Did I mention I've been working on the Blackstone??

[turquoisedude]

LOL, In case anyone hadn't noticed, I've made mention of working on that Blackstone BA600 washer that I scored at that appliance auction last November in my recent posts.  And with reason, I have been working on it but progress has been notoriously slow.  However I finally got my act together and solved the big problem with this machine - the rotted out tub drain....

 

[turquoisedude]

I came up with three potential solutions:  rebuild a drain collar with that fibreglas patching stuff, adapt the drain coupling from a Whirlpool (the kind that sits in the baseplate) or use a sink drain flange.    Well, I shot myself in the foot by rushing in and reinforcing the rotted drain outlet with fibreglas and JB Weld.  I kept the drain outlet in the right spot to hook up to the drain pump BUT I created an uneven surface so solutions 2 and 3 would not be very useful.... 

 

[turquoisedude]

So back to square one...  I somehow cobbled together a drain outlet from a 2-inch pipe coupling and a short piece of 2-inch drain pipe.   But I still had to make it fit to the outer tub drain outlet...

 

The fibreglas patching kit came to the rescue here.   I used strips of the patching fabric to hold that piece of pipe in place and anchor it to the tub.  I then used JB Weld to solidify it.  I used coats of the JB Weld, one inner and one outer.  

 

[turquoisedude]

But would it hold vater???   

 

YES!!  Look, Ma, no leaks!

 

[turquoisedude]

I just had to get the machine back together for a water test!  Surprisingly I did so fairly quickly and with a minimum of swearing.... 

 

I only filled the machine with a bucket, but was thrilled to see it agitate, spin out ALL the water, and drain!

 

 

 

 

[gansky1]

Look at that splash - low water shows off the voraciousness of that straight vane agitator nicely!

 

Good job on the tub repair, where there's a will there's a way.

 

P.S.  I still have that Blackstone pump sitting on the counter in the garage, I need to do a Big Ship day soon - lots to go out.

 

[turquoisedude]

I still need to test a full cycle (I took the water valve apart and gave it good cleaning) but it seems to be running fine....  

 

BUT (yeah, you knew that was coming...) I observed something with a gentle-speed spin that I did not recall observing before...  When the machine is started in gentle spin, I hear a clicking sound, the motor seems to not start up smoothly and the lights in the basement blinked.  Having learned my lesson about power bars and extension cords with the '51 Unimatic, I made sure the Blackstone was connected directly to the outlet and not to a Fedtro Extend-O-Let plugged into the light fixture over the bar....   My first instinct was the capacitor, but that didn't seem to make sense, as the machine would wash and spin at regular speed no problem and would also agitate at gentle speed.   Oh well, ya can't win 'em all!!

 

I hope to try a real wash test soon, but it may not happen until early March...  Stay tuned!

 

Oh, I also think I have a better idea of the age of this machine now.  I found a date stamp of 12-65 on the water valve, so I suspect I may have a 1966 model here.   

 

Anyone else out there have one of this vintage??

 

 

 

[DADoES]

 
Hugely skillful people in this group!

 

[cadman]

Wow, that surely looked like a 'gonner'! Nice Save!

 

[philr]

Great progress Paul! 

 

[blackstone]

Clicking

Paul,

You might want to take apart the motor and check the points. They might not be making a good connection.

To fix rust problems, we usually experimented with different types of epoxy mixtures. (My brother is a research chemist in adhesives, so we always had different samples.) Many times, the customer would just opt to buy a new washer, rather than wait for a fix.

If we were to order a new tub from Blackstone, the shipping charges were about equal to that of a whole new machine. Due to the size of the box, the tub would have to be delivered by freight truck. Maybe nowadays, FedEx or UPS would be able to handle it, but not back then.

 

[blackstone]

Advertising Folder

One page of a 6-page folder for the Blackstone BA-600 and similar models. I would appreciate any feedback on the quality of this scan. I was editing it to fit under the 5.8-MB file size limit for uploading. I am hoping that the text is legible.

 

[philr]

Thanks for posting these Fred!

 

[bigalsf]

Wow Paul!! That was truly an inspired idea! I really love your tenacity at solving some really interesting issues. Hats off to you for your creativity!

Looking forward to the next chapter in the Blackstone story!

 

[ovrphil]

Paul - did you use a stop-rust chemical on the existing rust before fiberglassing over and under the hole?

This was a nasty rusted out area - not easy to correct. Congratualtions.

Phil

 

[supersuds]

Re quality of the scan, some of the text is hard to make out, but that may be a problem with the original. Thanks for posting it, though! I think I would have got the BA-650!

 

[combo52]

Clicking Sound On Low Speed Spin

Hi Paul, ITS NOT the motor or motor switch, when a 2SP motor like this starts it starts on Hi SP and when the centrifugal Sw cuts out the start winding the motor starts running at low Sp if the power is being supplied to the low Sp terminal of the motor.

 

If the low speed works fine in agitation it is not the motor, if you get the clicking only at the start of spin and it goes away it has something to due with what ever type of clutch system this washer uses to allow the spin tub to accelerate to spin speed. If it continues clicking the whole time it is spinning at low Sp something is binding in the washers drive line.

 

A little of this clicking at spin start is not that harmful to the washer or motor, it may even resolve itself, and do you really have anything that needs to be spun at low speed anyway LOL.

 

Many washers have had this problem and it usually causes no problem, My WCI-62 washer always does this a little when it goes into the Ripid-Dry speed and we could never get it to stop completely.

 

[blackstone]

More Scans

Two more scans: closeup of 600/650; and breakdown of inside of machine.

Not visible, but logo was dated from 1964, Blackstone's 90th anniversary.

 

[turquoisedude]

Thanks everyone!  I felt it was my duty as a card-carrying member of automaticwasher.org to save and revive this washer.

 

PhilR got a sneak peek at it last week but we didn't get to do any testing, alas... 

 

Greg - I'm definitely interested in that pump - thank you! It's no rush and I need to contact you regarding shipping arrangements. 

 

Fred - thank you posting the scans!  I still have those postcards featuring a BA750 & its matched dryer that you gave me, too.  

 

Phil (overphil) - Oh yes, I gave that tub bottom a coat of POR15 for sure!  

 

John - I didn't let the washer spin on low speed for more than a few seconds, so I'll try running it a bit longer next time I play with it. 

 

I had hoped to get a full wash test in yesterday, but I ran out of time (to be fair we were out house-hunting and we found a nifty place with TWO kitchens and TWO laundry rooms....).   I would also like to give the cabinet panels a new paint job.  

 

And of course I have to find a suitable answer to Hubby's question:  "Now where the hell will it go?".  

I don't think I'm going to be using this one as a 'daily driver' and I am kinda out of hooked-up spaces in the Ogden laundry (a new house with TWO laundry rooms would help that situation though...)