Modification procedure
Here's how to make the modification to the newer Danby washers to get back
the water plus functionality that the first version had. You need to be
prepared to do quality work. This procedure is not particularly
difficult, but if you aren't confident about it, you should probably find
someone that's used to these things to help. Of course, I take no
responsibility if you smoke your machine. I'm sure this will void the
warranty, as well.
o First, you have to take the top off the washer. It's only held by two
screws in back and easily slides to the rear to be removed. On the under
side of the top is a wiring diagram that might help you figure out what
we're doing.
o Locate the wire to cut. To do that, locate the timer. It's in the left
front of the machine just under the top.
Locate the White-A connector. There are four connectors each with twelve
wire positions on the timer. You can see colored dots on the timer to
identify them, green, red, and black. The one towards the front doesn't
have a dot and that's the white one. Unplug that connector from the
timer. There are two plastic snap levers that hold it on each end.
The wires that go into this connector are labled A1, A2, A3, etc. They
aren't color coded. We are interested in the A1 wires. There are two of
them and they both go into the first position on the connector. We need
to cut one of them. Unfortunately, it's not obvious which one. They are
both labled A1. The one we want goes to the first position on the
connector on the water level pressure switch with the red dot. The last
position on the pressure switch connector doesn't have a wire in it. The
other end is the first postion.
The way that I determined which A1 wire to cut was to pull on both wires
and see which one pulled from the first position on the connector of the
pressure switch with the red dot. You should be able to pull the correct
wire from both directions to make sure you have the right one. The wrong
one won't pull very much because it goes farther in the wiring harness.
You might want to cut the wire tie that holds the wiring harness to the
side of the washer to loosen it up. You'll want to put another one on
when you're done, of course. Once you determine which wire to cut, you're
home free. This is the hardest part of the project.
o Cut the wire. I cut it about two to three inches from the White-A
connector next to the timer. You need enough wire left to use a splice
connector. I used 3M Quick Connects that I picked up at Walmart. These
are designed to tap onto a wire and connect another one to it. But I used
these for all my connections. They are for 18 gauge to 14 gauge wire.
The Danby uses about 18 gauge wire.
o Mount a single post, double throw switch. You might have to look around
a little for this. You want a good quality switch. I think this part of
the wiring runs at 220-240 volts. It's not a lot of amperage, but you
want a good part. A single post, double throw switch has three connectors
and switches the middle one between the two end connectors. One position
connects the middle connector to one end and the other position connects
the middle connector to the other end. I found a toggle switch that fit
into a 7/16 inch hole. This seemed to fit pretty well into the left
shipping rod hole in back. So that's where I mounted it.
o Make the connections. I used 16 gauge stranded wire. I used white
because the rest of the wiring in the Danby is white.
Connect the short side of the cut wire from White-A1 (the one that goes to
the timer connector) to the center connector on the switch.
Connect the other side of the cut wire to the upper connector on the
switch. This will cause normal water level when the switch is in the down
position.
Connect a tap (without cutting the wire) from the White-A2 wire (just next
to the White-A1 wire that we cut on the white timer connector) to the
lower connector on the switch. These 3M Quick Connects are made for this.
They work quite well. This will cause the higher water level when the
switch is in the up position.
o Install wire ties and clean up.
That's it. Water plus is up, normal is down. If you didn't want to put
in the switch, you could just connect the short wire from White-A1 to a
tap on White-A2 and you would have water plus all the time. But I put in
the switch. Good luck.
