Magically Multiplying Maytag

When we bought the house, we also bought the washer/dryer that came with it - 1st generation Maytag front-loaders. Hurray, front-loaders! We noticed pretty quickly that clothes came cleaner in these machines than in any washer we'd previously owned.

We also noticed pretty quickly that the washer made a strange squeaking noise. "We should have somebody look at that," we said. Several weeks went by and the noise changed - from a periodic squeek to an irregular knocking sound. "That can't be good." So we decided to stop using it until we could figure out where the sound was coming from.

After tearing the washer apart, we had not identified the source, but we had determined that the noise was coming from somewhere inside the tub. It was time to call in a professional. So we loaded the washer up into our 1986 Dodge Pickup and drove it down to the "local" (25 miles away) appliance repair shop. After a week, they called us back with the bad news - it would be $500 in repairs, and that was just for the parts themselves. We called them back to tell them to just put it back together, and we would pick it up. The only reason we had stopped using the washer in the first place was that we thought if we fixed a simple problem we could prevent a catastrophic failure. Since we now knew that it was not a simple problem, bring on the catastrophic failure!

While in the shop picking up the washer, we turned to our right and saw: our washer. Only not our washer. Here was the exact same model and series washer, for sale used at the appliance shop for $250. So now we have two: one in the house washing clothes, and a backup in the machine shop. As Leif said, "You're collecting washers? You are now officially country folks."

- Mike (& Corinne)