洗濯乾燥機のメンテナンスDIY
🇬🇧 English translation follows the Japanese text below.
雨が続いても乾く、2台の洗濯乾燥機
日本各地で大雨が続いていますね。災害級と言われるところもあり心配です。
さて雨が続くとやっかいになるのが洗濯ですね。洗濯物を干しても乾かなくなります。しかしヘッドクオーターズ神戸には、洗濯乾燥機が２台あります。放り込んでおけば洗濯して乾かしてくれる洗濯乾燥機は便利ですね。シェアハウスではとても大事な設備だと思います（一般家庭でもそうだと思いますが）。
乾燥機も洗剤も無料、共益費でまかなっています
シェアハウスの中には、乾燥機がなかったり、有っても有料のコイン制だったりするところもあるようですが、HQ神戸ではもちろん無料です。しかも洗剤も共益費から買ってるので個人で買う必要はないです。洗剤ってみんなが買うと置き場所にも困りますしね。
（ちなみにHQではキッチンの調味料類も共益費支給になってます！）
乾燥能力が落ちた4Fの洗濯機を分解してみる
そして今回、みんなに酷使されたせいか（苦笑）4Fの洗濯機の乾燥機能が弱くなったと言われたので、DIYで分解して直してみることにしました。機種はPanasonicのNA-VX7200L。先生はYoutubeです（笑）。
まず上の写真のようにフロントパネル外板を外します。ここまで外すのは簡単だけど、ここからはけっこう勇気がいりますｗ。内側のカバーとゴム（窓パッキン）を外し、さらにドラムのカバーになってる樹脂の大きな部品を外します（写真撮り忘れ）。
筐体のサイドパネルのエッジが鋭利なままで手を痛めやすいとの情報がネットにあり、手袋をして作業し、用意しておいたロングビットの電ドラのおかげで無事スムーズにできました。ドラムカバーのビスがすごく奥の方だし、狭いから普通の電動ドライバーだとたぶん突っ込めない。このタイプの電ドラがあると良いです。他の作業にも便利ですしね。僕ももっと早く買っとけば良かったな。
ドラムカバーまで外すと↓こんな感じ。
ドラムカバーに溜まったホコリを風呂場で水洗い
外したドラムカバーはこんなもの。ちょっと汚くて恐縮ですが、長年のホコリ（とカビ）が内側に溜まっています。１枚目の写真で見えているビス類を外すとさらに内側のカバーが取れ、その内側にもビッシリとゴミが（写真２枚目）。それらをお風呂にもっていって水洗いすると、綺麗に取れました（３枚目）。キレイになると気持ちがいいですね✨
下部の接続パイプ類も外して洗う
そして下部の接続パイプ類も外して洗います。ここはドラムカバーと違い乾燥空気が回ってこないので中には臭いヘドロのようなものが😅。ここの水って循環してるのかな？まあ綺麗にするにこしたことはないのでね。
そして全部綺麗にしたら、もとに戻します。しかしなぜかお約束のように余ったビスが。。。ちょっと心配ですがまあなんとかなるでしょう苦笑。
というわけで分解清掃のDIYでした。いちおうその後は乾燥能力が戻ったようで住人からは好評です。よかったよかった。
もっと読む
洗濯乾燥機のある水まわりや、共益費でまかなっている設備についてはこちらから。
Two washer-dryers that keep working through the rainy days
Heavy rain has been continuing across Japan, and some areas are even seeing what’s being called disaster-level rainfall — it’s a bit worrying.
And when the rain keeps going, laundry becomes a real hassle, doesn’t it? You hang your clothes out and they just won’t dry. Luckily, The Headquarters Kobe has two washer-dryer combo machines. It’s so convenient to just toss your laundry in and have it washed and dried for you. I think that kind of equipment is essential in a share house (though I imagine it’s just as true for regular households too).
Dryer and detergent, both free and covered by the shared fee
Some share houses don’t have dryers at all, or if they do, they’re coin-operated and cost extra — but at HQ Kobe, of course, it’s free. What’s more, the detergent is also covered by the shared utility fee, so there’s no need to buy your own. If everyone bought their own detergent, we’d run out of storage space anyway.
(By the way, at HQ even the kitchen seasonings are covered by the shared utility fee!)
Taking apart the 4th-floor machine after its drying power dropped
This time, maybe because it’s been overworked by everyone (ha), someone mentioned that the dryer function on the 4th floor washer-dryer had gotten weaker. So I decided to take it apart myself and see if I could fix it as a DIY project. The model is Panasonic’s NA-VX7200L. My teacher, of course, was YouTube (lol).
First, as shown in the photo above, I removed the outer front panel. Getting this far is easy, but from here on it takes a bit of courage (lol). I removed the inner cover and the rubber door seal, then took off the large resin part that forms the drum cover (forgot to take a photo of that step).
I’d read online that the edges of the side panels stay sharp and can easily cut your hands, so I worked with gloves on. Thanks to a long-bit electric screwdriver I’d prepared in advance, everything went smoothly. The screws holding the drum cover are set really deep, and the space is so tight that a normal electric screwdriver probably wouldn’t reach them. It really helps to have this kind of long-bit driver — it comes in handy for other jobs too. I wish I’d bought one sooner.
Once the drum cover is off, it looks like this ↓.
Rinsing years of dust off the drum cover in the bathroom
Here’s what the removed drum cover looked like. A bit embarrassing to show, but years of dust (and mold) had built up on the inside. Removing the screws visible in the first photo let me take off an even deeper inner cover, and that one was also packed with grime (second photo). I took all of it to the bathroom and rinsed it off with water, and it came out looking spotless (third photo). It’s such a satisfying feeling when things get clean ✨
Washing the connecting pipes at the bottom
I also removed the connecting pipes at the bottom and washed those too. Unlike the drum cover, dry air doesn’t circulate through here, so inside there was some smelly sludge-like buildup 😅. I wonder if the water in this part actually circulates? Well, either way, it’s never a bad thing to get it clean.
Once everything was clean, I put it all back together. And, true to form, somehow I ended up with leftover screws at the end… A little concerning, but I’m sure it’ll be fine (lol).
And that was our disassembly-and-cleaning DIY project. Since then, the drying power seems to have come back, and the residents are happy about it. Glad it worked out!
Read more
More about the laundry area and the facilities covered by the shared utility fee.
- Common areas — washer-dryers, kitchen and other shared facilities
- Rooms and rent — what the rent and shared utility fee cover
- Moving in: steps and Q&A — including questions about using the facilities
- Viewings and inquiries