I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.

On 10/12/20 1:14 PM, TimR wrote:
I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.

A quick search said the part wasn't available from one source.
The source suggested
putting the part number into a search engine. I tried and came up with
Whirlpool parts.
https://www.amazon.com/maytag-washer-timer/s?k=maytag+washer+timer
Suppose the motor is bad. What else would the motor be used for?
Dishwashers? Can you see the numbers on the motor? I'm out of ideas.

On Monday, October 12, 2020 at 2:34:01 PM UTC-4, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 10/12/20 1:14 PM, TimR wrote:
I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.

A quick search said the part wasn't available from one source.
The source suggested
putting the part number into a search engine. I tried and came up with
Whirlpool parts.
https://www.amazon.com/maytag-washer-timer/s?k=maytag+washer+timer
Suppose the motor is bad. What else would the motor be used for?
Dishwashers? Can you see the numbers on the motor? I'm out of ideas.

I found this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkQJsLOEFf4

and now I understand what the youtube conversion videos are about (though they are not in English and I can't follow them). Third world countries do amazing work repairing cast off US machines when they can't get electronic control boards. Apparently the 6 wire wind up timer is available for about $3 and used to control the motor directly.

It's possible any washer timer could be used with jumpers to connect to the harness. They must all do about the same thing.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:14:17 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.
We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available
and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.
They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore.
Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000,
but I don't have 30 years left in me.
So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual?
From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer.
Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways.
The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be?
I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful.
They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires.
Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -
This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash,
in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.
The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.


I thought .. hard to believe that the timer / timer motor
are not available ? .. then I checked a couple web sites :
1. phone for availability
2. $ 175. !

https://www.reliableparts.ca/lookup/16414/89904#diagram

https://tinyurl.com/yyzotrhk

John T.

On 10/12/20 1:33 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 10/12/20 1:14 PM, TimR wrote:
I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484.Â* Today it stopped
advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no
parts available and they declined to work on it.Â* I finished the load
moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore.Â* Well, I guess
you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but
I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual?Â* From the
service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close
in the timer.Â* Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little
more for 3 ways.Â* The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how
hard can it be?Â* I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't
really helpful.Â* They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing
the timer wires.Â* Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're
talking $4 per switch.Â* -

This would be really manual.Â* Flip the right switches for fill and
wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need
relays.

Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* A quick search said the part wasn't available from one source.
The source suggested
putting the part number into a search engine.Â* I tried and came up with
Whirlpool parts.
https://www.amazon.com/maytag-washer-timer/s?k=maytag+washer+timer
Suppose the motor is bad.Â* What else would the motor be used for?
Dishwashers?Â* Can you see the numbers on the motor?Â*Â*Â* I'm out of ideas.
On second thought, Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw= washer+A484&_sacat=0
There's at least one used on the list.

A quick search said the part wasn't available from one source.
The source suggested
putting the part number into a search engine. I tried and came up with
Whirlpool parts.
https://www.amazon.com/maytag-washer-timer/s?k=maytag+washer+timer
Suppose the motor is bad. What else would the motor be used for?
Dishwashers? Can you see the numbers on the motor? I'm out of ideas.


From the one parts website - the timer motor ~ looks like
the one on my water softener .. longshot but worth looking into ?
John T.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:14:17 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.

SSRs are a better option than relays if you are doing electronic
switching. They will run directly from CMOS.
If the thing is not advancing, it might just be the motor. The gear
train could just be gummed up.
I bet any timer from a similar machine would get it going tho.
Like you say the functions are the same. The timer just gives you
different options on how they get going.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:14:17 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.


If you are going to "bodge" it just get a timer from a different
model washer and adapt the wiring. Lots of late model washers get
scrapped with perfectly working timers. Take the wiring plugs with the
timer, dig out the scematics and patch the wires together.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:08:42 -0400, wrote:


A quick search said the part wasn't available from one source.
The source suggested
putting the part number into a search engine. I tried and came up with
Whirlpool parts.
https://www.amazon.com/maytag-washer-timer/s?k=maytag+washer+timer
Suppose the motor is bad. What else would the motor be used for?
Dishwashers? Can you see the numbers on the motor? I'm out of ideas.


From the one parts website - the timer motor ~ looks like
the one on my water softener .. longshot but worth looking into ?
John T.


There are lots of places that sell those gear head motors. The only
critical thing is the RPM, output gear specs and voltage.
Most of those synchronous motors mount in the same holes.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 16:20:54 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:14:17 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

I bought a Maytag toploader in 1990, an A484. Today it stopped advancing from cycles.

We have an excellent repair shop in town but they said there are no parts available and they declined to work on it. I finished the load moving the dial by hand.

They don't make machines that last 30 years anymore. Well, I guess you can still get the Speedqueen commercial model for about $1000, but I don't have 30 years left in me.

So, has anybody done a workaround, conversion to manual? From the service manual it looks like there are 10 sets of contacts that close in the timer. Light switches are less than a dollar each, a little more for 3 ways. The functions are just fill, drain, wash, spin, how hard can it be? I looked at some youtube videos but they weren't really helpful. They wire directly to the motors rather than reusing the timer wires. Toggle switches would be more elegant but now we're talking $4 per switch. -

This would be really manual. Flip the right switches for fill and wash, in 10 minutes change to drain, 3 minutes to spin, etc.

The elegant way would be a Raspberry Pi or similar but then we need relays.


If you are going to "bodge" it just get a timer from a different
model washer and adapt the wiring. Lots of late model washers get
scrapped with perfectly working timers. Take the wiring plugs with the
timer, dig out the scematics and patch the wires together.

If it is a whirlpool, amana, kenmore, roper, kitchen aid it may even
have the right plug.