Do-It-Yourself Story

Purchased a tub bearing kit mounting, stem repair kit. I also bought the special tool for removing and assembling these components. However, I had to buy this tool from another supplier because I couldn't find it on Appliance Parts Pro's site. They may sell it but, after wasting a lot of time trying to find it, I went to someone else to purchase this tool. This is a must have tool to perform this service. The videos on Appliance Parts Pro's site are great and easy to understand. Without the videos most people could run into trouble. Many good points. When I went to reassemble the washer I ran into one big problem. The connecter to the drum from the drain pump snapped off. I was surprised to find it wasn't a welded part but, not really sure how it was attached. I went on their site to see if they offered a replacement or retrofit part I could use. I went on their service chat site but after going back and forth for a while I was told I need a new drum. No suggestion on how to fix the connection. I'm an industrial pipe fitter so I knew I could either make up a replacement part or reattach the connecter. I figured it was worth trying to reattach this connector. I went to a local hardware store and purchase some J-B Weld two part epoxy product #50165 steel reinforced epoxy. I cleaned up the surfaces I was joining mixed up enough to join the connector to the drum. Then I carefully joined both together and let it set for at least 4 hours then flip over the drum and coated the connection from the inside to make sure I would get a 100 percent connection. After that I left the drum alone until the next day. I wanted to make sure the epoxy was 100 percent cured before putting the machine back together. Cure time was 15 to 24 hours. DO NOT try to rush this step and think the epoxy has cured long enough. After this assembled the machine and tested the repair, all seems good.