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Friday, November 23, 2012

Frigidaire Affinity Washer



My fairly new Frigidair Affinity washer wasn’t behaving right. Fewer and fewer of the washing cycles worked. The reviews of the machine are pretty bad. Of course, those reviews came out after we bought ours. Everyone complains about expensive repairs. Often repairs cost almost as much as a replacement machine.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I decided to attempt to repair it myself. There’s a great YouTube video on how to disassemble the machine. The video is very clear and saved me time and effort.

Removing the top cover of the washer revealed something of critical importance. Taped to the inside was a mechanic’s manual. It explained how to do a self diagnostic. There were a couple pages of error codes and what they meant. The manual also explained how to reset the washer to the factory default settings. Pushing those buttons fixed the problem. Of course, I’d stripped everything down to the circuit boards and then resembled it before trying the reset.

The thing that puzzled me was what the heck was the manual doing inside the machine? Was it there for the highly paid repair technician to find? Are they afraid that, armed with the manual, there’d be a lot more people doing their own repairs?

I’ve no problem with the way it washes clothes. When it’s running the way it’s supposed to, the clothes get clean using very little water and soap. That’s fine. I’ve had worse washing machines. One actually had a large cement block bolted to the inside of the washer to dampen the vibrations.

A washing machine is one of those appliances that actually save a lot of time and money. When the dishwasher died there was no pressing need to replace it. Washing dishes by hand is no big deal. I’ve lived without a dryer in the past and rarely use mine now. Should something major on it fail, it won’t get replaced. Life without a washing machine, on the other hand, is a hardship. Beating my clothes on rocks by the riverside is not my style.

I’m glad I found that manual. Christmas is saved.

-Sixbears

11 comments:

  1. Wishing you a Clean Clean Christmas then. It makes a change from a Merry one...

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  2. Isn't YouTube great? Funny that your ads are for Frigidaire.

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    Replies
    1. Happens every time I say something bad about a product.

      YouTube has saved me a lot of grief when fixing things.

      Delete
  3. You sure are a handy man to have around.

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  4. an actual manual? forboding thinking here but why? by mistake?

    and are parts available?

    wonders be...

    Wildflower

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    Replies
    1. Might be a mistake. Witht he manual, I was able to rest things without buying any expensive parts.

      Did find parts available out there in Internet land.

      Delete
  5. I have been an appliance service tech for almost 25 years. What you found inside is referred to as a "tech sheet" and is put inside so it is not lost by the consumer. I have asked customers if they happen to have the owner's manual and the majority either don't know where it is or have lost it. Thus the manufacturer "hides" it inside. Every major appliance has a tech sheet hidden somewhere and has now for the last 20 years.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. That's good to know. Saved me a big hassle.

      Delete
  6. You don't have to go back to rocks... Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t11WC1lG_Po

    Now that I mention it, I don't have a clue why I don't have one yet...

    ReplyDelete