What's wrong with my washing machine? (Video included!)
July 10, 2020 4:44 AM   Subscribe

Please help me diagnose the problem with my washing machine. One of the hoses is making a constant drainage noise, even though the machine hasn't been used in ~12 hours. Here's a video. Specifically: (a) how urgently does it need to be addressed (trying to balance COVID risk), (b) can I fix it myself (I am not very handy, but if I can do it with an IKEA fixa toolset, then I could take a stab at it) and (c) is it something that can be fixed or does the machine need to be replaced?
posted by rjacobs to Home & Garden (6 answers total)
 
Pull both of those tubes out of the drain. Is water coming out from either of them? If it's coming from the washing machine drain hose, you can turn off the incoming water at the valves to the washing machine in the meantime. My main concern is that you're constantly wasting water - with access to the incoming water valves that's something that can be mitigated until you feel more comfortable doing a bigger repair if needed..
posted by Karaage at 6:22 AM on July 10, 2020 [4 favorites]


Do you have central air, and is the black hose attached to a dehumidifier unit?
posted by bfranklin at 6:30 AM on July 10, 2020 [5 favorites]


If I were you I would hate that trickling sound in the video a whole, whole lot. It's wasted water, and that sucks, but also if it's not contained, it's going to cause nightmares. Where is that water coming from and where is it going? Into the drum? Into the stand pipe? Onto the floor under the washer drip drip drip Ozymandias-sands-style? God, how deeply and richly I hate homeownership...
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/washing-machine-leaks-hours-after-using-74121.html
posted by Don Pepino at 6:33 AM on July 10, 2020


I think you're going to find that the water is coming from the small not-washing-machine hose. Even if the fill valve of the washing machine is leaking, the outlet hose is higher than the drum, so even if the drum is filled with water it won't leave the washer unless the drain pump is running which you'd surely mention hearing.
As others suggested, the small drain hose could be from a humidifier (accidentally turned on in the summer?) a condensate drain from a dehumidifier or the overflow from a reverse osmosis water filter.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:48 AM on July 10, 2020 [3 favorites]


Yeah, I'd start as Karaage said, and pull each tube out of the drain and see which one is the source.
-The gray one looks like a washing machine drain. These are usually driven by a pump in the washing machine, so if water is running out the washing machine drain, it is usually accompanied by the sound of the pump running as well.

-The black one appears to come from elsewhere. Condensation drain from a dehumidifier or AC unit?

-If there is no water coming from either hose, the noise you are hearing may be from something else in that drain/vent stack. Faucet or toilet from a bathroom above?
posted by xedrik at 6:49 AM on July 10, 2020 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Mystery solved, thanks to clues from all of you! I now realize that I left out an important piece of info: this sound was happening at 4:00 AM in the morning - I woke up and got a glass of water, and that's when I heard the sound. When I woke up for good at 8:00, the sound had stopped. So I investigated the black hose, and it turns out it runs to the water softener in the garage. I now believe that that hose is indeed the source, as you all suspected; it seems that the previous owner has programmed the water softener to drain at 4:00 AM, when no one is awake. So naturally, I'd never heard it before. So the sound is that of water flowing into the drain, is normal operation, and is thankfully not something I need to worry about.
posted by rjacobs at 8:30 AM on July 10, 2020 [8 favorites]


« Older Whole Genome Sequencing with Single Base Extension...   |   Fitness/health/wellness tracking wearables for... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.