Does anyone know how badly designed the conical LG washer/dryer drain filter unit is?...

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

I am having drain pump failure on an LG washer dryer. I cant quite tie it down but this is an INCREDIBLY badly designed unit. LG actually forgot to include a lint filter in it so the whole thing has to be taken apart every few years so that lint can be cleared out of every tiny crevasse inside the unit!

I pulled the drain filter out and found a coin and a tiny credit card in there. But not much else, and the filter is cone shaped so I am wondering if this is normal or is this conical filter is just another pathetically bad LG idea?

Can anything seriously get past those conical shaped drain filters, and block the impeller behind the cone?

I CAN put my finger on the impeller and feel the normal pressure as I try to move between quadrants, which I have heard described as the acid test of whether your pump has failed or not. But I dont know whether feeling this pressure necessarily means that the pump hasn\'t failed? So I am wondering whether anything CAN get past the conical filter? Or is letting things get past this filter and block the drain pipes normal for this LG design because LG design is so lousy, - even where the the pump itself is working? (as an aside, LG design is so bad that they have had to withdraw all LG tech support and replace it with guys at the end of the phone who read from scripts, telling users to get everything repaired, whatever the tech support question!)

Or does the buszing/grinding noise coming from the drain pump trump everything else and mean, simply put, that the pump has failed?

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Amanda Riphnykhazova <licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

I am having drain pump failure on an LG washer dryer. I cant quite tie
it down but this is an INCREDIBLY badly designed unit. LG actually
forgot to include a lint filter in it so the whole thing has to be taken
apart every few years so that lint can be cleared out of every tiny
crevasse inside the unit!

I pulled the drain filter out and found a coin and a tiny credit card in
there. But not much else, and the filter is cone shaped so I am
wondering if this is normal or is this conical filter is just another
pathetically bad LG idea?

All LG ideas are bad, sort of like their products.

Can anything seriously get past those conical shaped drain filters, and
block the impeller behind the cone?

I CAN put my finger on the impeller and feel the normal pressure as I
try to move between quadrants, which I have heard described as the acid
test of whether your pump has failed or not. But I dont know whether
feeling this pressure necessarily means that the pump hasn\'t failed?
So I am wondering whether anything CAN get past the conical filter? Or
is letting things get past this filter and block the drain pipes normal
for this LG design because LG design is so lousy, - even where the the
pump itself is working? (as an aside, LG design is so bad that they have
had to withdraw all LG tech support and replace it with guys at the end
of the phone who read from scripts, telling users to get everything
repaired, whatever the tech support question!)

Or does the buszing/grinding noise coming from the drain pump trump
everything else and mean, simply put, that the pump has failed?

You already said the pump failed. What\'s the question here?

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Amanda Riphnykhazova <licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

I am having drain pump failure on an LG washer dryer. I cant quite tie
it down but this is an INCREDIBLY badly designed unit. LG actually
forgot to include a lint filter in it so the whole thing has to be taken
apart every few years so that lint can be cleared out of every tiny
crevasse inside the unit!

I pulled the drain filter out and found a coin and a tiny credit card in
there. But not much else, and the filter is cone shaped so I am
wondering if this is normal or is this conical filter is just another
pathetically bad LG idea?

All LG ideas are bad, sort of like their products.

Can anything seriously get past those conical shaped drain filters, and
block the impeller behind the cone?

I CAN put my finger on the impeller and feel the normal pressure as I
try to move between quadrants, which I have heard described as the acid
test of whether your pump has failed or not. But I dont know whether
feeling this pressure necessarily means that the pump hasn\'t failed?
So I am wondering whether anything CAN get past the conical filter? Or
is letting things get past this filter and block the drain pipes normal
for this LG design because LG design is so lousy, - even where the the
pump itself is working? (as an aside, LG design is so bad that they have
had to withdraw all LG tech support and replace it with guys at the end
of the phone who read from scripts, telling users to get everything
repaired, whatever the tech support question!)

Or does the buszing/grinding noise coming from the drain pump trump
everything else and mean, simply put, that the pump has failed?

You already said the pump failed. What\'s the question here?

