Repairing The Dishwasher

Sorry to have another post so close together about fixing appliances, but during last week the dishwasher kept flashing with an error message. There's not many days I could live without our dishwasher - there's just nowhere to stack anything, as can be seen in my kitchen video.

 I did a quick search on the internet and found out the most likely cause of the problem. Emptied the fridge, lifted it down and then tipped the dishwasher over. I removed the underside cover and then traced back the pipe for the waste water to the pump.

I opened the pump up and found the little bit of plastic that had been causing the trouble!

  It must have slipped through the filters somehow. I put the machine back together and it all worked fine. I was pleased we didn't have to fork out for a new dishwasher and this one will last a little bit longer yet.

The Internet is such a a great resource if you're trying to do things yourself. Years ago you would have had to have phoned someone (if you knew anyone who knew about these type of things) or just open it up and hope that you could find the problem. At least I knew what I was looking for and had some instructions on how to fix it. I bet many would have called someone out to fix it or, due to the age of the machine, replaced it.

What was the last appliance you repaired? And did the internet help you fix it?

Kev'll Fix It

 

 The Pair of mole grips above say something about how I was brought up. I remember not going on a family holiday with my Mother, Father, sister and brother for two reasons - I was at that grunty 16 year old stage where I'd argue with my own shadow and the fact that dad wanted me to look after the stock on the farm.

When they returned from their week in the sun I was expecting great, if a little trashy, presents. Things like a notebook with the name of a town I hadn't been to on, lots of chocolate and maybe a bottle of booze. Instead dad passed me a red and black box with a pair of mole grips in, "Look after these, they're a good set. Better than the rubbish your mum was going to buy you."

So that's why it didn't surprise me when I found myself fixing the washing machine after work this week. Lay on the tiles with the pair of mole grips in one hand and a torch in the other.

The thought of calling someone in hadn't even crossed my mind. Luckily I found the problem fairly quickly, a hole in the sump hose. I'd like to blame someone else for this, but as the pipe still contained three rusty screws, two rusty screwdriver bits and a rusty nail I already know who to blame!

With the wonders of the Internet I found and ordered the part and got it delivered next day. Then with the skills and dexterity that I thought only gynaecologists possessed, I got the hose back on and we could attack the pile of washing that only a 8 month old baby could produce!

Total cost of fixing the washing machine was under £30 including postage.

I've no idea how much it would have cost to have appliance repair man out to look at and fix the problem, I've never used one! (not yet anyhow!)
Anyone else find it hard to get other people in to do work?