I love being an engineer

So yesterday, my washing machine quit. First load went through fine. Second load, got done with the washing part and then it stopped. I fiddled with it some, trying different settings, rebooting (turning it off and on, unplugging, waiting a few seconds, minutes, hours...I figure if it works for computers, maybe it will work for other things too) but no luck. I can't get the washer to drain and continue on with the cycle. I had a couple of different places to be yesterday, so I left it all afternoon. Came back and still no luck in the evening. So I pulled the clothes out and took those up to church to finish washing (living 0.3 miles from church and having a key rocks). When I got home from the Epiphany party (that's another post), I tried opening the top of the washing (prying off the big piece that's on top that the lid is a part of), but no luck. Peering through the little slot with the help of a flashlight showed that the top was held on with screws. But how do you get at them? I wasn't up for any midnight home repair and improvement, especially since I had to help with the mission trip kick off presentation at church during Sunday school hour in the morning, so I went to bed.
Today, after getting home from church I gave it another shot. I bailed out the washer (clothes washers use a lot of water), pulled it away from the wall and started unscrewing things. Turns out, the drain was not clogged (as some people I talked to about my appliance issues had proposed). The water gushing out when I took off the drain pipe told me that (fortunately I had a bucket and some towels that were going to be in the next load nearby). So I gave it another shot at getting into the guts of the washer. But with very few screws on the back, I had no idea how to get inside. A bit more fiddling and I gave up trying to do it on my own and resorted to searching the internet. After a few trips back to the washer to figure out the model number, I had a complete diagram and step-by-step instructions on getting the thing apart. (This internet thing is going to be big one day. I just know it. :) ).
After getting inside, I found the likely culprit. The lid switch assembly was no longer assemblying. This is a little box with a switch that is engaged when the lid is closed. It stops the washer at any point after the washing agitation is complete any time the lid is open. The plastic which holds the screws in place which holds the switch in place had broken. So the lid switch depressor was no longer able to depress the switch, so the washer would not progress pass the wash agitation stage of the cycle (which depressed me). This was kinda what I was thinking was the issue.
After a bit more searching, I found the part name and number and a couple of places that sell the part. Total would be around $35 shipped. While not a lot, I thought maybe I could fix this myself. So I found the epoxy I bought when the gear shift knob kept slipping off the gear shifter post in my truck, mixed a bit up and it's that's drying now (hopefully the smell will keep the cats away from it, since it's propped up in the middle of the kitchen floor). Meanwhile, back on the computer, a Froogle search turned up a variety of Ebay sellers from whom I could obtain the part for around $15 shipped. $15 seems like a good deal. So, if the epoxy doesn't hold, I'll be ebaying later this week with the hope of getting the part and installing it before I need to do laundry again next weekend.

I learned a few things from this experience, so far.
- The internet truly is amazing and has greatly changed many aspects of my life. If I didn't have the internet, I probably would have had to call a repair person, or buy a new washer. I wouldn't have even been able to get into the guts of my washer.
- People don't repair appliances much anymore. Talking with families at church who are likely to repair things rather than just outright replace them, no one knew of a good appliance repair company. A couple of people knew of places that used to be good or that had since gone out of business. But no one had any recommendations.
- I love being an engineer. While I'm still intimidated by electrical things, I have no problem digging around and working with hardware. If I can see what's wrong, I can usually fix it or figure out a work around. Between my engineer Dad, tinkering grandfather and engineering training, I'm almost always willing to take something apart and see if I can fix it. The fact that I have the tools on-hand to help out, is another result of those things.