Scratching my "Fixit Itch" with a Washing machine issue

Potential problems for a problematic Maytag washing machine were researched on the internet prior to dealing with drainage problems for a Maytag MAH2400aww. One post alluded to a faulty design as a reason for the particular problem with this model, which is what is being dealt with in this blog.

The main issue was that the machine was not draining resulting in stagnant drainage water. So after emptying this water, the machine was hoisted about a foot and the remaining water in the drain hose was emptied as well into a bucket placed below the level of the bottom of the machine.

Then the machine was replaced on the floor and tilted back with the front end elevated to allow access to the pump on the front right bottom corner.



Inlet connection (horizontal) and outlet connection (vertical with black O ring)

The bottom panel was partially removed providing exposure to the drain pump with both connection hoses. The hose that connects the tumbler to the pump via the inlet connection on the pump was removed with a bucket placed below to catch any residual water. In addition to water, this is what was in the bucket as well.

75 cents - Yup - three quarters fell out of the hose into the bucket. So here I am all happy that this must be the problem --- Solved !!!.  So the entire machine was reassembled and a trial run was attempted without success. Surely, with thoughts in my mind, if  the problem was  3 quarters, then why was the machine still not working after its removal? So I though for a minute, and decided to take down the pump itself completely. It was secured to the body of the machine with 4 screws, and therefore was easily removed.

What was found in the inlet connection was another quarter staring me in my face as if to say "Damn you found me". So I tried to remove it without success, and therefore was forced to open up the pump. This is what I found.

Mr. Quarter and his twin "Bob" (If you're a Trini you would get this) were both stuck in the inlet chamber of the pump and basically jammed

the rotating 3-finned blade preventing the pump from functioning at all. So round two - Surely, alas this has to be the problem. There weren't any coins in the outlet connection hose, so the hope was that with reassembly, everything should work just fine.  ----->>>>>>   AND IT DID!!!!!!

I was happy, the owner was happy, the referral person was happy, and I guess everybody who the owner told was happy also, I guess.

What was interesting from the online internet search about this problem was that one post said that the person who designed the washing machine should be fired and should loose his/her license because - they did not insert a pump filter to prevent large objects like coins or buttons from going into the pump and jamming it. Well this is precisely what happened in this particular case.

At the end of the day, it indeed was a learning experience, and I was glad to have the opportunity to scratch my fixit itch once again. :)
Peace out!!!!

Open USB Surgery

 Well It worked great for a while until the inevitable happened. My USB cellphone charger (like the one shown below) stopped charging unless held in a certain position, then eventually a message about "not enough charge" appeared. So about 5 hours after getting  a replacement on ebay for 3 bucks, I decided to perform open USB surgery on an obvious short in the cable. (Uhhhh just for fun)

Standard USB end on the left inserts to the plug. Micro USB end on the right inserts into the cellphone.

 Of course prior to any procedure one has to do a bit of research and a physical. Usually short problems occur at junctions where the wire attaches to the micro USB end or the standard USB end (as was the case here). The wire is comprised of 4 colored wires (red, white, green and black as indicated below) surrounded by a wire-mesh shield. For charging purposes, only two of the wires are really needed, red (+5V) and black (ground). So the assumption was that either one  or both of these two wires would have been the location of the short.

 As most surgeons would do, I fired up some Chopin, and started to cut away a portion of the hard black plastic casing of the standard USB end to gain exposure to the obvious short site. The wire-mesh shield was found to be broken at the site and was 'dissected' away to expose the 4 colored wires. The green, black, and white wires appeared fine, but the plastic sheet covering the red wire at this junction seemed a bit flimsy. A small strip of cardboard was placed to isolate the red (+5V) wire.

Then a small segment of red plastic was stripped to expose the bare wire. 

The short was identified as indicated below

The wire was cut at the area of the break, the plastic ends were stripped back, and the wire ends were reconnected with flux / solder.

Electrical tape was used to cover the exposed wire. The wire-mesh shield was then reconstructed with additional wire and reconnected with solder.

Electrical tape was then used to surround the entire reconstruction, and a wooden 'splint' of adequate length was measured and applied to the construct as shown below.

 

So the purpose of the wooden splint is to minimize the about of bending that would normally occur in the wire at the USB end.

When put to the test, it worked. Hip hip hooray, That was fun :). Guess it's always good to have an extra charger around.