Hi All,
This is on topic. I know. Kind of weird, huh?
Speedqueen Top Loader model AWN432SP113TW04
On all the spin/drain cycles, the washer buzzed (60 Hz). The tub does not spin and the pump does not pump.
My best guess is that the solenoid on the motor is not fully engaging. And the 60 cycle buzz is the electromagnet trying to jerk the solenoid into place. Since the motor and the solenoid are one piece, I have to replace the motor.
Your take?
Many thanks,
-T
Need more info. Could just about be anything. The timer/controller could be bad. The motor might be bad; it might have a bad starting capactor, or just plain bad. One thing I would suggest is, good top loading machines are a dying breed. If it's not too old, you might want to fix it. I had a bad experience with front loaders and replaced a 2 year old unit with a top loader. But, even the top loaders are trying to use less water and are not as good as they used to be. I had an independent survice guy come in to fix my dryer. It had a bad tub slide in the front. He said, he would never have a front load washing machine.
It could be in the timer . Our w/m sometimes doesn't start - it just hums - on the wash cycle unless I less I push the knob in and pull firmly .
I can't find this model at repairclinic.com or 3 other parts urls. Are you sure it's right.
Any chance your voltage is low? NOt likely maybe, but I'd hate to see you replace the motor and still have the same problem.
Have you tried to help the tub spin? Mine is probably older than yours, but I had a loose belt, that coudnt' be tightened more, and I would start the tub spinning, without dragging my clothes and my arm into the machine, and then it would spin fine.
Of course even during this time I didn't have trouble pumping.
Totally one piece or separable. Either way, if it was a popular moded, or series of models, maybe a used appliance store has one you can scavenge parts from. The closer you go to downtown, the older some of the stuff will be.
I thought of that. I have a RV voltage meter for that purpose and I am in the green
I could not figure out how to trick the lid switch. You'd think I'd smell something if the belt was slipping. I think I need to remove the lid to do that
My experience is that the solenoid always goes first.
When I lived in Brooklyn NY, I found a washing machine on the street.
Several problems,
Biggest one it wouldn't fill. Removed the filter screens and cleaned out the little stones and that was fine. I'd never noticed stones in my water, but this machine might have been there for 20 years.
Rust, sanded and painted with E-pox-EE, white appliance paint and the surface seemed as hard as a new appliance.
Wouldn't spin because of lid switch. Drilled out rivets, took it apart and cleaned it and it worked fine,
BUT as soon as I installed it, I regretted having it, so I stuffed a wad of paper towel in the little hole where a probe from the lid would close the switch.
Bought a house with a similar machine and stuck the wad in immediately.
But like I say, yours is newer and I'm sure they've made it much harder for people to defeat the lid switch.
My machine has a magnetic door switch. There is a magnet in the door itself and a sensor in the machine. There is a little plastic rectangle in the machine, below which the sensor is located.
Yes, you are.
Very clever, thise capitalists.
I'm sure if you open the lid, the spinng stops, but does the agitating too? I like watching the agitating. It's better than some TV shows.
Followup: it was the timer.
Thank you all for the tips!
-T
Actually, agitation does continue. But, when spinning, it stops and has some kine of brake, which stops the drum very fast. The newer top loaders, as well as the front loaders, spin much faster than the older ones.
Spinning faster sounds good. Less water in the clothes. And more reason to need a safety swith.
Yes but with less water, they don't rinse out the clothes as well. That's why I replaced the front loader with a top loader. I would put on a clean Tee shirt and my skin would itch from the soap left behind. We would routinely run the clothes using the 2nd rinse option and still no good. Then we started running the clothes through a 2nd "quick wash" with no soap and the extra 2nd rinse. That was ok most of the time, but occasionally there was still soap remaining. That's bad on the fabrics, wastes electricity and water. BTW, we were using hypo-allergetic soap, too.
You use too much soap. Unless you're a diesel mechanic or something similar you don't need much at all. You actually don't need it every wash. But I digress.
I had a similar issue where a washer motor wouldn't start. It turned out there's a centrifugal switch that disconnects the start cap. It was sticking and the motor just hummed. A little high temp grease and it's still running 15 years later. (they built those old Maytags to last, the new ones not so much. but there's an industrial quality Speed Queen for a couple hundred more that will.)
I guess I'll stick with my 41-year old top loader. Often it starts spinning without me. I go upstairs and even if the clothes are wet when I come back, I don't smell burning rubber.
I got a new belt, but I have to disconnect and loosen some things to get it on, and need to make room to move the washing machine so I can get behind it. (No removable front panel like later ones had.) I'll do it eventually.
If i could make one change to washer design, it would be the leveling legs.
They screw up and down from the bottom. It's easy to level them sitting in the middle of the floor, walking around each side.
It's impossible where the washer sits, and generally that floor is not exactly level. So it's an iterative process. Pull the washer out, move the corner that's low, put it back in, check it, repeat. And where mine is pulling it out at all is a major task.
I would run the leveling leg screw all the way up to the top. It would be a simple hex bolt head, put a wrench on it and adjust it perfectly, in place.
If this is an old Kenmore/Whilpool "wig wag" machine, there is a spacer you remove on one of the bolts that lets you sneak the captive belt out without taking much apart. I think you also need to unplug the wires from the wig wag too. Remember where they go, it's important.
No we don't use too much soap. We used the stuff that was marked for front loaders and never the full amount. The guy that was here to fix my dryer agreed that the front loaders don't rinse the soap out and can lead to sensativity issues and material wear. He said he would never buy a front loader.
Yes, I'm 99% sure that's what it's called.
Thank you. I'll remember this. In fact it's almost enough to get me to do it this week.
I don't worry about that mumbo jumbo. What's the worst that can happen, the water will go through the clothes backwards. That will clean just as well as forwards.
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