Although household appliances have been becoming more and more technologically advanced over the years, washing machines are still fairly simple machines with only a few moving parts. As a result troubleshooting any problems and faults you experience with your washing machine is more often than not quite simple and straight forward. It is certainly worth spending a few moments making basic checks to troubleshoot your washing machine problems as a simple fix can often do the trick.
More recent washing machine models are slightly more complex and can suffer from electrical faults but beyond that, mechanical problems, leaks and other problems often have simple solutions.
The basic mechanics of a washing machine are straight forward. There are two drums inside the washing machine. The inner drum is the one you can see and is perforated allowing water in. The outer drum holds the water whilst the inner drum rotates. The water pumped into the drums is usually heated with a heating element (controlled by a thermostat), although some models take hot water directly from the water supply. The drums are powered by a motor and gear box, and of course there are plenty of seals to keep the washing machine water tight!
That covers all the major components of a washing machine so it is usually very easy identifying the faulty component and troubleshooting the problem your washing machine is suffering from based on the symptoms. Problems with drum movement are usually related to the drums themselves, the motor or the gearbox. If you have a leak it is most likely the door seal or outer drum seal which has perished or come unlodged and can be fixed very easily. Problems with water supply, draining and water temperature? Then we need to look at the water inlet and outlets, the heating element and the thermostat.
Whatever fault your washing machine is having, calling out an engineer or paying for expensive repairs can often be avoided. A lot of the time the problems can be rectified within minutes by going through a few troubleshooting checks or by replacing a minor part which you can easily do yourself. Many washing machine components are very inexpensive and cost pennies. For example if your washing machine is leaking because of the door seal, you can re-align the seal in seconds, or if it is actually damaged then it you can buy a new one and it replace it yourself and save yourself some money.