BD Portable agitation issue, wig wags?

[MaytagA710]

I bought my first washer today, its a BD Kenmore Portable! I will post photos and a video once I get it working!

However, I seem to hit a brick wall. The machine fills, and then once the motor starts, it starts to drain. No agitation. It will drain to a point, then refill the tub, drain etc...

It WILL spin. However, it will spin, then stop, then spin again, then stop, then it will spin and stay spinning till the end of the cycle. It seems to stop/start spinning at the same rate as the wig-wags wig-wag. During the spin I can hear the plunger move back and fourth on one of the cam bars, I can't tell you which one as I haven't operated the machine with the cabinet off. I manually moved the cam bar to agitate, started the machine, and it agitated for a second, then clicked into drain.

I'm thinking it might be a wig-wag issue, with the energizer/solenoid on the agitate bar. The timer works fine and advances through the cycles properly, and the 2 speed motor works fine too.

Before I tear the machine apart again to test the continuity on the coils, does this sound like a wig-wag issue? I searched the forum a bit, people seem to be having agitate-no spin problems, not spin-no agitate.

 

[mrb627]

Switch Wires

Switch the wires between the solenoids. Then see if a call for spin engages agitation. If it does, you have a wiring or timer problem. If not, then I would replace the wigwag.

The spin stop issue sounds like water level being tripped.

Good Luck

Malcolm

 

[MaytagA710]

Hey Malcolm

Thanks for the help! I switched the wires on the wig-wag, turned the timer to spin, and it started to agitate, so, the wig wag assembly looks to be fine, guess it must be a wiring or timer issue. Yay.

 

[mrb627]

Broken Wire

Sounds like you either have a broken agitate wire (yellow I think), loose connection in the harness, or bad timer contacts.

 

Malcolm

 

 

[MaytagA710]

Thanks for your help Malcolm, I am going to splice in some new wire today, hopefully that will solve the problem, fingers crossed!

 

[gizmo]

I had this on an old Australian made Malleys Whirlpool washer years ago. (Whirlpool belt drive made here under license).

The wires broke where they attach to the wig wag solenoids. The plastic insulation looks fine but inside, the copper wires eventually snapped from the back and forth flexing.
It broke right where the wire joins the spade terminal.

Just cut the wires about an inch back from the terminals, fit new terminals and try it out.

The clue is that the solenoid engages and disengages in timing with the wigwag movement - as the wire is moved back and forth, the broken copper strands make intermittent contact. It makes an interesting rhythmic noise as the solenoid cuts in and out - tick-a-clank-a-tick-a-clank-a-tick-a-clank.