I Got the LG Washing Machine Blues

I’m kind of proud of myself right now. Well, I think I am. Probably I should give it another 40 minutes or so to be sure.

 

But I’m gonna jump the gun anyway.

 

See, I was minding my business the other day getting lots of fun chores done, including the laundry. I was on the last load – meaning that the three baskets I have (for lights, darks, and towels/sheets) were all empty.

 

At the same time.

 

This is a rare occurrence in Jane’s Domain.

 

I’m really not that fond of doing laundry, but I do it so people will continue inviting me to join them in public.

 

Oh, who am I kidding? I do it because I love that April Fresh scent of freshly laundered clothes.

 

Anyway, my carefully planned day was rudely interrupted by a strange chime coming from the washing machine. And when I went to investigate, there was an even stranger sight on the machine itself. A code was flashing and I wasn’t able to open the door to the machine.

 

Hunh. That never happened before. I have no idea where the manual is to the washer, and, frankly, I’m rather doubtful that it even came with a manual.

 

Also, you should know that the washer and dryer are only a year and a half old, so it is far too soon for any codes to be flashing on them.

 

Eventually, I was able to open the door to the washer. Inside, the sheets I was washing were pretty soggy, so I decided I’d run a spin cycle and finish up. I decided that the washer was just having a little temper tantrum over having to do so many loads in a row. And so I forgave it and we each went about our business.

 

Until I next went to the laundry room expecting to pull the sheets from the washer and place them in the dryer.

 

Instead, I found the sheets not only soggy – but sopping wet as there were several inches of water in the bottom of the machine.

 

Sigh.

 

Eventually, I managed to find a leakproof plastic container big enough to hold the sopping wet load of laundry and I pulled them out intending to wring them out provided my arthritic old fingers could find the strength.

 

But that was the extent of my energy in dealing with the temperamental washing machine right then.

 

Until today. When I realized I was getting low on certain things – like pajamas and some unmentionables.

 

So I took a photo of the name of the washing machine. And I Googled the particular code that had been rudely flashing at me.

 

Turns out the Error Code wastelling me that the washing machine is unable to drain the water during the wash cycle.

 

Well, no duh. Even *I* knew that – mostly because the washing machine had water in it after it supposedly finished the cycle.

 

But then I learned the problem could be a kinked drain hose or a clogged drain pump filter.

 

The kinked drain hose seemed like a major problem – since I needed to (a) unplug the machine and (b) look around the back to check the hose.

 

My washing machine is tucked into a very small laundry room. I figured the delivery guy put it in there and it won’t come out of there until a mover figures out how to load it on a dolly to remove it.

 

Besides, how the heck am I going to manhandle a washing machine to get to the back of it?

 

Anyway, I chose to address Problem #2 – the clogged drain pump filter.

 

Mostly because the filter is located in a little window on the bottom front of the washing machine. Easy access.

 

So I carefully watched the YouTube video telling me how to drain the pump making sure to have a pan or some such implement to catch what could be a lot of water (providing I hadn’t cleaned the drain pump filter “in a while” – or, in my case – “ever”).

 

So I did that. And, yes, there was a lot of water draining out of that little hose.

 

Then I followed the instructions on pulling the filter out of the machine.

 

What it looked like...

Can I just say, “Ewwwwwwwww”?!!

 

That filter was just plain nasty. I don’t know what kind of goop builds up on that thing, but it took a whole lot of time to get it all cleaned.

 

And who knew one is supposed to clean a drain pump filter??

 

In all the years I’ve had a washing machine, I never knew this was a task one is supposed to complete “every few weeks or so.”

 

What it's supposed to look like...

Our other washing machine was still going strong eleven years later and the only reason I didn’t bring it with me when I moved is that the new owners wanted the washer and dryer to stay with the house.

I can only imagine what the drain pump filter on that machine looks like.

 

It made me wonder if perhaps Vince furtively got up in the middle of the night every couple weeks with a flashlight and a scrub brush and cleaned out the drain pump filter so our washing machine kept working without a problem. Because I promise you I never even inadvertently cleaned it out as I didn’t even know it was there.

 

On the other hand, I tend to be the sort of person who presses the “On” or “Go” button – and if doesn’t come on or go – then I’m stumped.

 

Anyway, once I completed that task and got the filter back in place, I was supposed to run a few cycles on the Tub Cleaning setting.

 

Which is what I’m doing now. Things seem to be going well. And I’m happy to report there aren’t six inches of water on the floor of the laundry room.

 

But the real test will be when the cycle is finished and there is no standing water in the bottom of the washing machine.

 

Because if there is, I will be forced to call in an expert (aka my brother-in-law). Or whoever will take pity on me.

 

And once the darn thing is working again, I’ll be adding “Clean Drain Pump Filter” to my “To-Do” list.