I'm going to the laundromat. One of the reasons we moved out of our first Richland apartment in only 6 months was the lack of in apartment laundry facilities. While there was a laundry room on site, it sucked greatly, and we decided it was easier for one of us to head to the local laundromat every Saturday morning with a car full of clothes than to use the on site room every day.
Anyway...my washing machine is still broken, and I'm not entirely happy.
When we bought the washer and dryer(last March, upgrading from the stackable unit we had in our 2nd apartment), we paid for the maintenance plan, washers and dryers being one of the things I have historically proven to me it's worth buying the plans for. After I found the machine was broken late Tuesday, I called Home Depot bright and early Wednesday morning, to be told that the first available repair slot was Monday morning. Like...5 days away.
That's crap. I stewed, and started doing some research. The piece that is broken is the little plastic/magnetic lid striker. It basically lets the machine know the lid is closed, and also locks it shut. Unlike me good old avocado green washing machine I used to own in Belfair, it is too smart to be fooled by stuffing a broken Popsicle stick in the hole. It actually wants to feel the magnet latch into place.
I CAN do this repair. Two little set screws hold the striker assembly in place...that is within my capabilities. I just couldn't find the piece locally. Tried Home Depot, and Sears, and a few local appliance places, but no one had that piece in stock. All of them offered to order it for me, which I could have done myself online, but, no method would get it here prior to this morning, and ALL of those options would have cost me more than going to the laundromat today, with overnight shipping changing a $20 part into a $50 part.
So, off I go to do my laundry. I'm doing enough to get us through the weekend, which is fine. I'll be home before things really get going today, and I have a 4 day weekend to accomplish stuff around the house.
The worst case scenario here is that on Monday, the washer repair guy doesn't have the part either. In that case, I sic my New England wife on Home Depot, to reimburse us for the cost of having to go to the laundromat.
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ReplyDeleteSorry KurtP, didn't mean to delete your comment...fat fingered it while using the kindle. I didn't think of your idea to bypass the switch. After taking a look at it, while the 'striker' is easily accessible, the switch it completes is buried in the wall of the washing machine. At this point, I'll just wait until Monday.
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