Old one got a tear in the front and was leaking water on the floor. Had to take apart a bunch of the machine, and I gotta say that the two seals (inner drum and outer casing) were both tricky to get on properly.
Doing a test load of laundry now, and there’s no leaks (so far), so that’s pretty excellent
A good trick to know for this task is to spread some detergent on the portion of the seal that will sit on the metal flanges just before mating those surfaces. That helps make the seal repositionable for a bit and makes it easier to slide the seal on. The detergent will dry out and won’t negatively affect the attachment of the seal long term.
Yup, I did that and it helped tremendously
This is a thing?! Sharing small victories of daily life?!
First things, first: congratulations on that task. It can be a daunting task. But the feeling of accomplishment is just so… fullfilling.
It was definitely a dull task, however daunting
I’m aware. Especially dealing with those very thing spring wires… it can be taxing.
Of all the menial chores, none are more satisfying than well performed maintenance.
These seals are a real pain indeed, but $50 and an afternoon of sweat is indeed worth several more years of life on a perfectly decent appliance.
Those door seals are why I’ll never buy a front load washer again. Top loaders are so much better!
They use way more water which is in scarce supply here because it all gets allocated to megacorps to grow tropical plants in the desert for profit :( (California)
Smart ones don’t. They weigh the clothes and measure the water they use!
Also: apologies. I live in Canada which is currently a frozen wasteland. A huge amount of the fresh produce I eat was grown in California! We also have far more water than we know what to do with thanks to the Great Lakes!
Even then, the energy star requirements for power and water are more lax for top loaders than front loaders because they literally couldn’t compete otherwise. It’s kinda a dumb, misleading system.
Ahhh maybe. But laundry is such a tiny part of our overall water budget. We use vastly more water for showers and dishes (still haven’t found a dishwasher that doesn’t need pre-rinsing, despite what Technology Connections says).
As for power, the dryer uses vastly more than the washer and the whole energy star system for that is a scam of Volkswagen proportions. They achieve the energy star rating by giving you damp clothes at the end of the default cycle. We end up running the damn thing on the “more” setting which conveniently turns off the “energy star” light. In other words, if you want dry clothes the energy star rating goes right out the window!
That’s a good point, optimizing the wrong things can be a real distraction!
Nope, kills my back
Hear hear
Don’t even know how the old one tore in the first place.
My seal is getting a bit funky. Maybe cleaning will stave off need for future replacement.
But I’m presently selling my house so maybe leave it for the next owners. Which some might consider slightly evil.
You’ve almost inspired me to change my freezer seal instead of just adding more Vaseline when I can feel cold air leaking.
You can also do it the lazy (and cheaper) way and get one of those toddler fridge locks to hold it shut
Why not caulk it? I imagine if you put something like cling wrap on the door to prevent it from sticking together, that’ll work well enough.
The Vaseline works and can’t be seen from the outside at all
I meant as a more permanent fix. Sounds like the Vaseline is just temporary.
You can use clear caulk.
Oh yeah, I have the gasket for a permanent fix when it’s time for that.
Primo work. That sounds like a real pickle for sure!
This is actually very interesting.
Nice job, man!
excellent fixes are indeed excellent
