Download a PDF version of this transcript

Repairclinic.com Call Center: 1-888-34-FIXIT (1-888-343-4948)
Open 8:00AM to Midnight EST Seven Days a Week

Topics Discussed:

• 1999 Whirlpool Washing Machine, Model LA5200XTF0, Leaking Inside the Tub
• Maytag Gas Dryer Squealing at Start Up
• Maytag Top Loading Washing Machine Has a Bad Odor Coming From the Drain Line
• Kenmore Gas Range Top Burners Will Not Light
• 2001 Kenmore Side By Side Refrigerator Water Line Keeps Freezing
• Whirlpool Dishwasher, Model DU810SWLQ0, Not Pumping All the Water Out
• 2004 Maytag Gas Range Grates are Uneven
• Installing a Water Filter in a Side By Side Refrigerator
• 2006 Whirlpool Duet Washing Machine with a Musty Odor

1999 Whirlpool Washing Machine, Model LA5200XTF0, Leaking Inside the Tub

JOHN MCCULLOCH

We'll start out with Jim, in Dexter, with a question on a Whirlpool washing machine, here on the Appliance Repair Show. Good morning, Jim. Go ahead, please.

JIM

Good morning. Thank you for taking my call.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling this morning.

JIM

I have an older Whirlpool washing machine. It's an LA5200. It's probably at least ten years old. When it's filling with water and I have the soap in there I see a yellow streak amongst the suds which I'm assuming is oil and I'd like to figure out how to address that.

JOHN SOWDEN

You're getting oil on your clothing?

JIM

It's rare that I've seen anything. I did two loads, separate loads of whites, a while ago and I did see some brown, patches on the clothes. I don't know if something else has gotten in there. Whenever I fill it and there's suds formed on the top I see a yellow streak in the suds.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, well there are a few things to consider here. If you're not getting oil or grease on the clothes that doesn't necessarily mean you're not getting some residual leaking up through the shaft on the agitator (part # 387838) which is probably where it's coming from. It could be a transmission (part # 3360629) problem, the seal at the top. One thing that you can do is remove the agitator and look on the underside of that and see if you see if there are more signs of a leak, an oil leak, a build up underneath the agitator and on yours you need to pull up the fabric softener dispenser and then there's a small little cover that you pull out and there's a bolt (part # 358237) that goes down through.

JIM

Right, I've taken that out and I've seen it looks like there may be some grease applied on there but I don't see anything that looks like maybe oil leaking.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, there are normally a small amount of grease that they put on the dog ears or the cogs (part # 80040) that lock into place when you're agitating.

JIM

Actually, this doesn't have the dog ears. It's a single...It's not a two way agitator (part # 387838).

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. But when you pull off and look in the inside where the agitator shaft goes up inside the agitator you do not see any residue or anything of that nature?

JIM

No.

JOHN SOWDEN

Normally, if you have a leak coming up through there that would get into that spot. Now the other thing that can cause streaking, often mistaken for oil leaks and things of that nature, is either a soap buildup around the outer tub (part # 63125) and/or fabric softener buildup inside the machine and that's something that you probably want to inspect by looking at the outer tub and on your unit the cabinet (part # 63424) comes off pretty easy. We have instructions on how to do that on our website, RepairClinic.com, and if you go to the "Contact Us" and put in your email address and that you've got a Whirlpool washer, model, all that good stuff, there's some documents you can print out that'll give you step by step on how to remove the cabinet. It's a plastic outer tub and you, once you remove it you might see a nice ring along the top that's just from, you know, residue over time. You can also kind of cheat that if you use the high washer setting on hot and then add a few pitchers of water on top of that so you bring it up a little bit higher on there, so normally if it's a transmission (part # 3360629) leak you're going to see it mostly in your clothes and normally going to see it on the underside, not always, and the other possibility again is just a buildup of stuff that's kind of hiding out around the outer tub that its released as you use the machine.

