I have been busy with this:
You know the story, after a hard day at the coal face, you come home and
the missus announces in that femine tone that only they can produce and
immediately makes you feel 2 inches tall.
"The washing machine made a God awful noise and stopped working and it's
your fault." (well she didn't say it was my fault but that tone in the
voice...) Hmmnh, grab a beer and have a gander, push buttons and such,
water goes in, water goes out but no turny of the round thingy in the
middle of the machine.
What the....., this is a Miele, it is not supposed to break down. Far
out, OK the rinse light is flashing, that's not supposed to happen.
Googly woggly says that the flashy light means the motor is having a
moment, Ok maybe the brushes are not brushing. Motor out and into my
leaky workshop, many extensive and complicated tests later the brushes,
although worn a bit are serviceable. Back to the drawing board or in
this case http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=130792&start=0
right a problem on the control board, pull the board and find the meter
of multiness. Sure enough fuse is kaputt. No worries Jaycar have a pile
of stuff. Sales fella has a meltdown when shown the bits that are not
biting. Humnh back home with tail between legs to find a winging missus
bitching about the state of the local Laundromat.
"But dear I am doing my best," I plead, nah get that look that makes me
feel like a metro sexual who does not own tools or a BBQ.
Now under extreme pressure and way to early to take my medicine, I pick
up the telling bone and let my fingers do the walking. Aztronics
sympathise but do not have the right bits but could cobble something
together. Hmmnh I think, looking at my fencing wire and duct tape.
I know damn well if I want my coffee and other nice things in the
morning I am going to have to get this German clothes cleaner going
sooner rather than later.
Some of the people in the above mentioned forum reckon that
http://au.element14.com/ is the go for bits, hey I know how to shop
online but how long will this take?
Well they have the right erzatsteile and promise lightening quick
postage. So I take the plunge and 30 bucks later including shipping (I
ordered two relays and they only sell the fuses in 10, so I have spares
now) the deed is done. Proudly announce to the missus that parts are on
order and everything is under control (this should buy me some time
before she gets the poo poos and calls the bloke in the red van (which I
believe is a MB
http://www.miele.com.au/au/domestic/service/customersupport.htm )).
Anyway next morning I log into my element14 (sounds kinda creepy)
account to check where my stuff is, get this:
Your order has been received.
Your order has been assigned an order number and is currently being
processed.
Your order has been fulfilled.
Your order is being processed.
Your order has been partially shipped.
Your order had been cancelled.
Your order is on hold.
What the flying truck, order cancelled? order on hold???
But they promised that they have the stuff ready for shipping. Now I
have to be very careful and not show any signs of panic, as the lady of
the house is keeping a close eye on progress.
Should I ring them?
Well anyway by the time I start to think about reaching for the blower,
a fella arrives on the doorstep, after much announcing by my feral Jack
Russels, I manage to squeeze out the door and grab my bag of goodies.
Not bad, delivery in less than 24 hours, they must have got training
from MB spares.
So now I can show the boss the wee little bits that will make the
overworked Miele healthy again.
Grab the stick with the hot end and set myself up in the warmth of the
dining room, to weave my magic. The fuse was easy but the 8 prong relay
gave a hell of a fight but lost eventually.
Stick the new relay on and rush into the laundry to fit the board, turn
on the machine and proudly announce that it's fixed and I am a God that
must be worshipped, aaaahhhh hang on something is not right, OMFG I
soldered the relay on the wrong side of the board, so much for quality
control. Quietly sneek back to the soldering iron and pretending this is
normal, remove relay, turn board over and with a hiss of hot metal on
cold solder show that fn relay who the boss is.
Right O now it's God time and you just never know the missus may be very
appreciative that she does not have to go back to the hell that is the
Laundromat.
Turn the knob, push the button, stand back expecting the drum to turn,
yeah right you false idol, the rinse light is telling me that I am not a
God but a mere mortal who must face trials in order to be granted entry
into the kingdom of the one true God.
Holding back the tears I pull the board from the machine and drag my
sorry behind back to the table, hmmnh fuse is blown again, this can
happen if the relay is not replaced but I replaced it. Test the relay
with a 9v battery and it makes click but not the right sort of click
when compared to the spare relay. Faulty relay? Faulty soldering? Anyway
it comes off again, put in new fuse and spare relay, test all
connections, all good.
Now with confidence completely shattered and the thought of a new motor
or control board on my mind (cheaper to buy new machine probably), I
once again plug the board in and do the button pushy thing.
Well what do you know the shiny thing is turning, slowly at first but
then goes in 2nd gear and then 3rd. Hip hip hooray, I am the man but
have learnt lesson not to compare myself to God like status.
Put it all back together and proudly announce to my better half that she
may give it a test wash but don't put too much in there cause the
dampners are shot and that's why the motor overloaded.
Thankfuclly the machine does it's thing like it's supposed to do it's
thing, the missus is happy and I get my beer time.
Don't you people just love a happy ending but alas the missus did not
rape me in the laundry but instead gave me the 'why did it take you so
long to fix look' which is better than the 'you are so useless, why am I
with you look'.
Now to fix the blocked stormwater pipe that is making my garage look
like a lake, anyone want some water soaked Merc parts?
Hendrik
who is NOT a God
On 24/08/12 00:09, Max Dillon wrote:
Or is it me?
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