John - I tried your fix, or rather a variation of it, four months ago. It's working great! The washer hasn't leaked once out the air vent since. For my variation of your design, I used a somewhat larger diameter pipe (bathroom sink drain connection parts, 1.25" or 1.5", I'm not sure which). The elbow that's flush with the back of the washer is pointed up at about a 45 degree angle instead of pointing down as you have it. After the elbow, there's only a short stub of pipe, maybe 3" or 4", that is open to the air. To hold the upward-facing pipe stub in place, I used a long bolt through the diameter of the pipe stub, which then goes through an existing hole in the back panel of the washer, using multiple nuts to space the stub properly along the length of the bolt. I used a drop of thread-locker on the nuts to make sure they wouldn't vibrate loose. I pointed the pipe stub up instead of down to eliminate the need for a catch container for the suds, so that any suds that escape pop and drip back into the washer tub. I'm not immediately seeing a way to attach a picture of my implementation; too bad, it's a lot clearer from a picture. At this point, I can't resist adding a few editorial comments, mostly in response to other comments: - I spent years as a product tester, and this implementation (a Kenmore re-labelled LG design, I think) has all the hallmarks of a design flaw that showed up so late in the testing process that they had to kludge in a workaround. The workaround is very poorly designed, apparently because of very limited space with all the nearby connections and parts that couldn't be easily moved. As others have noted, this air-vent pipe points downward; had it pointed even slightly upward, the suds wouldn't leak out like this. There is another pipe that goes to the soap dispenser drawer that does point slightly upward, and suds don't leak out around the soap dispenser drawer, so that's pretty conclusive evidence right there. - The designers clearly understood about the leaking suds issue, because they threw in that cheesy mushroom valve. That mushroom valve might possibly delay the problem until after the warranty expires, but it, too, is a very poor solution, doomed to gum up and fail early. - The admonition to use less soap is pure marketing blather to cover for the product design flaw. This is classic marketing - when your product has a design flaw, figure out a way to blame the customer. Basically the suds will leak if there are any suds at all, and there will always be suds, even with the tiniest amount of soap. This is what we called "foreseeable misuse". Try convincing your spouse that the clothes are getting clean even when there are no visible suds. One final note - I found it really curious that the suds could somehow manage to find a way out of the air vent. With a little experimenting, I noticed that the air vent 'breathes' when the washer tub is turning. The more off-balance the load, the stronger the 'breathing' effect is. You can see the breathing effect by holding a thin strip of single-ply TP right next to the air vent outlet. This explained why the suds didn't leak out on every load.

@xsf235

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Milton, great answer! Just like a plumbing vent for your house lets air pressure ease though the plumbing system, an air vent for this washer should ease pressure through, without water rising past the vent exit. So just increase the height a bit upward of the vent pipe past the top of the washer, and we are good. Water pressure can only go so far up until it reaches a point where it will fall back into the vent. Correct, the soap dispenser has an air vent under it and allows air flow and never have I seen water flow out of it, because water pressure isn't strong enough to push it that far up hill. Proper air flow for washer design is to preventing mildew and mold. And not to design a system whereby the vent exit goes downhill and is lower than an intended stop point, the mushroom valve.

Problem is simple if suds are leaking from the LG air safety vent; use HE detergent only. If suds continue with HE detergent, reduce HE detergent amount until suds stop. Repair cost = $0.00.

@xsf235

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rick for the comment. Yes, Rick I only use HE detergent. I used to think the same thing reducing the detergent, but I want the cloths CLEAN. Someone suggested to use only two teaspoons of detergent. The whole matter doesn't solve the issue of soap AND water forced up the air vent during spin rinse cycle. Water is forced up and the engineers did not provide a correct mechanism with the mushroom float valve at high speed 1100 rpm spin. They had to compromise the matter due to the location of placement of the rubber hose which used to get tore up during spin cycle, and the idea of use what we designed, and make everything fit, even though it clearly doesn't work. Liquids of soap and water get past the float valve and gravity lets it out down the air vent/ wrongly engineered drain. As another person commented, just block the whole thing off, the detergent dispenser can act as an air vent up and nothing can flow that high up to get out. Again thanks. Trying to stay positive to think outside the box, to solve this issue of which LG never said it is a mistake of their own making.

