Another Timeline

[turquoisedude]

What a washer-related weekend!

So, as you saw from those videos that Phil posted,  I managed to get the machine to spin and agitate.  I managed to free up the pump enough to keep it from stalling the drive belt, but as you could hear in the videos, it wasn't a happy camper.  Likewise, the rubbing or scraping sound heard during that spin test kinda scared me.  

 

Fortunately, Phil was game to hang around in Ogden Friday afternoon and we did some exploratory surgery...  We popped the cabinet off the machine (definitely a two-person job).  Even I could immediately see what the source of the scraping had been. 

 

It was this.... 

 

[turquoisedude]

I had already observed some rust damage under the tub lid rim.  It had weakened enough that the tub gasket probably gave when the washer was moved out of the basement where it was found and then to the scrap dealer's garage. 

 

I've already coated those rusty edges with POR15 but I don't think I'll put the gasket back.  The '56 doesn't seem to have one and it seems to not cause any trouble.  Well, in the 3 or 4 loads I've done in that machine so far... 

 

[turquoisedude]

I was still a little paranoid about rust, so I thought it might be prudent to pop the agitator out to see what the drive post looked like.  

 

I called on the 'Turban of Terror' and was easily and safely able to remove the agitator. 

 

[turquoisedude]

Look maw, no rust!

 

That was a huge relief. 

 

[turquoisedude]

There was still some gunk in the tub and I thought it would be a good idea to flush the outer tub to remove any further bits of what used to be the lid rim.  

 

It was well worth the effort!

 

[turquoisedude]

So, I knew I had to take the pump apart and lubricate the drive shaft.   No problem!

 

I also wanted to test the Timeline cycle control to be sure I wouldn't get stuck at an eternal 6-minute wash.  It seemed to work absolutely fine.  

 

And bonus - the wiring bojackery that had been done to bypass the relay and lid switch (both parts were MIA, not surprisingly) preserved a circuit to the panel and water temperature selector switch.  Yay!

 

Of course, I'll have to go on a hunt for some oddball light bulbs now... 

 

[turquoisedude]

And as today was a rainy day down in Ogden, I thought it would be appropriate to give the water valve a once-over.  

 

It was good and scaled up but I was able to clean it up reasonably well.  

 

Unfortunately, it's a thermostatic one and when I tried simulating a 'warm' temperature setting, all I got was hot water.  I'm not really surprised (and to be fair '8 of 56' is doing the same thing).  I'll be replacing the water valve for sure on both machines. 

 

Stay tuned for this weekend's progress report!!

 

[washerlover]

Paul, that is amazing! Did you just plug it in and it worked like that? Wonderful! I'm so jealous -- have yearned for a mid-late 50s early 60s Norge/Wards machine. Beautiful. I'm so happy for you. Please keep us posted with videos, etc.!

 

[washerlover]

And so sorry not to comment on Paul's progress with his beautiful Timeline...another wonderful machine saved and in the hands of an extremely capable, competent and compassionate Norge lover! Keep the pics and videos coming! (my avatar is all I have left of my '66 Norge lost in California's Valley Fire...)

 

[philr]

It looks like Paul will have two working Norges soon! 

 

[toploader55]

A neighbor of ours on the Cape had one.

Quite the Overflow Rinse. I believe it's start to finish on the Rinse Cycle.

That Rinse Water will look like a Crystal Clear Brook running down from a mountain.

Now I can say... "Can you bring "ONE" of them down to play with ???? Hmmmmmmm ???

 

[turquoisedude]

Todd:  Amazingly enough, this AW450 pretty much did start up when I plugged it in.  I did have to change the power cord, but that's probably a good thing to do anyway on a 60-something year old washer.   I was extremely lucky but I also think that the Norge washer transmissions were built like the proverbial brick s.... er, schoolhouse, yes that will do...   Of course, we'll have to see what happens with the first water tests - I'm hoping that I'll get that far this coming weekend.  

