Our washing machine tried breaking down again. This time it was the upper agitator that stopped working. I've noticed lately that it wasn't rotating the clothes all that well. Last week, Kate stuffed the washer full, and the clothes didn't turn around at all. It took several cycles to get the soap all the way out.
The part that grabs the agitator and turns it had worn down to the point that it was basically useless. Options - fix the washer or replace the washer. I don't have the money right now for the washer I want to replace the current one with, so I explored repair of the washer, likely not for the last time...
Last week, I found a parts website - http://www.repairclinic.com - they made it very easy to find the replacement part. It cost me $10 plus $5 shipping, and the parts came in 5 days, including a public holiday where there was no mail.
While waiting for the part, we did half full loads, so the bottom agitator, which still worked, could move the clothes around in the water. With nine people in the house, laundry piles very fast if you are only doing half loads.
The part came, and I spent a good 45 minutes trying to get the bolt off the agitator, so I could replace the part. I was using a socket and a straight attachment to try to take it off, not a socket wrench. This clearly wasn't working, so I borrowed a long extender from my friend Chad. It took about 30 seconds to get the thing off with the extender and a socket wrench. (Thanks again, Chad!) Proper torque beats brute force any day.
Anyway, the washer works as designed again, even with a full load. Now I can make Emma take that jacket off that she wears every single day...
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