My washing machine died last week and I fixed it myself for $8

I was halfway through a load of towels on Thursday when my washer just stopped mid cycle. No noise, no nothing, just dead. I almost called a repair guy but I looked up the error code first on my phone. Turned out it was a clogged drain pump filter, which I didn't even know existed. I pulled out $3.50 in loose change, a bobby pin, and some lint from that little trap door at the bottom. The part was fine, just needed cleaning, so I saved myself at least a $150 service call. Has anyone else found a way to fix a big appliance without spending a ton?

2 comments

2 Comments

danielwhite1mo ago

Hold up, you're calling it "dying" because it got clogged with pocket change? That's like saying your car is totaled because you ran out of gas. I get it, you saved some cash and that's cool, but most washing machine "deaths" are just a simple fix like a belt snapping or a drain hose getting kinked. You didn't really fix it, you just cleaned it out. Half the time people just need to read the manual or watch a 5 minute YouTube video before they call the repairman.

the_jana1mo ago

$3.50 in change plus a bobby pin - that's wild, but it's actually a perfect example of how we've all been trained to think things are broken when they're just dirty or clogged. I see it everywhere now @danielwhite, like people throwing away clothes with a loose button or replacing perfectly good phone screens instead of just cleaning the lint out of the charging port. It's like we forgot that fixing stuff is normal and not some magic skill.