washing machine mysterious standing water

Annabee

My washing machine seems to perform its cycle OK, clothes are clean when they come out and the water is drained.

BUT three days after when I go to use it again there is water in there - where you put the clothes. Then we open the flap low down in the front of the machine and you can drain off the water, which usually has a 'bad egg' smell. Then I can use it again, but I know the same thing will happen next time. This has gone on for about 3 weeks now.


What can this mean? Does anyone know if this is likely to be a fault with the machine itself, (about 7 years old) or with the pipes in the house?

Browntoa

i would think some sort of blockage in the outlet house or its siphoning (drawing water back into the machine) as the end of the outlet hose is touching water in a u bend or something

http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/diy-repair-help_7.html

I would look at the first one though, easy enough to get the rubber hose off normally and flush it though

Annabee

So its the machine's fault then? (important to me, as the machine is my own, but I am renting, so pipework obviously my landlord's)

Browntoa

I would look at the outlet pipe to check its NOT that

http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/diy-repair-help_7.html

its possibel it IS backing up due to a slow blockage in the wate pipe ( fills up when the machine empties and then slowly drains ) which is allowing the machine to drw water back but think you need to be clear in your own mind its not your machine pipe as you would run the risk of getting charged for the repair otherwise

Torry_Quine

Have you cleaned the filter out as a blocked filter can cause that kind of problem.

poppellerant

Fill the sink connected to the same pipe with hot water, ad unplug and allow it to drain. If the water in the washer is warm, then the answer is you have poorly installed pipework.

How high is the machine waste pipe? I think it needs to be about 80cm from the base of the machine, but I am not 100% sure.

Annabee

OK sorry to drip feed - but there's more:

We moved in here last November. In February we noticed there was water under the floor (a cheap laminate which had soaked up the water - that's why we didn't notice before) and landlord's plumber said there was a leak at the back of the washing machine. He charged me to fix it, as it was our machine. He also suggested the washing machine hadn't been installed here correctly.

Mind you, he was a bit of a dodgy plumber, as there was also a leak under the sink, which he claimed was 'condensation' but since turned out it was a loose connection on the sink.

Letting agency are charging us for damage to landlord's (unsuitable IMO) flooring. (I have been told that with vinyl or ceramic flooring the leak would have been obvious straight away, as the water would not have soaked into the floor).

I got someone round to quote for replacing the flooring. This guy also did plumbing and mentioned the pipework was a 'mishmash'. Also there is a slot for a dishwasher, but the pipework does not extend around the kitchen enough for it to be plumbed in. All very strange!

I know it is complicated, but does anyone have an idea what is going on? And is it connected to the standing water I am now getting or not?

Don't know whether to get a new washing machine or not (as this one is getting a bit old). But then if its due to dodgy pipework, this may not be necessary yet?

muckybutt

As an ex washer engineer there are two possibilities:

Either the drain has been installed incorrectly and is allowing waste "grey" water back into the machine, or there is a problem with the outlet hose or pump not fully emptying out the machine at the end of the cycle.
Now from what you have described it seems to me that the water inside is not clear ? because you describe it being an eggy smell, this rules out it being a solenoid problem on the incoming water side of thing which is why its pointing to drainage of one or the other.

Is the washing machine empty of water when you take the clothing out of the machine ? if so then it is a back flow problem from the sink drain you have, if there is water in the machine when you empty it then its a problem with the washing machine not pumping the water out which could indicate either a pump problem or a kinked hose or partially blocked hose or drain.

southcoastrgi

i agree with the others that have commented, how does the wastepipe from the machine connect to the waste under the sink, does the waste pipe run from the bott & straight up into a spigot trap on the sink or does it raise up high & then go into the trap ? if it's the first then i would say the water from your sink is going back into the machine, the pipe needs to go up high before it goes into the trap, hope that helps.

Annabee

Thanks for all your replies.

The washing machine is empty of water when you remove the clothes. The water in the drum? only appears a few days later. Have filled the sink with hot water and drained it about 30 minutes ago, but no water has appeared in the washer yet.

Anyone know if this is connected in any way to my leak from the back of the washing machine issue I mentioned earlier?

muckybutt

Annabee wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies.

The washing machine is empty of water when you remove the clothes. The water in the drum? only appears a few days later. Have filled the sink with hot water and drained it about 30 minutes ago, but no water has appeared in the washer yet.

Anyone know if this is connected in any way to my leak from the back of the washing machine issue I mentioned earlier?

The machine wont fill up that quickly annabee !

The water could well be from a leak on the waste or another leak. Can you post a photo of the underneath of your sink ?
Wasing machines are nearly always best being fitted into their own seperate waste connection, I often got calls to machines back filling with grey water because of combined sink waste connections.