How to protect your washing machine from leaks?

Finding a puddle of water under the washing machine is extremely unpleasant, because you will have to not only repair the machine, but also pay the repair to the neighbors that you flooded. However, in case of water leakage, there is a special protection and akvastop system for the washing machine. The methods of such protection should be considered in more detail and understand what the disadvantages of each of them are.

Protection options

All washing machines, depending on the availability of a protection system, can be divided into three groups:

• cars without protection;
• machines with partial protection;
• machines that are completely protected from leaks.

Most low- and mid-priced vehicles are not equipped with leakage protection. What does this mean? And the fact that water is supplied to the machine from the water pipe through a regular flexible hose with special nuts at both ends. The bottom of such machines, as a rule, is absent or covered with a plastic panel. And if the inlet hose breaks, then all the water in such a machine will flow to the floor. In a multi-storey building, a similar situation leads to flooding of neighbors from below.

Therefore for this case it is recommended to turn off the water tap after turning off the machine or install an additional protection system yourself in the form of inlet hoses with valves, we will talk about them later. Some high-end washing machines already have protection. For example, there is complete protection against water leakage in machines under the brands:

• Asko;
• Ariston;
• Aeg
• Bosch
• Siemins;
• Miele
• Zanussi;
• Electrolux

Partial leakage protection

What is a partial defense, let's see how it works. Machines with such leakage protection are equipped with a special tray, for example, such as in the figure.

A float equipped with an electric switch is installed inside the pallet. The pallet is made of plastic or metal, the polystyrene foam float. When water flows inside the machine, it falls into the pan, with a certain amount of water, the float rises and the switch trips. At his signal, the machine switches to emergency mode, the washing process stops, the pump works and pumps out water.

Important! In such a situation, an error code is displayed on the machine’s display, different designations have different designations, for example, the code E1 will appear in the LG machine, and the E9 code in the Samsung machine.

If there is a leakage of water into the pan, you need to pour water from it, and then look for the cause of the breakdown and eliminate it. You can learn about all the possible causes and elimination of leaks from the article on why the washing machine is leaking.

Inlet hoses with valves

Partial-protected washing machines are so named because the protection only works when water flows inside the machine. But if the hose breaks in some place outside, then flooding can not be avoided. In this case, it is worth thinking about inlet hoses equipped with protection. They are of three types:

1. The first type of hose is a regular hose, placed in a strong corrugated shell. At one end of the hose connected to the water supply, a protective block with a peephole is built in. Inside the unit there is a plunger held by a spring. During the rupture of the hose, water gets inside, the spring weakens and the plunger closes the flow of water. After which the eye becomes red.
   

   Note! The disadvantage of such a hose is that after activating the protection against leakage of water, it will have to be completely replaced.

2. The hose of the second type on the principle of work as a whole does not differ from the first. The difference is that instead of a spring inside the protective block there is a pair of magnets turned to each other by poles of the same name. They hold the plunger until water enters the protective block. This hose also changes after leakage.
3. The third kind of hose has not a mechanical valve, but an electromagnetic one.While the machine is unplugged, the plunger shuts off the water supply, as soon as the machine turns on, the valve opens. The control wires in such a hose are hidden under a strong sheath.

Note! The Aqua Stop inlet hose is designed for a pressure of 70 bar, which is 7 times the maximum pressure in the pipeline.

Complete leakage protection - Aqua Stop system

Washing machines with full protection against water leaks have not only a pan with a built-in float, but also a hose with a solenoid valve, which we talked about above. In other words, if such a hose is connected to a machine with partial protection, then it can be called completely protected.

Such leakage protection is considered the most reliable. Undoubtedly, machines equipped with an Aqua Stop system have an advantage over conventional machines. Having overpaid several thousand rubles for it, you do not have to look for a high-quality inlet hose and figure out how to connect it correctly. The whole system is already debugged by the manufacturer.

Note that the “Aqua Stop” protection is triggered in cases of leaking the washing machine tank, damage to the nozzles, increased foaming and foam exit.

In addition, complete protection against leaks is accompanied by an emergency water pumping system. It works if, for some reason, the main and protective valves did not work. The main valve is the valve of the machine to which the inlet hose with Aqua Stop protection is directly connected. You can read about how the main valve works and how to replace it in the article “Inlet solenoid valve”.

Thus, the protection of the machine from water leaks can be full or partial. How to protect the room from flooding, you choose. However, it is better not to save on safety, and at least install the Aqua Stop hose with an electromagnetic valve on your own washing machine. Believe me, it's worth it!