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

"bob" wrote in message
...
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.


.. 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.


Well worth a little effort and it saved quite a bit of $$$. Could get you
another 10+ years.

"bob" wrote in message
...
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...

Good show! Always satisfying to show these machines who's boss.

But, you may have done yourself a disservice, as the savings and benefits
from a frontloader replacing a toploader start immediately.
I don't know what the ROI is, but, depending on how much laundry is actually
being done (and where you live), I'm sure it's well under 5 years.

The fellow on
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...m-upgrade.html
calculated that his ROI on a net investment of $150 was one year on just
water alone!!! He has to pay for waste water removal, but the other savings
would probably more than make up for that for others with municipal sewer.
--
EA







bob

bob 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



Congratulations- my appliance repairs seldom turn out so well, and I
usually end up replacing the busted item or doing without.

--
aem sends...

"bob" wrote in message
...
On 4/17/2010 11:01 PM, Existential Angst wrote:
wrote in message
...
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...

Good show! Always satisfying to show these machines who's boss.

But, you may have done yourself a disservice, as the savings and benefits
from a frontloader replacing a toploader start immediately.
I don't know what the ROI is, but, depending on how much laundry is
actually
being done (and where you live), I'm sure it's well under 5 years.

The fellow on
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...m-upgrade.html
calculated that his ROI on a net investment of $150 was one year on just
water alone!!! He has to pay for waste water removal, but the other
savings
would probably more than make up for that for others with municipal
sewer.

Its funny you suggested that. I have looked into it when i get more money.
it seems to have advantages. BUT, it also seems many of these units have
problems that lead to frequent expensive repairs.

What types? Mechanical or electrical?
In principle, the mechanics of a front loader are *much* simpler than
toploaders: no complicated transmission, for one. You have to take one of
those apart to believe them.... altho, they seem to prove very reliable.

So cost
savings many not lead to long term savings.

I saw a whirlpool Duet today on craigs list for $50. and i see maytags
frequently that have issues cheap. There not issues sandpaper and time
will solve without expensive parts.

Overall, you raise a major and unfortunate point. Solid State electronics
is but another strategy for sticking it to, or up, the consumer.
Someone posted here recently about their refridgerator needing a circuit
board replaced. WTF???

And extended warranties are a big part of that ripoff -- they are basically
telling you, up front, that the mfr does not have confidence in their own
products. Everybody wants an annuity.....

Garmin now wants to charge me for map updates. I'll be goddammed first. I
guess these updates are Garmin's annuity, eh?
--
EA





bob

bob 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...

Impressive repair job, Bob. I've replaced the pump twice on my old
kenmore/whirlygig, and I hope I never get the pleasure of digging apart the
timer!

Jon

On 2010-04-18, bob wrote:

I saw a whirlpool Duet today on craigs list for $50. and i see maytags
frequently that have issues cheap. There not issues sandpaper and time
will solve without expensive parts.

Look in craigslist and pennysaver rags. Many people sell perfectly
good washer/dryers sets cheap when they move cuz it's less hassle than
moving them. I got my top of the line GE W/D set for $100 cuz
neighbor didn't have room to take them. This was an older GE set,
top-loader with the little white lint trap riding on top of the
agitator.

People make many claims for front loaders, but I've yet to use one
that actually cleaned clothes worth a damn. Nothing ever came close
to my GEs for getting clothes clean and they were a piece of cake to
work on for the two breakdowns (bad pump, leaking tub seal) I had in
10 yrs. Likewise, I left them for the next tenant to use, they still
working fine.

nb

On 2010-04-18, Existential Angst wrote:

Altho, the absurdity of print cartridges seems to have made it to the
general zeitgeist, as companies are now advertising $5 cartridges. I'm sure
there is still a scam involved, but mebbe less of a scam than the current
one.

Toss the color printer in favor of a cheapo b/w laser. I don't miss
my rip-off color Epson one bit and my Brother laser probably won't run
out of toner in my lifetime. If I absolutely must have a color print
of something, I'll take the file down to a commercial printer on a
flash drive and have THAT print made for a buck or two. TIP: if you
do get a b/w laser printer don't go too cheap. Make sure the toner
cartridge and print drum are separate items. I think I paid $80 for
my bullit-proof Brother.

nb

On 4/18/2010 7:32 AM, Jon Danniken wrote:
bob 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...

Impressive repair job, Bob. I've replaced the pump twice on my old
kenmore/whirlygig, and I hope I never get the pleasure of digging apart the
timer!

