DIYbanter - View Single Post - Does anyone know how badly designed the conical LG washer/dryer drainfilter unit is?

Cydrome Leader

wrote:
As with many other products, modern residential washers need maintenance on a fairly regular basis. We have a 15 year old LG front-loader at our summer house, we just replaced our 12 year old (purchased reconditioned) LG at our main house. We replaced it because the fill valve and the drain valve failed together, and the parts and time involved for a machine that heavily used (7+ loads per week) mitigated towards a new unit that was more efficient, and has a few more features.

At the beginning of each quarter at home, we clean the drain sump. Takes ten (10) minutes at the outside. And we have pulled all sorts of *stuff* out of it. At the summer house, we do it at the end of each season as part of the winterizing process. That one gets, perhaps, one load per week.

Unlike the bad old days, when a washer used 40 gallons of water, and
lasted very nearly forever if not seriously abused, a modern washer will
use maybe 5 gallons of water, and needs a bit of care and feeding, or it
will not last very long at all. That is not the fault of the device, but
of the user not understanding their obligations towards achieve that
efficiency.

I call bull**** on this. While folks on usenet, in a repair group can
probably figure out preventative maintenance it's not listed in any
consumer product manual. There's no way LG user manual mentions anything
other than don't run a pump dry and contact a service professional for
anything else. modern appliances are pure junk, plain and simple. My
favorite is clogged codensate lines on fridges, moldy side load
washing machines and the $400 parts and labor "computer board" for
anything else.

1) it's a tube, operated by gravity. Manufacturers somehow mess this up,
it has to be on purpose.

2) wow, a big old V shaped gasket might trap water. Sure, I'll run two
loads, the second with vinegar or bleach to keep the machine from
rotting. Really saves water now, right?

There really isn't much maintenance the end user can perform on
appliances these days.

Remember when the only thing to go out on a stove was the oven light and
hot element ignitor, maybe once every 10 years? I've seen multiple stove
failures that resulted in the entire unit being scrapped due to electronic
problems. It's rediculous. Stoves don't need maintenance, don't have pumps
and still fail at a very high rate due to unnecessary electronics and
awful design practives what serve to only rip off the consumer.

As John Muir wrote about VWs - "Come to kindly terms with your ass, for
it bears you.". Come to terms with your machine and it will treat you
well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA