dnastrau
Well-known member
Greetings:
I just thought I'd report back with my initial findings on the first wash for my '61 A700. The washer fills correctly to all three levels, so the pressure switch is OK.
The temperature switch works on all three settings. However, when switching from cold to warm the cold button does not pop out. It does pop out if you press the hot button. I will have to take the switch out to see if I can correct this (hopefully.) The rinse temperature knob on the top of the console works as well.
On to the infamous three-solenoid water inlet valve... The hot water barely dribbled out on the hot setting and that solenoid buzzes. The hot inlet screen looks a bit clogged so that may be part of the problem. The warm setting seemed to work and cold worked fine. I hope that I can clean and rebuild this three-solenoid valve as they are expensive and getting harder to find. Not sure if a two solenoid valve can be made to work in its place...
The agitation seems great - overall very quiet and strong. Both high and low agitation work fine so the motor windings seem to be good. I put the old belts back on because the new pump belt was too loose (not happy about that) and I didn't feel like messing with the pump adjustment today. The motor was making a high pitched ringing sound at one point which turned out to be the metal motor shield resonating. I'll have to check the tightness of the screws on that; maybe that is one of the reasons why they switched to a plastic motor cover on later models.
The spin/drain worked fine with a strong spin on both high and low speeds. The tub brake brought it to a stop quickly and it did not screech. I got a drip from the pump but I think it was just the drain hose clamp. This is still the old metal case pump!
The lid switch plunger is stuck in - I have tried to loosen it from the outside to no avail. I will have to remove the top and see what is wrong. Hopefully the switch is OK.
Finally to the problem that was probably why the previous owner got rid of it... The machine shuts off by itself because the timer knob does not always stay pulled out. I am not sure what would cause this. Has anyone seen this problem before? The timer seems to work normally otherwise.
That's all for now. I tried to take some video with my digital camera. I'll see how it came out and try to get it on Youtube in the next day or two.
Thanks!
Andrew S.
I just thought I'd report back with my initial findings on the first wash for my '61 A700. The washer fills correctly to all three levels, so the pressure switch is OK.
The temperature switch works on all three settings. However, when switching from cold to warm the cold button does not pop out. It does pop out if you press the hot button. I will have to take the switch out to see if I can correct this (hopefully.) The rinse temperature knob on the top of the console works as well.
On to the infamous three-solenoid water inlet valve... The hot water barely dribbled out on the hot setting and that solenoid buzzes. The hot inlet screen looks a bit clogged so that may be part of the problem. The warm setting seemed to work and cold worked fine. I hope that I can clean and rebuild this three-solenoid valve as they are expensive and getting harder to find. Not sure if a two solenoid valve can be made to work in its place...
The agitation seems great - overall very quiet and strong. Both high and low agitation work fine so the motor windings seem to be good. I put the old belts back on because the new pump belt was too loose (not happy about that) and I didn't feel like messing with the pump adjustment today. The motor was making a high pitched ringing sound at one point which turned out to be the metal motor shield resonating. I'll have to check the tightness of the screws on that; maybe that is one of the reasons why they switched to a plastic motor cover on later models.
The spin/drain worked fine with a strong spin on both high and low speeds. The tub brake brought it to a stop quickly and it did not screech. I got a drip from the pump but I think it was just the drain hose clamp. This is still the old metal case pump!
The lid switch plunger is stuck in - I have tried to loosen it from the outside to no avail. I will have to remove the top and see what is wrong. Hopefully the switch is OK.
Finally to the problem that was probably why the previous owner got rid of it... The machine shuts off by itself because the timer knob does not always stay pulled out. I am not sure what would cause this. Has anyone seen this problem before? The timer seems to work normally otherwise.
That's all for now. I tried to take some video with my digital camera. I'll see how it came out and try to get it on Youtube in the next day or two.
Thanks!
Andrew S.
