Someday I'll laugh about this.. maybe..
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
January 16, 2012 5:54pm CST
Yesterday my husband started a load of laundry. A few minutes later when I didn't hear the washer going I asked if he'd actually started the load. I went to check, and sure enough the washer was full of water and clothes.. but it wasn't doing anything.
Hubby replaced the outlet, hoping that was the cause of our dead washer.. but that didn't fix the problem.
We messed with it all day yesterday, and nothing worked. Eventually I had to take all the clothes out of the washer using a bucket. I dumped them in the tub, rinsed them, rung them out, threw them in the dryer.. and then back in the dirty clothes pile since they were never properly cleaned.
Today I spent a good portion of the day draining the washing machine by hand using a cup and a bucket.
Meanwhile hubby was at work today working on getting us a new washer. He called me with some options, and we chose the cheapest one. Payments for the washer would come directly out of his paycheck for 12 weeks. Then he just had to worry about how to get it to us. He was working on that.
So I'm at home preparing to have this washer taken out, and the new one brought in. I rearranged furniture to make room.
A few minutes ago I went in to attempt once more to get the remaining water drained from the washer.. and to my surprise the water started coming out of the drain hose.. it wasn't doing this before.
Along with the water, some small chunks of ice were also coming out of the drain hose. I had the hose over a bucket, and slowly the water inside the washer was draining out.
So, I plugged the washer in and turned it on to spin cycle. When I'd done this earlier it did absolutely nothing.
This time.. it actually started spinning!
So as it turns out, my washer wasn't broken.. it was just frozen!
I immediately called hubby and he's now trying to cancel the washer he ordered for us. I'm hoping he can cancel it because we can't really afford it right now. But if he can't cancel it, that's okay too. Our washer is like 12 years old and should be replaced soon anyways.. because the next time this happens it might be really broken and not just frozen!
Perhaps we'll use part of our income taxes to buy a decent washer/dryer set!
Have you ever thought something was broken when it was just frozen instead.. or something else? Has your washer ever froze?
3 people like this
16 responses
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
17 Jan 12
Yes, I have had my washer freeze and that was over 10 years ago and I don't know if I am really laughing about it..
We had a good washer, but because it was placed on an outside un-insulated wall, when winter came along, it really did freeze except instead of not spinning out, the hose burst sending water everywhere.
I am sure you will be able to cancel your washer, and I hope you can laugh about it later, but in my house, nothing that goes wrong is worth laughing about, especially when lack of attention is given to the problem..Though of course by now we have a new washer and better insulation, it was a total nightmare and one I won't forget..
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 Jan 12
The room my washer is in has a lot of drafts, so it does get very cold. I didn't think it was cold enough to freeze, but apparently it was. We know now that we have to work on keeping that room warmer.
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
17 Jan 12
I know, I grew up in a home that was insulated, so when we moved into this home, I was shocked at the frozen pipes we had the first few years here...
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
21 Feb 12
We spent a month plunging close in out washer because it wouldn't agitate..but it filled up and would spin the close dry. We so needed a washer but neither had the money to get one off hand.. I was so tired of plunging clothes with a plunger. One day I was turning the control knob and it started washing..I was stumped.. so I put it back on heavy duty and again nothing...So I put it back on a different setting and it worked again. We found out the gears int he agitator was working for the heavy duty loads..we kept the washer for a few months till we were able to exchange it for a good used one..which we haven't had any trouble with in the few years we've had it. Ugh I hate when things break they break more often when we don't have the money to replace them hurriedly it seems.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
21 Feb 12
Shakes head...sighs...Close=clothes..don't ask me where my brain was in this post..lol
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
22 Feb 12
[b][/b][i][/i]
Oh god yes a clean plunger is always a necessity to keep on hand for when sinks and tubs get hair clogs and such..
Oh god yes a clean plunger is always a necessity to keep on hand for when sinks and tubs get hair clogs and such..@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
21 Feb 12
How frustrating.. after all that work all you had to do was change the setting!
I hope you were using a clean plunger!
@GardenGerty (160883)
• United States
17 Jan 12
Ages ago in my first house the washer and dryer were on a utility porch and the water into the washer would freeze. I was actually anticipating that you might have said that it turned out you just had not put the lid down and the washer would not work or spin out with out the lid down. I am thinking that with as large a household as you have, if you could hook up two sets of laundry equipment it would be a big help. I know someone who did that, but I cannot remember who. You will soon learn all the quirks of the house. You may have to put a space heater or a heat lamp in your utility area.
@GardenGerty (160883)
• United States
19 Jan 12
We used heat tapes around some of the hoses and that was our solution, but that may not be the solution you need. It depends on where the water is freezing up.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 Jan 12
I knew it wasn't the lid because it was at least making the whirring sound, which it wouldn't do on spin if the lid were up, plus hubby jammed a screwdriver in the hole to make it think the lid was closed. We put a space heater in there on Sunday and that didn't seem to help matters.. but at the moment we don't have any extra space heaters.