JIM

If it does turn out to be a transmission leak, I did a little research, I saw some diagrams and it looks like there some sort of a gasket on the inner tub and then there's like a block that sits on top of that and then the nut. Would that be the next thing to do?

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah. To replace the transmission and the brake assembly (part # 285792), it could be that where they call the spin tube, where the transmission comes up through that, those seals could be failing. You could be getting a little bit of leakage through there but normally there is not a lot of oil in that area. But yeah, the next thing would be to pull the inner tub and as you said you have to take off the lock ring and the locking hub (part # 21366) to get that off. The inner tub sits on that, that little hub there. The transmission you slide out through the bottom, if you need to remove that, and you normally need to lay the washer on its back and having the cabinet off makes it a lot easier so it might be apparent to you once you've got the cabinet (part # 63424) off what's going on there because as I said there the tub is almost a clear plastic tub where you can see inside and you can go from there as far what's causing it, but again normally if you got a constant transmission (part # 3360629) leak or, you know, oil in that area, you're going to find it on all your clothes even periodically you're going to have something that won't wash out.

JIM

Okay, I'll check out the soap buildup. One last question, where can I get a wrench (part # TB123A) for that nut if I do need to get it off?

JOHN SOWDEN

RepairClinic.com

JIM

I looked on your site. I didn't see it there.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, here's the part number.

JIM

Okay.

JOHN SOWDEN

It's T as Tom, B as in Boy, 123A.

JIM

Okay, thank you very much for all your help.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling this morning.

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And, we have a new phone at RepairClinic.com in case you don't get through today here on the show and a pretty good number, easy to remember, 1-888-34-FIXIT.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, they had to make it easy for me.

Maytag Gas Dryer Squealing at Start Up

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Well, they made it easy for everybody, 888-34-FIXIT, after the show, if you have questions and also that would be translated for those of you who don't like to pick around for the letters that's 1-888-343-4948. Let's get back to the phones. To Steve, in Shelby Township, on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Steve, go ahead.

STEVE

Yes, it's a Maytag gas dryer. It sounds like a bearing noise when you first start it up it squeals real bad and about a week later the noise just went away and I also checked the belt tensioner, the belt, and kind of looked around. I couldn't find anything wrong. Is there a reason why it went away?

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, good luck would be my first thought as far as, normally a loud squealing noise at start up that's intermittent would in the belt tensioners or the rollers on the back of the drum that cause that. When you took it apart to inspect it did you clean up all those areas, get all the dust out of there?

STEVE

Yes, I did.

JOHN SOWDEN

You may have cured the problem by just getting rid of a lot of the debris that could be getting into the bearing. Now that that's all cleaned up and you said they don't look really worn if it continues to periodically make this noise especially on start up and then it goes away, I would then suspect the motor itself, the bearing on the motor. What happens is on start up, motor's cold, and it'll squeal for a little while and then after it heats up it'll start to squeal. I've seen that where sometimes it'll go one or two loads and then all of a sudden it will start squealing, so if it's not making...

STEVE

Yes.

JOHN SOWDEN

I'm sorry, go ahead.

Maytag Top Loading Washing Machine Has a Bad Odor Coming From the Drain Line

STEVE

On the washer, the Maytag washer, when you do your clothes and after like 24 hours to do another load and you start it up you get a real bad foul smell coming out of the tube or the drain line. Is there a reason for that?

JOHN SOWDEN

Is this a front loader or a top loader?

STEVE

Top loader.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay and you're getting a smell in the drain line?

STEVE

Yes.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, it could be coming from either the household plumbing; you know the stand pipe whatever there could be something in there. The machine is made to hold water in the pump assembly and sometimes a little bit in the bottom of tub. There's always going to be standing water there. If you don't use it a lot it's possible that you could have some stuff in there stagnating. I would just run it empty with a hot water setting and a good dose of bleach and see if that doesn't cure that.

STEVE

All right, thanks.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling.

Kenmore Gas Range Top Burners Will Not Light

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And we go now to John, in Grosse Pointe, with a gas stove question here on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi John, go ahead, please.