I have the exact same problem and found your video while researching ways to fix it. The inverted U of my corrugated drain pipe is about 6 inches below the air vent's height. (In my case it goes into a laundry sink...) When the water/soap mixture leaks out of the air vent, the water is flowing quite well from the drain pipe. I suspect the pump is putting out an appropriate amount of pressure to get the flow started. But once it hits the inverted U, a siphon starts and the pump doesn't need to work as hard (but it does). I think the extra pressure/head (after the siphon starts) is causing the water level to rise up the air vent. So I think if the height difference between the top of the inverted U and the air vent were not so great, the leak out the air vent would not occur. I like your solution of directing and catching the overflow. But I think you've effectively stopped your air vent from working to its full potential. I would suggest keeping your design to capture extreme cases of overflow, but add a vertical snorkel to the extension you added to the back side of your air vent so you can still get air behind water to the reservoir the washer's pump sits in. I also thought about lowering my pipe... or adding some kind vent at the top of the inverted U to help break the siphon... Lowering my pipe and adding a T to my sink's tail pipe to receive the washer's tube might work too (like a dishwasher). But then I read the code requires it be between 18-30 inches from the P trap - and I just don't have the space. So I may need to plumb some new line.

@xsf235

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Darcy for the feedback. I got about 90% of what your said, but most importantly is your concept of "vertical snorkel to the extension". Great out of the box thinking! The air pressure won't be great enough to force liquids uphill very far. It will all just drain back to the tub. Yeah! Some people say to put only two teaspoons/tablespoons (?) of laundry soap to solve this issue, OK but I want my cloths clean. I just think that this is a LG design flaw which they never admitted to where liquids force their way out of the air vent. Update, I can wait about one year to empty my soap collector, rather than the two months that I thought at the time I made this video.

You didn't solve shit man. Still leaks, you just put a bucket underneath.

@xsf235

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Scott. No liquid spills to the floor and all fluids are contained within the system, of which I drain regularly about every six months. I solved a problem which did not require a new washing machine. LG doesn't have a system to fix it, nor do they acknowledge a problem. Water is forced up via centrifugal force during the spin, and the mushroom valve can't handle that force. Next the air vent is lower than the mushroom valve, so liquid flows out, a design flaw. They have a design flaw with that hose rubbing against the spinning washer and causing a leak with the clamp.

@northernhandydad

3 жыл бұрын

Try this out Scott kzread.info/dash/bejne/noF7pM99n6zLcs4.html

@xsf235

3 жыл бұрын

@@northernhandydad Thanks for the information. Yes, I replaced the mushroom valve, but I still had water leaks shortly thereafter. Your O -ring sleeve lubrication is yes an idea. But, after a while soap, bleach and water from the drum will render that lubrication gone. Put that lubrication on your hand and fingers, then put soap and bleach and water to your fingers and what happens? We know that answer. Thank you.

I did this and ran it into the drain for the washer itself. Haven’t had a problem since. What an awful design. LG should be ashamed. They should also pay for flooding damage to my home. I bought their top of the line washer and pedestal and got nothing but issues within a few months after buying. Never going LG again that’s for sure.

@xsf235

Жыл бұрын

Correct, "LG should be ashamed," ......and admit it, guilty of design flaw.

When I removed the bellows hose from the tub and checked the "mushroom" shaped air valve, I noticed the valve stem cover (rubber?) was gummy with soap scum. Because the valve is normally open and closes when water is forced through holes in the inner tub, the gummy substance might have caused resistance in the valve movement and prevented the valve from closing -- letting water into the bellows hose and out the back of the washer. So I washed the valve, the tube it slides in, and the end of the bellows hose. Then sprayed silicone lube on all the parts. So far, no more water or soap venting out the back of the washer. And no hose or catch bottle, which is good because we have wood flooring. What is really weird, is that I can't find a replacement "mushroom" air valve on any of the online parts diagrams or listings. It seems to me that having a rubber cover is just asking for trouble.

