Front-Loader Issues

Several years ago we transitioned from the old-fashioned top-loader washing machine to the modern, fancy-dancy front-loader. Everyone said it was much better than the old ones: more convenient, more efficient, more durable, better for the environment, etc..

It does have a few little quirks, though. For instance, they recommend that you leave the front loading door open when not in use.

We didn't discover the reason for this recommendation until we discovered, much to our horror, that the front-loading door seal/gasket/thingie on our washer had turned into a mildew factory. And we didn't make this discovery via our eyes, but rather with our noses. The entire laundry room started to smell really bad. It wasn't hard to pinpoint the source of the smell, either. Just open the washing machine door and take a good, long whiff. Eww!

So we ordered a new seal for the machine and I pulled the old one out and installed the new one over the course of a couple days. Due to the extremely strong wire-and-spring mechanism used to ensure a good seal, it took me several hours of pain and torture -- and the purchase of a special spring-stretching tool online -- to install it.

I'm lucky to have all my fingers after that little jaunt into the world of appliance repair.

But this wasn't the only anomaly which presented itself with this particular design. At some time after we'd been using it for awhile, water started leaking out the front of the unit -- just under the dispenser drawer -- and onto the floor (which is just above the basement bedroom). We called the Help line for LG and were able to speak with a few different people (in some far-off land where English is not the primary language, e.g. India, Philippines, etc.) who assured us that it was due to the fact that we were not using the correct detergent; we were supposed to be using the liquid concentrate instead of the powder. That sounded completely ludicrous to me, so instead of taking their idiotic advice, I tore the washer apart and discovered that there was no one-way flapper valve to prevent the water from back-flowing into the dispenser once the fill/rinse cycle began, so every time the basket started to turn, it would fling water back through the dispenser mechanism and out onto the floor. Genius!

The little computer within the washing machine (everything has to have a computer inside these days) precisely calculates the amount of water to use for the rinse/wash cycles by 'weighing' the clothes and determining how much water is needed to ensure every nook and cranny of the clothing is filled with cleansing suds. But if the clothes are already wet, as sometimes occurs when those 'clothes' happen to be wet towels which have been used to mop up the occasional spill, the little computer will over-estimate the amount of water needed because it doesn't realize that the fabric is already completely saturated. The result is an overfill; too much water in the basket for the amount of fabric to be washed. Thus when the basket begins to roll to and fro, the excess water will back-flow up through the basket inflow hose. And since there is no backflow valve, that water rushes back up the hose and into the dispenser and then out onto the floor.

So we have to be careful about the types of things we put in the wash. Pre-saturated items must be thoroughly wrung out first.

(Also, we had to buy a shallow pan to put underneath the washing machine just in case it leaks for any other reason, it doesn't end up flooding the basement!)

As if that weren't enough, lately it began leaking from the bottom of the door. Not a lot, and only during specific cycles (i.e. Delicates) which was very confusing. It took us a few observations to discover that the water splashing up onto the front glass during those cycles was then coming down through a vent hole in the outer door seal -- a hole which is not a tear or rip in the seal but one which is apparently designed to be there! -- and then into the shallow pan.

But why now? Why after all this time? Another mystery to ponder.

My only recourse at this point, I suppose, is to order new inner and outer seals and replace both of them, and then see what happens. Of course, they aren't cheap. The inner seal is somewhere in the neighborhood of $90. I haven't priced the outer seal yet.

I'm beginning to miss the old top-loader.