finished furniture, giving someone close to me an 'extreme makeover' to her bedroom. The 'happy tears' from the recipient were well worth it!

As for my car, I don't do a whole lot nowadays simply because I can afford to have someone else do it and I'm usually very busy with other things, but I routinely changed my own oil, spark plugs, air filter, etc. (full tune up), rotated tires or changed flats, and once when I was just out of college (probably my biggest solo repair to date) I changed out my radiator in a grubby asphalt parking lot with limited tools and NO car ramps on my low to the ground Camaro. The only problem I kept encountering there was **** clearance! I went to a used parts place and made sure they pressure tested it, put everything back in the way I took it out, and voila- fixed.

Personally, I think EVERYONE can do much much more than they think they can if they have a little patience and read (or watch videos, as is common now).

 

[Pixelpiper]

Washing machine repair is now currently waiting on new brushes I've ordered form the UK at $20, about half the price of the previous price I'd found. It paid off searching for alternate terms without using the first part number I tried.

So because there's nothing to be done there, today it's time to replace the heater element on the bottom dish drawer of my Fisher and Paykel dishwasher. The old heater works properly, but the integrated thermistor must be broken - the drawer can't tell the water is hot enough and never progresses through a cycle. The same thing happened to the top drawer 3 years ago.

This video shows the procedure: https://vimeopro.com/fisherpaykeltechnical/training-videos/video/7223374

 

[wyattroa]

This weekend i am starting to build 2 home theater subwoofers that are ported with 18" drivers. I have never done this before so we will see ow it goes.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Disappointing news on the Dishdrawer repair… Replacing the heater and thermistor didn't solve the problem this time around. The originals were in ugly shape, but ohmed out OK (new parts also working fine). It turns out that the issue is with the controller PCB and I'm not really able to figure out what's wrong without investing a lot of time. Repair service via eBay $92 plus my cost to ship them the part or buy new controller with a redundant fan for $169 shipped from a parts dealer.

 

[The Ween]

Disappointing news on the Dishdrawer repair… Replacing the heater and thermistor didn't solve the problem this time around. The originals were in ugly shape, but ohmed out OK (new parts also working fine). It turns out that the issue is with the controller PCB and I'm not really able to figure out what's wrong without investing a lot of time. Repair service via eBay $92 plus my cost to ship them the part or buy new controller with a redundant fan for $169 shipped from a parts dealer.

I'd buy a new one. They aren't that expensive anymore.

 

[GeneralZodLives]

I'd buy a new one. They aren't that expensive anymore.

I agree. Fixing up stuff on your own is great until the cost and time don't make it worth it. Get a new one with a warranty.

 

[King Darkness]

I tackled a midget once.

 

[The Ween]

I tackled a midget once.

Did he work after that?

 

[King Darkness]

Nah, he just kinda laid there.