For me to find two Norges in relatively short order and to have both of them come back to life so quickly is making me think it's time to start buying lottery tickets... LOL

 

Eddie:  Depending on how Chris reacts to having another washer in a million parts in the garage, I may be the one needing to visit the Cape for a few weeks, never mind the Norge!!

 

Now, I've gotta get really brave and start working on the other machines in the 'project area' in the garage - I think by now, I should stop being scared of the GE's....

 

[gansky1]

The transmissions were built well and one of the reasons they were so noisy.  That and bolting it to the bottom of the wash tub inside the echo chamber/drain tub was another!

 

The lower bearing sounds good in spin but like mine, yours has a little shimmy-shake while agitating, too.   I replaced the lower bearing in mine with a used one I had and it's better but not gone completely.   

 

I used mine over the weekend for a load of whites and you could just see the dirt running scared out of the socks when that agitation started.  If the noise doesn't scare out embedded dirt, that giant agitator does.

 

[turquoisedude]

The 'not too much progress report'....

After a very hectic week (Hubby was delayed in Brazil due to theft of all his luggage, iPhone, travel docs, passport, etc) and when he finally got back on Thursday, he learned of the passing of a colleague at the University of Montreal and he attended the funeral Saturday. 

 

So, we only got down to Ogden on Saturday afternoon; I still managed to get a few things done with latest Norge.  

 

Reassembly was the word of the day... I put the pump back together again. The gasket was shot so I used the Permatex flexible gasket compound to make a new one. It seemed to hold water, so I put the pump back and installed a new drive belt. 

 

I also took the opportunity to clean out the hard-water scale from the fill flume inlet.  I hope this will reduce potential splashing on the water temperature selector light bulb.  I don't want this Timeline to cause anyone to flatline due to accidental electrocution!

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

With Hubby's help, the cabinet was set back onto the washer frame.  That, probably more so than removal of the cabinet, is definitely a two-person job.    I re-installed the agitator also.  I managed to do that alone... LOL

 

I didn't put the Timeline cycle control back in at this point; it was a good opportunity to clean the plastic lens.  It's going to glow nicely.  

 

I also gave the back panel on the Timeline a cleaning - it's in amazing shape!

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Here's the challenge in putting a Norge cabinet back together...  The part of the fill flume that goes into the tub has a soft foam gasket that has to be compressed good and tight to be able to re-attach the funnel.  The Norge doctrine doesn't say so in as many words, but it's a bit of a pain; fortunately, there is an illustration showing how to wedge the flume into place and this was a great help.  Amazingly, I managed to not damage the funnel in any way during re-installation.  Phew!

 

[turquoisedude]

But by the time I got through this, the whines and whimpers that signaled someone wanted their supper got too much for me to ignore.   Canyon, on the other hand, just sat there patiently watching me...  LOL 

 

So, that's all for now.  I'm hoping this coming weekend will allow me enough time to get the new water valve and cycle control (with new light bulbs, bien sûr) installed and the wires all reconnected so that I can at least get a couple of tests done.   

 

Oh, and I found a date stamp of 1-15-55 on the Timeline control - looks like I got me a '55 model and not a '54 as I had initially (and incorrectly) guessed.    Stay tuned!!

 

[toploader55]

How dare you re-assemble before feeding the Hund. LOL.

That expression is priceless.

I think the last I saw a Timeline up close and personal was in 1964.

They are Beautiful Beasts !!! "Knock on any Norge".

 

[turquoisedude]

So....

I did manage to get the rest of the Norge put back together and got some further testing done yesterday.  

 

I'll start with the good news; I managed to get the wiring all back together again and the lighted Timeline is stunning!   I goofed with the bulb size for the water temperature light, though.  I used a 4 watt bulb instead of an 8 watt one and it definitely isn't enough to brightly light the amber and red lenses to indicate warm or hot wash.  

 

[turquoisedude]

I installed a new water valve and it seemed to work fine.  To be fair, I was only using cold water though!  It filled the tub nicely anyway.