Our washer broke. It is pictured above on the left. This graphic is older than this blog, so that makes the washer between 15-20 years old. A few years ago, I fixed it when its water pump broke. Too many coins in trousers led to its death. The silver was fine, but the copper pennies corroded into razor sharp blades, cut through the pumps protective cage and made mincemeat of the pump’s plastic propeller. Even though Sears is no more, the Sears parts warehouse was still going strong. Watching YouTube videos, I figured out which part I needed and how to install it. That work extended the washers life several more years.

This time the washer just stopped midcycle. I tried cycling power on the machine but that did nothing. My other big problem, other than that the washer was not washing, was that the front loader door was locked. After watching hours of YouTube videos, I found the secret emergency unlocking mechanism and was able to free our wet clothes before they could mold. By that time Anne had called in a professional repairman who questioned me about what had happened, poked around some and then announced that the problem was either in the machine’s control console ($$$) or computer ($$$$). Both of which sounded expensive. He didn’t seem too keen on pursuing either avenue. With parts, the repair costs looked like it would amount to a sizeable portion of the cost of a new machine. So, taking his hint, we switched the conversation to what to look for in a new machine. Which is where we are now.

Update: Went to Menards. Got a Whirlpool. Delivery Wednesday. That was fast!