A peek into my private 'Dryer Hell'....

[turquoisedude]

The next time one of my non-collector/restorer friends says to me, "Oh, dryers last forever! You never need to do serious repairs on them" they are going to get a slap that will wake Zsa Zsa Gabor from the dead....

As I was steeling myself to accept that the 59 Frigdaire was not going to be salvageable, I decided "Why not get the 56 Whirlpool dryer back into service, just in case".

I recalled having a timer issue with the dryer before it got mothballed, but when I hooked it up to 120 volt 'lectricity, all seemed fine. Timer ran, lights lit, blower and fan ran nicely. I even got some very gentle heat when I set the heat selector to Delicate, which runs the heater on 120 volts.

But Canyon said he thought he smelled something cooking...

 

[turquoisedude]

And well, I should always listen to my dog, right?

Look at that crispy connection.

 

[turquoisedude]

The culprit?

That unusual centrifugal starting switch that is operated by a flywheel spun by the blower fan looks like it has failed.

I know... me and dryer heater switches, eh!

Of course the switch is sturdily mounted (and I mean riveted) to a bracket. My gut feeling says that finding one of these is going to be as easy to find as that mint 1958 DeSoto Fireflite convertible I long for... I am already figuring that I can use...wait for it... a relay to replace the switch. I still haven't ordered more but I think it'll be something like 4 or more when I do. I want to install a relay to control the heater on the Inglis dryer for sure, will need one for the 51 Kenmore for sure, but I think I should also check out what the 58 Hotpoint looks like as well as the 51 Frigidaire Filtrator.

But all this to say, kids, check the wiring on your vintage dryers carefully.

 

[repairguy]

I feel your pain. That’s about the only downside to wanting to enjoy machines of this vintage and use them on a regular basis. 21 years ago I had a 1975 Kenmore washer that I really liked but it started giving me problem after problem mainly because it needed to be rebuilt and I didn’t have the time. I finally had enough so I went and bought a brand new direct drive washer. Blasphemy I know. I still have that direct drive but it doesn’t get used anymore. Now I have so many machines that that same incident will never happen again. Keep at it I’ve been through those times when nothing wants to work right but eventually it turns around.

 

[turquoisedude]

Well, I tried for redemption this weekend. With the '56 Whirlpool at least...

Unfortunately, I managed to lose the before and during pictures that I took while working on the dryer. GGGGRRRR!

Here's the summary: I was determined to get the dryer to continue running during the last 5 minutes of the dry cycle and buzz as the dryer cycled off. That meant messing with the timer. I had to extract the timer which meant that I had to detach the control console fromt the dryer top. It wasn't obvious, but I did it.
The timer itself is incredibly simple - no escapement, just a large gear that will turn for up to 60 minutes on a cycle. I cleaned the switch contacts and managed to get the timer unit back together. Amazingly, I got all of this done within a couple of hours, a record for me!

I also wanted to add a light to the door opener pushbutton; the original one had broken off at some point in the dryer's life. I had to use some angle brackets creatively but I got a new socket mounted, more or less at the right spot.

The 120 volt tests proved successful! The pushbutton does light up and the timer seems to run normally and cycled off, with a buzz, as I was hoping it would. I still need to do some testing to see if the heater gets cut off at the last 5 minute mark of the cycle. If that checks out, then my next challenge will be to install a relay to control the heater.

I unfortunately lost before and after pictures of what I did to the pitted chrome trim on the console end caps. I gave 'em a good scrub with steel wool, then a good rubbing of metal polish. You'll have to take my word that while far from perfect, they are much brighter and shinier than before! Also, while the timer was out and console apart, I gave the timer panel a good cleaning and touched up the time indications on the dial. It looks much better! In fact, the washer is going to look awful now when the dryer goes back into active duty! The fun never ends... LOL

 

[turquoisedude]

Recovered images!

I forgot I had uploaded these directly to Facebook. Not all the pictures I took but at least a couple of the 'before' ones.

 

[goatfarmer]

I found the same dryer for RickR several years ago.

 

[gansky1]

Looks like that flywheel switch might be a bugger to find, as you suspected.  The relay might be   more reliable and easier to obtain.

 

[turquoisedude]

While on 'staycation' last week....

One of the many "to-do's" on my list was "install relay on Whirlpool dryer and test". The danged relay only arrived last Thursday but guess what I did last Friday??

I am still going to try to figure out a way to replace the switch on that flywheel switch though. It should have occurred to me before, but a relay will still keep feeding the dryer's heaters if a belt broke.

But in the meantime a test was in order...

 

[turquoisedude]

I did a first 240v power test - the elements powered right up. And wow, does that dryer get HOT! It's got the 5600 watt heater in it.

 

[turquoisedude]

I had to prepare a test-load of laundry to dry. Naturally, I used the 56 Whirlpool washer for a small-ish selection of permanent press items...

 

[turquoisedude]

And here's the test, videoed for posterity...

 

[turquoisedude]

However....

As always, there are a couple of head-scratchers...

The one that "concerns" me the most is the cool-down part of the cycle. I am sure that when I first got the dryer, the cool-down was something like 10 minutes. Since I had to mess with the timer, the cool-down seems to kick in around the 20 minute mark on the dial. Further weirdness: if I set the dryer for less than 30 minutes, I get no heat. Anything after 35 is fine. My concern is the way I reseated the spring contacts when I put the timer back together.

I also seem to remember there was a buzzer signal when the dryer hit the 5 minute mark on the dial. I don't have that anymore but on a positive note, I get an end of cycle buzz a few seconds before the dryer cycles off.

I need to get a full service book for this one... LOL In the meantime, the dryer seems to be functional, which is a big surprise for me with all the lousy luck I've been having with dryers this year!!

 

[DADoES]

 
I would expect the cool down to be 5 mins.  That was WP's standard for years on normal/regular cycles.  Our 1965 WP with one timed heat cycle (and one timed Air cycle) had 5 mins.

Perm Press-specific cycles have 10 mins.  Cool down time is really the only difference between separate regular and Perm Press cycles.

 

[gansky1]

Here are a couple of quick pics of the dryer parts book for your switch, Paul.  

 

[jons1077]

Awesome!

What a beautiful dryer! Great work!

 

[firedome]

looks like dryer fun!

As to DeSotos: Paul, I've had '58 DeSoto 4 and 2 door hardtops, and have looked for a convertible beginning in the 1980s... don't hold your breath! I have a friend with a red & white one in Denver that he may part with it when his '58 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer Spring Special convert is finished. Presently I do know of a decent but far from perfect yellow and white one for sale in California... $125k. Most of the few of them that are left are now in Sweden. :-(

 

[firedome]

PS...

have fun with PhilR and the MA guys this w/e... safe travels!

 

[turquoisedude]

So....

Although I had been concentrating on absorbing all the new toys into the collection and had been focused on the 'new' DI-57 and getting it into production, I hadn't stopped thinking about the '56 Whirlpool and how I might add back the flywheel-driven switch as a safety measure in the event of a belt failure. While going through one of my disorganized parts bins, I came across a couple of push-button switches. One said 'normally off' on the baggie it was in. Meaning that this was a 'push and hold to turn on' switch, just like what was used on the Whirlpool dryer.

The new switch was not as robust at the one that was in the dryer and which had showed signs of overheating. But I figured it was beefy enough to power a relay...

So I drilled out the old switch and popped in the new one.