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

As with many other products, modern residential washers need maintenance on a fairly regular basis. We have a 15 year old LG front-loader at our summer house, we just replaced our 12 year old (purchased reconditioned) LG at our main house. We replaced it because the fill valve and the drain valve failed together, and the parts and time involved for a machine that heavily used (7+ loads per week) mitigated towards a new unit that was more efficient, and has a few more features.

At the beginning of each quarter at home, we clean the drain sump. Takes ten (10) minutes at the outside. And we have pulled all sorts of *stuff* out of it. At the summer house, we do it at the end of each season as part of the winterizing process. That one gets, perhaps, one load per week.

Unlike the bad old days, when a washer used 40 gallons of water, and lasted very nearly forever if not seriously abused, a modern washer will use maybe 5 gallons of water, and needs a bit of care and feeding, or it will not last very long at all. That is not the fault of the device, but of the user not understanding their obligations towards achieve that efficiency.

As John Muir wrote about VWs - \"Come to kindly terms with your ass, for it bears you.\". Come to terms with your machine and it will treat you well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

> You already said the pump failed. What\'s the question here?

\'cos everyone is trying to convince me that buzzing/grinding is a sign that the pump is OK but blocked, - the problem might be a blockage behind the pump which would stay there after pump replacement. Also, there is a video out there which says that a failed pump has an impeller which moves freely. And that there being pressure between quadrants as you turn the impeller is a sign that the pump is actually OK.

But YOUR point is more valid. If the pump starts to buzz/grind for anything more than a few seconds and water stops being pumped through, the game is up! Especially if there really isnt much in the filter area and I can move the impeller between quadrants, indicating that no BLOCKAGE is stopping the impeller from moving.

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

As with many other products, modern residential washers need maintenance on a fairly regular basis. We have a 15 year old LG front-loader at our summer house, we just replaced our 12 year old (purchased reconditioned) LG at our main house. We replaced it because the fill valve and the drain valve failed together, and the parts and time involved for a machine that heavily used (7+ loads per week) mitigated towards a new unit that was more efficient, and has a few more features.

At the beginning of each quarter at home, we clean the drain sump. Takes ten (10) minutes at the outside. And we have pulled all sorts of *stuff* out of it. At the summer house, we do it at the end of each season as part of the winterizing process. That one gets, perhaps, one load per week.

Unlike the bad old days, when a washer used 40 gallons of water, and lasted very nearly forever if not seriously abused, a modern washer will use maybe 5 gallons of water, and needs a bit of care and feeding, or it will not last very long at all. That is not the fault of the device, but of the user not understanding their obligations towards achieve that efficiency.

As John Muir wrote about VWs - \"Come to kindly terms with your ass, for it bears you.\". Come to terms with your machine and it will treat you well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

An LG washer pump is about $25. The entire assembly may be had for $60 or less. Takes about an hour to replace - ask me how I know that. As compared to +/- $700 for a new machine, or a service-call of about $150 + parts. No special tools required, and at least half-a-dozen YouTube tutorials on how-to.

These pumps fail from:

a) Pump impeller blockage - takes a lot to get to that, but it is possible if the drain sump is never cleaned.
b) Running too much suction - far more common. Clean the sump! Regularly.
c) Age - these are cheap little things. And very easily replaced.

If you were to direct all that energy expressed as anger at addressing the actual cause, then fixing the cause, your life would be better.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Amanda Riphnykhazova]

If you were to direct all that energy expressed as anger at addressing the actual cause, then fixing the cause, your life would be better.

Any anger only arises as a result of having to spend so much time and money on a machine which is so badly designed that it WILL fail again within 2-3 years and need an extraordinary amount of work cleaning it out!

I have seen the videos and the work for this pump looks easy but is VERY extended. Also, there is a metal ring around the door seal which looks like a real pig to re-fit! Even for me, where i get a real rush out of taking intricate things which dont work apart and fixing them!

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

I keep a pair of hollow-nose slip-joint pliers that manages that ring very nicely (among many other uses). I have no idea of the technical name of that plier, but it does the trick.

As I previously noted, took me about an hour from start-to-finish. But I had good light and lots of room.

The part that gripes me about the older LG machines is that they rust, badly. After about 2015 or so, they seem to have fixed that. And the reconditioned unit that we replaced a bit ago cost us about $0.14 per load (machine only) or so, so it owed us nothing at all. Were it not for the rust, I probably would have done the necessary repairs....

