Bendix washer dryer heat problem help needed

[ricky5050]

My 1965 bendix washer dryer has been in daily use for nearly 14 years since it was commissioned from its late start in life as many of you know .

It's only needed a new belt and timer motor.

But now I fear it may have to move along to my static collection as its developed a few faults , one of them serious. Unless you guys know how to help me fix it.

The first problem is the dryer shuts down too soon, before clothes are dry, if exiting heat is too high or heater over heats ( ie blockage or poor suction ie leak in system ) it moves main timer on a notch at a time until the machine stops even if there is still time left on the dryer timer. This is a great feature as it switches off when clothes are basically dry saving time and energy. However my machine is now doing this all the time after 10 mins so clothes are still damp. Obviously there is no blockage , or leak that I can see! I'm guessing it's a thermostat problem. I've decided this was no biggie and could use a regular tumble dryer.

However...

The second problem seems more fatal

When selecting a hot wash the heater comes on at the right time, but stays on too long until i stop it. But then sometimes it goes off too soon , again this wasn't a huge problem as I always am around when the machine is on.
But tonight , the heater on light came on and stayed on through wash rinse and spin. I wasn't sure if it was just the light , but as I unloaded it it was the heater too. The clothes were fine as the wash didn't pause long enough to overheat and the rinses cooled the clothes , but when I unloaded the clothes the drum was hot and the heater element was glowing red !

It has a strange heater arrangement , the water has to be so hot for it to heat up, ie it won't heat from stone cold , there is a heater element within the thermostat apparently !

I think the only way to remove this thermostat is to go in from back and remove drum etc which seems like a huge job!

Any one got any ideas?

I tried taking a pic of the glowing element and luckily I never leave the machine !

Thanks again

Richard

 

[pierreandreply4]

then why not buy a brand new washer most of the washers i have klnow in my country are non heater models so for me i do not see the use of having a water heater in the washer if its hot water cold water hookup washer

 

[ricky5050]

Thanks

Hi thanks Pierre ? I only have one space for a washer and have done my entire kitchen in a 60 s theme so liked using this. In th uk most new washers are cold fill only with heaters. Even when we had hot and cold heaters are used to boost temperature. Domestic hot water filling a machine will normally only result in a 45.c wash. A 60c wash and definitely 80.c which were once very popular need a good heater.

If I cannot repair it and I doubt I'll get another vintage one. I may get a modern one and hide in another vintage washer casing !

 

[pierreandreply4]

this is an option second option would be take your washer model and serial number and try looking on ebay if there a heater for your particular washer model

 

[launderess]

1- Pierre, don't think that response was what the OP was after.

2 - OP, you may have some sort of thermostat or perhaps relay issue. Something that should be satisfied that the unit has reached a certain temperature isn't.

If you have the schematic then tracing up the line could help identify any parts or connections that are malfunctioning.

Without 208v-240v connection for water heating it makes sense that your washer would only "boost" hot water and not heat tap cold. Depending upon the volume of washer water it *is* possible but will take a long time.

Given most North American homes have central hot water supplies am guessing Bendix chose the more energy saving route of boosting "hot" water rather than heating from cold.

 

[vacbear58]

Bendix

Richard
I am so sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Bendix although I suppose after 14 years it has had quite a good innings. However that is not what you want to hear!

All is not lost however as I am sure there willbe others who can come I with more knowledge than me. Do you have a wiring schematic? I am sure you dread having to do this but are you able to pull the machine out and check the continuity of the internal wiring for the dryer issue. Also could it be possible that the dryer sensor needs cleaning even if there is no lint blockage. Possibly long years of use (I can hardly believe itis 14 years but yet, when I think of it, it probably is. How quickly time passes!) have led to an accumulation of soap etc. which could possibly be cleaned off?

The heater thermostat could be a bigger problem although again inspection my help and possibly it suffers from the same issue. Although a Bendix thermostat is unlikely to be available there may be more modern ones which might suit. If all else fails how about inserting a switch in the heater supply (to be mounted in an accessible but unobtrusive spot) so you can manually switch off the heater at the end of the wash cycle. I appreciate that this is not the most convenient solution but it may be the most pragmatic. I doubt that this machine was ever designed with a life as much as you have enjoyed in mind, and given that it was 30+ years old when you got it albiet NIB, problems are inevitable. That said, we have seen older machines brought back to life, so all is far from lost. Fingers crossed
Al

 

[keymatic]

Hi Richard,

Sorry to hear your having problems with your machine, I remember the machine on Ebay and couldn't believe it being NIB.

As Al says it has given good service and i am sure there are many more years left in it yet !! Reference the "Over-heating" I think I had a similar problem with my hotpoint 1500, the red ring on the control knob stayed on all the time thus indicating that the heating element was on, and it was..the underside of the bowl was getting hotter and hotter..a friend of mine said the element had become pitted and although you would think it would blow the circuit it made the element stay on for some reason..not sure if this is the same in your case..or the only other area of concern would be in the programmer..i'm guessing this is where the micro switch would be to turn the element on & off, maybe this has got stuck ?

As Al has said if the job is going to big, maybe an external switch would be the answer.

I hope you manage to find out what it is...good luck mister !!

Cheers Keith

 

[ricky5050]

Thanks

Thanks guys. I'm quite handy with mechanical things ie bearings pulleys motors but not so savvy on electricals. I have a workshop manual and will try and post the bit I mean about the heater thermostat and wiring diagram.

I'll contact our friend in lancashire to see if he has any parts.

