You have fought bravely and honorably in this mortal combat with your washer, Grasshopper. And now, the Samurai is here to help you deliver le coup de grace.

The protective screen on your inlet valve is clogged with sediment and probably looks something like this. The recommended practice in this case is to replace the whole valve. Sometimes, you can clean the screen using a Dremel tool with a wire brush attachment or a toothbrush. But, whatever you do, avoid the Cute Plumber’s Trick where you simply remove the screen altogether and then return the valve to normal service. It’s called a protective screen for a reason: to protect the valve from sediment and pipe scale and prevent it from getting stuck open. Let this haiku from the Samurai Scrolls of Appliantology be your victorious katana in this, your Hour of Appliance Repair Misogi:

Cold water dribbles
lifeless into the washer.
Replace inlet valve.
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As long as you’re poking around back there with the water hoses off the valve, now’s a good time to get rid of those cheesy black rubber hoses which can (and do!) fail without warning, like this one, and install steel-braided hoses–it’s the cheapest flood insurance you can buy!

Oh, I know, you’re saying, "Enlighten me further in the ways of washer flood prevention, oh Ancient Ameliorator of Aging Appliances." Ahh, Grasshopper, the Samurai heard your petition for wisdom before you even knew enough to ask. Come, read the Sacred Samurai Scriptures on preventing washer floods.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2003 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Washer Repair. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Or, you can jump to the homepage.