dangerboy
Well-known member
Hello,
I've got a Maytag 613A washer in my cabin that only gets used a few months a year in the summer and then gets drained and winterized in the fall and left dormant over the winter.
Last winter, I'm sure I winterized it the way I always do by draining the inlet hoses, putting the machine into the beginning of the spin cycle until I don't hear anymore water coming out the discharge hose and then pouring RV antifreeze into it so the antifreeze gets drawn into the pump and possibly into the discharge line.
A little over a week ago, my nephew ran the machine for the first time this year. He ran a large load of beach towels through it. Everything went fine. Yesterday, I ran an extra-large load of bedding through it and as it was filling it started leaking very badly with most or all of the water coming out of the corner where the drain pump is located.
When I got the mess cleaned up, the water and soggy laundry out of the drum and got the front off the machine I started to look for where the water was leaking from but couldn't see anything obvious. If the pump housing is cracked, I cannot identify where. Furthermore, the pump and its inlet hose were full of water and no water appeared to be leaking from the pump.
I got the top lifted off and noted that there was no evidence that the water came from the inlet regulator or whatever you call it. There was no water on the inside back or side panels of the machine but there was some water splashed on the inlet hose to the drain pump, higher up and a little ways away from the drain pump. It would seem then that the water came from somewhere lower down in the machine.
I don't understand why the machine didn't leak when my nephew ran that load of towels and it leaked like a sieve when I ran the next load around a week later. If I failed to winterize the machine correctly, I would expect the housing to be cracked from freezing and it should be obvious where but I cannot see any evidence of cracking on the housing and the pump housing was holding water and not leaking after I stopped the machine filling and shop vacuumed out all of the water from the drum even though the inlet hose to the pump was still full of water putting a little bit of a pressure head on the pump. I also filled the pump and left it on a bench over night and not even 1 ml of water seeped or leaked out of it. Of course, that test is not definitive as it was not under any pressure.
Can anybody tell me where that machine could be leaking from? Keep in mind, the leak occurred as it was filling to run the first wash cycle and it looked like most of the water was coming out of the corner where the pump is.
I think I'll go down, reconnect the pump, put a bucket underneath it and with shop-vac at the ready, try filling the machine again to see where the leak is coming from. If anybody has any other tips on how I can troubleshoot the machine, I'd really appreciate hearing them.
TIA
I've got a Maytag 613A washer in my cabin that only gets used a few months a year in the summer and then gets drained and winterized in the fall and left dormant over the winter.
Last winter, I'm sure I winterized it the way I always do by draining the inlet hoses, putting the machine into the beginning of the spin cycle until I don't hear anymore water coming out the discharge hose and then pouring RV antifreeze into it so the antifreeze gets drawn into the pump and possibly into the discharge line.
A little over a week ago, my nephew ran the machine for the first time this year. He ran a large load of beach towels through it. Everything went fine. Yesterday, I ran an extra-large load of bedding through it and as it was filling it started leaking very badly with most or all of the water coming out of the corner where the drain pump is located.
When I got the mess cleaned up, the water and soggy laundry out of the drum and got the front off the machine I started to look for where the water was leaking from but couldn't see anything obvious. If the pump housing is cracked, I cannot identify where. Furthermore, the pump and its inlet hose were full of water and no water appeared to be leaking from the pump.
I got the top lifted off and noted that there was no evidence that the water came from the inlet regulator or whatever you call it. There was no water on the inside back or side panels of the machine but there was some water splashed on the inlet hose to the drain pump, higher up and a little ways away from the drain pump. It would seem then that the water came from somewhere lower down in the machine.
I don't understand why the machine didn't leak when my nephew ran that load of towels and it leaked like a sieve when I ran the next load around a week later. If I failed to winterize the machine correctly, I would expect the housing to be cracked from freezing and it should be obvious where but I cannot see any evidence of cracking on the housing and the pump housing was holding water and not leaking after I stopped the machine filling and shop vacuumed out all of the water from the drum even though the inlet hose to the pump was still full of water putting a little bit of a pressure head on the pump. I also filled the pump and left it on a bench over night and not even 1 ml of water seeped or leaked out of it. Of course, that test is not definitive as it was not under any pressure.
Can anybody tell me where that machine could be leaking from? Keep in mind, the leak occurred as it was filling to run the first wash cycle and it looked like most of the water was coming out of the corner where the pump is.
I think I'll go down, reconnect the pump, put a bucket underneath it and with shop-vac at the ready, try filling the machine again to see where the leak is coming from. If anybody has any other tips on how I can troubleshoot the machine, I'd really appreciate hearing them.
TIA