JOHN

Hey good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my call.

JOHN SOWDEN

Good morning.

JOHN

I think this stove is a Kenmore and it's a unique stove in that there's a microwave that's physically attached to it on the top part, if you will.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, is this an older machine then?

JOHN

Yes, it is.

JOHN SOWDEN

About 70's vintage?

JOHN

I can't say. It came with the house when I bought it. And, my question is when I go to turn on the gas for the front burners it's not starting and for the heck of it I put a match there to see if I was getting gas through the line and the burners started right up. I played around with the different burners, you know to try and get them all to start to see where the igniter was sparking. And the igniter sparks, I guess, its set up in the rear burner, like, the rear left burner, I believe. So even, I turn on the front burner to start it you always see the igniter sparking in the rear burner.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yes, it depends how it's wired. Sometimes when you turn on any burner all the burners igniters will spark. Sometimes when you turn it on, the left side will spark if you've turned on the left side or the right side. So, it really depends on how the spark module is wired for that particular unit. So for them all to spark when you turn on just one burner might just be normal operation of how that unit is configured. If it's not lighting that one particular burner then I would look at the burner itself and normally along the side of it there's some really small holes that the pilot gas kind of comes out and hits the spark area. If those are plugged you're not going to get very good ignition. If you need to clean those out, use something very, very small. Sometimes a pin, a sewing needle, is too large and you can enlarge those holes and then you have other troubles so you want to definitely use something that's really small sometimes a small strand of wire or something to clean those out. If those are clean and you hear it sparking and it's just not sparking on that burner, it's possible that either the spark module has failed for that output for that particular station or it's possible that the electrode, the little ceramic thing that's normally mounted underneath there, is either dirty, cracked, or misaligned where the spark is not jumping to the metal burner assembly and allowing the gas to light.

JOHN

Okay.

JOHN SOWDEN

There are several things for you to get into.

JOHN

Well, fortunately, I have one of those warranty programs with the local power company. Unfortunately also I'm not home a lot, so I'm challenged to take advantage of it. But, trying the wire through it and then maybe taking a shop vac in case there's any residue that might be around there you know to suck it up and you always try the easy approach first and then take it from there.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, and also make sure you read your contract to see what is covered and not covered. Normally, there are a lot of things that they have on the inclusion list and a lot of things on the exclusion list so it really depends on what you have and what parts they will cover.

JOHN

I'm with you. I just like doing this stuff myself first.

JOHN SOWDEN

Well you're my kind of guy because that's what RepairClinic's all about is trying to help the do-it-yourselfer. If you have any other questions or concerns you can always visit our website, send us an email ask a direct question if you have one and otherwise, it sounds like you're getting gas through the main gas valve to that. It's just not lighting. It's either an ignition failure with the spark or those little ports on the side of the burner if you had a boil over or something, sometimes those will get crusted over.

JOHN

Got it, got it. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling.

2001 Kenmore Side By Side Refrigerator Water Line Keeps Freezing

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Here's James, in Hudson, Indiana, with a refrigerator question on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi James, go ahead please.

JAMES

Good morning.

JOHN SOWDEN

Good morning.

JAMES

Thank you for taking my call.

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, thank you for calling this morning.

JAMES

I got a side by side Kenmore refrigerator that the icemaker line that's in the roof that goes across from the back to the icemaker itself freezes up.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

JAMES

And, I guess my main question is before I get to fiddling with the controls what should be the temperature within the freezing unit?

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, the freezer should be zero to eight degrees.

JAMES

Well, right, I pulled it out this morning and it's exactly four.

