A bit of luck

[Pappy]

The wife called me at work yesterday to give me a heads up that the washing machine had quit in mid load. The set is Amana and about 16 years old so I figured I was going to have to buy a new washer.

I stopped at HD and Lowes on the way home and the best deal I saw was a Maytag 2000 series front loader for $599 minus a 10% Energy Star discount. A little 'negotiating' might have added another 10% military discount, depending on the on duty manager.

I got into the washer this morning hoping maybe a small item was stuck in the drum of water pump and had the motor locked up. (The motor would hum when the switch ws pulled out) The drum could be turned by hand with little effort so I moved on to the pump. After unhooking the hoses from the pump I looked into it and probed around with a coat hanger. Nothing I cuold find so I pulled the pump/motor assembly. With the belt off the transmission, I plugged the motor back in and pulled out the switch. Still nothing but humming from the motor. After removing the pump from the motor, I could turn it by hand but the motor could barely turn by grabbing the pulley. $250 for a motor on a 16 year old washer doesn't make sense so I was resigned to Heaading to HD with my credit car.

With nothing to lose, I decided to take the motor apart and clean the armature. I couldn't find any bolts to split the case (it appears to be held together with someting similar to JB Weld) so I grabbed the air hose and started blowing it out from every angle I could direct air into the motor, all the time moving the pulley back and forth. It got easier to turn and soon could be rotating fully with very little effort. As I continued blasting with air pressure it soon spun freely.

Plugged back in, it ran fine when the switch was pulled out. The cabinet is back together, but the motor and pump are still seperated. The belt was badly cracked and the right size was not available on Sunday.

[cabinetman]

You might have gotten lucky and bought a few more years. Keep us posted whether it worked or not. I always try that blast of air fix. Sometimes it works. As for the life of an appliance, 10 years is about my expectation.
.

[Pappy]

This is only the second set we have owned. The first set was bought in 1974 at a freight damage store, survived close to a dozen moves (including a trip to Japan and back), and ran for 20 years.

[leehljp]

This is only the second set we have owned. The first set was bought in 1974 at a freight damage store, survived close to a dozen moves (including a trip to Japan and back), and ran for 20 years.

Congrats for a little ingenuity, inspiration and common sense. That does fix a lot of things, especially older things!

We have a 26 year old microwave oven, bought in the States before we came to Japan. It still works so well that we are debating if we want to leave it or take it back with us. Of course we know if we buy a new one back in the States, it will probably only have a 10 year life at the most. It sure seems like some of the older appliances were manufactured to higher quality standards than todays are.

[LCHIEN]

I was a bit stupid.
The old gas dryer (Maytag, bought 1979 for the old house, moved in 1992 to the new house, so its 31 years old), the spousal unit (wife) had been complaining it wasn't drying well - ran a long time on automatic - i though the moisture sensor was shot or something.
I was secretly thinking a new dryer when I happened to see that the outside dryer vent cover was pretty much rotten (made of some kind of fiberglass-like stuff). It was plugged up with lint, to boot, and so I cleaned and replaced it and now the 31-y.o. dryer works fine...

[Pappy]

I made a few calls today for the belt. Only 2 places in the local phone book for parts. One no longer deals in parts. The other one was a number to get service calls scheduled. The shop and warehouse is east of Austin. They had 2 in stock at a price of $27. Another place said they didn't have it in stock but could have it for me tomorrow. They quoted me $8.00.

[Pappy]

My luck was short lived, at best. I got the belt and put it back together. Made it through one load and then the motor failed during the wash cycle of the second load.

Fast forward to last Saturday. I went to get a Series 2000 Maytag that was recommended to me, but found out the only one HD stocks is the floor sample and it has to be special ordered. It was in the weekly ad and nothing said it was a S.O. item. After 'thanking' the manager for wasting my time and gas, I left.

Bought a comparable Whirlpool Front Loader from Lowe's. (Whirlpool, I found out, now owns and makes Maytag.) Brought it home, installed it, ran the recommended empty cycle to clean it. Ran the first load, of the wife's denim dresses. It quit after the wash cycle, with the door locked, and no power to the control panel. Called Lowe's and they had another one in stock and scheduled delivery/set up on Monday. They had to have a repairman come out to get the first one open and remove the clothes Monday morning. The delivery guy wasn't real happy when he found out they had to lift both the machines over the corner of the kitchen cabinet to get in and out of the laundry room. At first he said they wouldn't do it because of the chance of injury. The wife called the store manager and he met the delivery guys at the house. She told him the only other option was to lift the broken washer over the counter, take both machines back, and make a sale for Home Depot or Sears. His response was to do what it takes to fix the situation and make her happy. So far the new washer has made it through 2 loads. The aforementioned dresses, and a load of my son's work clothes.

Hopefully this will be the end of the saga.....

[3thumbs]

Don't mess with the "spousal unit!"