temperaturewashing-machine
I was using a General Electric washing machine when it suddenly stopped working.
I thought of everything and the most logical explanation was the factor of cold temperature, so I used a heater to blow hot air towards the washer. After a while it started working.
Does anyone know if a General Electric washing machine would have an automatic shut down function to shut the machine off in the event of the temperature being so low that water could freeze in the machine ?
Yes, your washing machine should be level and all legs should be squarely on the floor. If it's not, you'll have unbalanced forces acting on it as the drum spins. During the spin cycle, these forces are much larger because of the higher spin speeds and will make it "walk".
You'll need a spirit level to balance the washer. There's usually a gap between the top plate and the side plate of the washer that you can rest the level in to measure the front-to-back tilt. For the side-to-side tilt, generally just put the level on the top of the washer. You may have lock-nuts on the legs: if so, loosen them with a wrench before trying to adjust the washer, and tighten them afterwards. Raise or lower the legs until all four are solidly on the floor; the washer should not rock at all. If you have to move the washer to adjust it, remember to check it once it's back in its place.
I don't know of any specific schedule, but I can recommend several "best practices":
Failed "fail proof" hose at the coupling:
You could also buy special high quality ($50) hoses - which frankly if you have a finished basement or your laundry is on an upper floor, is a sound investment in damage prevention.
Perhaps your BEST prevention, however, is an automatic washing machine shut off valve:
This device has an attached sensor (pic 2) which you set on the floor by your washing machine. In the event of a leaky washer OR failed hose, it senses the water and shuts off the flow at the source. For an under $200 investment, if you're protecting a $20,000 basement or worse, a whole house, not installing this once you know of it's existence would be downright foolish.
Best Answer
Installing a washing machine in a location that freezes is extremely risky, even if the machine is disconnected and in storage.
There are many and plastic parts in the machine, that will crack easily in freezing conditions. Some of them have water in them at all times, e.g. bottom of drain hoses. Some have pressurized water, such as the water inlet valves: a crack here will dump thousands of gallons of water.
Your main stack is physics.se, so I'm sure I don't have to explain the behavior of freezing water and why it destroys equipment. Allowing this equipment to be exposed to freezing temps is a foreseeable mistake.
Preparing a washing machine to be stored outdoors/in freezing conditions is called winterizing. To be clear, the washing machine does not have any functionality that would auto-winterize the washing machine, even if it could detect ambient temp, which it could not. It would certainly do nothing for the hoses from the wall or the plumbing in the wall. Those, you would have to remove and disconnect yourself.
Most likely what happened is the hoses to the washer, or the pipes in the wall, froze just solid enough to block them but not enough to crack. That blocked water flow, so the machine never filled, so the timer could not advance. You thawed those pipes in the nick of time. I would say "you got lucky" - don't push your luck.