Help on an Early SQ Perf Tub Washer Please.

[volvoguy87]

I'm sorry for not posting recently. My life has sort of exploded and I've just been dealing with too much stuff.

One of my friends has an early SQ perf tub coin-op washer that is giving trouble. It's early enough that it has a belt driven pump.

He's pretty much taken this washer apart and put it all back together again, several times! I would have junked it awhile ago, so I think he's got the patience of a saint. I'll give him all of the bonus points for sticking with it and making it live again.

The issue is that the washer recently locked up and burned the belt. He turned the pulley by hand and something popped loose and now everything turns freely again. There are 2 springs on the belt tensioner pulley's mounting lever. The larger one snapped at some point and was recently replaced. When it was reassembled, the small spring detached. This caused the tensioner lever to rub against the motor shaft and wear an impressive groove into the shaft. He bought a new motor and reassembled everything properly. Now the washer is making an odd knocking noise.

The odd knocking noise is rapid. It goes in time with the pulley on the bottom of the transmission. The noise is only present during agitation, not during spin. I cannot tell if the knocking is coming from the transmission or something below the transmission. Is there something hitting the pulley, is there a bad bearing, did a gear tooth chip off inside the transmission? The agitator works just fine. I've attached a video below of the washer in action and you can hear the noise.

He has a spare transmission, but it leaks oil. Would it be difficult to replace seals on the spare transmission?

I'll post a link to the video as soon as it uploads.

Thank you for your insight,
Dave

 

[volvoguy87]

The Video

I hope this video works!

Dave

 

[repairguy]

My opinion is that there is something going on with the idler pulley. Sometimes the plastic part of the pulley separates from the actual bearing and that’s what it sounds like to me. Just out of curiosity, what is the red looking thing/stuff that looks like it’s in the center of the transmission pulley?

 

[volvoguy87]

The red thing is a plastic helix.

This washer uses a reversing motor. In one direction, the pulley rids on the bottom of the helix. In the other direction, the pulley rides up to the top of the helix and hits the brake.

Dave

 

[combo52]

Knocking Noise On an 80s SQ TL Washer

I don't think it is from inside the transmission, by careful examination you should be able to isolate the cause of the noise, he could also just keep using the machine till it becomes more apparent, these washers were never very quiet to begin with.

 

Let us know what you guys find out, John L.

 

[repairguy]

I haven’t seen a red one before just making sure something wasn’t caught in the pulley. Thanks for the info. Another issue I’ve come across on these is when the bottom of the transmission shaft becomes dry and the pulley makes a sound during agitation, but that’s not what yours sounded like to me. Removing the pulley and adding some grease to the transmission shaft works. Good luck!

 

[supersurgilator]

Any pics of this machine? I would love to see it, one of my favorites even although they are known for seal and bearing issues.

 

[volvoguy87]

The washer is in a friend's basement, I'll see about

Thank you all for your help on this.

Dave