Coronavirus

[Dave2002]

https://www.ft.com/content/5ff6469a-...lLyytssIc1LEVI

Seems interesting, but I can’t subscribe. Tried - gave up after long wait. Any chance of a précis of the article?

Perhaps this has essentially the same information - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020...lf-of-u-k.html

[Old Grumpy]

First day of lockdown and washing machine fails mid-cycle.

Chances of getting a new one or a repair person pretty slim, I would have thought.

OG

[Bryn]

First day of lockdown and washing machine fails mid-cycle.

Chances of getting a new one or a repair person pretty slim, I would have thought.

OG

Modern machines being so dependent on their digital control systems, I take it you have tried totally shutting down and isolating the thing for a few minutes, then firing up again. Otherwise, there are various sources of tips for washing machine maintenance online.

[Dave2002]

First day of lockdown and washing machine fails mid-cycle.

Chances of getting a new one or a repair person pretty slim, I would have thought.

OG

Any idea what's wrong? How old is it? Quite often it's a drain problem - also depending on the make that can present real problems.

A few ideas:

Do any of the lights come on?
Is the water still in it?
Can you open the door (not good if the water is still in ...!!!)
Has it got a fluff drain plug at the front?
If it's a Bosch - or Hotpoint or similar you might be able to clear out the fluff from the drain plug - and it might then work.

HOWEVER If it's a Miele or similar DON'T try that without checking a few things first. The problem with some models is that they have a safety device designed to stop water flooding down through high rise flats etc. If you follow the instructions for getting the fluff out of a Miele - which you may perhaps not have done before - there's a high chance that you'll get water into the body, which will shut off the inlet valve. That's a total pain - so try to avoid that particular state - it can be fixed, but takes time, probably some heaving and may waste days. You might not be able to do that by yourself anyway, because of weight etc.

Can you pull the machine out from wherever it's located? This can also be hard - modern machines are often built in and just about immovable. If so, are any of the pipes kinked?

Is the drain outlet blocked? Can you remove the drain outlet - which might just hook over a drain tube. If so, you might be able to blow back down it to loosen a blockage inside the machine. [I've done that with dishwashers before now] Probably best not to do that with the power turned on. Might also be sensible to turn off the water inlet tap if there is one - while trying anything.

If it's a recent model, there might be error codes showing. Can you check those. Sometimes also, you can make the machines go into a different state by pressing "unusual" sequences of buttons, or powering off, then on. Try to force it to a rinse or spin cycle to force it to drain.

Those are my few suggestions - slightly random - for the time being. The wretched things are often quite heavy and a real pain to deal with. Sometimes moving them around a bit can shift the problem.

If it's old you could buy a new one, and get someone to fit it - but most stores are not providing a fitting service right now.

Bad luck that you've got that issue - hope you find a solution soon.

[Once Was 4]

Indeed, I don’t know why Khan thought that would be a good idea. Matt Hancock has commented this evening that the tube should be running a full service.

If they have the staff. One rail service here in the north has had to be suspended because all of the crews who work it are based at the same, fairly small, depot and those not ill or having to self-isolate are having to be used on what are deemed to be more important services.

[oddoneout]

If they have the staff. One rail service here in the north has had to be suspended because all of the crews who work it are based at the same, fairly small, depot and those not ill or having to self-isolate are having to be used on what are deemed to be more important services.

It seems as if only one part of the issue was considered, namely how to deal with lack of staff to operate the service. Reducing the service is a way to manage that, and reduced demand in general would give the required outcome - except - that those staff who still need to travel have to arrive and leave at given, broadly similar, times - ie there is still a rush hour, even if with fewer bodies overall. I would have though the push should be on providing a full service for those known peaks(which aren't going to go away any time soon I would have thought) to reduce occupation density and a skeleton service the rest of the time? The grey areas(deliberate or genuine) regarding what constitutes 'essential' adds to the load but even sorting that out properly wouldn't necessarily reduce the cattle truck situation sufficiently?

[Pulcinella]

Today we have a 'Spot the bear' challenge for people on their permitted exercise of a walk round the estate.
Residents have been encouraged to prop a teddy up in a window for children (and others young at heart!) to look for.
We put one in the first-floor living room window, another downstairs in the kitchen, and I even printed out an outline, coloured it in, and stuck it outside on the electricity meter by the front door.

