Washing Machine question for the handyman types...

[Dawg52]

First of all let me clarify I am a dumb ass and know nothing about nothing. Of course most of y'all already knew that. But today I was washing a load of clothes and the thing stops on the rinse cycle. Won't empty the water or go into the spin cycle. This is a cheapo model my aunt had in the house and is roughly 10 years old. So I brought up my old Whirlpool that I had stored in the basement, but it has not been used for close to 10 years. Hook it up and sure enough, it worked. But it did smell a little funky, but I just blew it off thinking it was because it had just set up for so long.

I sat there and watched it as I didn't want to leave it and the motor over heats or something. It emptied the water out after the wash cycle and then added water for the rinse cycle. But dammit if it didn't do the same thing, sits there making a grinding noise(other machine made no noise) and never completes the rinse cycle or go into the spin mode.

Two machines doing the same thing. Am I missing something or is this just a common problem for older machines? I could understand this if today was Halloween.

 

[W2R]

Is it a particularly heavy load? Some machines will just stop if they have a heavy load that is not balanced. Often there is a buzzer, though.

(caveat: no handyman skills here! )

 

[Dawg52]

No, the second load was just a small one. First one wasn't that large either. I remember my mom's sitter having this same problem a few months ago. Her repair guy said just cheaper to buy a new one.

 

[Alan]

oh oh.....

THE TWILIGHT ZONE THEME - YouTube

 

[travelover]

There is definitely a force field vortex in that room. Run!

 

[Dawg52]

oh oh.....

THE TWILIGHT ZONE THEME - YouTube

My favorite song.

 

[Midpack]

YouTube

 

[Texas Proud]

Two options that I have had to do...


First, the switch (the knob where you choose what you want) can be stuck.... can you move it to the cycle youself and it work IOW, move it a click or two and see what happens...


Second, maybe your belt is loose.... this does not sound like what you have for the first, but maybe the second... you will get a bit of burning as the motor is turning but the belt just sits there rubbing the pully...

 

[bbbamI]

There is definitely a force field vortex in that room. Run!

I agree!

It could be in the entire house.

Stay away from the bathroom!

 

[Dawg52]

Two options that I have had to do...


First, the switch (the knob where you choose what you want) can be stuck.... can you move it to the cycle youself and it work IOW, move it a click or two and see what happens...


Second, maybe your belt is loose.... this does not sound like what you have for the first, but maybe the second... you will get a bit of burning as the motor is turning but the belt just sits there rubbing the pully...

I played with the knob. Gradually moved it towards the spin cycle, but nothing. Tried the rinse mode in all the other washing cycles and the same thing. You could be right on the second machine as it's just as you described. Maybe I will open it up over the weekend and take a look.

Thanks.

 

[Dawg52]

Looks like on the first machine the problem is going to be the lid switch. I pressed down on the head as suggested in a video and it fell off in my hand. A small corner of it broke on the plastic head(not from me pressing down on it though). Ordering a whole new assembly online is around $30. May poke around on it this weekend before ordering the part. Want to make sure I can get to everything.

Bean counters were not made to be washing machine repairmen.

 

[samclem]

Looks like on the first machine the problem is going to be the lid switch. I pressed down on the head as suggested in a video and it fell off in my hand.

Can you jumper across the leads so that the washer "thinks" the switch is closed? That way you'll know immediately (before you order a new one) if the switch is the problem. If the switch is the problem, maybe check locally for a store that stocks appliance parts. It might be cheaper and will certainly be quicker than waiting for something to come via the internet.

Normal disclaimer: Defeating the important and necessary lid safety interlock switch will allow the washer to agitate and spin with the lid open, posing a serious safety hazard to any living thing. Never do it.

 

[Dawg52]

Can you jumper across the leads so that the washer "thinks" the switch is closed? That way you'll know immediately (before you order a new one) if the switch is the problem. If the switch is the problem, maybe check locally for a store that stocks appliance parts. It might be cheaper and will certainly be quicker than waiting for something to come via the internet.

Normal disclaimer: Defeating the important and necessary lid safety interlock switch will allow the washer to agitate and spin with the lid open, posing a serious safety hazard to any living thing. Never do it.

I saw a clip showing how to do that. I was thinking this might be the easiest/cheapest fix. I know it's not the safest thing to do long term, but I never try lifting the lid on the spin cycle anyway. Just me in the house and no kiddies around, so if I can figure out how to do it and it works.....might just go that route to get a couple of more years out of the machine.

 

[frayne]

Can you jumper across the leads so that the washer "thinks" the switch is closed? That way you'll know immediately (before you order a new one) if the switch is the problem. If the switch is the problem, maybe check locally for a store that stocks appliance parts. It might be cheaper and will certainly be quicker than waiting for something to come via the internet.

Normal disclaimer: Defeating the important and necessary lid safety interlock switch will allow the washer to agitate and spin with the lid open, posing a serious safety hazard to any living thing. Never do it.

Plus one, exactly what I did.

 

[Texas Proud]

See, you can learn a lot on this forum....

I was lucky and never had the lid switch problem... mine were the two that I described...

 

[Nords]

I played with the knob. Gradually moved it towards the spin cycle, but nothing.

Another free troubleshooting trick is to rotate the knob vigorously through the entire cycle about 10-12 times.

Sometimes the wafer switches inside the knob build up a layer of corrosion that eventually cuts off electrical contact. Rotating the knob by hand wears down the corrosion.

