Well, the washer broke.

We had been getting the error E2F3 on our GE Whirlpool Duet washer. I had looked it up before and saw that it was a simple fix—the wire to the temperature sensor must have gotten pinched with the rattling from the washer until it started to snap.  So, I kept putting off fixing it a bit longer. If you remember, the dryer is stacked on top of the washer. In order to get to the back of the washer to fix anything, the dryer has to be taken down, and the washer needs to be pulled out of the closet.  Everything was fine for a very long time — maybe four years. If the washer stopped and showed the error, we could restart the machine, and it would continue on as if nothing happened.

Stacked dryer over the washer

Finally, last night, I realized that all four pairs of my jeans were in the dirty clothes basket and I wouldn’t have anything to wear today (Monday) for work. I figured, ok, I’ll was all of my jeans, a pair of B’s jeans, and three pairs of Ro’s jeans.  Well, the washer drum must have just filled up with water when the machine stopped.  I tried to restart the washer, and it refused to clear the error — and the door was locked with all of the jeans swimming in the water.  B unplugged the washer and replugged the washer to see what would happen. The washer said that the door was unlocked.  We got buckets and prepared for water to come out of the washer like a tidal wave. Well, instead, the washer has an extra automatic safety lock where it stays locked no matter what when the drum has any water in it. B was about to call someone out to help, but I reminded him that I didn’t have anything but leggings and suit slacks to wear to work (it’s not a good idea to wear either because of professionalism and the high probability of digging a 1.5’ hole to test soil moisture).  So, I showed him the youtube video I found where it looked like a really simple fix and I knew how to strip and tie wires already.  We got started right away.

B pulled out the stacked washer and dryer and unplugged both. He also removed the dryer vent hose. Then we both pulled the dryer down from on top of the washer and placed it on a blanket in the hallway to keep the laminate floor safe.  B pretty much did that part by himself and I just held a corner to make sure it didn’t hit a wall.  B then unscrewed most of the hex head screws behind the washer by leaning over the top. We only had one screwdriver with a hex driver to use, which was actually intended to interchange other screwdriver pieces.  I had to climb low into the back to the closet and lay down to unscrew the rest of the screws. B removed the top and the back panel of the washer while I went to fine the wire strippers and some electrical tape.

It’s hard to see, but the wire is snapped through and only the plastic sheathing is still attached. 

When I got back, I climbed over the washer to the back of the closet and ended up ripping my leggings on some sharp-tipped clamps inside the top of the washer. B let me know that he ended up ripping his shorts, too, while I was lamenting my loss. We’ll be using the money we saved with this fix to buy new leggings and shorts.

Ro’s super-useful Lego Duplo multitool

While I was fixing the wire, Ro insisted that I borrow his Lego Duplo multitool to fix the washer or he would fix it himself.  B and I kept him out of the closet by saying, “oh, man. It’s a good thing we have Ro’s multitool or we wouldn’t be able to finish this job!” Between my sweaty palms and clumsiness, the  electrical tape ended up not cutting it for the wire. Luckily, B found a spare wire nut in the garage.  I think that worked better because there would be less chance for the wire to wiggle loose in the future. We quickly plugged the washer back in to test the result. Success!  The drum drained and was a lot easier to push back into the space after I screwed the rear panel back onto the washer.

The last time we tried to get the washer checked out four years ago, Charles was still rooming with us and helpfully lifted the dryer back onto the washer when I told B I just couldn’t do it.  Remembering this, B ran to get a pair of gloves out of the garage to get a better grip on the dryer to lift it up. As B grabbed the dryer, the felt needles pricking and realized that he had a bunch of cactus needles inside of the gloves!  He took the gloves off and gave up trying to pull the needles out with tweezers. I threw the gloves away because there was no sense in risking that happening again. We grabbed the dryer without gloves, and I’m pretty sure B lifted it mostly kn his own, again.  Once it was on the washer, B corrected the latches in the back to make sure the dryer was latched onto the washer so it wouldn’t fall from the washer shaking as it ran. I reinstalled the dryer vent hose. I restarted the washer and everything worked perfectly.

Ro was really good about staying out of the way while we were using his multitool, but he was pretty excited about the whole ordeal. The whole thing took about an hour and a half to do (including the time to look for stuff we needed), and he went to bed soon after around 10pm. As soon as he fell asleep, I move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. Before I knew it the dryer started beeping similar to how the washer does when there is an error.  My washer ptsd set in and I was worried about having to fix the dryer, too. It turned out that the dryer was set to signal it was done with the end of the cycle. 🤦‍♀️

Newly washed and dried stack of jeans

It took awhile for me to fall asleep after that.  When I did, I woke up from a dream that Mom’s Wrangler was getting repossessed.  I was ready to jump into frazzled action until I realized I no longer drove that car and it’s in Washington state. I think I’m done with being on high alert. If you need me, I’ll be taking a long epson salt bath since I made the mistake of crouching for an hour grooming the dog and standing for hours cutting vegetables to freeze long before the washer issues had started yesterday. 🙃

I love you and miss you.