Satya's blog - Washing machine

Jun 08 2005 20:30 Washing machine
Yesterday there was a lot of smoke and a weird smell. Between matthew and us we figured out that the washing machine was producing a burning smell, which I thought was electrical but turned out to be rubber.

So we hauled the clothes to the laundromat to use their drier. (Since our's is a stack unit I didn't want to touch any of it until the repairmen had taken a look.) For a few minutes we tried to stuff them in a smaller machine, then figured it was too small and took the pile to the row of driers at the back. The instructions sucked, so we threw the clothes in with four quarters. The machine showed 7 (minutes) so we waited and... 7 minutes later, the clothes were still wet.

So I hit the coin return, and 2 of my quarters came back and the machine lit up again. Seven more minutes pass by, clothes are still a little damp, so I press the button again. No soap (pun intended). So insert one quarter (which seems to run for 7 minutes), and still nothing. Insert another quarter and off it goes for another seven minutes. Check, the clothes could use some more time. Press coin return, no coins, but machine starts for the fourth seven minute cycle. Whee.

In the meantime I figured out that the first machine had been a washer and we'd just have soaked the clothes again. I had been wondering why the "driers" had soap bins on top. Somewhere in between a nice guy explained the purpose of the two drum-like top-loaders -- centrifugal water removers, so your clothes are wet but not drippy.

Update: Anyway, today they came and fixed it. Something about burning rubber and incorrect balance or something.

Last updated: Jun 08 2005 20:39