Can Tide pods damage a washing machine drain pump?

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

I have had an LG washer/dryer for four years. I use liquids.

Yesterday for the first time I threw a tide pod INTO the machine. The process/cycle failed, for the first time, somewhere along the cycle. And a loud grinding has started to come from the drain pump, which SEEMS to have stopped working. I now drain by opening the pipe in the filter compartment by the pump.

Not much was in the filter, but I can feel the pump 'blades' which dont turn freely as if nothing is stopping them because the pump were broken. They exhibit the pressure between quadrants as they should. When I try to run spin to get rid of the filthy water in the machine, there is a lot of grinding and eventually an OE error, telling me 'no drain'.

So I had to drain with the pipe, after which I ran a dry cycle to get what was still in the machine dry overnight. BUT this morning, the unit was full of water!!

I tried to repeat the process and all water-involved steps were associated with loud grindings and lots of soap foam!!! Are bits of that pod still stuck in there somewhere? And still, the only draining is done when the pipe is open.

So I need a new drain pump. I actually started to make enquiries.

But wait!! During the drain process, while I was spinning to get rid of the water through the pipe, gradually the loud grinding stopped and the water stopped flowing through the pipe! As if the pump gradually unclogged itself and started working again and draining rather than send water through that narrow pipe?

Does any of this sound like a normal draining problem or is it a problem with undissolved plastic from the pod please?

[trader_4]

IDK, no experience with any of that. But I would not assume you need a new pump. I would continue to fill it with hot water, then pump it out. If it's the pod, then running hot water through it should dissolve and clear it.

[hubops]

You do not say if it is a front-load or top-load washer. Carefully examine the filter compartment with a flashlight and feeling around with your finger - looking for foreign objects or damage. <or damage to the filter itself> Make sure the drain hose hasn't been pinched or kinked. < clogged ? >

Run a "Clean Cycle" with no soaps nor clothes - see if the pump is working - if it fails you don't have the wet clothes and dirty water to deal with. On the old fashioned top-loaders, with the lower front cover - the pump was an easy R & R. These new 300 pound front-loaders - with no removable access panels - not so sure .. John T.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

Thanks guys, it is a front loader and I have seen the replacement procedure which looks easy enough to follow but it does involve taking the whole front of the unit apart in a huge load of steps!

One more symptom has appeared. The drum stopped turning 20 minutes into the dry cycle and soon after, the buzzing started from the drain pump again.

[hubops]

If you're going to fix it yourself - check - price & availability - of the replacement pump before you start - but don't purchase the pump < unless they offer full refund with no re-stocking fee >

... in case it's just an obstruction and the pump is OK. I worked on an older Frigidaire front-loader years ago - the thing I remember as the biggest frustration was re-installing the large rubber seal between the tub and the door .. it was a brute of a task that required 3 or 4 hands with no room for 2 .. John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I really doubt that from the millions of pods your machine is the only one that cannot use them. What would cause the drum to stop?

There are some web sites that may help you figure it out. try

or similar

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

You just hit the nails right on the thumb! Ny 2 greatest worries are that I do the massive amount of work and it turns out to be a blockage. Second is that damn ring, which I am trying to convince myself shouldn't be too difficult with a spring half way around it.

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

You are probably right,it probably IS just a massive coincidence

[Amanda Ripanykhazova]

DOn't I know it! That was the site which showed me the effects of LG accidentally omitting to put a lint filter in this machine! 5 hours of work every 2-3 years cleaning lint out of every single internal crevice!

[hubops]

Perhaps your LG is different or there could be a " trick-of-the-trade " that you might find from a web search - for your machine. I didn't have any such resource when I woked on the Frigidaire. Good luck. John T.

[Frank]

I googled it and did see that people have had problems with pods:

We have been using liquid for years on advice of the septic tank cleaner who showed us waxy deposits building up on top of the tank.

[hubops]

My LG front loader has a lint filter that never captures any lint at all. But the lint filter/drain hose area - provides a nice sump for about 2 cups of water to sit - ... and turn stagnant and stinky ! Ugghh ! I need to drain this area after every load - PITA ! My old Frigidaire had no such "feature" and did not suffer any odour problems at all - we just needed to keep the door open when not in use. The electronic controls for the various wash cycles in this LG are also a frustrating PITA ... It typically takes a full hour for a normal wash load < sometimes even more ! > and it fills so slowly - I've timed it - 12 minutes into the wash cycle before the load is completely WET ! geeze. The only good things that can say about this washer are : - great high speed spin - saves drying time - good load-balancing - ~ never goes badly unbalanced. John T.

[hubops]

HE liquid detergent. 2 or 3 repair guys told me that the drum bearing failure on my old Frigidaire was probably due to using non-HE detergent.

I was lucky to get a free drum under the 10 year warranty and do the repair myself - otherwise it would have meant a new washer. The failure occurred at 6 - 7 years and the washer lasted another 6 years or so after the repair. This was with family of 5 usage. John T.

[micky]

There are many kinds of plastic, none of which afaik dissolve in water.

So the pods ae not covered in plastic but something else

It might be possible for a pod to dissolve more slowlyl than usual, but it's supposed to dissolve by the start of the wash cycle, long before the drain cycle. So I don't think it's the pod.

It's a clear case of Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

It might be a screw in a pocket that made it through the little holes in the drum. Even if a blade is partly broken off from the pump impeller, it might still work fine once it's unjammed.

[micky]

They built an expressway interchange, maybe in N. or S. Carolina, and left out several of the ramps. No way to go from one highway to the other without drivign over the grass, which is what people did.

[micky]

Gravel in the input filter screens?

12 minutes into the wash cycle before

[hubops]

It's been like this since new - had the repair guys check it out after the first few weeks - the hoses were new ; the machine was level ; they checked my water supply for adequate flow; pretended to fiddle with something inside on the water supply - said so long .. I had the distinct impression that they knew what-was-what but couldn't say the truth or they would be getting the machine back .. My old Frigidaire and the laundry-mat front loaders would behave much more "normally" ... fill with water until the load is wet -

- it would take 2 minutes - complete wash-spin-rinse-spin <second rinse-spin> cycle takes ~ 30 minutes + / - 5 minutes. ... no useless lint filter ; no stink-sump .. John T.

[micky]

A very depressing story. To pay money to get worse stuff.

One consolation, it IS an autommatic washer, so just do something else until it finishes. At least you don't have to go down to the river and wash your clothes on the rocks. (I saw women doing that once.)

[micky]

I once found a 10 anp battery charger for cars on the sidewalk in an industrial n'hood of Queens.

The diodes were no good. I looked all over NYC (well, in the Yellow Pages, and I guess I only had that for Brooklyn, I did have Lafayette and that other big catalog) for selenium rectifiers like were in it, but didn't find them.

Then I forgot about it and a couple years later tried it again and it worked fine.

IOW, don't start to repair it before you try it again. It might be working fine for no apparent reason.

Maybe there is a cover on the bottom of the pump that can be rmoved so screws and other obstructions will fall out?

Is there more than one pump?

[Frank]

First I had heard about high-efficiency washers and detergents designed for them. Not sure if our machine requires them. I do a lot of the wash using regular liquid detergents but only use about a half cap full for a full load and we have not had any problems.