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

An LG washer pump is about $25. The entire assembly may be had for $60 or less. Takes about an hour to replace - ask me how I know that. As compared to +/- $700 for a new machine, or a service-call of about $150 + parts. No special tools required, and at least half-a-dozen YouTube tutorials on how-to.

These pumps fail from:

a) Pump impeller blockage - takes a lot to get to that, but it is possible if the drain sump is never cleaned.
b) Running too much suction - far more common. Clean the sump! Regularly.
c) Age - these are cheap little things. And very easily replaced.

If you were to direct all that energy expressed as anger at addressing the actual cause, then fixing the cause, your life would be better.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Amanda Riphnykhazova <licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

You already said the pump failed. What\'s the question here?

\'cos everyone is trying to convince me that buzzing/grinding is a sign
that the pump is OK but blocked, - the problem might be a blockage
behind the pump which would stay there after pump replacement. Also,
there is a video out there which says that a failed pump has an impeller
which moves freely. And that there being pressure between quadrants as
you turn the impeller is a sign that the pump is actually OK.

But YOUR point is more valid. If the pump starts to buzz/grind for
anything more than a few seconds and water stops being pumped through,
the game is up! Especially if there really isnt much in the filter area
and I can move the impeller between quadrants, indicating that no
BLOCKAGE is stopping the impeller from moving.

I admit to not fixing dish washers. I do deal with other machinery with
similar sized centrifugal pumps. Blockage seems to be the #1 problem. It
doesn\'t really take much to stop a small pump either. All it takes is a
piece of cellophane or tape to really mess things up. Complete blockage
isn\'t needed. I\'ve fished out junk with wires and it\'s not uncommonon to
have to completely disassemble the wet side of even primo ceramic shaft,
magnetic drive Iwaki pumps to fish out trash in system.

The motor spinning at all is a good sign though. Seized motors burn out
real fast, and a burned out motor doesn\'t usually buzz or do anything.

Can you remove the pump and check the entire path the water takes?

 

[Cydrome Leader]

pfjw@aol.com <peterwieck33@gmail.com> wrote:

As with many other products, modern residential washers need maintenance on a fairly regular basis. We have a 15 year old LG front-loader at our summer house, we just replaced our 12 year old (purchased reconditioned) LG at our main house. We replaced it because the fill valve and the drain valve failed together, and the parts and time involved for a machine that heavily used (7+ loads per week) mitigated towards a new unit that was more efficient, and has a few more features.

At the beginning of each quarter at home, we clean the drain sump. Takes ten (10) minutes at the outside. And we have pulled all sorts of *stuff* out of it. At the summer house, we do it at the end of each season as part of the winterizing process. That one gets, perhaps, one load per week.

Unlike the bad old days, when a washer used 40 gallons of water, and
lasted very nearly forever if not seriously abused, a modern washer will
use maybe 5 gallons of water, and needs a bit of care and feeding, or it
will not last very long at all. That is not the fault of the device, but
of the user not understanding their obligations towards achieve that
efficiency.

I call bullshit on this. While folks on usenet, in a repair group can
probably figure out preventative maintenance it\'s not listed in any
consumer product manual. There\'s no way LG user manual mentions anything
other than don\'t run a pump dry and contact a service professional for
anything else. modern appliances are pure junk, plain and simple. My
favorite is clogged codensate lines on fridges, moldy side load
washing machines and the $400 parts and labor \"computer board\" for
anything else.

1) it\'s a tube, operated by gravity. Manufacturers somehow mess this up,
it has to be on purpose.

2) wow, a big old V shaped gasket might trap water. Sure, I\'ll run two
loads, the second with vinegar or bleach to keep the machine from
rotting. Really saves water now, right?

There really isn\'t much maintenance the end user can perform on
appliances these days.

Remember when the only thing to go out on a stove was the oven light and
hot element ignitor, maybe once every 10 years? I\'ve seen multiple stove
failures that resulted in the entire unit being scrapped due to electronic
problems. It\'s rediculous. Stoves don\'t need maintenance, don\'t have pumps
and still fail at a very high rate due to unnecessary electronics and
awful design practives what serve to only rip off the consumer.

