A couple weeks ago, the washer filled but then wouldn’t agitate. Even after I pressed down on the back left corner. I was frustrated. I called Scott. I asked him which appliance repair he used for the vacation rental homes. He said he’d have to look it up and text it to me. While we were on the phone, the washer started agitating. As did I. I cannot tell you the hundreds of times Scott simply holds his mouth right, sometimes at distances of multiple thousands of miles, and the thing that absolutely Will. Not. work for me works for him. Clearly, I have a problem with my lips.
Last week, I suddenly noticed a VERY odd thing. I put the Tide and the water and the clothes in the washer as I have done probably thousands of times. I closed the lid. I pressed down on the back left corner, and nothing happened. I mean nothing. The lid didn’t click down or anything. But the washer ran its load just fine, and for the next week – for the first week in many years – I did laundry without pressing down on the back left corner. Well, I did press it, but just out of force of habit. Muscle memory, you know. And I was kind of sad. An era had clearly ended, and the loss was bittersweet.
Until Sunday evening, when Andrew came home from work and commenced to do his laundry. And he came up to the office and said, “Well, I think the washer just died.” This was not pleasant news. Scott was resting his aching muscles in a tub of hot water, so I went down to investigate. Sure enough, nothing at all on the washer worked. It was full of water, Tide, and dirty clothes. I pushed and pulled the control knob, tried to get it to add more water, and (for good measure) pressed down on the back left corner, all to no avail.
Andrew fished his wet clothes out into a bucket and I went to report the situation to Scott. Who dressed and investigated it personally and announced that he thought the computer on the washer had died. Oh, dear. That sounded expensive to repair. And would it even be worth it? Or would we need to buy a new washer? And we only had one more day of socks and underwear. The laundromat in Hollister? And if we did have to buy a new washer (ugh!), the worst thing would be that it’s getting mighty hard to even find the kind of washer I like. Sigh.
I went to bed.
Monday, Scott told me that the guy from Mintex was going to come by around 5:00 on his way home.
Chris did, yea and verily show up about 5:00 PM, and I have to say that he was the most cheerful, friendly, and personable repairman I have ever met. Truly a delight. We joked about the washer not washing and when he got into the laundry room, I decided to risk sounding like a total ditz. “I do need to tell you about this washer, but this is going to sound pretty crazy.”
“???” (with raised eyebrows)
“Well, we’ve had it for many years and for at least five years,” (although now that I think about it, Katie’s been gone over seven years and I’m sure it was that way when she lived here), “in order to get it to agitate, you have to close the lid and then,” (feeling truly sheepish), “well, you have to push down on the back left corner to get it going.”
And Chris exclainmed, “Yes, you do!!! You are EXACTLY right! I know what’s wrong with your machine, and I’m going to show you WHY you have to push down on the back left corner. Then I’m going to fix it, and you won’t have to push down on the back left corner ever again.”
He then proceeded to take the top of the thing apart and remove a certain item, which see. (The upper, gray, cross-shaped part is the guts of it. The white part is the cover, which I have removed for your viewing pleasure.)
Chris snapped the white plastic lid off the whatever-it-was and announced dramatically, “You. . . need a lid switch. Your lid switch is fried.” And he went out to his truck and brought in a new one.
He showed us how (as you can clearly see) part of the old one was black inside. “It’s burnt up. I’ve seen ’em much worse; sometimes the whole thing is black and the plastic is actually melted.”
He then tipped the cover of the washer forward and invited me to look beneath it, at the place where the lid switch mounts, under the back left corner of the lid. “See that metal hooked bar that sticks up there?” I saw it. “When you close the lid, that bar is supposed to engage the switch to start the agitation. “But!” he said, enthusiastically, “Like many others of its kind, this machine wasn’t made quite right, and we see this all the time. The bar is about a quarter inch too short, and that’s why you have to press down on the back left corner. So, you were absolutely right.”
He installed the new switch and manually bent the bar upwards, so that now, when you close the lid, in fact, about an inch before the lid is even fully closed, the switch engages and the agitation begins. Voila!
Evidently, this is a very common problem, but to me the nicest thing was that I felt vindicated. Our back left corner really was the key to the whole thing. = ) His bill was higher than I thought it should be, but since I got service the same day, and since he was so clever and well-spoken, and since he fixed my problem, and since I learned something, and since it turns he’s a fellow follower of Jesus, I decided not to begrudge him his high fee.
If you are in the Taney County area and need appliance service, call Mintex (417-335-8308).
Walnuts on My Windshield 