Jon


When i was trying to get the crud out of the pump, i released the two
spring holders and tried to pull the pump off. It seemed to be stuck,
that's when i just used the needle nose to pull the crap out of it.
I was afraid if i put too much force on it i would ruin it and create
another issue. It does seem to be draining, but i wonder if some of the
impellers in the pump were damaged due to the crud stuck inside.
The pump impeller must have been welded by crud to the end of the motor
shaft.


bob

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

wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:09:03 GMT, notbob wrote:

On 2010-04-18, Existential Angst wrote:

Altho, the absurdity of print cartridges seems to have made it to
the general zeitgeist, as companies are now advertising $5
cartridges. I'm sure there is still a scam involved, but mebbe
less of a scam than the current one.

Toss the color printer in favor of a cheapo b/w laser. I don't miss
my rip-off color Epson one bit and my Brother laser probably won't
run out of toner in my lifetime. If I absolutely must have a color
print of something, I'll take the file down to a commercial printer
on a flash drive and have THAT print made for a buck or two. TIP:
if you do get a b/w laser printer don't go too cheap. Make sure the
toner cartridge and print drum are separate items. I think I paid
$80 for my bullit-proof Brother.

nb

GearXS is dumping used HP laser printers for $50. I doubt you can get
a set of color/bw ink cartridges for much less than that.

I got a barely used HP LJ2100 for $65 a couple of years ago from CL. A ream
of paper fits perfectly in the two trays, and it has an envelope slot as
well. Since it's an office printer it has a duty cycle of 15,000 pages per
month, which means I will be using it for many years to come.

The only reason to get an inkjet printer is if you are a diehard
photographer who uses the printer enough to keep the ink flowing.

Jon

My ancient Whirlpool has come up parts NLA (no longer
available) at my parts house. I've kept it running with
oiling the electric motor, and later the water discharge
pump. I've also had to clean the timer with a big dose of
electical contact cleaner, and then reoil the timer. Plans
are to keep it going as long as possible.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Jon Danniken" wrote in
message ...

Impressive repair job, Bob. I've replaced the pump twice on
my old
kenmore/whirlygig, and I hope I never get the pleasure of
digging apart the
timer!

Jon

My siezed up pump just gave a vague over heating smell, as
the belt slipped.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


Jeff The Drunk wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:34:56 -0500, bob
wrote:

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.

bob" wrote in message
...
On 4/18/2010 7:32 AM, Jon Danniken wrote:
bob 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...

Impressive repair job, Bob. I've replaced the pump twice on my old
kenmore/whirlygig, and I hope I never get the pleasure of digging apart
the
timer!

Jon


When i was trying to get the crud out of the pump, i released the two
spring holders and tried to pull the pump off. It seemed to be stuck,
that's when i just used the needle nose to pull the crap out of it.
I was afraid if i put too much force on it i would ruin it and create
another issue. It does seem to be draining, but i wonder if some of the
impellers in the pump were damaged due to the crud stuck inside.
The pump impeller must have been welded by crud to the end of the motor
shaft.


bob

When a similar thing happened to me (wife's nylon ped escaped the delicates
bag), the nylon stretched to about 20 times its original length and wrapped
around the impeller drive shaft.

I spent hours unwinding it and cleaning all the crud, got a greasy as a
White Castle hamburger and nicked every knuckle on my hands. I was so proud
of having found the problem, took the machine apart, pulled the
super-elongated footwear out and gotten the whole machine back together.

Despite my heroic efforts, when I got home from work the next day, my wife
had purchased a new Sears unit that was on sale and had the old one hauled
away. I was more than a little peeved but she pointed to a white blouse she
had washed in the machine that now had a big grease stripe on it.
Apparently I didn't wipe the tub down as well as I thought. She told me
that she knew the only way to keep me from chopping it up for parts was to
spirit it away while I was at work.

I think the only thing I ever worked on that was harder to reach was the
power steering pump on an old Jag sedan. After trying to replace it I
reached the conclusion that they began the car's assembly by having someone
hold the steering pump in the air and then assembling the entire rest of the
car around it. Whitworth, SAE and metric screws, too!

The best part is that when the PS pump gasket failed (it was at some
incredibly high PSI - I want to say over 2000, but that may be a total brain
lapse) it spewed power steering fluid all over the always overheated exhaust
manifold, emitting a cloud of smoke that looked like D-Day invasion
camoflauge.

