Washing Machine Escapade

When I moved in, I bought a lightly used washer and dryer from my sister. Two years old, six months used. My dad brought them over and hooked them up for me, even buying the hoses.

After a bit, the washer stopped washing in hot water. It would run for a second, I'd hear bang from water hammer, and the exposed piping in the framed in garage would shake. I futzed around with the connections and determined that yes, water was flowing from the hot water connection.

I did some research and discovered that a similar model of washer had problems with the temperature compensating valve. It was a $20 part, and the toughest part was to get at it to change it. Figured the water hammer was being caused by the slamming shut of the temperature valve.

I buy the part and quickly discover figuring out how to crack open a washing machine isn't as easy as it looks. After about 4 months, I decided to suck it up just replace the damn thing.

But, on a visit, my dad tells me how to get into the washing machine with out taking it to bits. There are two little clamps in the back (which I'd jiggered with) and 2 clips in the front I wasn't able to see, with little alighnment pins in front that looked like screws when I was messing around with it. So I got the top off and I replaced the valve that day. Took about five minutes.

And guess what? I still had the problem.

I go, for the umpteenth time, to futz around with the water connection. For the first time, I notice the tag on the hose. It says "FloodSafe" on it.

Both of these hoses have excess flow valves in them. I'd never heard of excess flow valves being used for residential purposes, though the water hammer should have clued me in. This hose (both actually, I'd switched them even in my trouble shooting) were shutting off the hot water when ever the washer would kick on. I almost replaced my washing machine for $30 in hoses.

And now an engineer's rant:
Excess flow valves are one of those "what a great idea!" things that don't actually play out well in real life. They trip and shut the flow off when they aren't supposed to, and can be tricky to reset. And they don't always seat that well so they may leak by, and they can make troubleshooting a nightmare if you aren't familiar with them. But boy are they an easy sell!