Home Repair Continued.

I did it! More work is needed, but I did it. I got the washer back to working. I got to the parts place yesterday and it took me about 45 minutes to finally get the right part. The lady behind the desk kept giving me the wrong part and there were a lot of people in line, so I took the part number and started looking. I told her to go ahead and wait on the other people. I found a part that looked like mine, but it had two electrical connections on one end instead of just one like my part. So finally after she waits on everyone, she pulls a diagram up on the computer and as soon as I see it, I say number 11. I know that number because I’ve seen the same diagram many times. We finally figured out the part she had is a substitute part, so I take it. BTW there was one guy there who was returning a piece for a dryer. It was his fifth time there for the wrong piece. He told the lady that she had ordered the right piece, but they sent him something completely different. He told the lady, he found the right piece over at another store and he’s just there for a refund.

I got back home and went to work. I found out that taking a part out isn’t as easy as putting it back into a machine. I’ve always known this, but I’ve never been sure why it’s this way. As I said, the new part had two connectors on one end and I go ahead and hook the ends together. It takes me forever to get the whole assembly screwed back into place. I get the entire washer back together and it doesn’t work. My first thought is the connectors. I must have hooked up the wrong one on the two-connector end. So I take the washer apart again and get the assembly and connectors out again. On the two-connector end, I connect to the other one. I go through the whole thing of getting the assembly back in and the washer together again. I crossed my fingers and toes and put it on spin. IT WORKS!!!!!

I’m yelling at Fmom, “IT WORKS” and she’s acting like a miracle has happened. I’m feeling very smug about my accomplishment and I close the lid. The spinning stops. I open the lid. The spinning starts. This is backward. It’s supposed to be, spin with the lid down. My smugness disappears and Fmom is in her, “You did your best, honey” mode. By this time I’m fed up with taking the thing apart and putting it back together, so I go ahead and let it run a cycle with the lid up. It works, but with the lid up.

Today I’m going to try again. Since the part is a rectangular piece I figured I put it in backward so it’s reading the lid switch wrong. It will probably be another thirty minutes to an hour to do the entire thing, but I’m going to get it. Maybe two out of ten of my home repair projects work out. So although it works, I’m going to make it work right today. Wish me luck.

Oh, I forgot to add. Today I'm going to look at the instructions that came with the replacement part.