On 13 Feb 2006 11:40:17 -0800, mollymoonbeam wrote:

Thanks for that, but one of my friends said something today about
having to disconnect cold and hot water valves and having to use a
special tool to "cap off" these valves, and it was best to call out a
plumber. Is that right?

Only if they know your abilities (or lack of) very well. I wouldn't cap
the ends if a new machine is going straight in but would do something for
a longer term disconnection. The valves are easy to knock open and can
deposit a lot of water rather quickly...

Otherwise just take things slowly and carefully. Start with the power,
13A plug, simple switch off the socket and unplug. Next water supplies,
probably two, in flexable hoses. One red (hot) and one blue (cold). Where
these attach to the building pipework you will find a valve. Turn each
one off, just a 1/4 turn normally, the "handle" should end up cross ways
to the pipe. Next get a bucket, put it under where the hose join the
valves and try to undo the approx 1" dia coupling at the hose side of the
valve. If they have been done up for a while they might be very stiff and
need a large pair of pliers to get them moving. As the hose is slightly
flexable the water in the hose will be still be under a little pressure
so expect some water to escape once the coupling is loose. Uncouple the
hose and bung the end in the bucket, remember it is full of water. 4' of
hose holds about a pint, quite a mess in a puddle on the floor... Repeat
for the other hose. Waste probably just lifts out of a stand pipe but may
be plumbed into a trap. Again be aware that the waste pipe and low parts
of the machine will still have water in them, that bucket again for the
end.

The hard bits will probably be moving the machine, washing machines are
very heavy and getting half decent access to the connections.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail