Can I fix my own washing machine?

May 2, 2010 1:19 PM

Can I fix my LG front loading washing machine on my own today, or do I have to wait until a technician can come to my house?

The rubber lining that sits between the opening and the drum on my LG WM-2010CW front loading, high efficiency washing machine has become twisted. I really, really want to do laundry today so I'm super frustrated! Can I fix this on my own?

posted by junipero to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

I would be careful doing it. These things spin at 1500 rpm or faster, and something that puts it off balance is, well, bad, and will cause further damage. You can usually find the manufacturer's maintenance guides online (at least, I could with a little bit of research and the model number)... but even I waited for the repairman to get here with a new belt when my Whirlpool front-loader chewed it up. So says the guy who's in the middle of taking a wall down to make his house more 'open-plan'.
posted by SpecialK at 1:50 PM on May 2, 2010

Those rubber rings are a major pain to install / replace, even if you know what you're doing. I'd wait.
posted by jjb at 2:18 PM on May 2, 2010

You have not said how old your machine is. My LG WM-2010CW is more than five years old, so there is little I can do to it that would matter. Yours, on the other hand, may still be under warranty. If anything more drastic (like the dreaded "LE" light on the panel coming back over and over) happens you will probably have voided your warranty by fooling around with it. Best to have a record of someone who knows what to do being the one to work on it.
posted by Old Geezer at 2:19 PM on May 2, 2010

Response by poster: It is only about a year old. I believe it is still under warranty. I'll wait. Thank you!
posted by junipero at 4:40 PM on May 2, 2010

Some time ago I had to get a (hired) washing machine repaired; the rubber seal was attached to the body of the machine by a circle of wire around its circumference, the ends of the wire linked by a short spring. The service guy reached in with a special tool and removed the wire loop - detaching the rubber seal from the front of the body - in a few seconds.

So once the service guy arrives, he might be able to untwist the rubber seal quite quickly.

However, the machine I saw being repaired was not an LG; and if your machine is still in warranty I would spend the $2 to go to a laundrette instead of potentially invalidating my warranty.
posted by Mike1024 at 4:48 PM on May 2, 2010

When my LG needed service, we had the repair tech provided by LG come in, who only made things worse - he was clearly an untrained local contractor that LG hired to handle cases, and he wound up frying the circuit board on the machine, needing further repairs.

After 2 weeks of him screwing around with our machine, we found a local reputable service that would honor the LG Warranty, and brought them in. He had it fixed in relatively short order, needing only to order parts from LG as the main delay.

Two things to take away from this:

1) Find someone you trust, rather than relying on whomever LG sends you. If you can, do the legwork and get someone with a good rep who will honor the Warranty.

2) The (good) repairman mentioned that LGs are excellent machines, but it takes time for parts to stock up in the USA - if yours is a year old, you might be in good shape, and hopefully the part sound somewhat generic. A fried circuit board was a special order in our case, and took a while to come in.

If you are in Westchester County, NY, look up Jimmy's Same Day Appliance Service - they are excellent.
posted by GJSchaller at 6:30 PM on May 2, 2010