Back from the Brink

This post has an alternate title of "My Husband is Awesome" which is maybe poorly timed for a *mothers day* weekend post. But yet again my husband has brought our laundry appliance back from near death. In 2014, the washing machine stopped agitating. In 2015, our dryer stopped heating. After apparently a year's hiatus, it was time for another problem. For a few weeks, the washing machine spun so aggressively and out of balance that I thought it would bounce its way across the basement floor. I went down several times a load to try to rearrange our wet laundry, but it never seemed to help. 

After a little reading and YouTube research, D was ready to take the whole thing apart and try to diagnose it himself. First, the top panel:

 Then all the rest:

At last, the problem! The hook (circled in red) that attached a spring between the drum and the frame had been attached at a spot that was totally rusted through (arrow) and was now freely hanging. So nothing was restraining the drum from banging all around when it was spinning.

What to do? Drill a new hole next to the hold one and reattach the spring, of course. And so in a half hour, with 0 cost, our washing machine is back in tip top shape.* Yay for handy husbands!

* I mean, as tip top as a rusty old washing machine can be. I know it's just a matter of time before there's something we can't fix. But I adore my totally dumb, manual mechanic appliance and will be so sad when we finally have to buy a new fangled "smart" one.