The idea of a switch is a good solution though Al

Thanks again

Richard

 

[slowspin66]

Switching

Hi Richard do you remember a few years ago i had a similar problem with the old bolted down Bendix . It will be switching problem/ thermostat . I put a separate switch on to isolate the heater because i couldn't get the correct switch then when i least expected it found one from David. It works fine and if you need to change the thermostat or any switching just get the ratios from the service record and get a modern alternative from David and do some adapting . All will be fine its a minor issue in the scheme of things and what you have done before .
The washer looks great in your kitchen . Darren

 

[steve1010]

Just a thought, if the element switching was in the neutral side and the element had gone to earth that may explain it working all the time,
although if you have a Earth leakage trip in your home consumer unit this earth short would trip off the power

Steve

 

[ricky5050]

Hello sorry for delay !!

I cannot believe we've welcomed June in already. You may remember back in February I posted a problem I was having with my Bendix. I've been so busy with other life things I've only just got around to trying to sort it. In the mean time I was using my hoovermatic twin tub or my mothers machine.

I contacted our friend on Lancashire. He suggested that the timer was the problem which makes sense. No replacements are available in fact the timer on here is in fact a replacement from him so chances of finding a 3 rd new timer seem slim. Plus it looks as it needs a wash thermostat. Which requires drum removal. And finally possible dryer thermostat to make the dryer function work properly.

All looks gloomy for this machine to be my everyday driver.

As a thought and suggested by you guys I've fitted a double pole switch to the heater. So although power goes to it constantly I can switch it off after the wash cycle.

This has worked to some extent however the machine should tick around to "heater on" and sit and heat up to the chosen temperature. What it does now is think it's at the right temperature even on boil wash and move on. Giving a maximum 12 minute wash. Even if the heater is on all this time my infra red thermostat shows wash temperature is only 39c from a pure hot fill. So a 40 c wash is ok for most laundry I csnnot get a hotter one unless I reset several times which seems a faff.
I've also removed the belt to the dryer fan as it makes it noisy. And as the dryer doesn't work properly it makes it quieter to use apart from a few shrieks from the unused spinning pulley.

So here's my dilemma , what to do ?

Get another unused vintage machine that will fit in my themed kitchen ? Yes I'm sure there's loads about ha ha.

Buy a new machine

But a new machine and try and fit it in an old ( very inusable ) Hotpoint empress casing or similar ( just a thought.

My parnall dryer has also snapped its belt so I'm without dryer too.

The twin tub is fun but only occasionally lol

What to do !!

Thanks Richard

 

[keymatic3203]

Would be such a shame to give up

What about feeding the power to the heater direct from the incoming terminal block (so constantly live whilst the mains is on), via the switch obviously, so you could switch the heater independently of the wash timer. So start the machine filling and tumbling, stop machine switch heater on until your happy with the temperature you want using your thermometer, switch the heater off and restart the wash, yes you don't have automatic heating, but you can choose any temperature from incoming to boiling, the rest of the cycle is then automatic.

You keep a lovely machine which fits into your kitchen design, no worries about what to do with it etc when you get a replacement.

Just thinking aloud, in the future you could then fit a hot water heater type thermostat stuck to the outside of the tub,similar to central heating hot water tank or well even better a twin tub thermostat, perhaps the hotpoint flyback type you could link it to the power feed into the timer. So in a way it would work as the hoptoint twin tub, fill set wash timer, set heater. setting the heater switches off the washer, which when the temperature is reached it would flyback and continue the automatic wash.

Interested to see what you think. But do persevere, shame to go modern in such a lovely kitchen, even if you were to hide it behind a ginum? curtain.

Mathew

 

[vacbear58]

Supermatic

Richard
Sorry to hear about the continued grief with the Bendix, I agree with Mathew it would be a shame to wave good bye to the Bendix. It is the way with these things that the moment you do so a minger will emerge which may have a god timer.

Now I may be talking out my a@se here but given the max. 12 minute tumble what about picking up a Hotpoint Supermatic, and God knows there are enough of them about, and wIring the controls up in parallel with the existing timer to take over after the fill has completed. These have thermostatic control interlocked with a wash timer of up to 12 minutes. My thought is that the Supermatic controls could substitute for the heat and wash parts of the cycle. You may even be able to adapt the thermostat from the Supermatic.

You would have to manually move the Bendix control to the rinse and spin part of the cycle after the the Supermatic controls have stopped to complete the wash.

Another possibility might be to get a 9605 style HP top loader and substitute the complete timer for the Bendix timer (leaving the original in place of course) which I presume would have a max 12 minute wash time, or close to it.

Either option would have to be mounted externally orin some unobtrusive place on the machine.

There are enough of those Parnall style dryers about that it should not take long to find one for parts

Al

 

[vacbear58]

Bugger

I should have read all of Mathew's post, for he suggested the same thing. Great minds eh?

Al

 

[keymatic3203]

I've done that before to Al

Also Ricky I do like where you've put the switch, very neat.

 

[ricky5050]

Fingers crossed

I did a second load of bedding figuring a 40c wash would be plenty hot enough. And guess what the heater and lamp remained off when it should be off and only came on when it should have done ! I tried a third load and it worked as well I guess the shaking of the machine or the timer going through a full cycle perhaps loosened the dodgy heater contact. So I thought I'd see if the thermostat was working. No luck here a number 2 hot wash 60 c heated up to 75c before I changed to a cooler program. So at the moment it seems to work fine all but the thermostat which I think is available to buy.

But at least I have a cut out switch if the problem re occurs.

Thanks Mathew and Al for your ideas. If the problem comes back I'll try that method,

Thanks again!!

Richard