As John Muir wrote about VWs - \"Come to kindly terms with your ass, for
it bears you.\". Come to terms with your machine and it will treat you
well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Amanda Riphnykhazova <licensedtoquill@gmail.com> wrote:

You already said the pump failed. What\'s the question here?

\'cos everyone is trying to convince me that buzzing/grinding is a sign
that the pump is OK but blocked, - the problem might be a blockage
behind the pump which would stay there after pump replacement. Also,
there is a video out there which says that a failed pump has an impeller
which moves freely. And that there being pressure between quadrants as
you turn the impeller is a sign that the pump is actually OK.

But YOUR point is more valid. If the pump starts to buzz/grind for
anything more than a few seconds and water stops being pumped through,
the game is up! Especially if there really isnt much in the filter area
and I can move the impeller between quadrants, indicating that no
BLOCKAGE is stopping the impeller from moving.

I admit to not fixing dish washers. I do deal with other machinery with
similar sized centrifugal pumps. Blockage seems to be the #1 problem. It
doesn\'t really take much to stop a small pump either. All it takes is a
piece of cellophane or tape to really mess things up. Complete blockage
isn\'t needed. I\'ve fished out junk with wires and it\'s not uncommonon to
have to completely disassemble the wet side of even primo ceramic shaft,
magnetic drive Iwaki pumps to fish out trash in system.

The motor spinning at all is a good sign though. Seized motors burn out
real fast, and a burned out motor doesn\'t usually buzz or do anything.

Can you remove the pump and check the entire path the water takes?

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

Warning: This is a bit of a rant....

I would not accuse you of being a Luddite, but I do question your understanding of basic care-and-feeding of appliances. You admit to doing tear-down maintenance of a microwave oven (surely not in any operations manual), yet will not admit to the most basic understanding of the car-and-feeding of other, larger appliances.

Sure, our range has as much computing power as the Space Shuttle ((but so did the Commodore VIC20), and as such probably should be on a circuit protected by a surge-suppressor (and it is). It is now 12 years old and doing fine. The oven gets used very nearly every day, so it does need cleaning (maintenance), and every so often, beyond just the self-clean feature - and that is not in any manual either.

As to the clothes washer - cleaning the sump quarterly is no big deal, is it? If the alternative is replacing the pump, probably annually (with heavy use)? Now:

a) The typical old-style top-loader used between 35 and 45 gallons of water per full load. The average washer is used 400 times per year (family of four(4)). Splitting the difference, that is 16,000 gallons of water per year. That is 44 gallons per day, just for washing clothes. Which is, typically, also heated at least in part.
b) The typical old-style top-loader leaves between one and two gallons of water behind in a full load. Which must be dried, either mechanically or on a clothes line. How many here use a clothes line? For everything?
c) Our LG uses five (5) gallons of water on the heavy-duty cycle, and seven (7) if we use a pre-rinse (never needed to, at least so far). Giving it a 8:1 advantage over the top-loader. and a 3:1 advantage over even the most efficient modern top-loader. Making that occasional vinegar douche not so horrible - well, we use chlorine bleach often enough that the vinegar is rarely needed.

At our summer house, where we both make and dispose of our water on-site, and we are on a Class A trout-stream, water consumption is a huge factor. Just below functionality, but above first-cost and even maintenance - although so far, that has been minimal. We are also exceedingly careful of the materials we use such as soaps and detergents.

(Definition of Class A Waters:
Streams that support a population of naturally produced trout of sufficient size and abundance to support a long-term and rewarding sport fishery.
Management:
Natural reproduction, wild populations with no stocking)

And learning what works over the last 30 years upstate has translated into choices we make \"at home\" to keep to a more gentle footprint - OK, not the \"American Way\" but so what?

It is a matter of choices made. But it does gripe me when individuals blame the object rather than the caretaker of that object for its failure after years of negligence.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

Warning: This is a bit of a rant....

I would not accuse you of being a Luddite, but I do question your understanding of basic care-and-feeding of appliances. You admit to doing tear-down maintenance of a microwave oven (surely not in any operations manual), yet will not admit to the most basic understanding of the car-and-feeding of other, larger appliances.

Sure, our range has as much computing power as the Space Shuttle ((but so did the Commodore VIC20), and as such probably should be on a circuit protected by a surge-suppressor (and it is). It is now 12 years old and doing fine. The oven gets used very nearly every day, so it does need cleaning (maintenance), and every so often, beyond just the self-clean feature - and that is not in any manual either.

