When Does a Quarter=$615??

We have had ongoing dryer issues for a few months now. It is a good dryer; here is the type we have because others that own this should know all about this too!! Though anyone can have this issue.

Here's the run down of events:

The ‘power failure’ (shows PF on our machine) warning came on in April. The service company that we called said it was electrical, not the machine—paid him $145.

The electrician came and moved the machine around, checked the plug, tweaked the electrical panel and moved the machine back and viola, it worked—paid him $85.

Fast forward to July and it happened again. This time we started with the electrician first. Seemed obvious right? Well, he’d tweaked all he could and found nothing wrong so sorry but I don’t know what it is—paid him $85.

So then we called the service company again. He at first said it must be the electrical but when we argued about the electrician already coming and looking at it, he said he’d investigate further. Well, he opened up the inside of the machine and laughed. He then proceeds to show me all the money in the mechanisms of my machine. Like 9 coins!!!! Two coins were lodged in with the electrical connectors and one quarter in particular was the issue. Well, wait, lets back up, the ISSUE is really a husband who can’t take his change and screws and business cards out of his pockets! Okay, so the repair man takes the quarter out of the electrical connector and look at this quarter!! Who knew a quarter could burn????? He handed it to me and said “here’s your expensive souvenir”. Yikes.

So he takes the money out but surprise! It still doesn’t work. The surges from the coin and shock to the system have crashed the main power board. So he replaced it and now it works—paid him $300!!!!!!

He said this was probably the same issue back in April but our moving the machine around jiggled it enough to let it work for a while. $615 and ALL of this for a quarter! So I figured out the start of the joke “When does a quarter=$615?” But I don’t know the actual punch line. Regardless, it’s not really funny now is it?

Here are things I learned about this issue as well as some washer issues:

-Many dryers let money get out of the drum and into the mechanisms but these frontloaders allow it to happen more often—it just slips right through the filter and the electrical is right below. SO, avoid all coins and also don’t let your filter get too full. I started a fire in another dryer by washing a dry clean only rug that just broke apart into lint years ago so I can speak on this too. Ha! As in, flames and extinguisher kind of fire. Yup. My husband was as amused with me then as I am with him right now.

-Screws and nails can fall through the holes in the washer, which is something that my husband also leaves in his pocket, and then as the drums spin, it will slice electrical lines and slash the outer drum in the washer that holds the water. Uuummmmm, that sounds expensive.

-Who gets a musty smell in their washer? I do! I thought I’d bug him with questions while he was working and he said that all front loading machines get some odor but some can be worse if your water isn’t great. I have a well so there ya go. Because of the high efficiency and low water levels, the machine gets a build up and never really rinses off. They sell tablets that you can use but that hasn’t worked long for me. Not only are they expensive but I have also ordered them online since they are hard to find. That’s time consuming on top of costly. So here’s his tip: Once a month put cascade dishwashing powder in the machine and run it on whitest whites or your longest wash. He said it doesn’t sud so no problem. It cuts grease and breaks down the lime build up and removes the issue! I will try that soon. Once I’m done catching up on all my laundry that is!

I always thought that the problem with coins in pockets is that it is ANNOYING to listen to, I had NO idea it was a risk to the machine and an obvious safety hazard! Show this to your husbands!

Kiersten