One more reason that fairly-new-and-in-good-condition washing machine was on the curb slowly revealed itself as we used it. It evidently had a slow leak. After several uses, the floor around the washer would be slightly damp, as if it were leaking just a few spoonfuls of water with each load. Water where it shouldn’t be is all kinds of trouble for machinery. It can cause corrosion, electrical shorts, who knows what else. It also provides a water source for roaches and other vermin.
With the machine running, I carefully watched the supply line intake hoses where they attached to the back of the machine, but I never saw even a drop of water on the rear of the washer. However, I remembered that I had re-used the hoses from the previous machine, which meant I had old hoses. I couldn’t figure out just how old, so just for safety’s sake, I got new ones. They also didn’t leak.
The floor under the washer, a concrete basement floor, still got damp each time we did a load of laundry. If the inlet hoses weren’t leaking, then the leak must be somewhere inside the machine. Attempting a repair to some interior part seemed daunting, but the thought of calling a repairman was even more so.
I unplugged the machine (you must always unplug anything electrical before starting any work on it) and moved it away from the wall, removed the back, and took a look. Yikes! There was a pool of water in the bottom of the machine. Evidently, it was deep enough (maybe a quarter inch) to overflow on to the floor each time the machine was used. More troubling, the water wasn’t too far from various electrical connections, thought, intelligently, none of the electrical connections were at the bottom of the machine. I felt around on the inside parts , hoping to find some dampness. Nothing.
Having come this far, it seemed that the only thing I could do next was plug-in the machine and do a load of laundry. I did this and sat back and watched, being sure not to touch anything. With a flashlight I scanned the interior of the machine. After several minutes of patiently watching, when the machine drained at the end of the wash cycle, I noticed a tiny drip. Just one drip. Aha! The discharge hose! I marked the location and waited for the machine to finish.
After the machine was done, I removed the hose and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, there was a small hole near my mark. Hardly more than a pinprick. The hose wasn’t routed near anything that might damage it. Perhaps it was a manufacturing defect. I checked on the prices of replacement hoses from the manufacturer — of course, they were outrageous. An internet search found some generic one-size-fits-all hoses, but they weren’t as long and were a slightly different shape. Such a small hole being the problem, it seemed repairing it with some kind of patch would be the best solution to the leaking-washing-machine problem.
Somewhere I’d heard of self-fusing silicone tape, so I thought I’d give that a try. Interesting stuff. It’s tape, but it doesn’t stick to anything — except itself. It’s especially useful for repairing cords, hoses, pipes, tubes or anything that can be wrapped with tape. The basic idea is to wrap the leaky hose with the tape, making sure to stretch the tape as it overlaps. The stretching causes the tape to adhere to itself under tension, which holds it tight. When the tape comes into contact with itself , the multiple layers start fusing into one solid layer. Once that happens, it can’t be separated and it’s not coming off (unless it is cut off with blade).
After a good wrapping with the silicone tape, I put the discharge hose back into place and did a few loads. No evidence of any leaks. Several days and several loads later, the concrete floor under the washer was completely dry. The silicone tape did the job.
Self-fusing silicone tape isn’t cheap. The roll I bought cost about $10 and I used about 1/3 of it to repair the washing machine hose. But the job has held. Months later, the floor remains dry.