@xsf235

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Bill, for the feedback. The part in question "mushroom air valve," is actually called " LG washing machine float assembly" and for my machine LG WM3770HWA it is part number: 4769ER4001B. I don't know the part number for your machine, but could be similar. I found quite a few Internet sources to purchase it, but I don't know about all the rules about posting links here, as well as I don't promote one website over another. You can just Google: Your washing machine #............ "LG WM####HWA Washing machine float assembly"........ OK? I hope that your solution works for you with cleaning the rubber sleeve and silicone sprayed on it. That will work for a while. I replaced my float assembly and it still leaked, I had to go to the next step. Ok, let me try this, these website have some choices (just add the dot com to them): partsdr, and genuinereplacementparts, repairclinic, appliancepartspros.

@JustPlainBill0

4 жыл бұрын

@@xsf235 Thanks for the good information and sources John. I tried "float assembly" on PartsSelect and got no results for my WM2277HW washer. Your part number (4769ER4001B) did produce the float assembly and a cross reference list of Kenmore and LG machines (none mine) using the part. Since you had no luck fixing the problem replacing the part, it may not be the cause. I'd really rather find/fix the cause than do a workaround hose & bottle.

@xsf235

4 жыл бұрын

@@JustPlainBill0 Bill, you are right, I cannot find any washing machine float assembly on diagrams for your LG washer WM2277HW. The silicone lube is a great idea, and Darcy's idea below us for a vertical snorkel is a great out of the box idea. I'd like to think that I am a great Google.... find the right search terms.... and get the results, but I got nothing, same as you. Find an answer. Back in the 1960's a washer and dryer was always in the basement for the people in Michigan. About 16 years ago when I went house hunting, I came across a couple of houses that had washers and dryer on the second floor that was a surprise for me. Washers will leak some day, and on the second floor, that will cost money.

@JustPlainBill0

4 жыл бұрын

@@xsf235 Since my washing machine has a float assembly, the absence of one in the diagram is obviously carelessness on the part of some draftsman in Japan. No big deal, unless you need to buy one. As for the need to buy one, if soap scum isn't affecting movement of the float, then wear on the rubber cover on the stem (or shaft) might account for it's resistance to moving up into the bellows when under water pressure. I guess I'd need to know the diameter of a new float shaft to compare with my old one to judge the need for a replacement. Another reason for failure of the float to seal off the water, could be that the end of the hose is improperly seated on the housing in the outer tub. There are notches on the hose end and protrudences on the housing to aid in aligning the two parts. If they are out of alignment, that could distort the rubber hose "valve seat", preventing the float from sealing the water. When the tub is in serious spin mode, it's shaking like a wet dog and stretching the hose back and forth, to and fro, which could distort the rubber hose end so it blocks the float. As for the pump, siphons and inverted U's, I don't see how they would affect the float assembly - which is located at the top of the outer tub and is closed by water pressure, not air pressure (I held my hand next to the vent hose outlet and felt significant air movement as the inner tub was lightly spinning in rinse cycle, meaning the float was open. If water was being forced out of the inner tub, it would have pushed the float up, into the end of the hose, sealing the water in the tub.) The pump moves water at the bottom of the tub out of the washing machine. The relationship between the two "systems" is that water remaining in the garments being washed is thrown by centrifugal force out of the garments into the space between the inner and outer tubs, where it drops to the bottom of the washer and is pumped out the drain hose -- by the pump. Other than that, they work independently...I think.

@JustPlainBill0

4 жыл бұрын

@@xsf235 You're right about needing the right search terms for the search engine (Google). I just put in "float assembly problems on a front loading washing machine" and found this video on KZread: How To: LG/Kenmore Float Assembly 4769ER4001B kzread.info/dash/bejne/eZV5rph6fa6qZs4.html The reason given for replacing the float is that if you find water on the floor behind the washer, you need to check to see if the float is jammed. If so, replace the float. No other explanation, but the video does show how to replace the part (which we all know how to do by now). My float did not seem to be "jammed" as it readily moved up and down when I held it and moved it.