JOHN SOWDEN

That's right were it should be then. You can turn the controls up or down and get it to get either the higher or low end of that depending on what you need but four degrees is plenty. The icemaker water line freezing, the part that comes in, the tube that fills the icemaker, can be caused from several conditions. One is low water pressure, so if you have this on a filtered system, RO system, something like that, it can cause it to freeze up. The water valve that sends the water to that actually needs a constant back pressure of around 18 to 20 psi to positively shut off that valve. And if you have a low water condition, low water pressure condition the valve might not seat all the way and then what happens is you have a few drops of water trickle in after each fill and it eventually, with each fill, will freeze a little more, a little more, until you actually block that tube over. So, you want to check the water inlet pressure to the water valve if you got one of those self piercing shut off valves downstairs in the basement, the one thing you can do, is turn it on and off and sometimes you can clear out that small little hole. A lot of time, they have sediment that plugs those over and reduces the water. I normally recommend if you're going to use that, they have a style, what they call a drill style, where you drill either a 3/16 or a 1/4" hole into the pipe itself and then this shut off which looks just like the one you have but it actually has a larger opening in it and you normally get a much better pressure against that water valve.

JAMES

Okay.

JOHN SOWDEN

If all that looks good and you're still having issues...how old is the machine?

JAMES

It was manufactured in 2001 and we've had it in the home since November of 2001.

JOHN SOWDEN

And this is the first issue you've had with it?

JAMES

No, this has happened a couple times.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, if it continues, one make sure the water getting to the machine is in good shape and if it continues I'd replace the water inlet valve because at times as I stated they will stick open. Water pressure is an issue but sometimes they just will mechanically fail. What I mean stick open, it just allows a few drops of water to trickle in after your initial fill. Just disconnect that from the water valve, your water line going to the refrigerator. Get a bucket and turn the water back on in the basement or wherever you have it hooked up and see what kind of flow you have. De-ice the valve or the tube and see what you get. If it continues on then I'd, and if you have good water pressure, I'd replace the valve. One thing to make sure of though while de-icing that tube with a hairdryer or whatever you're using, don't melt the plastic liner. That can happen if you get too much heat in there.

JAMES

A hair dryer has been used in the past by, you know, an appliance guy we called in and also we've used a heating pad and sooner or later by using a little section on the line, it clears itself out and then it's back in operation but it's an annoyance.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, and sometimes what happens is if that line freezes and it continues to fill it can start pushing that water out the back of the refrigerator and it starts dripping down the back wall and you don't notice it until you look and your floor is buckled. I would definitely take action on that.

Whirlpool Dishwasher, Model DU810SWLQ0, Not Pumping All the Water Out

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And here's Paul, in Brighton, with a question on a Whirlpool dishwasher on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Paul, go ahead.

PAUL

Hey. How you doing today?

JOHN SOWDEN

We're doing fine, thank you.

PAUL

Good, thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it.

JOHN SOWDEN

What's your question today, Paul?

PAUL

My sister-in-law has a Whirlpool dishwasher and it doesn't pump all the water out.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

PAUL

She doesn't use it very often maybe once a month type thing and, I took the pump (part # W01247394) off...Can I ask you something real quick?

JOHN SOWDEN

Sure.

PAUL

I got your manuals (part # W10131216) off line, the one that I can copy.

JOHN SOWDEN

Right.

PAUL

Tells you what's wrong with it. It says that I can access the pump blade or the rotating fan whatever you call it.

JOHN SOWDEN

The impeller (part # 4386996).

PAUL

Impeller, there you go. I actually had to take the pump (part # W01247394) off to get at that.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, that's normally the case. You have to disassemble it and have a look in there and see what's going on.

PAUL

Now that looked fine.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

PAUL

I did take the pump off but I could not get that out without...looked like destroying the pump.

JOHN SOWDEN

You need to separate the pump and the motor (part # W10247394) normally to get at that.

PAUL

Is that feasible to do?

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, you can rebuild it. If you look at the components on our website with the model that you have you can see the different pieces so it gives you a better idea of what it looks like apart, to disassemble it. Now when you say it's not pumping all the water out, is it dirty water or clean water in the machine?

PAUL

It appears to be clean.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

PAUL

It seems to be clean and the dishes fine. And like I said, she doesn't use it very often. Everything seems to work fine.

JOHN SOWDEN

And there are no leaks on the underside of the unit when you got into the motor pump assembly (part # W10247394)?

