I would go with one of the foil solutions. Just take aluminum foil and roll up some and hammer it down to a solid chunk that fits in the square of the button. That won't compress anymore like foam will (again). There are a few descriptions of the aluminum foil solution in these comments. You'll get it!
couldn't you just drill large holes in the top cover where the buttons are, on the washer/dryer, so that you could just use your finger to touch the actual button on the motherboard?
Well, you could. But realize you are dealing with electricity-not much. The button is down inside a box, and only a very small finger could reach it, or maybe your pinkie finger twisted just so. The fix of just adding a small hammered cube of aluminum foil to replace the flattened foam is much easier, and the machine will not appear to be damaged.
yeah I was thinking once you cut away the top cover panel, you could make some kind of an actual tactile "button" to replace or connect with the felt/tape box that goes inside the button enclosure that's on the board. FYI, back in fall 2020, CostCo gave us 2-years warranty, plus another 2-years if you purchase using the Costco credit card from Citibank. Trying to get a local quote on this repair right now which may get us a whole new washer if we can get it wrapped up in the next month before the 4th year expires... but I know as soon as we fix the washer situation, the dryer button will go bad next.
@@Schweigardt I wouldn't do the cutting and reinventing. Too much trouble there. Just open the thing up. Take a small bit of aluminum foil and hammer it into a hard cube the size of the button plastic square opening, set it into the square. Replace the cover. Done. It will never compress like the foam did. I did the new foam etc the first time (obviously, see this video!), but had to do it again a year later. I'm keeping the aluminum foil as the best idea. I've got the matching dryer. Doesn't have the problem, yet. I'm about five years in on these I think.
So I’m trying to get mine apart like yours. I took out the 5 screws on the back and I can get it to pull up a little but I can’t get it the whole way off. Any tips?
Tons of pointers in this comment thread. But it basically has plastic snaps all around that you will probably have to put a flat head in. They will break. Good luck!
Well, there are probably three or four or more fixes in this comment thread. I ended up having to fix it again, but I used a bit of aluminum foil and hammered it into the same shape as the foam should have been and that solved the problem.
Same problem with a less than 2 year old dryer that is the companion to this washer. Word spread to LG repairmen b/c he knew the moment he walked into my house what the problem was. Use the wifi option in case it breaks again you can bypass using the panel
Thanks! I'm glad they finally know what the problem is. I figured it out two years ago. They must have watched my video! Don't pay a repairman, it's not that hard! But mine doesn't have WIFI.
@@SkipWhatAboutTonight mine was under warranty so the fix is free. Repairman said it was definitely poor engineering. They developed a replacement part for this reason. He said the other issue is that sometimes the “touch” feature doesn’t work b/c hands are too cold. Press it often enough the foam will always expand.
I tried the below methods, but nothing worked. I only have the springs sticking up and I learned later that the spring doesn't fit ring in the center of the start button. It lines up in the center of the square part of the circle of the start button. So, I looked in my parts bin and I found a 3/8 inch wide by 1 inch piece of metal and use double sided tape and installed it in the square part to the center of the circle and it now turns on. One may have to stretch the springs a little for the on button and the start button like I did.
I used the toothpick solution for my foam pad squish problem. Thank you. You could make the video better by showing disassembly of the control panel covers.
Whatever works! Haha, even if it's just a temporary fix. But, yeah, you can't add to existing videos on RU-vid. Someone probably has it online somewhere. Seems like you figured it out tho! Pretty much just a couple screws and a snappy thing or two for anyone who needs instructions!
I am just looking at to buy the replacement foam on eBay. They come in different sizes. Mine on off button works. Some of the other buttons don't work. Will chewing gum wrap foil work?
I don't know if chewing gum wrapper will work or not! Haha just try it! Let us know! My best final solution was just to mash a ball of foil and hammer it down to the size of the original foam. Put the foil in place of the foam. No problems since.
Thanks so much for this. Was just about to go buy another $800 washing machine and found this. I just crammed some toothpicks in with a drop of Elmer's glue to expand the foam. My 1 cent solution. You saved me $799.99. Thanks again.
i’m having this same issue. i removed the top part of the washer but the control board is in the way of the buttons, how were you able to separate the control board from the top of the washer?
Yes, it should snap out of there, but you will break some of the plastic. This question has many answers in the comments. Basically just break it out but then use a couple small screws in the unused holes to hold it together when you are done.
Why not? Look for the comments below about doing that. You WILL break some plastic tabs, but a small screw in the unused holes will hold it together when you put it back together! You got this!
Thanks! Same for me ! Add a little plastic piece to give more strength to foil/foam button. Problem solved in less than an hour ! You saved me hundreds of dollars! Thanks again!!!
Great video, already replaced the board a couple years ago but now same problem. I tried swapping buttons but didn’t work, the rolled up foil button did. Just matched it size wise to the old foam button.
Very carefully! haha, it will be stipped, cracked and broken when you are done. But if I recall you can use some small screws to hold it together after you have destroyed the snaps!
Just got it off....lost 2 tabs but oh well. It was indeed the touch screen button...the spring type. I glued some foil on the back of the button face for power and start works again.
I have this giant piece of junk. They replaced the mother board twice and we are now losing power again. I would never buy another LG product. I took this garbage apart and the buttons don't work for me without the foam because they look like metal contacts. The foam I have looks like it has some metal on the bottom of it. But be warned, I got shocked using a pair of insulated plyers trying to press the power button. This is going in the junk bucket.
just wanted to mention if you don't want to use the foam pad with the strip all I did was folded sections of aluminum foil in layers and glued them on top of each other, and then on the control panel side has super glued a couple more layers of aluminum foil together until I got the right thickness to where they were touch each other when you push on the control panel. Works perfectly.
At this point I think the concensus is to just compress some aluminum foil into a small cube that replaces the foam/fabric altogether. I have had my machine apart more than I care to admit, but the last thing I did was the foil square the size of the foam, and it is the best solution I believe.
The replacement foam that I put in for this video has now failed. I took a small piece of aluminum foil and hammered it down to almost cubical the same size as the foam and inserted it in place of the foam this time. It's working again for the time being!
Eventually LG replaced the foam buttons with little spring buttons, yet I still had this problem around the two year mark. Found a fix in comments on another video - a small piece of aluminum foil at the back of the touch button panel to make contact with the spring. Worked for me.
Thank you for sharing this video. My 2 year old washer wouldn’t turn on. We tried everything but it still wasn’t working. My hubby and I fixed the issue by cutting a piece of metal duct tape and placing it on the back of the start button to improve the conductivity between the start button and the spring; and now it works like brand new. You saved us $, time, and stress.
Just wanted to give an update on our LG top load. The foam is NOT squished. Everyone who is deeply concerned in fixing this problem should listen!!!!!! Get a water scale and LEVEL your washer correctly. On the bottom are extra feet to help with that. Adjust them according to the leveling device you use. Once leveled the start button should work fine. DONT waist your money and listen to people who replace parts, and tell you this is a common issue with LG washers. Don’t throw out your machine, get it done by yourself!!!!! That’s about the only thing to do once in a while. We have no issues.
OK, everyone new, try this first! But all of us with the squished foam know that is definitely a problem. If there's no contact anymore, there's no electricity!
The machine had been staying in the same position for the last few years whether leveled squarely or not, and was working until a few days back. How can a little adjustment of levelling revive the dead button? I am just trying to make sense. Thanks
I guess you didn't read or watch that part, but that is the first thing they tried. The ONLY tech in KC that would even come out and work on it and he took so many service calls and then gave up. Crazy!
@@SkipWhatAboutTonight I just did 2 yesterday all I do is put a small square of tin foil in front of the pad some just have springs no pad but it’s the same fix
This comment community is very full of all the info you need to fix it though! Keep looking and one of these solutions will most likely work. Swapping the foam from another button, or getting harder foam with metalic cloth, or adding a spring, or just putting smashed aluminum foil in there!
So what I did was use one of the foam buttons from another button that is never used. Which for us was the child lock out button, On the bottom right. I pulled it out in one piece and the bottom of the foam was still sticky. So I placed it right on top of existing button. It stuck so I tested it few times and it worked fine. Then I put the front cover back on and tested it again. And again it worked fine. I buttoned the rest up and I was done. So far so good.
I have the Turbo Wash model. No button, just a cone shape spring. Small piece of aluminum foil & two-sided tape. Work like a charm. 3 screws on rear. Back cover being off. Remove U-shape plastic trim by releasing plastic tab locks on R side of circuit board, push tab forward. Once you have the two tabs on R side released and pushed forward. From front of washer use SMALL screwdriver to pry plastic trim from front control panel. Being careful not to break any of the 4 tabs. There are 2 more screws under trim to remove. Now remove the dial from panel by pulling VERY hard. Wiggle control panel loose and lay on its face. Remove 1 screw from tin cover around circuit board, and pry the 4 tin tabs loose. Wiggle tin cover loose and remove. Just 5 or 6 plastic tabs to release on circuit board frame and it’s free. Take notice the spring type button doesn’t line up centered to push to start circuit. Making sure your aluminum foil is wide enough. Good luck and don’t break any plastic tabs.😊
Update on us. It works perfectly again. We leveled ours and it is working at the lightest touch like new. Installation was done incorrectly. Before you call someone do the ThinQ as we did. It helps to diagnose problems. You for sure know it’s not the expensive parts, which the people who looked at it wanted to replace.!!!!!!
yea finally took mine apart, a wt7300cw and the i was turning it on without even making contact with the foam, like just hovered over it, don't know why the button had to be so wacky, but i don't have glue so I'll prolly do something with tinfoil
Thanks for confirming. That’s what I was thinking, too. The mistake we made was that we pressed the start button to hard, because the washer wouldn’t turn on at times. We were wondering why it had this problem because back in Seoul we never had an issue with the washer. LG came and found out the machine wasn’t leveled properly when installed by Sears. He said that if not leveled correctly it won’t turn on. Since then we had no issues, but again we pressed the button to hard and the start button stopped working. Others say to replace the expensive parts but my guesses are the foam got squished. We’ll let you know. Thanks so much for posting.
Amazing Vid!! Finally sat down and really watch this video! The most recent quote I received from a local repair guy was around $500-$600! I decided to have a stab at it using your video! I'm sooo happy I did! With about $20 in amazon products I was able to fix in about 30 min (due to trial and error). My washer is only 2 years old and we thought we were just going to buy another one, due to repairs being so costly! My Model is LG WT7305CV. Product code T17A1EFHUS. ASSEUUS. It didn't have the squishy pad, it has springs. Thank you so much! My washer works like a charm!