I'll have to see how many I can spot when I go out later on my solitary cycle ride.

[oddoneout]

First day of lockdown and washing machine fails mid-cycle.

Chances of getting a new one or a repair person pretty slim, I would have thought.

OG

These days machines aren't designed to be repairable, you're supposed to throw away and buy new, and the economics of repair cost versus replacement tends to push in that direction. It's an issue that has received considerable attention recently, with TV etc showing the concrete used to prevent the drum being taken out for instance. Getting a new one probably on balance 'quicker' than getting in a repair person?

[Dave2002]

I couldn't access the FT article mentioned earlier, but I found one in the Intelligencer from the US which probably reports the same thing - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020...lf-of-u-k.html

There is also this explanation of herd immunity - which does come from Oxford - https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/herd-i...w-does-it-work

Unfortunately if the conditional probability for an "unwanted" outcome for those over 70 is still high, reducing the probability that anyone gets it by transmission adopting a herd immunity approach still doesn't directly reduce the probability of illness/death or solve the problem completely. Although that would reduce the probability of getting the disease - for everyone - the more vulnerable groups which would have millions of people who would still have a major potential problem.

[Bryn]

Today we have a 'Spot the bear' challenge for people on their permitted exercise of a walk round the estate.
Residents have been encouraged to prop a teddy up in a window for children (and others young at heart!) to look for.
We put one in the first-floor living room window, another downstairs in the kitchen, and I even printed out an outline, coloured it in, and stuck it outside on the electricity meter by the front door.

I'll have to see how many I can spot when I go out later on my solitary cycle ride.

I play a somewhat related game while out taking my walking exercise but it's 'spot the deer' (either Roe or Muntjack). So far it's one on each walk (in different spots and always a good distance away).

[Alain Maréchal]

I play a somewhat related game while out taking my walking exercise but it's 'spot the deer' (either Roe or Muntjack). So far it's one on each walk (in different spots and always a good distance away).

Here the game is "spot the route of the lazy/antisocial/inconsiderate dog walker", but that is nothing new in France.

[eighthobstruction]

These days machines aren't designed to be repairable, you're supposed to throw away and buy new, and the economics of repair cost versus replacement tends to push in that direction. It's an issue that has received considerable attention recently, with TV etc showing the concrete used to prevent the drum being taken out for instance. Getting a new one probably on balance 'quicker' than getting in a repair person?

....Pulcinella....remember to find out the 3D profile of your oven....you can do this by sliding the oven out (fairly easy just 2 screws usually) ....some are rectangular, but smaller capacity ovens are often upside down ¬ shaped ....

[eighthobstruction]

Here the game is "spot the route of the lazy/antisocial/inconsiderate dog walker", but that is nothing new in France.

....Here in South Craven it is "What's happened to the bloke who empties the dog pooh bag bins..."....

[Dave2002]

These days machines aren't designed to be repairable, you're supposed to throw away and buy new, and the economics of repair cost versus replacement tends to push in that direction. It's an issue that has received considerable attention recently, with TV etc showing the concrete used to prevent the drum being taken out for instance. Getting a new one probably on balance 'quicker' than getting in a repair person?

Depends. A friend of mine had a failure of either a dishwasher or a washing machine years ago. Didn't ask for help. Eventually bought a new one, and John Lewis came and took his "old" one away - not more than a year or two old I think. As it came out, it was noticed that one of the hoses was kinked.

I think after that he did occasionally ask us for help/advice - would have saved him several hundreds of pounds.

Seems his son had for some reason pulled the machine out - then pushed it back causing the failure. So probably a perfectly good appliance was sent to landfill.

I agree that if things are difficult or expensive to fix that they should be replaced, but one should keep a balance. My car is up to 130,000 miles now - and I did keep it going last year even after the catalytic converter was stolen. It's probably going to be retired gracefully this or next year. I don't believe in making it easy for the manufacturers/suppliers and all the hangers on, many of whom wouldn't even know how to change a light bulb if they had to, by giving stuff away.

[Bryn]

....Here in South Craven it is "What's happened to the bloke who empties the dog pooh bag bins..."....

All such bins now sealed here, with notices requesting dog companions to take their retrieved dog faeces home with them.