Sewage Smell Sign of FL Washer Spider Corrosion?

[littlegreeny]

Great advice, thanks everyone! I am starting to suspect there is an accumulation of gunk either in the pump itself or in the washer drain hose. The coin trap filter is clean. I guess we could disassemble the washer to get to the pump, clean that out and either clean the drain hose or replace it.

One thing I'm thinking of trying is opening the door towards the end of the wash cycle and take a deep whiff to see if there are any off odors. If there isn't and then the drain water stinks, it's somewhere within the drain system.

And the permanent press and towels cycles use plenty of warm/hot water. I am slightly concerned they use the quick cycle too often with more clothes and detergent than they should.

 

[littlegreeny]

Chris, the LG will do two rinses on the normal cycle or one deep rinse and several spray rinses if TurboWash is enabled. You can add up to three extra rinses. What I really like about LGs is they do nice intermediate spins between the wash and all rinses on most cycles.

 

[launderess]

No Need To Get At Pump

Just put washer through a heavy duty cycle using hottest water possible with either a good washing machine cleaner, or powdered detergent and decent dose of bleach.

You want "hot" water, something 140f or above.

 

[littlegreeny]

Great advice, thanks Laundress! I'll have them run a sanitary cycle with bleach.

 

[ozzie908]

@littlegreeny

If the above suggestions don't help then I suggest you remove the drain pump and sump pipes and see if there is an accumulation of grot, Quite often the pump itself is the culprit as there is a gap behind the face if you pull the impeller its held there by magnetism so should have a little resistance, You will see in the space behind grey coloured gunge try cleaning it out and see if that helps.!
Good luck
Austin

 

[henene4]

Don't think that corrosion would cause a sewage like smell.

Corrosion itself doesn't really leak much chemicals into the air.
And that sewage smell is usually some biological thing.

 

[sudsmaster]

They should be running the hottest wash possible at least once a week.

 

And also run full cycles, none of this quick wash crap.

 

With an extra rinse standard.

 

Anyway, that's how I do it, and my Neptune 7500 hasn't had a stink issue for the 20 years I've owned it. It drains directly into a copper stand pipe that is properly vented through the roof.

 

I run at least one hot wash load per week - usually bath towels. Sometimes whites, but for the past decade or so those go to the Miele out back which heats much higher than the Neptune (170F vs. 130F).

 

The Miele doesn't stink, either.

 

 

 

[mark_wpduet]

YES OR

running a clean washer cycle with like a cup of LCB.......all that draining bleach water throughout the machine I would think would kill anything it comes into contact with.

Most of the time (not always) I end with the last load of whites with a long cycle and bleach (especially if I know I won't be doing laundry for a few days.)

 

[askolover]

It's probably the concertina hose from the machine drum to the pump.  My little Asko got a hole poked in that hose once upon a time when Tony left a pair of tweezers in a pocket so I changed it out.  The old hose stunk to high heaven but the washer itself never did. All those little folds to make the hose flexible catch crap and it stays wet so it begins to grow.....even using clorox in EVERY white load didn't stop that from happening.

 

[littlegreeny]

I totally agree their usage patterns are likely causing the stink issue. They don't have loads of whites to wash, so have no need to use LCB or oxygen bleach in any regular loads. I'm going to suggest they switch to Tide powder instead of the liquid All but they really love that detergent and it's pretty cheap at Costco.

They are doing many more tub clean cycles with bleach but I'll suggest they use the sanitary instead. I don't think the regular tub clean cycle heats the water at all. I'll have to see if they can add steam to that cycle.

 

[DADoES]

 
No white-ish kitchen linens, bath linens, or socks?

Running an empty cycle with bleach is a workable alternative to using bleach on a load of clothes ... if it's done with effective frequency.

 

[littlegreeny]

Glenn,

Yes, surprisingly there is nothing white in their house. Socks and all linens are colored. They didn't even have LCB until I bought them a bottle to try cleaning the washer with. They previously used Tide machine cleaner.

 

[littlegreeny]

Greg,

I agree, it could also be the concertina hose. We'd have to open the washer up to check that, so that's really a last resort if the continued sanitary cycles with LCB don't work in resolving the issue.

 

[appnut]

Well, they could (should) be doing their cotton bed linens and towels in hot water anyway.

 

[sudsmaster]

IMHO

It would be a bad idea to wash white socks in hot water. That tends to shrink them and also makes them less elastic. Same for tidy whitey underwear.  OK to wash in warm, with an oxygen bleach if needed. Save the hot water for towels, wash cloths, white and colored, bed sheets, etc.

 

YMMV

 

 

 

[combo52]

Reply #34

Washing things in hot water, It simply depends how hot the water is, on my SQ FL Washer I have only used the hot setting ever for everything for 15 years now.

 

My gas WH puts out hot water in the 130-135 range and I end up with about 120 F in the wash cycle which as far as I can tell has never ruined anything.

 

My SQ does have a heater that will boost the wash temp to approximately 150F, I have probably used this setting maybe 20-30 times since I got the washer, It makes the wash cycle go from around 10 minutes to more than 30 minutes, I guess it helps but I never disappointed with my wash without it and it uses a lot of electricity.

 

John

 

[sudsmaster]

Well I can assure you that 170F in my Miele 1918A will shrink white gym socks and render the elastic threads in tidy whities and socks useless.

 

The Neptune 7500 will heat to 130F, which is not as destructive but still gets them over time, so I got tired of having to toss old white things so now I wash the white socks and budgie smugglers on warm with the other warm stuff (like colored shirts and pants).

 

[askolover]

We always use the 140F cottons setting on the Miele w1986 along with clorox for whites.  By the time the elastic dies they are ready to be replaced anyway. 

 

[mark_wpduet]

Nothing white in the house

That's exactly why I only buy white towels and washclothes.

I'll never forget visiting my cousins house and staying with them. I took a shower and grabbed one of their fluffy green towels and it smelled TERRIBLE. I'm like WTF??? I had no choice but to dry off with it and I felt like I needed another shower. The best way I can describe the smell was a mix of mildew with fabric softener. Did I say something? HELL NO! (LOL) I mean, how do you tell someone their towels stink? How do they not notice this themselves?

About the sanitary cycle. I've used my santitary cycle on my duet maybe 30/40 times in over 15 years. Not that often. It does get hot. Even though I don't use it, I like that the washer has the capability to get as hot as a dishwasher if you need it. I think my duet reaches 153 degrees F Max if I remember the literature. I know it's in the 150s

 

[jamiel]

Before we started living together my husband did his laundry in a cheap TL washer with cool water and cheap detergent---I noticed that things once he moved in stank...after washing with some serious detergent and temperature all was well. Every so often I'll find something that's been put away (we're in a big purge mode cleaning out 12 years of accumulated stuff) that has that stink---a good hot wash or two will set it right.