EXPERTS HELP!....... KENMORE PORTABLE WASHER ISSUE?

[phillymatt53]

Hi all.
I've had a Kenmore portable top load washer since the mid 1990s.
I bought it off a guy for $100 who brought it to my shop to sell.
It's a model 110.84419100 - serial# CA040605 - stock# 44191
It always ran great, so I kept it as a spare in the basement laundry area, in case the Maytag ever broke down.
I remember way back replacing the Dual Action agitator dogs, and have a spare motor-to-transmission coupling in case it ever needed it.
It hasn't been used since 2005 when i moved, although I did test it out once in the new house and it ran fine.
This model has the 5 wash-rinse temp knob and 3 fill levels knob.

So tonight I hooked it up for a test, just water, no clothes.
It fills, and then goes into agitate fine, like always.
I put a small screwdriver into the lid switch hole during the test to observe operation.
Then it'll drain, as the basket wobbles a little bit.
when the water's drained, it just sits there, wobbling, not spinning, with motor running.
I can hand-turn the basket while it's on, it has a bit of friction to it.
Trying the timer on different settings, I cannot get it to go into spin mode.

It's been a while, but should it drain THEN spin, or spin AS it's draining?
Or is something wrong, that's fixable?

Some help is much appreciated before I dive into it.
Thanks in advance.

 

[thatwasherguy]

These machines are supposed to neutral drain, as a spin drain on these will wear out the clutch prematurely (Whirlpool learned this the hard way when the direct drives first came out). They drain for a couple of minutes or do, and then the motor stops, which disengages the neutral drain mechanism, and allows the transmission to spin. It sounds like your neutral drain pack is stuck. I’ve had this happen a couple of times, and have managed to get them to work again by setting the machine to spin, and then starting and stopping the motor rapidly. If this fails, then you may have to replace the neutral drain kit. The other main possibility that I can think of is if the tub brake got stuck. If this is the case, I would expect that all that would be needed would be to remove the transmission and break it free. Whatever it is, I would expect that it should be a pretty easy fix
Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[DADoES]

Is it maybe 110.84419100? 110.8441900 isn't matched at SearsParts.

Assuming so, it's a neutral-drain direct-drive mechanism. The motor must stop briefly between agitate and drain, and between drain and spin. Is it stopping for a few seconds after (two minutes of) drain (when the timer advances) then restarting (for spin)? If not, then the timer may be at fault. Manually stop it and restart, either by triggering the lid switch, push/pull the timer, or disconnect/reconnect the power cord. Does it then spin?

 

[phillymatt53]

Is it maybe 110.84419100? 110.8441900 isn't matched at SearsParts.

Assuming so, it's a neutral-drain direct-drive mechanism. The motor must stop briefly between agitate and drain, and between drain and spin. Is it stopping for a few seconds after (two minutes of) drain (when the timer advances) then restarting (for spin)? If not, then the timer may be at fault. Manually stop it and restart, either by triggering the lid switch, push/pull the timer, or disconnect/reconnect the power cord. Does it then spin?

As I remember from yesterday's "test run", the machine did pause/stop for a bit before going into "drain".
The pump and hoses seem OK, since there was no leaks and the water came out into the sink with plenty of force.
However after draining then stopping again, when it powered back up the basket did that little circular "rocking" but not spinning.
As I remember it, it used to make a quick "snapping" sound before spinning, I suppose was from the transmission changing modes, but I didn't recall hearing that yesterday.
And yes, I mis-typed the model number (now corrected) 110.84419100
Thanks for that.

The 1987or1991 sears catalog had the same machine with the surgilator agitator listed as $420, such a pricey machine!

 

[ea56]

In 1973 I bought a Whirlpool Convertible portable washer very similar to yours along with the matching dryer. In ‘76 it stopped spinning and I had about a month or two left on the warranty. The Whirlpool dealer came and picked it up and repaired it. The problem was the clutch had failed. It worked for about 6 mo. after the repair and then stopped spinning again and was now out of warranty.

I replaced it with a Maytag A50 Twin Tub that was MUCH better than the Whirlpool ever was! Granted it took a little hands on work but in 1 hr. I could do a week’s worth of laundry and since the A50 spun out the water so much more effectively the clothes dried quicker in the Whirlpool compact dryer. I used the A50 until ‘83 and since I’d moved into a rental that now had WD hookups I bought a new Maytag Fabricmatic and gave the A50 to my sister.

Eddie

 

[DADoES]

A 1973 model would be classic belt-drive design, rather much different mechanism than a direct-drive.

 

[DADoES]

As I remember from yesterday's "test run", the machine did pause/stop for a bit before going into "drain".
The pump and hoses seem OK, since there was no leaks and the water came out into the sink with plenty of force.
However after draining then stopping again, when it powered back up the basket did that little circular "rocking" but not spinning.
As I remember it, it used to make a quick "snapping" sound before spinning, I suppose was from the transmission changing modes, but I didn't recall hearing that yesterday.
And yes, I mis-typed the model number (now corrected) 110.84419100
Thanks for that.

