You walk into the laundry room and find a pool of water around your washing machine. Obviously there’s a leak, but where?
There are several areas where leaking can occur in and around a washing machine. Some of these can be fixed by a reasonably handy person with the right tools; others of them can be aggravating for anyone other than a trained professional.
Do This Before Calling a Washing Machine Repair Pro
One easy check anyone can do before calling a washing machine repair technician is to check the washer’s fill and drain water hoses. Feel for water on the hoses and check for splits; check the tightness of fittings and make sure water isn’t leaking from either of the fill faucet valves. Make sure the drain hose is fitted into the drain standpipe, and check the standpipe for standing water. If you find standing water, you’ve got a drain line clog either in the standpipe or in the house sewer line.
If you’re not finding any leaks on any of the hoses and it’s not a clog, for most people, it’s time to call a professional appliance repair technician.
Areas Where Washers Can Leak
In addition to the fill and drain hoses, there are a number of areas where leaking can occur in a washing machine. Your appliance repair technician will diagnose the cause of the leak by looking at the following components:
Water inlet valve Leak
This is where the fill hoses connect to the machine. A crack in the inlet valve will cause leaking.
Internal water hoses
These hoses connect the inlet valve to the tub. A crack or bad connection in one of these hoses can cause a leak.
Tub-to-drain pump hose & Drain pump Leak
If the leak is originating from the drain pump, then a replacement is required. A professional washing machine repair technician can supply and install the proper replacement part.
Tub cover gasket
This gasket provides a seal between the outer tub and the tub cover on both top-load and front-load washers.
Door boot seal
This is the seal between the door and the outer tub on front-loading machines.
Water level switch or pressure switch and air dome tube
A leak in the air dome tube may result in pressure not being sufficient to activate the water level switch and turn off the water inlet valve when the water reaches the correct level, or the switch itself may be defective.
Door catch
If the door catch on a front-load machine is worn it might not provide a tight enough seal.
Tub seal or boot seal
This seal keeps water from the tub from leaking where the transmission or basket shaft enters the tub. Defective tub seals often start as a small leak but can eventually cause a failure of the main tub bearing.
As you can see, there are many potential causes for your leaking washing machine, which is why you’ll probably want to call a pro if you’ve eliminated the external hoses as the cause of the leak. Central One Service has provided washing machine repairs for Little Rock, Cabot, and Central Arkansas homeowners for nearly 40 years; if you’ve got a leaky washing machine contact us. We offer FREE service calls with repairs for all service calls during normal business hours. We’ll find the source of the leak and get your washing machine back in prime condition quickly.