Hi John - a biit late to the party. I just got a LG front loader washer from Costco 5 days ago. Having the same issue you are. LG wants to charge me for diagnostic purposes and Costco is trying to push off the issue to LG. At this point, its a brand new machine I don't know that i even want to go that route, nor do i wanna fix it myself. I just want to return the machine altogether. Is there a way I can tell LG that this is their design flaw, and have them fix it, you think?

@xsf235

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Hads, yes there is a way to tell them it is their design problem, contact them via email for a verified written discription and their response. If you talk on the phone there isn't any valid way to show who said what, unless you record the whole conversation with there approval. P.S. I am not an attorney. Show them in the written warranty that if the unit leaks, they take it back. Period . . . You can make a video to show them, although sometimes the leaks don't happen when you expect it. Again, the centrifical force during the rinse cycle forces air and water and soap up through the mushroom valve and ......yes.. the design flaw that water via gravity flows downward and out the "air vent" which we now call the "drain the water to the floor and ruin the floor and the rest of the house." Just calling it the way I see it. I've got 15,572 views from this post. I don't have a grudge against LG, just that this model has a flaw, and they never fixed it. Does LG have in the warranty the diagnostic purposes they can charge you? I don't think so, and tell them that. PERIOD! Sorry for my late reply, but I didn't get notified quickly. Update us your results later, please. You have a case. Call an attorney, or think like one. Read the warranty, and be happy you followed up and did not step back and do nothing.

I used a Windshield Washer fluid lid instead...problem solved !!!..no pvc needed!!...5 min fixed

@xsf235

4 жыл бұрын

Help me/us out Wile Coyote. You used a windshield washer fluid lid and put it (super glue?).....covered up the air vent on the back side of the washer to prevent water leaks at the air vent......? That way NO water leaks, also no air flow...? I guess that air flow through the tub is still valid via the soap/detergent fill/to drain into the tub. That seems OK, no water can leak if you just stop it from coming out the air vent.

All you need to do is replace the vent bellows float

@xsf235

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I did that, and nothing changed, leaked like no tomorrow.

There is a super easy way to fix this, use way less soap, problem solved

@xsf235

2 жыл бұрын

Even with less soap, water and soap still flow out the air vent, it is a design flaw to allow soapy water to flow down (gravity) after the mushroom. valve. Personally I like clean cloths and soap is for that purpose, not just a rinse job. Thank you.

@kyledavy1

2 жыл бұрын

@@xsf235 clearly you don’t understand. How HE soap and HE washers work, table spoon of soap is plenty, if you run your machine right now with no clothes and no soap and you see soap suds in the tub that’s the problem, it’s very straight forward.

@xsf235

2 жыл бұрын

@@kyledavy1 I work in a factory, my clothes get dirty, one tablespoon of HE detergent with a full load of clothes and towels will not clean my clothes. Monthly I do two cycles of tub clean. The first one with the normal tub clean detergent which takes about 1 hour and fifteen minutes, and immediately thereafter a second tub clean on speed clean cycle with only one cup of vinegar. I do not have any buildup of soap inside the washer. I've had HE washers for 17 years. OK? My older former 2005 LG washer never had this air vent leaks water problem. Your turn.

@kyledavy1

2 жыл бұрын

@@xsf235 you’ve already answered the question, you’re openly admitting to using too much soap, the convo is over. Use the right amount of soap or have a leaking washer

@xsf235

2 жыл бұрын

​@@kyledavy1 No, I did not admit to using too much soap. I use more than one tablespoon of soap. I generally use about 4 tablespoons of soap for a normal load, which is equivalent to LG normal and Tide HE normal 3-4 mark. LG considers 6 tablespoons = MAX, and Tide full load 5 = 8 tablespoons. I always use an extra rinse cycle, so I don't have any extra soap left over in the tub or clothes.