How do you open the door of a washing machine....

[T40ORA]

....if the handle/catch is broken?

I think something 'pinged' when I tried to open it, and now the handle is floppy.

Any suggestions?

(I know - leave it to the wife in future!)

[Shay HTFC]

Hammer through the glass.
Lean in and push from inside.

• P.S. There may be other ways.

[Percy Flage]

[sleep envy]

[DrTre]

On the front you'll see a really small hole next to the door.

You need to unroll a paperclip and then poke it into the hole until you feel resistance, then push really hard.. hey presto! It's open!!

Hang on....my mistake...that's DVD drives....sorry...

....ummm....Anyone know how to get 4 pairs of dirty underpants out of a DVD drive?

[Neil_Sc]

[T40ORA]

I knew I could rely on PH!

[absolutely]

You should've waited, it is allowing itself to drain. Now it'll cost you alot to get it repaired!
Our one beeps after its ready to be opened, saved us £100s in repair bills.

[T40ORA]

Neil_Sc said:

Blimey. Is that what you use when polishing the swirls out of your car?

[tribbles]

I had that happen to me when I was at Uni staying in this family's house. I put a screwdriver in the door latch mechanism, and levered it open. I didn't tell them about it...

...The next day I got out of my room to find a large puddle of water that had been caused by the door coming open while it was washing. He was taking the mechanism apart to fix it.

Many years later (when I owned my own house), I realised that the door was locked closed for a minute or so after it had finished, and I'd been a bit premature.

[anonymous-user]

[sleep envy]

[Flat_Steve]

Edited by Flat_Steve on Thursday 7th August 21:21

[Neil_H]

There's a time-latch on them to stop you opening the door while there's water in it. Just wait a while and it might unlock.

[Neil_Sc]

T40ORA said:

Neil_Sc said:

Blimey. Is that what you use when polishing the swirls out of your car?

[T40ORA]

Symbolica said:

I used to have one of those...

[T40ORA]

Neil_H said:

There's a time-latch on them to stop you opening the door while there's water in it. Just wait a while and it might unlock.

Nah. Timer's done.

It's FUBAR.

[Landlord]

Have you tried willing it to open?

[Marf]

Landlord said:

Have you tried willing it to open?

[Oldandslow]

Exactly the same happened to me. The door handle acts on a little catch but this is also locked in place by the machine with a solenoid if it's full of water or part way through a cycle. Forcing it with the door handle broke the door handle on mine.

To open it after breaking the handle you have to open the case (turn off the power), taking the top off was easiest for me and use something like a short screwdriver to push the latch open from behind. Put towels down to catch any water if it's full. I was then able to take the door handle off and repair it with a bit of old tin can.