--
Bobby G.

I don't know off hand when they changed over. I do know that
my machine is belt drive, and has served me well.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:45:17 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

My siezed up pump just gave a vague over heating smell, as
the belt slipped.

The ones made since the Carter administration do not have a
belt. The
pump is direct drive and the transmission is driven through
a plastic
coupler designed to shear off before you break something
expensive.

On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:34:56 -0500, bob wrote:
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.

If the contacts were badly pitted, they might not last *that* long before
they fail again (but that's worst-case and you're still extending the
life of the washer for a bit longer*).

I remember taking apart timers as a kid - some of them have a bazillion
switch contacts in them that are all the same design. If you have one
like that then I bet you could swap contacts with good ones that control
a washer program that you never use...

* and by the time it dies next, new front-loaders might be a fair price...

cheers

Jules

"bob" wrote in message
...
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.

SNIP.

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

Good for you. I did appliance repair for 30 years. I was a repairman not
a parts changer. Did all I could to save the customers money. As for my
own stuff, the dishwasher 1994 Whirlpool failed to heat in dry cycle. A
year ago. Bad relay on circuit board. Replacement board $180. Relay was
a 20 volt for coil, China crap. Relay not available at this voltage. Put
in a 12 volt relay and added resister to operate relay at proper voltage
and current draw. About 8 years ago wife decided she wanted our 1961
Whirlpool washer and 1967 dryer replaced. Did so and gave these older
items to a son . Both are still working fine. WW

On 4/19/2010 7:28 AM, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:34:56 -0500, bob wrote:
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.

If the contacts were badly pitted, they might not last *that* long before
they fail again (but that's worst-case and you're still extending the
life of the washer for a bit longer*).

I remember taking apart timers as a kid - some of them have a bazillion
switch contacts in them that are all the same design. If you have one
like that then I bet you could swap contacts with good ones that control
a washer program that you never use...

* and by the time it dies next, new front-loaders might be a fair price...

cheers

Jules

I really did not think this would be a permanent repair. But it buys me
time to maybe find a used timer or other cheaper part.
Somewhere out there is someone who is throwing away a washer with a bad
motor and a good timer,,,

Maybe in the future i will get one of these tosser front loads and try
to restore it to life. I still don't know if i am 100% sold that they
are a long term wise idea.

bob

wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:29:13 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

GearXS is dumping used HP laser printers for $50. I doubt you can
get a set of color/bw ink cartridges for much less than that.

I got a barely used HP LJ2100 for $65 a couple of years ago from CL.
A ream of paper fits perfectly in the two trays, and it has an
envelope slot as well. Since it's an office printer it has a duty
cycle of 15,000 pages per month, which means I will be using it for
many years to come.

The only reason to get an inkjet printer is if you are a diehard
photographer who uses the printer enough to keep the ink flowing.


When you can get a picture printed on real photo stock for 19 cents,
why bother?

While IANADP, convenience, control, and immediate results would probably be
logical reasons. Last I checked you can get some pretty fancy paper, too.

Jon

On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:31:01 -0500, bob wrote:
I really did not think this would be a permanent repair. But it buys me
time to maybe find a used timer or other cheaper part.

good call! :-)

Maybe in the future i will get one of these tosser front loads and try
to restore it to life. I still don't know if i am 100% sold that they
are a long term wise idea.

They work - or at least the ones I grew up with in europe did. Problem in
the US is that they're still expensive compared to identical-featured
models in the rest of the world (why? maybe just because the
manufacturers think that's what people are prepared to pay?), and I'm not
sure the service/spares availability is there quite yet.

Give it a few years though and I think they'll be a good investment...

cheers

Jules

wrote:
On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:33:47 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:29:13 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:


The only reason to get an inkjet printer is if you are a diehard
photographer who uses the printer enough to keep the ink flowing.


When you can get a picture printed on real photo stock for 19 cents,
why bother?

While IANADP, convenience, control, and immediate results would
probably be logical reasons. Last I checked you can get some pretty
fancy paper, too.

Jon

The ink is the problem, not the paper. You will find your colors start
fading pretty fast if the sun hits them. Ink jet photos are great if
you just want to show somebody your picture and they don't have a PC
but 10 years from now that won't be much of a picture.

I'm pretty sure archival quality inks and papers are available, I know they
were when I was reading around on r.p.d. a half-dozen years or so ago.

Jon