Adding a water level (load size) selector switch to a new commercial Speed Queen?

[lukes]

PinkPower4,
I do not know how long they will be available but as of know it seems the commercial units with transmissions are still in production in electronic and mechanical styles.

combo52,
The new residential units had a complete redesign with the removal of the transmission starting in 2018 as you were referring to but the 2018-2019 electronic and mechanical commercial units still have a transmission and are pretty much the old 2017 residential units

 

[Chetlaham]

Are the blue wires for the over flow?

 

[goosey]

blue wires

Yes, were for the overflow switch on original.

 

[fred]

SQ Home Style Mechanical Top Load Washer LWN432SP115TW01

New member here and would appreciate insight/advice on this model. I'm attaching spec sheet for this model that shows water/load level control knob. Two women at SQ are telling me that this model has NO water level control knob, hence my confusion. I'm seeing pics/videos on line of this model with and without the water level control. I'm assuming they made different models of this LWN model, or maybe the one's with the water level control were older models? Are any of you knowledgeable about this model? Thank you in advance for you time/help.
If it's easier to correspond to help me, my email is: [email protected]

sorry, wont let me load pdf or word doc of spec sheet.

Redirect Notice

 

[speedqueenvert]

I am excited to find this information -- I was resigned to buying the "Classic Clean" TC5 home model despite losing the load size control, but am now looking at converting the current commercial mechanical (i.e. LWN432SP115TW01) as described by Goosey.

Goosey -- have you had any issues with your conversion now that it's been over a year?

Also, what is the function of the "overfull switch" that you disabled, and is there any downside to disabling it?

Thanks for your help.

 

[chrismang85]

Best washer after slight mod

Hello All, I wanted to confirm the solution outlined above to add the water level is valid! I ordered all parts listed above (3) and used Goosey's pictures, following his wiring to a T (Fairly simple) and all is functioning as it should.

One tip when cutting out the old switch out, leave no more than 3/4 inch of the wires off the original switch (in case you need to rollback and re-wire it in). I left about an inch of wire off the original switch. When I added connectors and plugged them into the new switch, the wires were quite tense because I had left too much wire off the original switch.. Hope that makes sense!

So glad I found this forum. Pictures to come if anyone is interested..

 

[Chetlaham]

I'm interested in pics! I love anything Speed Queen related.

 

[tinytee]

Hello there everyone,

I just wanted to give everyone a slight update on this thread. I purchased a LWN432SP115TW01 a few months ago and I came across this thread when i was on the hunt for how to add a water level switch. I read through the whole thread and decided to go through with the mod/addition suggested by LukeS. However, after reading through and studying the parts manual and noting the differences between the two models, i did end up getting a few more parts so that i didn't have to cut and splice wires or bypass anything like in the previous posts. I am, in no means, a repair technician. I am pretty handy and i just wanted to make sure i did this the right way and maybe my OCD got the best of me. If someone here would like to correct me or anything i might have missed (or misunderstood), please do!

Here is a list of the parts i used to get it to be a true(er) LWN432SP113TW04:
202937 - Pressure switch (the one the knob attaches to that selects load size)
203323 - Knob (attaches to above switch through the front panel)
203673W - Front panel (if you do not want to drill a hole in existing panel)
203428 - Wiring Harness (so that you don't have to cut or splice wires together)
B12548401 - Pressure switch (yes, another one) - This is what the two blue wires are supposed to attach to
203511 - 8" PVC Tubing
203464 - Barbed Tee

Don't get me wrong here. This is going to cost an extra 70-80 bucks going my route. If everything for everyone who posted above is working fine, feel free to go with the short list of parts and save money, if that's what you want. I just had an aversion to cutting wires and then splicing the two blue together; It made me wonder what they went to. And hell, i still don't understand why there are 2 pressure switches and what the 2nd one is actually for. All i know is that the LWN432SP113TW04 has 2 of them and if you don't splice the blue wires together or plug it into switch #2, then the Heavy Duty/Perm Press portion of the timer will not work.