I'm usually okay about keeping up with the laundry as long as I can do it everyday. What prevents me from getting it done most of the time is the unwillingness to fold so much. I get the kids to help out from time to time so that I don't fall too far behind.
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
18 Jan 12
Hi kats! I've actually had a few washer/dryer nightmares. I've
had the hose pop off the sink while I was out at the store. The washer
is a portable one that moves to the sink and is an apartment size one.
By the time I got back my kitchen was flooded. Another time I knew something was stuck in the machinge so I called a repair service. I was so emgarrassed when he pulled out my underwire bra and a sock!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
18 Jan 12
I wouldn't feel too embarassed about that. I'm sure they've seen worse.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
18 Jan 12
You will definitly laugh about this one day Kat. Just not now. Or maybe you are smiling now? No, I've never had anything freeze out here but I have experience a washer breaking down when it was full of water and clothes. Not nice at all and in fact I do not think that I ever laughed about that.
did your husband manage to cancel the order? I hope so as it would save you the expense rght now that you do not need. let us know how it works out.
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
19 Jan 12
No I can't say I've had any experience like this.
But I've had loads in the washer not running just because I forgot to close the lid. Ours wouldn't run if the lid is left open. Often times I'd come back at the end of the day, or coming from an errand to see the washer full, with soap and everything, but haven't gone to through the cycle yet.
Then I just say doh!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
19 Jan 12
Mine will do everything with the lid open, except spin.. so I'd come home to the same problem. Thankfully I've never made that mistake. Though I have put dinner in the crockpot and left the house only to return to find out I never turned the crockpot on!
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
17 Jan 12
I live in a tropical country so, I don't really have to worry about snow or ice but rather how to cool myself off during the summer season. A decade ago when I was first learning to drive, it was on few occasions that my brother would let me take the car. And on that one day that he did, I was a bit flustered with all the worries and reminders that everyone hurled after me as I was getting into the car. I had a Japanese brand car that was new at that time and one of the functions that it had was a heater. Driving along I wondered why it was so hot when I had the aircon on. Turns out that I had the heater on and not the aircon and by then I was sweating like a pig. I never told anyone though about this because for sure I would look like a fool 
!
!
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 Jan 12
We were able to cancel it. At least with our taxes we can go elsewhere and get something we like better for less money. Although he gets a discount at work, it's still on the pricey side because their appliances are meant to be rented for twice what they're worth.
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
17 Jan 12
oh honey. its to bad you cant find a way to keep your washer in a warm area. also id be afraid of the pipes in your house freezing. i cant remeber how we used to keep that from happening when the weather got below. a new one cold freeze also
then what? i hope you figure a way to keep it warmer. @katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 Jan 12
Our pipes did freeze over Saturday night because our hot water wasn't working Sunday morning either.. but that was fixed pretty quickly. It still worked in the bathtub for some reason, so after running the water in the tub for awhile the rest of the faucets started working again.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Jan 12
Well, our washer and dryer is in the same room as our furnace and for that reason there is a little bit of ambiant warmth in the room even though it is not actually heated or air conditioned in there. But, the washer has never frozen up on me.
Now, there was the time when I was a teenager that my mother told me that I could spend the night at her other house and when I walked in there, there was water spewing from the ceiling in the utility room. It turned out that one of the pipes had busted and was spewing because of that. I had to call her right away to come down (45 miles away) and help me get it to stop.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 Jan 12
Our washer/dryer has never frozen, fortunately, but the in-laws' has..and that's due to the fact they had to move it into the garage to make way for their dishwasher in the kitchen..a dishwasher they use once a week, apparently.
Now, my MIL has gone "ar*e over t*t" a few times walking to this washing-machine, especially when we had the bad weather last year. I think it's actually been replaced fairly recently as my MIL breaks electricals on a regular basis. For example, she's had about 6 microwaves to our two. "Even Panasonics" she told me once.
Our washer/dryer is about 9 years old and is a manual version with knobs as opposed to buttons. I'm hoping it's gonna outlive me.
Now, my MIL has gone "ar*e over t*t" a few times walking to this washing-machine, especially when we had the bad weather last year. I think it's actually been replaced fairly recently as my MIL breaks electricals on a regular basis. For example, she's had about 6 microwaves to our two. "Even Panasonics" she told me once.
Our washer/dryer is about 9 years old and is a manual version with knobs as opposed to buttons. I'm hoping it's gonna outlive me. @russell_21 (210)
• India
17 Jan 12
Lucky you... At least your washer is working. Its normal for your washer to get frozen because of the cold weather. It has happened to me quite a few times and the first time it happened I never knew what was wrong with it. Now just hope that your hubby can cancel the order as you can save that money.
Dont get a new one now. Get it after your existing one breaks down.
@selinachang (55)
•
17 Jan 12
i have never experienced this situation ,but if my washer is broken,i think i would make efforts to fix it at first ,i won't consider to buy a new one unless it really can't be fixed .