PAUL

Nope, only when I started disconnecting everything it leaked.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah.

PAUL

I did clean the drain line (part # 3374077).

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

PAUL

That seems to be clean.

JOHN SOWDEN

Right.

PAUL

All the lines, everything seems to be clean. I could get air through the pump when I had it disassembled, not disassembled but off the machine. The motor works fine. And then what I did it's apparently its one of these, it goes, the motor (part # W10247394) goes in reverse when it's pumping the water out.

JOHN SOWDEN

That is correct. It turns one way for wash and then the other way to drain.

PAUL

Right. Now that seemed to work fine.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay. So electrically it is doing what it is suppose to do.

PAUL

Apparently.

JOHN SOWDEN

And now where does the drain line hook up to? Does it go to an air gap (part # 300096) or to the disposer?

PAUL

It goes to a disposer (part # L20-C).

JOHN SOWDEN

Now is the drain line (part # 3374077) at some point higher then the top of the dishwasher or higher then the top of the sink to where the disposal is at?

PAUL

No.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

PAUL

But it's quite a bit higher then the pump (part # 8283457).

JOHN SOWDEN

Right. What can happen is, you need a loop in the drain line and normally a lot of the dishwashers nowadays will have it where the drain line is routed to go right up over the back or side and goes as high as the tank itself. So, if you have the drain line going from the pump, kind of running laterally or on an incline up to the disposal what can happen is as you use your sink and disposal (part # L20-C) you are actually pushing stuff back down into the pump assembly.

PAUL
When I took the drain line (part # 3374077) off the disposer; the drain line is quite a ways. I would say it's about four feet and its just a little clear tube.

JOHN SOWDEN

Right, but it should be looped. What I would normally do is, as it comes into the cabinet underneath where the disposal's at, I would normally try to loop it up as high to the top of the sink as you could and then down to the disposal because what can happen is if you fill the sink up, you know, put a stopper in there and you it fill it full of hot water, pull the plug, that water is going to push and push down back into the dishwasher. Not running it all the time can cause it to have that water sit in there. If its clean water, the problem might not be in the drain at all. If every month or so she goes to open it up and she sees water sitting in there, the water could actually be leaking by the water inlet valve (part # 8283345) or the supply side of that.

PAUL

Oh, okay.

JOHN SOWDEN

So that's why I asked you if it was clean or dirty. After you put this all back together and test ran it, after the cycle was complete. Did you open it up and see what was in there?

PAUL

Yes.

JOHN SOWDEN

And?

PAUL

And the bottom was full of water. And then I did try to pump it out again and it did pump some of it out but not all of it. I'm kind of wondering if it's the timer (part # 8535372).

JOHN SOWDEN

It could be, but normally, it's going to fill a minute and a half or so goes through the cycle, washes, it'll stop, reverse the motor (part # W10247394) and run for another minute and a half. Assuming the drain line (part # 3374077) is clear everything else is fine, that's normally plenty of time to evacuate that whole dishwasher. So, at this point, I would make sure that you don't have a couple of blades on that impeller (part # 4386996) broken off or they're not worn down where you're not pushing the water through or you could have something caught inside the pump assembly (part # 8283457) in one of those ports you could have part of a wine glass something like that that's causing it not to pump out.

PAUL

When I had it out, everything looked fine. I don't know if it wore so evenly that I'm missing that.

JOHN SOWDEN

Normally not, if something's broken and gets in there, its going to shear off one of those vanes.

PAUL

Well, that all seemed to be fine then. Now I know that the spray arm (part # W10164258), it's seemed to be really loose.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah.

PAUL

That's normal?

JOHN SOWDEN

Yes, some of them are and it's just the water pressure that drives that. If it's not draining out, the one other thing that you can check before you replace the timer (part # 8535372), which I don't think it is, is there's normally a timing chart on the unit, on the wiring diagram, and it will show you in sequence, minute by minute, of what it does when you select a cycle. So if you select normal wash, it'll say its going to fill for 90 seconds and you get eight minutes of wash and then two minute drain and you can walk it through and if it is close to that in the timing chart then the timer is doing what it is suppose to do and now you've got a mechanical issue where either the pump is restricted, the drain hose (part # 3374077) could have something stuck in it half way, its not allowing it to push it all the way out or something is being allowed to sneak back in between cycles. It's not allowed to pump it out. From what you're describing, I'd still go after the drain and the pump assembly.

