Frozen Sump Hose

[Mrscd]

Hello, my first post and I'm a real layperson when it comes to washing machines so please bare with me.

Can someone tell me what the effects of a 'frozen sump' would be please? My landlord is claiming this is why the machine isn't working but I'll be honest and don't trust him a bit.

Thanks in advance

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I've never heard of a frozen sump. I assumed you meant sump-hose at first but I've a feeling it's something else? If it's to do with the drainage then it would stop the washer from emptying the water properly or possibly cause a back up of water to overflow. Can you give more details?

[Mrscd]

Good morning, thanks for replying.

Before we moved into the rented accommodation the landlord said there would be no washing machine so we brought out own with us, only to find his still there. As it was old, mouldy and smelly and it wasn't supposed to be there we wrapped it in a plastic sheet and tarpaulin and put it in the shed. When we were moving out we had to put everything back where we found it. So we put the washing machine back in and went to run it through a cycle to hopefully freshen it up a bit and water came flooding out from underneath somewhere, lots of it. We hadn't fiddled with it, damaged it when storing or putting back. If it is something we've done then fair enough but as the landlord is well dodgy I wanted to arm myself with a bit of information. His exact wording was 'I am in receipt of an engineers report which shows that the damage is due to a frozen sump'.

Sorry for the length of this post, and thank you if you've got this far!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

A tricky situation. I have a small article on how to store a washing machine which mentions draining it first. However, I wouldn't expect the small amount of water left inside an average washing machine to do damage if it freezes because it has plenty of room to expand inside the sump hose. Maybe it's possible it could crack the pump casing if it froze quickly? I'm assuming it's a front loading washing machine, but if it's a top loader the same would apply. If I were you I'd ask to see the engineers report. If he can't show it to you it may not exist or may contain charges for work unrelated to storage.

[Mrscd]

Thank you, we drained the machine before storage, if there was any water left in it, it would have been minimal. I'm 99% sure there is no engineers report, if there is one he's not letting us see it. I'm also 99% sure the machine didn't work before we even moved in. Oh dear, I can't see this being resolved nicely! Thank you for your advice

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

No problem. Good luck.