My washing machine has developed an unfortunate fault where the drum will slowly fill up with water at the rate of about one inch per eight hours. This happens even when the machine is switched off. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the mechanism as it will happily drain away again when it’s switched on.

In my experience most washing machine problems are the fault of the carbon brushes, and one must only replace these and everything will be fixed. However, I am suspicious that this fault may be caused by a “loose valve” and the carbon brushes are largely innocent since I can hear a steady dripping even when the machine is turned off. This discovery of this new component has shaken my previously solid understanding of washing machine design.

Maybe it’s time to call the landlord…

UPDATE: The engineer is here, fixing in progress

UPDATE2: The engineer is gone and claims fixed. Apparently the problem was a “pin” in the three-way cold water inlet valve had become lime scaled and broke. Hard water is apparently a problem in these parts. So there you go.