Or breaks the knob.

 

[Dawg52]

Another free troubleshooting trick is to rotate the knob vigorously through the entire cycle about 10-12 times.

Sometimes the wafer switches inside the knob build up a layer of corrosion that eventually cuts off electrical contact. Rotating the knob by hand wears down the corrosion.

Or breaks the knob.

Good tip, but didn't work.

I'm done playing handyman. Tried the bypass on the original machine but it still won't empty out the water or go into spin cycle. About all I accomplished was making a mess trying to get the water out of the machine. So I will go buy a new one Monday and let these go to the washing machine graveyard.

Time for a med.

 

[imoldernu]

A possibility..
In order for some older Whirlpool washers to go into the next cycle, there is an air pressure switch that is tripped when the washer reaches the preset water level. There is a plastic tube that runs outside the tub... as the water level rises, it pressurizes the air in the tube, triggering the switch to allow the timer to advance to the next cycle. Sometimes, the first fill will trigger the switch, but when it fills the second time, a tiny leak can cause the air pressure switch to fail to work. Advancing the timer doesn't work. Had this problem many years ago, and fixed by simply cutting the tip of the tube where it attached to the switch, and squeezing the end over the brass air input fitting. Also, the switch itself may have failed.

 

[W2R]

So I will go buy a new one Monday and let these go to the washing machine graveyard.

Sears has several top loading models on their website for about $400. But suppose you want a nicer one, say $600. And then suppose it lasts 10 years. Spread out over that time, the purchase price is just $60/year, or $5/month.... Probably cheaper than a laundromat these days.

Feel better?

 

[Nords]

So I will go buy a new one Monday and let these go to the washing machine graveyard.

I think the friendly guy who hauls away old washing machines actually sells them to handymen who repair them and resell them on Craigslist.

Around here many of them are recycled/shredded and sold for scrap.

 

[Ally]

I think the friendly guy who hauls away old washing machines actually sells them to handymen who repair them and resell them on Craigslist.
.

They do. I tried to find an old style used one and they said they sell them as fast as they can repair one and get it ready for sale. I also offered for them to pick up my two year old front loader that we decided not to fix. No one would take it even for free. They all said they cost more to fix than to buy a new one.

 

[imoldernu]

re: recycling...
Four of our local resale shops, including Goodwill, joined together to publish a half page newspaper ad that said "we no longer accept Televisions, Computer Monitors (CRTs), and old computers... working or not".
... sorry for the thread drift... but it's beginning to look like appliances may soon follow the path of used oil, batteries, and tires... where disposal charges may be added at the point of sale. Imagine buying a Washer, for $500, and paying, up front, a $25 disposal fee.
They do it with houses (impact fee)...
If it happens, it will be called something like... "The Save Our Planet" tax... to help ya feel like you're doing your part.

Back to the thread... there's no such thing as recycled parts for appliances, the way the auto salvage yards operate, thus perfectly good major parts like motors, gear cases, timers etc... are available only from "new parts" suppliers. It's tough to make a living trying to be a supplier for older parts... For example, some washer timers, that used to sell for $25 are now two or three times that price... That goes for Refrigerators, Freezers, Air conditioners, Dishwashers etc... A simple basic basket for our 7 year old dishwasher is now $75.

Back in the 1940's our local dump (now called a landfill)... lasted the community of 3,000 residents for 20 years... In our current community, based on what the Waste Management truck picks up... our 350 homes would fill the same sized "dump" in about a year. No kidding... very little in "durable goods" ever made it to the dump at all in the "olden days".

Another interesting aside... In my years in the retail industry, basic designs of household appliances would be more or less constant, with many of the same parts, shared over multiple model years... Today, major changes are often made within a single model year.

 

[samclem]

More thread drift: Around here, metal put out by the street gets picked up by folks who recycle it. It sounds like a hard way to make a living after paying for gas, etc, but it apparently pays well enough. I've helped the guy get my appliance into his pickup, even gave him a few other scrap bits I had around and a few bucks for gas. Happy to see them do this, and they seem very conscientious about not leaving a mess at the trash cans.

It would sure seem like washing machine makers could capitalize on the common understanding that most present models are built with crummy components and will last only a few years. Build a good washer, advertise it's durable properties, show how it's easy to fix, promise a fixed price for replacement parts and that the major components won't be changed for 10 years and will be kept in stock, etc. I really think folks would pay for this--even a $200 extra margin for the manufacturer would be huge. There's a big "green" element, too: Lots of embodied energy in making a washer, and they take up lots of landfill space when thrown out.

(The Staber has some of these features. I'm a little miffed at mine right now--it was making noises like a bearing might go out, but it's behaving better now. I bought replacement bearing so I'm ready when it happens!)

 

[Nords]

(The Staber has some of these features. I'm a little miffed at mine right now--it was making noises like a bearing might go out, but it's behaving better now. I bought replacement bearing so I'm ready when it happens!)

I think high-end equipment has a "replacement part proximity sensor" feature that makes it behave better whenever you have parts on hand for what you thought was an impending breakdown.

 

[sailor]

Back to the thread... there's no such thing as recycled parts for appliances, the way the auto salvage yards operate, thus perfectly good major parts like motors, gear cases, timers etc... are available only from "new parts" suppliers.

Actually there is some recycling market for used parts - I bought a used control board for our dryer on eBay.