Old Wringer Washer - Agitator comes off.

[RealPerson]

I have an old Wringer Washer outdoors in a shed. It's purpose is to wash my grubby and often greasy work pants, as well as shop rags and other stuff that is "not allowed" in the house (if you know what I mean). Personally, I'd rather use one of them wringer washers than the modern types, and it's even kind of fun to use.

Anyhow, it's an old Maytag, and for it's age, it's in great shape. I bought it off Craigslist and it only needed a new drain hose. The only problem I have with it, is that the Agitator sometimes comes off, and floats to the top. This mostly happens if I have a small load of laundry in it. I always push it down hard and even bang on it with my fist to keep it tight, but it still occasionally comes off the shaft.

I'm wondering if there is supposed to be some sort of O-ring or something around that shaft to secure it better. I've searched the web but have not found much help. I also asked a few appliance stores and they said that it's too old for them to have any parts or information. Do any of you "old timers" have any useful advice about this?

Dont suggest gluing it on. It's supposed to come off, because the drain hole tends to get plugged with lint and other debris, and that small hole is under the agitator.

Thanks

[Retired]

As a youngster, we had a classic wringer washer. ISTM it had a screw-on cap that would keep the agitator held in place. Is there no provision for such on yours ?

[RealPerson]

I recall seeing a screw on cap on some old wringer washer that either my mother, or my grandmother had, when I was very young.

Mine does NOT have that. There's just the shaft in the bottom of the tub that sticks up about 3 inches. The agitator simply pushes on to the splined shaft.

What little info I found on the web, suggested that one of the biggest problems people have with these old washers, is not being able to get the agitator off, and some have destroyed the agitator to get it off. (They do sell replacement agitators on ebay, as well as hose and the drive belt, and even the wringer rollers). [these are after-market parts]

I have the opposite problem!

I was thinking about cleaning that shaft real well, and applying a thin coating of rubber cement or silicone caulk, and letting it dry for several days before putting the agitator on. But I doubt that would last long.

Thanks

[Terry Coombs]

Look for grooves on the outside of the stub shaft and the inside of the agitator spline . They often used a round cross section "snap ring" type retainer - the groove in one is deeper , the ring stays in it but has enough tension to "snap" into the mating groove in the other piece .

[Terry Coombs]

Get yer mind outta the gutter . Have you ever seen the way inboard CV joints snap into the trans/diff ? There's a wire ring in a groove in the stub shaft , snaps into a matching groove in the female spline . I guess it's a machinist/gearhead thing . Got TIG ?

[Stormin Mormon]

Look at the top of the shaft, see if it's threaded. Might be able to use a brass nut and brass washer?

[Stormin Mormon]

How about one or two wraps of plumbers' white teflon tape, to make a friction fit? More wraps if needed, if the first try doesn't work?

[Terry Coombs]

From his description that or a similar arrangement is the only possibility if there is in fact a means to retain the agitator . I haven't seen a wringer machine since my granny got an automatoc machine in the 50's . But if you can put a nut on a 3" shaft that's buried inside the agitator please post some photos . Got MIG ?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Last time I saw one was in an appliance store in Encinada Mexico. Late

1970s. Updated though, they had Avocado green.

[RealPerson]

LOL.... There's a sealed bearing and oil seal between the shaft and the drum. Otherwise all the water would go into the gear case and the oil would get up into the laundry.

[RealPerson]

There is no way to put a bolt in it. The metal shaft is 10 or so inches below the top of the agitator.

Just to mention it, those wringer washers sell for BIG money at auctions. The Amish want them. They remove the electric motor and run them from a belt going to a gasoline engine. I paid a fair price for mine and could probably triple my money if I took it to an auction in an Amish area, but I use it, so I dont want to sell it. Mine is also in exceptionally good condition. The seller said it was in a basement of a home that was sold when the owner died, and the owner had a modern washer so it probably was not used for years. He was called to remove all the old appliances for scrap metal, and he thought this wringer was too nice to scrap. I was pleased he kept and sold it.I was glad he did not know what the Amish pay for them, or it would have cost 3 or 4 times what I paid.

[hrhofmann]

Can you find a similar machine, or even a picture, to see what other machines use to hold on the egitator. A screw-on cap is what I remember from 50+ years ago.

[RealPerson]

There is no cap. There isn't even a hole in the top of the agitator. Yes, some old machines DID have a cap, but not this one. This is a Maytag model # E2L. One of the very common and most popular of their models. There is a smallish groove at the base of the metal shaft. The plastic agitator has a slight lip at the very bottom of the hole where the shaft goes. I'm kind of thinking that there should be an O-ring there, but I'm not sure. I suppose I can buy some O-rings and just try to find one that fits and see what happens????

Either way, there is NO SCREW ON CAP on this model.

If nothing else, I could probably take a plasttic bag and put that over the shaft before pushing on the agitator, but I'd have to redo that everytime I remove the agitator, which is after almost every load of laundry, (so I can clean the crud that accumulates under the agitator).

[ed]

replying to RealPerson, ed wrote: Buy an agitator stop ring from ebay. Just a rubber band that makes the agitator snap on and hold. They dry out and break.