I always try to repair things myself instead of calling a repairman. I’ve learned that just because they have their name embroidered on their shirt and arrive in a truck with tools, they don’t always know how to fix your broken appliance. Plus the cost of one of those guys to take a look at me and my washer and try to diagnose the problem is too steep. Especially when you are barely making it in these economic times. You can’t go to the government to fix your washing machine that is leaking water all over the floor. Nor do I want the government looking at my laundry, or Mr. Fixit.

My Bosch front-loading washing machine started leaking water, but kept on working. Finally, I decided to pull it out from the wall and watch where the water was coming from. And then I went to the Internet for some self-help advice. I love the Internet. Because other people post their problems and solutions. You don’t need to pay the repairman, you can do this yourself. I’m here as an example. I like to solve problems, so maybe it just falls into my character. Yea, it’s the highlight of my day — “I fixed the washing machine.”

I checked all the probable areas — the door seal was fine, the plug thing in the front was fine. I took the back off and looked for areas where the water might be dripping. And then I found it — a black rubber accordion looking thing. Kind of a reach, but I found a hole in it. Instead of buying the new part I decided to utilize a new bicycle tire tube that I had laying around. I cut off a square and glued it over the hole. Waited for 24 hours for it to dry, and then began a load of wash. No more leaking.

I searched the Internet for the best glue for this sort of thing and I have to say, I have used it a lot. It’s great. Called E-6000 and you can get it on Amazon. When it gets down to fixing it, I often enlist the help of my son or daughter-in-law — or anyone anxious to get their laundry done. This time it was my dil.

Here’s the machine. It has seen a lot of loads — 5 kids, 2 adults, and my good neighbor (her washer broke and I shared.)

 

The problem was not here in this lower right hole. You can unscrew that and there is a little water there, and you can check for pennies and stuff and remove them. But that was not my leak.

 

The back removed and the flashlight is on the rubber black accordion squeeze thing: