GE Adora Lint Filter Cleanout

This instructable will walk you through how to clean out the lint filter on your GE Adora washing machine. This is entirely doable by the end user, but the manual for the washing machine does not give these instructions, and the technical assistance number will not give you this information.

Essentially, if your GE Adora washing machine won't drain, your lint filter is probably full, and preventing the washer from fully draining.

This is something that GE wants you to pay a technician to do. That means a service call that usually has an 8-hour window. It may be a week out, as well. That leaves you with wet laundry, and out possibly several hundred dollars (not counting lost time at work).

From start to finish, this will take you about 30 minutes if you're careful and take your time.

Please let me know if your experience differs from what I've detailed, and I'll update.

Step 1: Assemble your tools.

To complete this project, you'll need a philips-head screwdriver or a nut driver, a catch basin, and a towel.

Comments

[wfm1950]

WHOA! NO TOOLS REQUIRED! I have one of these GE washers that was delivered in Nov. 2008. There is a small, plastic panel at the bottom of the lower panel that is discussed in this instructable. It just pops out, giving access to the filter. Check your unit before going to the trouble of trying to unscrew those impossible screws at the bottom.

[elvisisdead]

Good to know that GE has attempted a solution.

[romanticZombie]

This worked perfectly! I was ready to toss this out or call a plumber to see what was going on, but thanks to this we were able to solve all these same issues. Thanks so much.

[pmckee1]

Why oh why didn't I look this up BEFORE I just paid $116 for a service tech to do it for me! Doh!! It was so easy, I decided to look online to see if I could have found the info myself and sure enough your instructable was right here! Live and learn. I'm putting this on my calendar to remind me to do it every few months.
Thanks for the info and thanks to everyone who posted what they found in theirs! Makes me feel alot better about the gunk and junk that was in mine. :-)

[kristagreen]

Thank you SO much for taking the time to post this. Just finished emptying the filter. Found some money, a missing key, a hypodermic needle (I'm a nurse), lots of pet fur and a baby sock. The smell was horrible so the water must have been sitting and building a long time. My hubbie thought I was crazy but my Dad taught me to be a "do-it-yourselfer" so I searched the internet for help and ideas. Your instructions were really great and I was able to fix it! Thanks, you saved us a lot of $$ and I'm surprised at how easy it was. Thanks again!!

[elvisisdead]

Awesome! I'm amped that it worked for you.

[dano042]

The newer version of this Washing machine has a little access door to this now.
Making it easier to work on.

[kbacheller]

I am adept at cleaning the lint filter on the washer. Over the past four years I do it about every six months. Daughter works at vet clinic, we have nine dogs. . . .I have retrieved bullets, ear plugs, change, a five dollar bill . . .great and easy solution. But this time it didn't fix the problem. I cleaned the filter, did one load of laundry, sluggish switching between wash, spin, rinse, spin. Now another load and it won't drain at all. Is there any other place in the washer that might need cleaned? Something I can fix myself? College son is now out of college, married and gone. College daughter is the assistant. I unplugged the power cord hoping the machine would miraculously "reset" after a brief holiday, but no go.

[elvisisdead]

Hmmm. I think the holes in the filter are big enough to let a decent amount of stuff through. Could be that over time, you've passed enough through it that it's a problem further upstream of the filter - like in the pump. Can you hear the pump engage and try to pump the water out?

[barnoult]

2 of the screws are rusted on. Noticed that it is a hex head also, so am going to the store to get the proper size wrench and will try that. Unless you have any other suggestions.

[elvisisdead]

A hex driver is definitely the way to go. You might hit each one of them with a bit of penetrating oil and letting that sit for a day, but try the hex driver first. I'll bet that they'll come right out.

[keneisha]

Wow this is awesome. My husband would never believe I did this all by my self.. well with the online help from this post. I cleaned out bowrets, hair, money keys.... just when I thought I had to call some one out to repair this, at 11:30 at night , I did it all by my self! I am proud of me,.... yea me!!!!

[RalCon]

your info and pics helped with cleaning out the lint filter, thanks. got out $3 bucks in change, Lego pcs, and a bunch of gunk. but I'm still having trouble. I put in a beach towel & 3 face cloths to test it out. put it on speed wash, normal soil level. the machine ran fine until the last few minutes, then it stopped. I took everything out and ran it again. got down to 1 minute and stopped. now nothing is happening. only the words "door locked" are illuminated. the power light or stand by light don't go on. i tried unplugging to see if something would rest and nothing happened. any suggestions?

[elvisisdead]

Oh man- that's a bit beyond my expertise. However, when the spring on my dishwasher door broke, I was able to pay $15 and get the technician's service manual from some random site online. It's the manual that the techs that service the units use - not the one that comes with the unit in the box. I would try that route, but I suspect that it may be time to call someone.

[moosetooth]

Great Instructable. This procedure will work for a Whirlpool Duet washer as well.

[-Q-]

I thought I'd add a little of our experience here. A few times my wife used the Purex 3-in-1 Washer/Dryer sheets. The first time I found out about this filter, quite a while ago, there was one in there. But... I didn't know what it was :D So I figured it was a filter and I cleaned off the dog hair and pennies and laid it back in there nice and lined up on the filter! Hehe. Tonight I went back in there and now there were two (plus the normal change and LEGOs thing).

So if you use Purex 3-in-1 Sheets with this washer make sure they make it out and into the dryer and if one isn't accounted for then check down here! ;)

[kaewiu]

Took me forever to figure this out on my own. Owners manual is worthless. Your pictures and description are wonderful, but I do not have the pedestal base so it is messy and time consuming. After looking at your procedure, I think I will raise my machine. I have always had GE washers but never again. This is a major design flaw IMHO.

