On 4/18/2010 7:49 AM, Jeff The Drunk wrote:
On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:34:56 -0500, wrote:

My 10 year old+ whirlpool washer went out the other day 3/4 the way
through a load. would not drain and the main motor would not run.

Checked it out, and the motor did not have any power.
looked at the schematic, and it appeared that the timer
assembly was the problem. Priced a replacement at $110+ dollars.
ouch! old washer not worth that much.

SO i took the timer off and bent the tabs that hold it together straight
and took it apart (non repairable part). Figured out one of the contacts
had overheated. Had nothing to lose, so i sanded down the contact on
both sides and put it back together. Motor came back on, but it seemed
something was still not right. Did not want to drain right. I then took
the hoses off the pump only to discover a lump of fabric jamming the
pump. a long nose pliers and some words eventually pulled the lump of
crud out. Now it seemed to drain, but the pull switch on the timer was
stuck on. Then i noticed another plastic part on the floor. (whoops,
forgot one lever on the re assembly of the timer)
Put it back together, and she is working. Who knows for how long,
but i had little money to spend now and i kept it out of the scrap heap
for awhile longer.

I theorize the fabric jammed in the pump caused the motor to draw too
much current and overheated the switch contacts. Hope it last for a while...

bob


I would have thought a seized pump make a hell of a lot of noise like
it did on my old Kenmore. The motor should have had enough torque to
spin the belt around the pump pulley causing a heck of a racket. If
the motor just locked up it likely cycled on its built in
thermal/current overload protection but I would also think it should
trip a breaker if locked up.

This was a direct drive pump. It was not locked up until the end, but
the crud in it put a extra load on the motor. It seemed also the
impellers were flexible inside so they would give some rather than be
rigid. That probably explains why it did not lock up before

bob