Washing Machine filter puzzle

[Mike Halmarack]

My Belling Sensicare FW714 washing machine, about five years old has never shown any sign of filtered dross. This may be because of what screws out from the filter port, which is this:

No previous washing machine I've had has such a minimal looking filter arrangement. I poked around inside the housing to see if there was another withdrawable part of the filter that had become detached and left inside but everything else seems solidly fixed in place. The manual just shows the screw cap location, nothing illustrating the filter itself. Any suggestions?

[Jeff Layman]

The photos don't seem to be too far removed from spare filters sold by Amazon:

[Clive Arthur]

It's just to catch anything major which would stop the pump working and to provide a drain point to access your coins. The pumps I've seen are fairly robust and don't so much pump the water as harass it.

When our washing machine was in the cellar and too far below the drain, I plumbed a spare pump in near the top and simply wired it across the existing pump.

[Mike Halmarack]

Thanks, that's just what I needed. Someone with a brain.

[Mike Halmarack]

That's reassuring. Also inspiration for a nice little project should I run out.

[Brian]

When you start looking at the reference give by the other poster, you will find several makers use the same filter. You could try popping into a small local repair shop to see if they can match it. It may be a bit more expensive but you can check it is the same.

[Mike Halmarack]

Thanks, fortunately I don't need a repair. I was just hoping to avoid future problems by assuring that the minimalist filter structure was doing it's job. From the answers and links I got in reply it seems that all is as it should be.

[Brian]

Ok.

Some look very much the same but have a number of plastic fingers in the chamber.

They are intended to catch coins, buttons, keys etc.

In practice, they get clogged with fluff and gunge.

I thing idea now is things just settle in the chamber.

[Bob Eager]

I was unlucky. Similar kind of filter here. But it wouldn't unscrew because of thick lumps of scale combined with fluff. I had no way of getting it free.

In the end I bought another pump and fitted that. I've Dremel'd off the old cover/filter and got a new one, so I have a spare pump now...

[Andy Burns]

Before disposing of my old machine, I thought I might as well remove the filter as a spare, it turned a few degrees and then jammed, felt like it had wedged a coin or button, I couldn't get it out.

[Bob Eager]

That's exactly it. When I got the top off, it wasn't a coin or button, but two lumps of scale.

I have a diary reminder to clean it out every few months.

[Brian Gaff]

Why are washing machine filters always at floor level? Its almost impossible to open on without flooding the floor. You end up loosening it a bit with a shallow tray underneath it and emptying it several times before you can take it out.

Surely a pump function on the display could be used to raise the water up enough for you to be able to put a bowl or jug under it. Brian

[Andy Burns]

The new machine has an extra my previous machines haven't had, an extendable pipe at the base where you can empty into a suitable container, easier than using all the grotty old towels on the floor

[Custos Custodum]

Because that's where the pump is.

Modern machines of any quality have a small "emergency" drain hose built in for that purpose.

[alan_m]

So that you can open the filter cover when all else fails to drain the water from your machine?

[Clive Arthur]

<snip>

Ours wasn't. Our washing machine was on a platform above the dryer in the former coal cellar. The dryer vent used the coal chute.

[Rob Morley]

I just use a wet vac, also handy when defrosting the freezer, another situation that can result in a soggy kitchen floor.