A near-missfor the Westy L5

[turquoisedude]

As I mentioned in a post last week, I had a BIG scare with my treasured Westy L5 Laundromat.
Picture this - it's the day after a road trip where you not only finally got to meet another AWO washer fan but you picked up not one, but two 'dream machines'. Life is good. You then sling a load of sheets into a favourite washer and let it do its thing while you inspect the new treasures.
Imagine the horror you would feel upon seeing something like this:

 

[turquoisedude]

EEK!

The top was loose and that door boot looked positively managled! The front access panel had also come right off...

 

[turquoisedude]

Clues as to what went wrong

So, after a string of expletives (which I will condense into a phrase used by my Uncle Richard in the UK - Flippin' 'eck!!) I calmed down enough to closely inspect just what had gone wrong here. First clue is that rectangular clip just below the cabinet.

 

[turquoisedude]

Second clue is a bunch of fragments from what looked like a washer or nut...

 

[turquoisedude]

The final clue was, well, pretty damned obvious. When I saw this on the floor, I was also floored...

 

[turquoisedude]

Now it all made sense

I had obviously lost the cast-iron counterweight from the left side of the tub. I was almost not surprised, either... I had taken that one off and replaced it no fewer than 3 times AFTER reassembling the washer in order to fix a leak on the tub water inlet. The plate is mounted on a set of three brackets on the tub; a ferrule is clipped to each bracket, and the weight plate is bolted to the brackets. I did have issues with two of the ferrules when I put the tub back together for the first time - they appeared to be in two parts, but I ASSUMED (we all know what happens then...) that the clip would hold them together tightly. Nope...

 

[turquoisedude]

It is a happy coincidence indeed that I just happened to have a Westy in the shop! I took one of the ferrules from the CLB-6 tub into the city and went parts hunting. Hubby actually found a near-perfect replacement part a larger hardware store near his workplace. However, I decided to 'rob Peter to pay Paul' (very true in this case, but the former owner of the CLB-6 was not named Peter... LOL). I took the ferrules and clips from the CLB-6 to use on the L5. So, guess what I did this past Saturday???

 

[turquoisedude]

Re-installing the ferrules and clips on the tub proved to be something of a challenge. Two pairs of hands were needed and it took several tries to get the beasts back onto the tub... Here's a trick for anyone who may have to do this while the tub is still installed: put a piece of styrofoam under the ferrule, then clip into place. The foam will hold the ferrule tightly and make bolting the plate a lot easier.

 

[turquoisedude]

Back in place

After 5 tries, we got the plate bolted back down good and tight. The weird angles needed to hold it in place gave me a sore arm, but it looked good!

 

[turquoisedude]

And....

I had to test the washer after all this... I was happy to find that the door boot was still flexible enough to tolerate the rough twisting it got when the plate came off. I folded it into the tub to protect it and just pulled it back out, sans problemes! I inspected the motor, changer and all wiring - everything looked good, so I gave it a run...
You can imagine my relief as I watched it....

 

[turquoisedude]

Collateral damage

The force of losing the weight dented the cabinet and caused the paint to buckle... I can touch it up, but I am still a little annoyed given the time and effort I put into repainting it! Oh well...

 

[turquoisedude]

Lessons to be learned from this...

1-Balanced loads are your friends... I am pretty sure that I caused this whole mess washing some pillows that made the washer rock around while spinng two weeks ago...
2-Stay close to your vintage washers; they ARE fun to watch anyway, but quick intervention here may have prevented some of the damage here
3-Don't think you can't fix a mess like this - observe the situation, check manuals and ask questions. It CAN be done!!

 

[combo52]

Westinghouse FL washer weights

Good save and clever repair idea Paul when the three belt WHs were more poplar I used to get complaints from customers that the machine was very noisy in the spin cycle. I would put the machine in the final spin and it would sound just fine, but put some clothes in it and it would sound like a rock crusher, usually the top cement weight was coming loose. I even saw one WH FLer where the installer thought the cement blocks were for shipping and removed the top and bottom weights they always wondered why the machine shock so much until I discovered the reason and found some weights and installed them.We also used to see GE FF washers where the installers removed the cement motor counter balance weight which led to a crocked inner tub which would almost always crash into the outer tub in spin.

 

[revvinkevin]

Wow Paul... that SUCKS!

Dam I'm really sorry to hear that happened, BUT I'm VERY happy you were able to repair it and get it back "on the road" again! YAY!

Great Job!
Kevin

 

[randycmaynard]

Definately stay near the vintage machines when in use.....

I generally tend to stay near the White-Westy SpaceMates front loader I have as you never know what might happen and sometimes if the load doesn't balance out in the spins it wants to try to walk away not to mention that it sounds like the machine is coming apart. On my '63/'64 Kenmore 600 TL I'm more comfortable letting it go on its own without much supervision - it generally does ok but have to watch the Westy.

Sorry for the issues you've had but, as you so well know, the vintage machines are fun to have, restore and use but all are 40-60 years old in some cases and some problems are bound to arise just from an age standpoint but, like you said, they can be fixed/repaired for continued fun/use.

 

[circlew]

Wonder if this is what happend to my Mom's '56 Westinghouse washer one time. I remember it made a terrible racket, and when we got down to the laundry room, it had moved far enough that it unplugged itself. It's bottom panel and top were also askew. The repairman came and fixed it, but don't remember what he had to do (I was about 6 or 7 at the time). It only lasted a couple more years before something else went wrong, and it was replaced with the '65 Westy FL.

 

[jetcone]

I hate it when

Slant Fronts get violent!

 

[syndets2000]

...leaks?

I see some splatters of something inside the cabinet- hope you are not experiencing some kind of seal failure- I think the pump seals are still available- I know the seal & Bearing kits are, I just got one-

 

[turquoisedude]

Splatter

That was actually due to a loose stopper on the speed changer unit - some of the oil in the unit was oozing out and it got sprayed around by the drive belt. Scared the living you-know-what out of me until I figured out what happened!!