Our RV Adventures

I woke up this morning feeling under the weather so we didn’t walk. But I still wanted to tackle my washer problem. But first I had something else I wanted to fix

When we parked here this past Sunday, the pavement looked strong enough to not need the leveler pads. But the last couple of days have proved me wrong, and we started tilting a little. So before I started pulling the washer out, I cranked up the rig, raised the levelers, put down the pads, and then releveled.

My first task was to empty the water that was stuck in the drum, and the only way to do this is to open the lint trap and let it run out into a bucket.

Next up I removed the wooden retaining strip that keeps the washer from sliding out while we travel. Three screws hold it in place.

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Once that’s done, then I can pull out the canvas straps that I installed previously. I use these to help pull the washer out of the enclosure.

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When I was down in Clear Lake yesterday, I got my furniture dolly from my son Chris’ to help move the washer once I get it out.

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After that it’s just a matter of working it out, little by little, using the straps and also pulling from inside the door.

The reason the washer is so difficult get out of the enclosure is shown here. It’s almost a jam fit like this on both sides. Every time I pull it out, I tell myself that I’ll sand it down, but somehow I never do.

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Then it’s just a matter of dragging it out onto the dolly.

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Once it’s completely on the dolly I can roll it aside enough to unplug the power, and then remove the water hoses and the drain line.

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My next step was to turn the washer upside down so that I could remove the bottom panel and get to the drain pump itself.

After removing the two screws that hold the pump in place and then loosening the hose clamps from the input and output hoses. Then after unplugging the power wires, I was able to completely remove the pump and take a look at it.

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The first thing I did was do an ohmmeter check on the power leads. I got a reading of 7.0 ohms which is about right for a motor this size and also tells me that the windings are good. So the motor is probably working, but I’ll test it with voltage later if necessary.

The next thing I noticed was that when I initially tried to turn the fan by hand, it was kind of hard to turn, but then freed up slightly.

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Then I removed the three screws that hold the pump housing to the motor. I kind of expected the housing to have some lint or other debris inside, but I didn’t find anything.

One thing I did find unusual was that although when I turned the fan by hand, the impeller did turn, when I turn the impeller it just spins without turning the fan. So I don’t know if that’s the way it’s supposed to be, so that if that something clogs the pump, it won’t burn out, or if it’s broken.

I’ll call Westland Sales tomorrow and find out.

Checking eBay, I did find a new pump for $185, or a ‘used but working’ one for $100. But I’ll hold off until I find out more about my problem.

Earlier in the afternoon I found blog readers parked on both sides of us. Our friend Randy Lazarine showed up yesterday, following us over from Colorado River yesterday.

And blog reader Brett O’Neal recognized us when he and his wife Frankie parked on the other side of us. They just started full-timing recently, and are just getting on the road and heading to Florida.

Later they came by for a local restaurant recommendation, and we sent them off to El Bosque, our favorite local Mexican place. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as we do.

And hopefully we’ll get a chance to get together and get to know them better.

Thought for the Day:

In aviation, there is no problem so great or so complex that it cannot be blamed on the pilot.

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