dr_phil_physics | A Pleasant Surprise

The Washing Machine Saga Continues

With the towels mentioned the other day dealt with, we've been waiting all morning for the repairman from Bekins in Grand Haven MI to wander out our way. Morning calls are from "9 to 1", and the van pulled up just about noon.

It took a minute to figure out which of several dozen hundreds of ways it takes to actually open up a 2002 KitchenAid washing machine. Turns out you pull out two screws behind the control panel, swing the control panel up and pop out two metal clips towards the back of the top -- and then the whole rest of the sheet metal body slips right off. It conveniently stored out of the way "embracing" the toilet. (grin)

One Simple Thing

There are lots of reasons why a machine would lose its drain-and-rinse-and-spin modes -- timer switch, controller board, pump, etc. But this guy was sharp and the first thing he tried was to jumper around the lid switch, that safety switch which makes sure you can't open the lid while it's in a spin cycle.

The water began to drain out. And the machine went into its spin cycle.

So just a microswitch on the end of a cable with a fancy connector. The estimate for parts and labor was $127, the actual work went even easier, so the job came in at $106. Not zero, mind you, but a whole lot better than taking the whole thing apart and spending lots on parts and labor. Hell, didn't even have to bail or siphon the water out of the tub. It drained itself as soon as it got a valid electrical signal saying it was safe to spin.

Nice People, Too

The Bekins people are pretty nice and they do good work. This particular service guy just got back to West Michigan after spending some years in the Atlanta area. Managed to miss the construction and the Olympics in the mid 90s and got out before the tornado this year. (grin) Since Dr. Phil's sister is in Atlanta, we talked about some of the places in Atlanta and Cobb County. Small world at times, if you bother to ask. (double-grin)

Anyway, we look to be back in business and hopefully it'll be another six years before we need another service call. The machine without its skins certainly looked in fine shape. A microswitch giving up the ghost? Hey, it's a binary decision, on or off, and if it can't make up its mind -- it's gone. (triple-dog-dare-grin)

Dr. Phil