57/58 frigidaire DW-DUZ repairs

[delco1946]

Original thread was too old to pick up I guess so starting a new one…

I’ve reassembled the motor and drain line and put new cork gaskets on. I think I’m ready to hook up the garden hose and temporarily wire it to see what happens. Some questions tho-

The heating element is crusted in white scale. Is there a way to clean this?

The door start switch doesn’t move or depress. The manual suggests that it should physically depress I think, anyone experience what it’s supposed to do? I’m afraid to pull or push too hard. I’d also be curious if anyone has taken one apart, can they be rebuilt?

What sort of detergents does one use in these since the wash is so short? Modern Enzyme detergents won’t be very effective, right?

The door gasket is crusty and damaged and WILL leak. Where do I find a replacement? TIA

 

[combo52]

1958 Frigidaire spin tube dishwasher

Hi Christopher, looks like a fun project probably the easiest way to remove the minerals from the heating element is sandpaper, it’s so baked on that most chemical cleaners probably won’t do much to remove it, it also won’t hurt anything if you want to leave it.

The door gasket may or may not leak there’s really not much water directed forward in this dishwasher toward the door

Need a picture of the door switch this uses in most cases the door switch like that usually Hass to be replaced but you can try spraying some silicone lubricant into it and see if it works afterwards

Keep us posted as to how well this works out.

John.

 

[DADoES]

 
This is the original post on it?

Frigidaire Dishwasher

 

[Unimatic1140]

Is the door switch stuck in on position? If so at least you can still test the dishwasher. That door switch should be simple to find simply google "120 volt microswitch". I found one on Amazon but it is a bit expensive... https://amzn.to/3ldzGpP

For the door gasket simply go to Ace Hardware or Home Depot and get a strip of closed cell foam self-sticking weather-stripping that you place right on top of the old gasket.

 

[delco1946]

DaDoes - You found the old thread, yes (thanks!).

Since the start button is stuck I have no idea if its in the on position, off position etc. It just "is" haha. I guess i'll find out when i connect it. I'll try to fix it as I'm a sucker for stock and it should light up which is nifty.

Sandpaper is a great idea! once I get most off would something like CLR work?

The water marks suggest that it leaked a lot out of the door as there is a lot of gross white crusty junk in the door springs that i still need to clean.

 

[delco1946]

[No message]

 

[delco1946]

Fixed the switch or at least got it moving. Everything is wired up and ready to hook up water and test it! Still need to clean it tho - pretty dirty and rust spots. Even the chrome has pitting. If it works well it might be worth fixing all that…..later haha

 

[delco1946]

Well I plugged it in without hooking up water. The start switch might be internally stuck in the on position as I don’t need to touch it for things to come alive. The drain flapper activates (good) when it should be circulating water eg on wash cycle ( once again without touching the start - I just simply lock the door). It was noticably warmer on preheat setting while I was still fiddling with things so the element seems to work. However I’m not seeing the impeller move at all - which I would assume it should even when empty (?).

It motor does seem the buzz but as mentioned the impeller hasn’t rotated when I peek back inside. I wonder if it doesnt spin unless filled with water(?) but I doubt it - guessing my motor might simply be bad.

Open to suggestions as to how to proceed. Thanks.

 

[Unimatic1140]

More than likely the pump impeller is probably just stuck preventing the motor from turning. The pump may need some very hot water poured through it and then you may be able to loosen it so it turns. Careful though as I believe that impeller is made of Bakelite so it could break if you use a sharp instrument to try and get it to turn.

 

[delco1946]

I’ve already removed the motor, put a new gasket in it, removed rust and painted it etc. the impeller rotates freely by hand. I’m looking at the schematic now and it does look like the drain solenoid engages regardless of the start switch being activated so maybe I just need to play with it more.

 

[delco1946]

Well I’m bummed. I’ve looked thru the schematic and checked the various parts. I’m used to antique radios which have a lot of resistors and resistance.

This dw seems pretty simple ( and yet I still can’t fix it haha). The drain solenoid works and only has around 5 ohms resistance. Generally resistance thru the motor and most parts is low but not zero. What should the resistance of the motor be - any thoughts? Also, my dw has a part that I don’t see on this schematic - some sort of switch that I think measures the water pressure to trigger the fill solenoid to cut out.

Either way I hear a loud buzzing so I think the motor is trying to activate. I will mention that there was a lot of rust on the outer motor housing from a leaking motor gasket so maybe the motor is rusted…..? But the impeller moves freely…..so what do I do with this paperweight

 

[Unimatic1140]

Sounds like then the internal start centrifugal switch of the motor is stuck and needs some cleaning and lubrication which means you will need to take the motor apart and investigate. I suspect the start switch is near the top of the motor which means you will need to carefully remove the impeller which is probably stuck on the shaft. You can test the motor by taking the two wires off the connections and place a test electrical cord onto the two wires and plug the cord in to see if the motor turns or not.

 

[delco1946]

Anyone aware of any resources or videos to take a similar type of motor apart by chance? Not sure what I’m doing or looking for ( going in blind!).

 

[delco1946]

Took the motor bottom off. I could use guidance - what next/ what am I looking at?

 

[delco1946]

May have found the issue. When I check resistance from the case to the black wire in the foreground I get infinite ( I would expect this). When I check resistance between the red and black in the foreground connected when the black spring gizmo is depressed I get a solid connection / 0 ohms. However when I connect the case to either the red or black in the background or to the red in the foreground then I also get a connection/ 0 ohms which shouldn’t be I assume. Perhaps the windings have shorted/ melted? Not sure if this is fixable or if replacements exist. Also worried now that if the motor was shorting to the ground, did I damage the timer or electronics?

 

[combo52]

Likely shorted, grounded motor windings

From your pictures and your testing it looks like you have some grounded shorted motor windings to start windings look particularly bad.

If you can find another motor or get a motor shop to rewind it, it might be fixable.

This would not have damaged the timer and there’s no electronics of course to damage in this dishwasher lol.

John.

 

[Unimatic1140]

It could be the motor's centrifugal start switch contacts are dirty and just need to be cleaned, these pictures are from a Frigidaire Unimatic washer, but the procedure is similar...

<img src ="https://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/AWJPEG/VINTAGE/2008/9-11-2008-22-00-32--Unimatic1140.jpg">
<img src = "https://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/AWJPEG/VINTAGE/2008/9-11-2008-22-01-23--Unimatic1140.jpg">

 

[delco1946]

I'm getting conductance thru the switch when activated, so I dont think thats the issue. Rather im suspect of the wound wires having only 2-3 ohms resistance to the motor casing. Can anyone recommend who might re-wire this? I'm in the Portland Oregon area. Without a re-wire i have a very large paper weight....

 

[pdub]

Advance Electric

I have used this place about 10 years ago and they did a great job and also had a lot of vintage motor parts on hand.

Advance Electric Mortors Portland Oregon

www.advanceelectricmotors.com