The 1987or1991 sears catalog had the same machine with the surgilator agitator listed as $420, such a pricey machine!

Clutch, brake, or transmission (possibly the spin gear is bad) problem. All are fixable (I could DIY it, don't know your capabilities). Neutral drain kit includes a new spin gear.

 

[phillymatt53]

Clutch, brake, or transmission (possibly the spin gear is bad) problem. All are fixable (I could DIY it, don't know your capabilities). Neutral drain kit includes a new spin gear.

Thanks DaD.
However, read my next post below..

 

[phillymatt53]

UPDATE on Kenmore Washer!

Ok, I've much appreciated the responses and info from you guys on here!
Again, my thanks!
Asides from that, I've also downloaded a PDF for a Whirlpool DD machine
Titled: wpl_direct_drive_washer_job_aid.pdf
I did some reading, and it's a great source of info into how that machine works - Including several schematics noting the various cycles and switches.
I'd suggest anyone to download a copy (type it into Google).

Ok, so just now I went down to the basement and out of curiosity plugged the machine in.
No hoses, no clothes, I just wanted to check something again.
So I over-rided the lid switch, and set the timer on a spin cycle, then pulled the knob ON.......
And guess what!
That loud Snap sound happened immediately, clutch kicked in, and the basket came up to full spin speed!
Nice and quiet too.

Since this machine has been sitting since 2005 unused, I assume that the lubricants or whatever must have caused a bit of sluggishness in the transmission, and last night's test must have loosened things up.

Right now, I'm a Happy Camper, because I'm fond of that machine, it always served me well from 1995 to 2005, not bad for a lousy $100 bucks.
As I previously mentioned, I'm just holding on to it to use as a backup if the 1985 Maytag ever needs work.
WHICH, I might add, never failed to this day, but One Never Knows.

 

[ea56]

UPDATE on Kenmore Washer!

Ok, I've much appreciated the responses and info from you guys on here!
Again, my thanks!
Asides from that, I've also downloaded a PDF for a Whirlpool DD machine
Titled: wpl_direct_drive_washer_job_aid.pdf
I did some reading, and it's a great source of info into how that machine works - Including several schematics noting the various cycles and switches.
I'd suggest anyone to download a copy (type it into Google).

Ok, so just now I went down to the basement and out of curiosity plugged the machine in.
No hoses, no clothes, I just wanted to check something again.
So I over-rided the lid switch, and set the timer on a spin cycle, then pulled the knob ON.......
And guess what!
That loud Snap sound happened immediately, clutch kicked in, and the basket came up to full spin speed!
Nice and quiet too.

Since this machine has been sitting since 2005 unused, I assume that the lubricants or whatever must have caused a bit of sluggishness in the transmission, and last night's test must have loosened things up.

Right now, I'm a Happy Camper, because I'm fond of that machine, it always served me well from 1995 to 2005, not bad for a lousy $100 bucks.
As I previously mentioned, I'm just holding on to it to use as a backup if the 1985 Maytag ever needs work.
WHICH, I might add, never failed to this day, but One Never Knows.

All’s well that ends well! Often times persistence pays off. Good for you for not giving up.

Eddie

 

[phillymatt53]

All’s well that ends well! Often times persistence pays off. Good for you for not giving up.

Eddie

Thanks a bunch Eddie!
I'm not one to give up easily, I never was.
Call me a stubborn old codger!

 

[combo52]

Yay I’m glad that worked out. I didn’t think the machine was broken from your original description. You just didn’t give it enough time to do its thing.

As mentioned the 1972 machine, Eddie had is a completely different machine and they had problems with not spinning back then because the center post bearing would lock up

I have a guy that works part time with me who has one of these late 80s direct drive compact washers. It’s been the only washers had in this house for 25 years and he always tells me that it’s broken because it just sits there and makes noise for what seems like forever when it’s draining without shifting to spin, but the problem is he’s not giving it time because it takes four minutes. This machine has a four minute drain. which is about four times as long as it needs, but it was designed so that it could be used as a portable with a very small drain hose so you could use it on a bathroom vanity sink for example.

So my part-time worker Larry he runs over to the machine when he hears it and opens and closes the lid to kick it into spin, he’s always thought it has a bad timer, but of course, when he forgets about it, it goes through and spins properly it’s working fine, lol

These direct drive compact were very rugged. Heavily used ones would end up with a broken suspension. We saw that a lot, but other than that, they were easy to fix

John L

 

[phillymatt53]

Yay I’m glad that worked out. I didn’t think the machine was broken from your original description. You just didn’t give it enough time to do its thing.

This machine has a four minute drain. which is about four times as long as it needs, but it was designed so that it could be used as a portable with a very small drain hose so you could use it on a bathroom vanity sink for example.

John L

Yeah, mine's the portable version Kenmore/whirlpool too.
Long ago, I took the rollers off the bottom and lost them.
Now the thing's a job trying to move it around.