A benefit to going this route is that you can revert all of it and go back to stock if one of these pressure switches goes out at some point. That way you can still wash clothes while you're waiting for the new part to arrive. Simply swap the harness and put the old pressure switch and front panel back in.

Anyways, a few notes here if anyone is wanting to go the route i went.

Wiring Harness - The 113TW04 Harness exactly the same as the 115TW01 Harness, except the 113TW04 has separate plugs for each of the pressure switches instead of one long plug for the single pressure switch. Everything else is the same and plug and play into the 115TW01.

Pressure switch #2 - as i stated above, i don't really have a clue what it does or how significant it is. In the parts manual, it's labeled as Pressure Switch, that's it. On the parts website (i used PWS Laundry), it's labeled as SWITCH, PRESSURE WTR 1 LEVEL (300/255). This part fits directly into the spot where the 115TW01 Original pressure switch was. Clip is included to pop right in. No adjusting or modding needed.

PVC Tubing and Barbed Tee - I knew i didnt NEED to buy the OEM tubing and Tee, but they were so cheap so why the hell not? The 8" PVC tubing is attached to Pressure Switch # 2. The other end of the 8" PVC tubing goes into the right side of the barbed tee. I then cut some of the excess tubing (maybe 5 inches) from the original washer tubing to connect the bottom of the tee to Pressure Switch #1. Whats left of the original washer tubing then connects to the left side of the tee.

I am a knuckle head and didn't take photos of how it turned out, but i will gladly go take the panel off and do so if someone here isn't understanding what i did or is just curious to see it. Over all, it was a super easy swap. All you need is a flat head screwdriver and a standard (not metric) socket set. The exterior screws are 1/4" socket and the ground screws are 1 or 2 sizes bigger (can't remember, sorry).

Take care everyone! Please feel free to ask me any questions or point out any mistakes i may have made. Again, i am not a technician, just pretty handy and patient enough to go through the parts manual.

Tiny

 

[jcrocket]

Tiny,

How did you know how to set the T in the tubing of Pressure Switch #1?

It makes sense to me to do it that way but I couldn't see it depicted in the parts manual.

Is your washer working alright?

I think spending an extra 70-80 dollars on something called an 'overflow' switch is definitely worth it.

Thanks,

jcrocket

 

[tinytee]

Jrocket,

I did what made sense to me. I knew that the original tube push/pulled to each of the sensors. So I basically just assumed it went that way. I tried searching for wiring images of the 113TW04, but couldn't find anything. Before I screwed the panel back in, I did a test run of the way I set it up and it all worked flawlessly. I will take some photos this week and upload it.

Tiny

 

[mossypants]

Did the mod per TinyTee's post above, and it works! Thanks, TinyTee!

One question, though, for anyone that's done this mod:
Is the load size selector knob supposed to "click" into each setting?
Mine cab stop at any location between "Mini" and "Reset", instead of being a hard click like the temperature knob.
Is there a way to fix this?

 

[DADoES]

 
It's what's called a variable water level control, with a range of choices between minimum and maximum vs. a control with specific levels such as Low, Med, and High.

Photo one is a variable switch.  The cam is a smooth eccentric arc from minimum to maximum (other than typical tiny notches on it to avoid slippage).

Photo two is a three level switch with deeper notches on the cam for each discrete level.

Reset is used to increase the level after agitation starts.  Turn the control to Reset (agitation stops, fill resumes), and back to a desired level that's higher than the initially selected level.  It is not necessary to turn the knob to Reset for selecting a level for the next load before starting the machine, or for changing the level after starting a load if agitation hasn't yet begun.

A Reset function is needed on variable switches because the smooth arc of the cam doesn't otherwise have a way to force the pressure contacts apart to restart filling.  The deeper notches on a fixed-level switch fully depress the actuating lever to reset the pressure contacts each time it's turned from one position to another.

 

[mossypants]

Does a true LWN432SP113TW04 model have a variable switch?

I used part #202937 for the pressure switch. Would a different part# have notches for each of the 4 fill levels?

And while I'm asking questions
Do these pressure switches have the option of turning the screw to change the water amt added for each load size setting? Or are these "hard-coded" into the pressure switch without any option for changing?