As to the clothes washer - cleaning the sump quarterly is no big deal, is it? If the alternative is replacing the pump, probably annually (with heavy use)? Now:

a) The typical old-style top-loader used between 35 and 45 gallons of water per full load. The average washer is used 400 times per year (family of four(4)). Splitting the difference, that is 16,000 gallons of water per year. That is 44 gallons per day, just for washing clothes. Which is, typically, also heated at least in part.
b) The typical old-style top-loader leaves between one and two gallons of water behind in a full load. Which must be dried, either mechanically or on a clothes line. How many here use a clothes line? For everything?
c) Our LG uses five (5) gallons of water on the heavy-duty cycle, and seven (7) if we use a pre-rinse (never needed to, at least so far). Giving it a 8:1 advantage over the top-loader. and a 3:1 advantage over even the most efficient modern top-loader. Making that occasional vinegar douche not so horrible - well, we use chlorine bleach often enough that the vinegar is rarely needed.

At our summer house, where we both make and dispose of our water on-site, and we are on a Class A trout-stream, water consumption is a huge factor. Just below functionality, but above first-cost and even maintenance - although so far, that has been minimal. We are also exceedingly careful of the materials we use such as soaps and detergents.

(Definition of Class A Waters:
Streams that support a population of naturally produced trout of sufficient size and abundance to support a long-term and rewarding sport fishery.
Management:
Natural reproduction, wild populations with no stocking)

And learning what works over the last 30 years upstate has translated into choices we make \"at home\" to keep to a more gentle footprint - OK, not the \"American Way\" but so what?

It is a matter of choices made. But it does gripe me when individuals blame the object rather than the caretaker of that object for its failure after years of negligence.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Ron D.]

I have the other problem. The washer just chews up the lint and spits it out.
that goes down the drain via a 2-tub laundry sink and about 20\' of 60 year old galvanized pipe burried under the cement.

The lint catches about 20\' out. I got tired of that non-sense.

Especially when I spent a lot of time using the home depot auger in the wrong direction. Mine was clockwise in, theirs was CCW in.

I made a very nice sock filter using mostly stock parts. Once I had proof of concept, I borrowed a lathe and added some new parts and made the filter super easy to empty.

Expensive, simple and stuff had to come from 3 different suppliers.

 

[Ron D.]

I have the other problem. The washer just chews up the lint and spits it out.
that goes down the drain via a 2-tub laundry sink and about 20\' of 60 year old galvanized pipe burried under the cement.

The lint catches about 20\' out. I got tired of that non-sense.

Especially when I spent a lot of time using the home depot auger in the wrong direction. Mine was clockwise in, theirs was CCW in.

I made a very nice sock filter using mostly stock parts. Once I had proof of concept, I borrowed a lathe and added some new parts and made the filter super easy to empty.

Expensive, simple and stuff had to come from 3 different suppliers.

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

As I keep repeating, this site is dedicated to finding out how to do things the hardest possible way, seeking the least satisfactory results, taking the most possible time:

https://linttrapper.com/product/lint-trapper/

And, if that is too much:

https://www.amazon.com/Peerless-Laundry-Lint-Trap-2-Pack/dp/B00ONUODEC Sadly, this one requires siccors....

And, if you are buying for the ages:

https://www.amazon.com/Wobe-Washing-Machine-Laundry-Rustproof/dp/B07BBLX17Q


Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

As I keep repeating, this site is dedicated to finding out how to do things the hardest possible way, seeking the least satisfactory results, taking the most possible time:

https://linttrapper.com/product/lint-trapper/

And, if that is too much:

https://www.amazon.com/Peerless-Laundry-Lint-Trap-2-Pack/dp/B00ONUODEC Sadly, this one requires siccors....

And, if you are buying for the ages:

https://www.amazon.com/Wobe-Washing-Machine-Laundry-Rustproof/dp/B07BBLX17Q


Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Tim R]

On Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 1:14:09 PM UTC-4, pf...@aol.com wrote:
> Lint traps

I didn\'t know they made those.

In 12 years doing washes for a family of four we\'ve never had the washer drain plug up though. Perhaps because it\'s one of those old Maytags that use a lot of water it dilutes the lint enough to flow through.