LESLIE: Pam in Pennsylvania’s got some problem with the laundry. What’s going on?
PAM: I seem to have a problem with my washer draining.
LESLIE: OK.
PAM: It doesn’t leave standing water, but when I start to pull the clothes out they’re just sopping wet and there’s water running off of them.
LESLIE: Does it seem like it’s not even doing its spin cycle?
PAM: No, it definitely spins. So what I’ve been doing is just sending it through the cycle a second time and that seems to clear the rest of the water out.
TOM: Where do you drain this washing machine? Is it drained into a pipe or is it draining into a laundry tub?
PAM: It drains into a pipe.
TOM: It’s possible that if there’s any obstruction in that pipe and …
LESLIE: It could be a sock.
TOM: Yeah. Or anything that’s in that drain pipe so that drain pipe is slow now. Perhaps there’s an obstruction that’s building up. What happens is this. If your drain pipe that you’re draining into it is backing up at all …
PAM: Uh-huh.
TOM: … to the point where it could be siphoning some of the drain water back into the washing machine even after it spins. So it spits it out and then some of it reverses and goes back in. That’s one possibility for this particular condition.
You know, there’s a great web resource out there that can help you get to the bottom of it. It’s called RepairClinic.com. We’ve had the guy that founded this site on the show before; his name is Chris Hall. He’s done a very good job of categorizing every single appliance problem that anyone could ever imagine, providing the solution to it. And of course they’re also happy to sell you their parts but you can use the site without buying any parts.
But that’s one thing that comes to mind right away, Pam; is a problem with a clogged drain pipe causing a siphon back in because it is spinning. At least mechanically it sounds like it’s working but if there is some obstruction you’re going to suck water back into it.
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