Colston Ariston Automatic Wash and Tumble Dry 850 XD

[sesteve]

I took the switches out and they are different. The B switch has less terminals than A so not sure what is going on! Impossible to fathom out without a wiring diagram. Paul - if you are able to note the numbers and positions of the connections and let me know that would be fantastic.

Anyway, have made a video of the whole wash cycle which I've shortened and hopefully will be able to upload soon. It shows the unusual spin cycles too. I have tried the dryer and it works well but I really need the vent kit as it fills the house with condensation!

 

[paulc]

Well done on getting this lovely machine up and running again, really looking forward to seeing the video. A neighbour had the Indesit version but never saw it in action.

 

[sesteve]

Thanks Paul. It's been a challenge so I'm glad it's sorted. Having a couple of problems with the video software but hopefully will be able to post tonight

 

[sesteve]

Video

At last. Here is the video of a shortened wash cycle. Not the best quality and 12 mins long. I'll try and improve for the next one!

 

[hoover1100]

Fantastic video

That spin is so bizarre! If I didn't know that was normal I would certainly think it was faulty!

How dry would you say it gets the clothes compared to other 800 spin machines?

Matt

 

[sesteve]

Hi Matt

It is weird and the motor makes a different noise to any other! The spin is ok but you can see how much more water I got out of the washing in the Spinarinse video I've just posted so would cost a fortune if you just went straight onto the drying cycle not to mention all that condensation if you didn't use a vent kit!

S

 

[optima]

Colston

Never seen a washer-Dryer with such a strange spin profile as this, very enjoyable to watch. Thank you for uploading this.

 

[paulc]

Thank you......

.......for posting the video. Truly the strangest final spin I've ever seen....must say I'd have thought the machine faulty! Loving the motor sound though, reminds me of noises from my childhood.

 

[gizmo]

spin sound

The huge cast aluminium pulley on the motor really echoes out the noise. Also because of the expanding pulley, the belt is never a good firm fit on the pulley, so it slips a bit which adds noise too. If there is any wear on the belt, especially cracking or chipping of the inner surfaces, it adds to noise.

The later versions, like the South African ones I owned, changed to a plastic expanding pulley. It was much quieter when new, but tended to wear out where the belt rubbed on it, creating its own noise over time.

I have had both the black fronted SA ones like the Indesit 2527 in Docker's post above, and Silver faced ones badged Lemair WD800 and Indesit WD800. The differences were slight, mainly the spin pulley and also the switches had different functions. There was a "snowflake" button which replaced the D (dry) button - it was for "no heater" in the wash cycle. You would select dry just by setting the dry timer. If you set the dry timer to off, it wouldn't dry.
There was no 800 button, all regular spins were at 800rpm. You selected a delicate cycle on the timer to get the slower (alternating) spin.
The 4 buttons were, from vague memory, snowflake (no heater in wash); water saver (uses the lower water level for rinses as well as wash); no spin; and on/off.

Chris.

 

[electron1100]

Chuffed

Steve I am so pleased you got the motor sorted and working, this is a lovely machine to listen too and watch

maybe the suspension needs looking at, but if that was one off bad spin I wouldn't worry, these machines are built to take this sort of action.

If it used dampers like the older Hotpoints you might be able to strip them and re-grease them inside I don't know as I have never investigated them.

Enjoy enjoy
Gary

 

[statomatic]

Hi and happy new year !

Good job on fixing the motor wiring.

When I find an unknown asynchronous motor I make measurements with ohmmeter on all of the possible combinations of the motor terminals and report the measurements on a list like this :
1/2 = 78 Ohms.
1/3 = 87 Ohms.
1/4 = 44 Ohms.
1/5 = 56 Ohms.
2/3 = 78 Ohms.
2/4 = 35 Ohms.
2/5 = 47 Ohms.
3/4 = 44 Ohms.
3/5 = 56 Ohms.
4/5 = 13 Ohms.

By deduction it's possible to find how to connect the motor for wash or spin speed:
1 = Low speed (CCW, same as high speed).
2 = High speed (starting winding)
3 = Low speed (CW)
4 = Common (neutral).
5 = High speed (main winding).

I did this on 3 or 4 motors I've found.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Colston Washer Dryer

Congrats Steve, lots of hands on work finally pays off, I do remember the dryer was very effective with the big blower unit, it shifted some air through that back vent!!

I wonder if the vent is the same size as the Hoover in the 80`s model as their vented combo had a similar vent system? Glad you got the motor sorted, they usually last forever apart from the frayed wiring. Look forward to seeing more vids...

 

[chanceskydiver]

That's one machine which is very tasty to see and will be a pleasure to use Never used one but have seen picture of them in past

 

[sesteve]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Gary - I'm chuffed too. Didn't think I'd be able to do it so I'm really glad Mathew posted his encouragement or the machine might have just been left in the shed! It has friction damper suspension so it might be a bit worn - I haven't checked it out yet. You can't lubricate this but you are right as the machine doesn't flinch even when it was spinning towels!

Mike - you are right. The dryer is very effective so much so that I had to wheel the machine near to the cooker so I could use the cooker hood to extract the air. Not sure how people managed to use it without a vent kit!

It's back in the shed for now as I decided to tackle another machine at the weekend. More of that in a bit ......
S