Hotpoint washer spin issues...

[turquoisedude]

Turquoisedude does it again... No sooner do I get a 'new' washer into the Ogden Laundry than it starts misbehaving on me.  Well, after two successful wash loads anyway... 

 

The trouble is with the 57 Hotpoint Automatic (model 11JK31).  During initial testing last year it was spinning fine - or so I thought.   I did a load of sheets a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised that they were still quite wet (and I mean wetter than they would have been coming out of the GE Combo on 'Drip Dry'...).   The next load I did was even worse - the wash water did not spin out of the tub.  After the rinse, the results were even worse...  

 

I didn't do anything to the machine for nearly two weeks; my theory was that a persistent water drip I had noticed coming from the water inlet hose had gotten the clutch assembly or belt wet, caused some slippage, and prevented the washer from revving up to a full-speed spin.  So I filled the tub and set the machine to spin right away.  It worked fine - the tub drained out and seemed to come up to an adequate spin speed.  

 

So yesterday, I tried a load of shirts...  I had the same outcome as two weeks ago!  Look at how much water was left in the tub at the end of the final spin:

 

[turquoisedude]

I took the clothes out, spun and re-rinsed them in the 63 Frigidaire (note to self: must acquire a Unimatic or a Rapidry 1000 Frigidaire washer as well... LOL).

 

This much water was left in the Hotpoint tub and with no clothes load, the washer still did not spin it out!

 

[turquoisedude]

Here's a brief video of the Hotpoint's spin struggle: 

 



 

So, I have a couple of theories but as usual I have only a little technical data on the machine and no service manual to go on.   My gut feeling says that something in the spin clutch assembly is worn or loose, but when attempting to spin the remaining water out of the tub yesterday I noticed that 'hot winding' smell, presumably coming from the Hotpoint's drive motor.    Could a weak or gummed up motor be the problem?  I believe the machine sat unused for a long time.

 

I'm curious to know if anyone else has ever run across something like this....

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint!

We had a 55 Hotpoint and I remember it had trouble spinning out the water and turned out to be pump issue. My family dumped it in 61 to buy another hotpoint. Paul I hope you can get it fixed!
Peter

 

[turquoisedude]

Today's tests...

I've gotten some suggestions that the pump may be a problem so today I pulled Ozzie out his 'slot' in the laundry to investigate.  The pump was not clogged and did not seem to be binding, though.  I popped off one of the belts and tried setting the washer to spin.  Again, with no load (not even water) the spin seemed really, really slow.  I was actually able to slow the tub down to a near stop by hand - that can't be good!   I let the motor run for a bit and noticed that the casing was getting warm, but not really hot.  I'm still going to get the motor out for a once-over and in the meantime, the 56 Whirlpool Imperial washer has taken the Hotpoint's place (I still have to have that 'which machine do I use' dilemma when I do laundry, right??).

 

Stay tuned....

 

 

 

[whirlaway]

Is it Capacitor start!

If that capacitor on the side of the motor is original,its probably bad.My Old frogeye Kenmore did the same thing.Put a new one in 2yers ago and she takes right off!

 

[norgeway]

Is this

A Fluid Drive, if it is, put some oil in it!

 

[turquoisedude]

Hans, it's not a fluid drive - Hotpoint used a 'friction' style clutch in the 1956 and 1957 models.  After what I read about Jon's Speed Queen, I was sure it was a lack of fluid too, but not in this case alas!

 

Thanks for the info about the capacitor!  I'll be checking that out too...  

 

[whirlaway]

Good Luck!

I hope you get it up and running quickly,Bobby

 

[turquoisedude]

After some head-scratching...

As usual, I jumped to a conclusion about the Hotpoint.    Because I had noticed a 'hot' smell from the motor, I thought that there was a motor issue.  However, Phil gave me an interesting piece of test equipment - it's actually a meter to measure power consumption of an appliance but it has a setting that will read the wattage being pulled by the machine.  I was expecting that the draw was going to be higher than the 800-something watts the machine is rated at.  Nope.  The draw was quite low!

 

So, I observed the machine in operation for a bit and poked around the various components.   I noticed the belts were kinda loose and are probably worn.  After the Inglis ordeal, I vowed to never neglect belt tension again... LOL 

 

But here's the rub...  Can the belt tension be adjusted on a machine like this?  Better still, how the heck do you get the belt for the spin pulley off for replacement?  The pulley is 'surrounded' by a three-leg mounting plate - can this have to be removed or loosened like one does for a Whirlpool washer?   

 

It's a model 11LK31 and if anyone knows of the existence of a service manual, please let me know!

 

 

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Paul, ugh I hope it's just the belts and not the Spider Clutch acting up!

Reaching deep, deep into the past, these two threads might help...

The Click-ity Clack-ity Clack Challenge

and

Every Day’s a Holiday with Hotpont - Maybe?

Keep us posted!

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow, Robert, thanks for the links to your own 'trial by Hotpoint'!!   I'll be referring back to them a lot, methinks...

 

The transmission mounting assembly on my 57 is just like the one on your 56 so this is a huge help already. 

 

I've got some more drywalling to do but I hope to get back to work on 'Ozzie' again soon.   Thank you!!