New Washer/Dryer
Hi, Have a few questions and any help really appreciated. We had a problem with our hot water whereby the hot would turn cold very quickly. The problem was targeted to a 3/4 inch pipe in the basement that feeds only to the w/d. Diagnosis involved turning off the cold water feed to the building…
Hi,
Have a few questions and any help really appreciated.
We had a problem with our hot water whereby the hot would turn cold very quickly. The problem was targeted to a 3/4 inch pipe in the basement that feeds only to the w/d. Diagnosis involved turning off the cold water feed to the building and running the cold water faucet in the bathroom…cold water still coming through. Also, running the hot faucet gave us a consistent hot water stream. Did the same with the w/d on a cold wash and again cold water was coming through. Apparently the valves on the w/d are faulty?
So, bottom line is we need a new w/d. I’ll probably order a stackable unit on Sears, but do I need to get a plumber in beforehand to turn off the 3/4 pipe feed to the w/d? I think the valve on the pipe is broken (thread bare), so as of now we can’t turn off the feed, but will we need to? I don’t want to get the Sears guys round for the w/d installation only to find out they can’t turn off the water supply.
How can I tell if the dryer portion of the stackable unit is gas or electric?
Also, does that sound like a viable diagnosis for why the hot water could be turning cold so quickly?
Rambling a bit, but advice much appreciated.
Thanks all.
You must have stop valves where the washer hoses connect? so that will shut off the water so it can be fixed. Try Expert Appliance, I’ve used them several times.
well, to recap, and hopefully make some sense!…w/ the main cold water line shut off and the 3/4 feed to the washer on, we are still getting cold water through the faucet in the upstairs bathroom and if we do a cold cycle on the washer, hot water comes out.
Unfortunately, we can’t turn of the 3/4 feed pipe in the basement as the valve is thread bare.
Plumber told us the check valve is probably broken on the washing machine and is causing the problem. Now, if we want to get the valve on the washer fixed, do we need to get the 3/4 pipe fixed so it can be turned off? Or is that not necessary?
Thanks 🙂
afa feed is concerned, you could easily have a cold feed to your bath and the washer, so no mystery.
So the issue is that you get OK hot with washer off, and no hot with washer running even on cold wash (so it couldn’t be the water heater)? If so I’ll defer to other’s knowledge.
I thought you’d diagnosed a faulty valve in the washer, in which case it might be $100-150 to fix (judging from a few of my service calls over the years.)
Thanks for the input 🙂 Arkady, I’ll check that out tonight. There is a big white pipe/tube that feeds into a small container that contains water on the side of the wall. I guess that is just the water feed though for the dryer.
cmu, to fix the valve, is that something a plumber could do? Any idea how much it would cost?
Re. the water, I see your point..although I described it incorrectly 🙂 I think the plumber shut off what we thought was the only cold water line that fed all 3 apartments in the building. We did turn that off (guess that isn’t the feed to the building), but it turns out we have the extra 3/4 inch pipe that feeds our w/d. No other apartment has their own feed pipe like that which is a bit strange. We are on the top two floors though, so maybe that has something to do with it?
So, with the cold water turned off, theoretically the faucet in the bath upstairs should not have received any cold water, but it did and I am guessing that it came from the line feeding the w/d.
Anybody with a bit more knowledge than I, please advise!
Phew 🙂
Why get a new one instead of fixing it? If it’s just a valve, can’t be that expensive.
Also don’t understand how you could get *any* water if the main building cold water is off? Do you have a rainwater cistern ;)?
Check main plug…you should be able to tell if it’s 110v or much larger 220v (electric dryer). Also there will be a flexible (prob. stainless) gas line connected to the unit if gas.
Don’t know about the plumbing aspect but it’s easy to tell if you’re using gas or electric – just look to see if you have a gas feed into the unit. It’s a black pipe.