Did this really break my machine?

amother

Teal

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 1:15 pm

In the wee hours of the morning the day before sukkos my toddler-daughter came to me in the middle of the night soaking wet, she was also on antibiotics and I didn't realize at first that her diaper was also dirty, and I found, pardon me, #2 sludge on the floor--not a lot but it was pretty gross. I took a towel and wiped it up. I took the dirty towel and then dumped it into my fairly new washing machine. The next load the machine broke. Without going into too much detail the repairman said that this likely messed up the pump--which is the part that broke. Does this sound right? What should I have done differently? Is this machine really THAT delicate?

MagentaYenta

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 1:48 pm

amother wrote:

That's a pretty general diagnosis. I have a pal that is the local Maytag man and he would tell a client exactly what was wrong with the unit and what parts or repairs were needed. Consumer law in my state says this must be done verbally and in writing.

So what exactly was wrong with the machine?

SixOfWands

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:00 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

According to OP, he said that the pump broke and needed to be replaced, and that it could have been caused by fecal matter in the machine.

My question is whether the warranty covered the repair. I certainly wouldn't have told him about the fecal matter unless he specifically asked about it.

amother

Chocolate

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:11 pm

How much fecal matter are we talking about? Asking as the cloth-diapering mother of a child of the same approximate age.

The rule with #2 is that it's water-soluble so long as a baby is still EBF or formula-fed- once they're on solids (enough to change #2 consistency or color- not the initial lick or two you might give them of something at 5 months) you need to shake or scrape what you can into the toilet because the machine can't handle it. The little bit that you can't reasonably get off should be within a modern machine's capabilities though you need to use a setting for heavily-soiled laundry and enough detergent.

MagentaYenta

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:23 pm

SixOfWands wrote:

TY apologies for not seeing that part. I will put a text into the Maytag Man and get his professional opinion. I would think it was covered by the warranty. My pal has told me many stories of items he's found clogging pumps in washers. ETA He also maintains that the new front loaders are garbage.

amother

Teal

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:30 pm

The service record says "drain pump" and I told the repairman "dirty/soiled" not fecal matter. From what I recall it wasn't a scrapeable amount but it was all over the towel and some other articles of clothing that were in the "line of fire." I used 1 laundry pod for 1 load of laundry--that's usually sufficient (I've tried 2 on other loads and it would just leave a residue) I thought I even set it for a "heavy soiled" load. I know why our landlords chose this particular model of washer, but if it broke just from that--it my mind its a pretty wimpy machine. I have 3 kids and one on the way, I can't afford the time and energy on a wimpy washing machine. What is the Maytag man?

MagentaYenta

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:37 pm

amother wrote:

... What is the Maytag man?

The Maytag Man was a fictional Maytag repair man for the purposes of print, TV and some radio advertising. He was bored and had nothing to do because Maytags never broke down.

My friend is a factory trained Maytag repair person who works for our local appliance store, ergo The Maytag Man. He gave my DD some good advice last week about checking the clean out on her top loader as a means of extending pump life.

amother

Chocolate

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 2:40 pm

amother wrote:

Scrapeable is from a smoother-surfaced cloth diaper, not from a terrycloth towel. I'd imagine her pajamas would be a better gauge. (On a side note, to me "heavily soiled" means clothing that has fecal matter or been caked in mud from gardening or playing outside, even after scraping off the worst of the #2 or mud. Probably also food matted into a terrycloth bib but I prefer wipeable bibs so I haven't tried.)

amother

Teal

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 7:12 pm

amother wrote:

So in my recollection I would've hardly described it as "caked on"-- in my memory isn't wasn't that much worse than like let's say kid wipes chocolatey cake hands on his shirt--but lets say it was a few kids like this. What would've been my alternative?
Or was this just a fluke and this is what warranties are meant for?

amother

Mint

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 7:15 pm

amother wrote:

It doesn't sound like that's what made it break.

amother

Teal

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 7:33 pm

amother wrote:

Which machine do you have?

It's an Amana/Whirlpool low-end machine-purchased as it was the only machine that would fit through the door to the laundry room. It was working mostly fine (had a few occasions where it "wouldn't drain"--but more often than not I think the plug was affected, but I guess now I have my doubts) And like I said before it wasn't a "hunk" or even a "glob"--it was as if I wiped up a spill on the floor.

MagentaYenta

Mon, Oct 09 2017, 7:41 pm

My pal the Maytag Man said it should have handled the soiled items without impacting the pump. He also mentioned that if the pump were struggling most machines will show an error message on the control panel.