[kbacheller]

Thank you for taking time to post this help-fix solution!  My college son thought I was nuts, but volunteered to help me anyway.  He now thinks I am amazing! 

[elvisisdead]

He probably thought you were amazing already. Glad I could help increase your amazingness, and good for you for giving it a try!

[bridgebe]

Thank you so very much for the help was able to fix wash in just a min or two after waiting and thinking about calling the repair service....I for sure going to be come a member ............................Bev

[jtkaler]

My appreciation as well... Followed these simple instructions and took less than 10 minutes. One thing to be aware of is that if your machine is not draining at all, it will as soon as you take out the filter ;-)

[a2zvp]

Thank you for the great advice. My washer quit also wouldnt respond to any thing.Just said door locked. Decided to follow advice here and clean out the filter. Removed 2.00 in change a bic lighter and a bunch of stones. But it was too late, something broke the fins off inside the pump. Called sears they said 200 for the pump plus labor if that was all that was wrong.Then called a parts store in akron ohio. They had it for 130.00 Went to pick it up and the owner let me in on a little secret. This pump is exactly the same one as the top loaders.He told me to change the front housing with my old one( three screws and 2 minutes of my time) Total cost was 38.00. Put it back together and works fine.Saved a lot of money Thanks again

[drumz]

Thanks a tone for the guide. It worked perfectly! I can't (well really I can (corporate america sucks building in service after it's sold and making basic maintenance "invisible")) believe they would make the tolerance so tight on those three screws to open the panel! I had to pry it up to get the holes to align to refasten it! What a joke! So I just put in the center one figuring I will be cleaning this filter again and don't need to spend a half-hour putting the panel on again. But you were a big savior so thanks again!

[mikenjodi]

You are the best!!! Saved this chick some $$ and proved to my husband I'm not just a dumb girl ;-) After begging him for a week and a half to look at it for me, I found your instructions online - which worked perfect - and I'm back in business without his help! Lots of lint, a nylon, crayons and some legos - no wonder it wasn't draining. Thanks so much for this help!!

[elvisisdead]

Any time. My wife got a huge kick out of your response.

[RunTotoRun]

You are my new best friend! After reading dozens of comments on other sites about the 3 week wait for GE service, I thought for sure this was going to be a nightmare... not so. It was a piece of cake. Job done in under 30 minutes. Thanks a million... (and shame on GE for trying to make $ on a service call for something so simple)

[jemi15]

We have been fighting the not draining battle for a month and getting frustrated with dripping wet clothes. We did not want to pay someone to fix it b/c of the obviously high cost. We are going to try this and hopefully it will work. We'll let you know....

[houseofdixon]

Wish i would have seen this how-to before i did it last night...i had water everywhere...My filter looked almost exactly like that, though i had a mechanical pencil stuck in there as well...

[nixfix]

Thanks for the tip! mine had the usual hairy linty goo, a straw, a tie wrap, bobby pins, a cross, four keys and $14.14 in change. I'm just about to wash a load now, here's hoping that was the only problem

[jdoepke]

Those instructions are perfect and saved us a TON of cash!!! Thank you!!! We were horrified to find a pair of underwear, dollar bill, a couple bucks in change as well as our daughter's hairclips, chapsticks and some twigs. Thanks again for the info!!!

[elvisisdead]

It is pretty interesting what comes out. Glad it worked out for you guys, and if your little one is like mine, she'll be thrilled at the return of long gone hair clips.

[emandrae]

Elvisisdead, A million thanks! We were having serious issues with our GE Adora washer not completing the spin cycle and emptying. Your instructions saved us a lot of $$. The filter was completely clogged and there was all sorts of interesting things besides lint in there... a quarter, a crayon, a paper clip, wads of paper, and plastic candy wrappers. All signs that we do indeed have three kids. Cleaning the filter was easy and your instructions were great. Thanks!

[rhmeshel]

I cleaned the lint trap, thank you to all that recommended it. I am still having a start/pause door unlock problem. Any other ideas? There has to be another problem someplace.

[rhmeshel]

I called GE service and they replaced the board and ordered a part for the door lock sensor.

[christinecalc]

Thank you so much. Finding this information was awesome! My husband is so proud of me for finding out how to clean the filter. I can't believe that they don't say anything about this in the manual. It totally fixed the problems I was having!

[elvisisdead]

That's awesome. I'm glad it worked for you!

[wsrdpc]

When we had this problem in warranty a tech from home depot came out and cleaned the filter out for us. He also showed me how to do this. If you hold the pipe closed just behind the filter you only will have a little water come out and just make sure you have a trash can close by. That way you don't have all that water draining out and it won't have to refill with water every time you do clothes. We leave the front panel off and I check the filter about once a month. I don't find much but with little ones I have to be careful because of baby clothes in the filter. Also he recommended that you be careful of how much soap you put in as it will also not drain properly.

[yankee2]

Thank you soooooo much. My 13 y/o son and I just completed cleaning the lint filter...nasty. It was so simple with your great instructions. I found a dollar bill and $2.50 in change plus lots and lots of nasty. Thanks for saving me money and providing such great step by step instructions. GE should definitely include this information in the manual.

[elvisisdead]

Score! Yet another service call thwarted! I love it. It really boggles my mind as to why GE wouldn't either 1) make the info available, or 2) Make the lint trap user accessible.

[trabran]

Thank you!!!! I just finished cleaning out my filter and found 55 cents, an eraser, a few computer screws, some ponytail holders, and lots of NASTY! The machine is running now and I can hear it draining. This information should definitely be included in the troubleshooting section of the manual. This was so easy and not worth paying someone else to do for me!!!