Webs’ Random Ideas

After my roommate and I moved into our house, we noticed that the washing machine took forever to fill up.  At first it was just slow.  Then after awhile, it got really bad.  At it's worst moment, the water would barely trickle down.  So I went on the Internet after I got to the point of having no clothes, and found advice that recommended to replace the water valve.  This is the thing in the back of the washer where the cold and hot water lines connect to the washer.  The valve essentially decides how much of each water type to let in per your selection on the machine.  So after we got the new part… Night and day difference.  Wow.  I couldn't believe how fast the water comes in now.  I thought, when I first moved in, that we just got stuck with a crappy washer.

So as a tip, if your washer fills up incredibly slow, check out the valve in the back.  It is incredibly simple.  Just turn off the water lines, unplug them and the electric plug for the washer, unscrew the mounting bracket for the valve, and then pull it out, or position it so you can unplug a couple more things.  For the water line going to the washer you should see a big thick black rubber hose.  Loosen it up, and unplug it, this step might take a little muscle.  The last thing you should see are four electrical wires plugged into the valve.  Label them in a way so you wont get confused as to how they plut back in place, my roommate and I labeled them 1,2,3,4, in the order of left to right starting from the side where we unplugged the big black rubber hose.  Then from there we went to a store called "Parts Depot" on Main street located across from the old high school.  That store had everything, including the part we needed.  I would say the whole job of taking it apart, and putting it back together took 30min to 45min.  If I had to do it again it would probably take no more than 15minutes.