The patch shapes the faults
Shellharbour City has older brick and fibro houses around Warilla, Barrack Heights and Oak Flats, and new estates out at Shell Cove, Calderwood and Tullimbar. The machines follow suit. In the older suburbs we see top loaders that have done fifteen years of family washing. In the new estates it is front loaders with electronic boards and door locks, often still young enough to be under the maker's warranty.
What we fix most
- Won't drain or won't spin. A blocked filter, a hose or the pump. Clean the filter first; it is behind the flap at the bottom front of most front loaders.
- Leaking. Usually the rubber door boot on a front loader, a hose at the back, or the pump housing.
- Loud on spin. Drum bearings, a shock absorber, or something caught between drum and tub. Coins and underwire find their way in more often than you would think.
- Door locked and won't open. A door lock fault, or water still sitting in the drum.
- Walking across the floor. Worn suspension or shock absorbers, or a machine that is not level.
Sand, salt and garage laundries
Being close to the beach has two effects on a washer. Sand comes home on towels, boardshorts and the dog, and it settles in the pump and wears the seals. Salt air gets at the cabinet, the hose fittings and the screws holding the back panel on, and a laundry in an unvented garage is the worst spot for it. We wrote up how to keep sand out of the washing machine.
Before you ring
Look at the plate inside the door or on the back of the lid and note the brand and model number. If the display shows a code, write that down too. With those two lines the technician can often pack the right part and finish on the first visit. Tell us whether the machine is stacked under a dryer or built into cabinetry, because that changes how long the job takes.
When we will suggest not repairing
If the drum bearings have gone on a sealed-tub machine, or the main control board has died on a budget model that is near the end of its life, the repair can approach the price of a new machine. We will tell you that at the assessment.