Help, guys!

[beekeyknee]

My sister has this silly front load LG Washer and it only uses a few cups of water in a great big drum to wash clothes. She was complaining that it stinks and the last time I was at her house I looked at it. What a horrible mess. Black mold and all kinds of dirt around the drum boot. I looked between the boot and the edge of the drum and I could see a lot of build-up on the outside edge of the drum. I can only imagine what the rest of the machine looked like on the inside. And to make matters worse the drum is lower in the back, so what little water's there never makes it up to the boot.

I told her to pour extra hot water, a gallon of vinegar, and a little STTP in the dispenser to try and get the water level up to the boot and let it run on it's longest cycle, whatever that is. She said it ran for a little bit and then pumped out. She said the cycles are too short for it to clean itself. I'm wondering if it's detecting an over fill and pumping out. What do you all think? Does anybody here have any experience with this machine? Does anybody think it's detecting an over fill and if so is there any way to adjust it?

I don't think "Life's Good" in that machine. In fact, I wonder if it's making them sick. Some pics below.

 

[beekeyknee]

Pic 2.

 

[beekeyknee]

Pic 3.

 

[beekeyknee]

Pic 4.

 

[beekeyknee]

Pic 5.

 

[qualin]

Well, you have a few options...

First of all, mold around the drum boot could indicate that the machine isn't drying out properly. Are they leaving the door open after every cycle?

I'm not honestly sure what is causing the drum to sag, it could be worn springs but I'm not the right person to ask about that.

You can try to clean the machine using Affresh... (Link included below.)

Then basically run the machine on the hottest and longest cycle you can get out of it. Also, some elbow grease with a bleach based cleaner may be in order.

If the machine still smells even after all of that, it may be less effort just to consider replacing the drum boot or the entire machine.

Good luck!

http://affresh.com/our_products/affresh_washer_cleaner

 

[foraloysius]

If the machine pumps out the water too soon, she could try putting the hose in the detergent dispenser and then choosing a spin cycle. If it starts spinning, whatever solution you are using to clean the machine will be sprayed around. These modern machines might have a safety feature though that will stop the spin when there is too much water in the machine.

 

[gansky1]

The machine will tell you if there's an over-fill problem, it will pump out the water and display an error code. Louis, I'll bet the machine won't spin with water in the drum and will fault out with a long-drain error if it senses the water level not going down within a short time. I played with more water, etc. in the one I had and they're pretty touchy. The Perm-Press, Delicate and Handwash cycles all have a higher water level, the perm-press cycle will have the most aggressive tumble action and allow you to choose hot water wash temperature for cleaning purposes. Start with one of the washing machine cleaner products like Affresh and then a cycle with a strong bleach solution. You'll get the best results if you get in there with a brush and some elbow grease and scrub it clean. Not pretty but I've never seen a chemical that can remove 100% of the build-up and crud in a filthy machine. I had nearly this same exact model given to me by a friend and other than a tiny bit of hard water deposits the machine was clean and fresh smelling. Does this machine have a extra-hot temp setting? I see no sanitary cycle so it may not have a heater. The door has an articulated hinge so it may not be convenient to leave the door open between washes depending on where it's located but that will alleviate some of the problem as well as not leaving finished loads in the machine longer than necessary and using plenty of hot water washes. Using the higher water level cycles from time to time will help keep the machine cleaner as well.

 

[beekeyknee]

Bud- The machine is designed with the drum lower in the back than the front, kind of like an old Westinghouse "Laundromat".

Louis- Your idea about putting the hose in the dispenser gave me an idea. We'll get a couple of five gallon buckets and collect the chemical concoction when it pumps out and then quickly pour it back in after it finishes spinning so the solution won't be lost.

Greg- Unfortunately it doesn't have a heating element. She did scrub the boot by hand with bleach and soap. Now we have to figure out what's the best way to clean the inside of the machine. Thanks for the tip about the PP cycle. We'll give that a try. She does leave the door open. That was one of the first things I told her.

I wonder what's in Affresh? Maybe the ingredients are on the back of the package? Maybe we could try a mixture of oxalic acid and TSP or STPP? I don't think we need any suds, do we? What about Lemi Shine, vinegar, a phosphate, and a bottle of Coke or some combination of the four? I don't want to make up a mixture that will damage the machine or gas us. I've never tried mixing these things together. Does anybody know what would happen? We have the phosphates and oxalic acid. Lemi Shine, vinegar, and Coke wouldn't be hard to get. The oxalic acid is an old box of the Savogran brand. Does it go bad? Is there a way to cancel the cycle and start it over? If there is we could cancel the cycle after it pumped out, pour the chemicals back in the machine and start the cycle over again. That way it wouldn't detect an over fill and keep pumping out. The water there is hard, as it's source is the Missouri River. The phosphates should help that.

I'm going to my sisters house next weekend, so I told her to email the pics to me and I'd post them here this weekend so I would have some answers for her when I get there. Anymore ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks much. These machines are so aggravating.

Brian

 

[foraloysius]

Perhaps it will not stop spinning when you just dribble in some of the solution you are using during the spin.

BTW, I always had great results in cleaning with citric acid.

 

[logixx]

I cleaned a Miele using the adding-water-while-spinning method. Just enter Miele Washer Cleaning in YouTube and it should come up.