PAUL

Okay, the pump assembly (part # W10247394) then...Like I said, I took it off and everything's fine. So that probably shouldn't be the problem.

JOHN SOWDEN

Right but I'd still inspect all the hose. Literally take it out, take it outside and flush it out. Because if it sits for a long period of time, you could have for lack of better word, crud built up inside the drain line that's just not allowing it in the time needed to drain.

PAUL

Okay, thanks John. I really appreciate it.

2004 Maytag Gas Range Grates are Uneven

JOHN MCCOLLUCH

Here's Don, in Toledo, with a Maytag gas oven question on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Don, go ahead.

DON

Yes, morning. Thank you.

JOHN SOWDEN

Good morning.

DON
The burner grates, the four and aft fingers are uneven, and you put a pan on there and it rocks back and forth. It even becomes dangerous sometimes. My question is are those castings or forged? I was just wondering if I could straighten the fingers.

JOHN SOWDEN

As far as straightening goes, is this an older unit?

DON

It's about five years old I guess.

JOHN SOWDEN

You can try to straighten them before you replace them. I would normally recommend replacing them because as you stated sometimes it can become dangerous if you've got a big pot boiling tipping around on there. You're sure that it's the actual grates and not the cookware?

DON

Yeah, I turned them upside down and put them on the counter and you could look under there and see. And its one casting or forging fits all four. It's the same one. The four and aft fingers are way below what they should be.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, so it's only sitting on a couple of fingers then?

DON

Well, these are six, eight, eight fingers on there.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay and there's just a few that are uneven?

DON

The four and aft. In other words, the middle ones and so, no matter which way you put the pot on there...,

JOHN SOWDEN

You got a rocking point right in the middle of the grate.

DON

Yeah, right.

JOHN SOWDEN

You could try to, you know, under the perception that I'm probably going to get new grates if you wanted to try straighten those out a little bit you could do that. They can be pretty brittle at times so you might end up just cracking and breaking it.

DON

Well, that's what I was wondering if you knew whether they were casting or...

JOHN SOWDEN

You know, I don't. I have no idea as far as the model, what you have, and the production of them but I do know a lot of times they're pretty brittle and a lot of times just dropping them they will crack.

DON

Oh, they must be a casting.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, that's what I was going to lean towards and probably cheaper way to go too. So, most often people just replace them and grates can get pretty expensive depending on vintage of the stove, color of the grates, and are these black or...?

DON

Yes. Well, no they're not either.

JOHN SOWDEN

Is it gray?

DON

They're gray, yeah.

JOHN SOWDEN

Now one thing you can do, a lot of times the lighter colors will show the discoloration and wear much quicker then of course the black grates would. What you may, if black would look good on the stove you might want to, in replacing them, find a stove that's, basically, your model only in a different color and get the black grates to go with that and that way at least cosmetic wise you're going to get some more mileage out of it.

DON

I see.

JOHN SOWDEN

If you get the gray ones, again it would match fine. I have no idea what your kitchen looks like. Sometimes it's a big deal sometimes it's not but again for showing wear and discoloration and a lot of times, some of the times because there's a lot more of them the black ones might be a little cheaper.

DON

All right, thank you very much.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling this morning. Appreciate your call.

Installing a Water Filter in a Side By Side Refrigerator

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And, we go now to Tom, in Rochester Hills, with a side by side refrigerator question on the Appliance Repair Show. Hi Tom, go ahead, please.

TOM

I have a question about installing these, installing an icemaker filter system for the water and the ice. Number one, are they pretty productive or are they a good thing and then a question is where to install it?

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, let's hit the rewind button. Do you have an icemaker in your machine currently?

TOM

Yes.

JOHN SOWDEN

And you haven't used it?

TOM

Oh no, no.

JOHN SOWDEN

You're using it?

TOM

I've used it down through the years.

JOHN SOWDEN

You just want to hook up some kind of filtration system to it?

TOM

Correct.

JOHN SOWDEN

And your unit does not have a water filter that is inside the refrigerator or comes with it as a factory production?

TOM

Right, I probably should have gotten it, but that's water over the dam.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, there are a lot of after market filter systems you can put in. You can spend from fifteen to hundreds of dollars on it depending on what you want. Normally, the more you spend the cleaner the water comes out of the filter is. That's as a general rule of thumb but not always. Most regular icemaker water inline filters, as I said, you can get from $15 start up to $30 for some of them. It's a matter of cutting the line going to your refrigerator and hook up the filter. Most will, if you read the instructions, will tell you that they want you to purge the filter or run about three or four gallons through it into a bucket before you hook it up to your icemaker because a lot of them have a charcoal inside that if you don't you're going to have black ice cubes for a while. And, where do you put it? That really depends on your home. If you have a basement, mine is underneath the floor where the refrigerator is at. Some people put them behind the refrigerator. The only problem I've seen with that is if you push the unit back and break the plastic housing on the filter or something like that you can have a real mess. Somewhere normally out of the way, downstairs, or in the crawl space or something, easy to get at. And, you normally have to change these every six months to a year. So some will actually, some of the more expensive filter systems will have where you mount a head for an icemaker filter and then you have a kind of twist and place replacement filter which keeps you from messing around with the copper fittings and stuff like that to replace the filter every year.

TOM

Right, in other words, not putting it behind the refrigerator and I didn't really understand the reason but now that you've explained that, you can actually crush it and actually cause a big problem with the water. That was, I guess, my main question. Now I know its best to do it, you know, in the basement, out of the way.

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, some people can get a way with it. A lot of it depends on how much room you have back there, how much tubing you have, if you know sometimes, it will make the refrigerator stick out a little bit. Yeah, as long as you know where its at and its accessible that's good.

TOM

Okay, thanks again.

JOHN SOWDEN

Thank you for calling.

2006 Whirlpool Duet Washing Machine with a Musty Odor

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And for our last call of the day which one should we go to. Okay, let's go to John in Almont, here on, no, I'm going to go to John in White Lake.

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Is that the one?

JOHN SOWDEN

Pick a John any John.

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Okay, John in White Lake.

JOHN

I'll be the one in White lake.

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Go ahead.

JOHN

I have a Duet front load Whirlpool clothes washer and we've had it for three years and we have developed a musty smell around the front of it and I'm looking for a procedure to clean whatever needs to be cleaned so that we don't have that.

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, a lot of time what happens that front boot (part # 8181850) can get sometimes a small mold buildup or soap residue and cause that condition. So, the first thing you want to do is take a clean towel and wipe that area clean and with, of course, taking care not to poke a hole in the boot and wash that area off physically get all that stuff out of there. Some units have a clean cycle where all it does is basically run for a while with really hot water and then they recommend you pour in a little bleach to help kill any of the remaining residue or bacteria. Also, there's a product out now called Affresh (part # W10135699) that there's two, basically, tablets that you throw in there and again you run it on a hot water setting. Normally, a long wash and just throw those tablets in there and let them do their magic. There's also an Affresh kit (part # W10194073) which is the tablets with some small towels that circulate in there and wash kind of away the rest of the stuff too. So, there are...

JOHN

Is this in an area that I cannot actually get to or can I, can I actually get to that?

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, for the part that, as you open the door you can get in there. Anything on the other side of the tub, between the inner and outer tubs (part # 285983), this stuff will help loosen that up along with the hot water and flush that down the drain. In the mean time, you can save it between wash loads just leave that door a jar a little bit and that keeps it from trapping the moisture inside.

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And we thank you very much for the call. That's all the time we have for this weeks program.