It never ends... now it's the '59 Frigidaire dryer

[turquoisedude]

Ever since I got the 59 turquoise Frigidaire set from Greg back in 2015, the dryer has been in almost-continous service and quickly became my 'go-to' dryer in the Ogden Laundry. 

Unfortunately, about a week ago, I tried to dry a load of clothes in it and instead of tumbling normally, the dryer drum made a scraping or dragging sound while trying to turn.  The motor overload tripped fairly shortly thereafter...  

On the weekend, even with all the Filter-Flo excitement, I managed to pull the dryer out to investigate.  Belts and pulleys looked ok from the back and when I slipped the drum drive belt off, the motor and blower seemed run fine. 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

I managed to get the top off (I made sure to mark, photograph, and notarize all the wiring I had to disconnect to do that...) and pull the drum out.  

 

Now, where could all of that fine white lint at the rear of drum have come from? 

 

[turquoisedude]

I think this is culprit.... That drive plate was kinda 'wobbly' when I tried to spin it by hand, so I'm going to guess that the bearing has worn out.  Sheesh, it gave out after only 59 years of service.  I'm going to write those Frigidaire people in Dayton for sure... LOL

Now the search for a replacement begins.  I am pretty sure that Phil has one from a newer model, but I don't have the part numbers to be sure.  Would there be any issue with substituting a newer drive plate and bearing on the 1959 Imperial?   

 

[swestoyz]

The bearing on the Filtrators is a common-sized bearing. If you pull the bearing and check the numbers online you might get lucky and can find a cross reference out there.

Ben

 

[christfr]

hang in there I had one do that years ago same thing kind of a bitch I must say

 

[sfh074]

Here is a pic ......

of the toasted bearing in question. Looks like it has seen better days. Dried out and galling set in.

Anyone have one of these in better condition?

 

[norgeway]

You have as bad a luck

with dryers as I do with stoves,,lol

 

[combo52]

1959 FD Vented Dryer

Hi paul, I don't think I have the parts you need for this one, a machinist could easily rebuild that shaft and rear bearing.

 

FD vented dryers in the 50s had lots of problems [ good thing they didn't try making a gas one, LOL ] even by the mid 70s I could count on one hand the number I ever saw still in use in customers homes.

 

They suffered from heater problems, bad wiring, loose blowers, bad motor bearings and front and rear drum bearing wear problems, when you get it rebuilt I would not use this one much.

 

John L.

 

[pierreandreply4]

did you check the in dryer fusebox

Paul did you check the inside dryer fusebox to see if the dryer drum turns or do it light up but drum not turning and controls are on?

 

[steved]

part number

Part number 5436520 "Drum Shaft Bearing" is used on all 1952-61 vented dryers and some early production 1962 vented models. Does that help the search?

 

[turquoisedude]

Yes, that's the part number I've been digging for. I found a later reference to a part number 530 5436250; it also shows up as NLA. But I keep on searchin'...

 

[turquoisedude]

At last.... an update!

I've been quietly stewing about the '59 Frigdaire dryer being out of service, alternately doing mad searches for a new bearing and alternately straining my poor addled brain trying to figure out what might be a viable substitute....

The notion of getting a machine shop to look at the bearing came up, but alas, I had been unable to find a local one or a machinist who didn't look at me as if I'd just stepped off a spaceship when I asked if they could remake a bearing. After the kind offer of a fellow member, Bud, in Atlanta, I decided I had nothing to lose by sending the bearing to him as he had found a potential machine shop who might be willing to help.

Well, here's where it gets interesting: as I was crossing the Vermont/Quebec border on Saturday morning to send the bearing, one of the border security agents said to me, and I quote: "Atlanta? Hell, go see Pat Boisvert in Beebe Line. He's been doing metalwork for years; this'll be a piece of cake for him!"

So, I went to see M. Boisvert (just an aside - his shop is on a street that literally runs along the Canada/US border. His address was on the Beebe Line, VT side. It was interesting...) Anyway, he cleaned up the bearing and shaft and came to the conclusion that the bearing was made of a porous material and could be re-oiled. His recommended procedure was to heat up a quantity of 20-weight motor to the 'ouch' point (his instructions were to heat the oil up until when you tried to put a finger in it, you'd go 'Ouch'). He said to then drop in the bearing; if it bubbled, it meant it was dry. Well lookee what happened...

 

[turquoisedude]

M. Boisvert said to keep the bearing 'cooking' until no more air bubbles were present. I did. This took about an hour and fifteen minutes on LO on the GE Wonder Kitchen cooktop. The house reeked but it was worth it! The bearing turned smoothly again!

 

[turquoisedude]

I was very pleased and naturally, I reassembled the dryer drum. I could turn it smoothly again!!

HOWEVER....

Yeah, turquoisedude strikes again. I managed to lose a woodruff key that went into the dryer drum shaft to hold the pulley in place, so I couldn't fully reassemble the dryer and test it. My first challenge for this week will be to find a replacement woodruff key.

 

[turquoisedude]

HOWEVER... part II

As I had the back of the dryer off and bright daylight was streaming into the garage, I noticed something not so good on the motor switch connector block.

Look at that spade terminal and wire, as well as the board around the terminal itself. That looks like evidence of an overheating connection to me... Knowing how well I've done with vintage dryer work in the past year, I'm proud of myself for spotting this!

The terminal itself is loose, I can wiggle it around, unlike the other terminals on the connector block. Natch, this wire goes right to the heater so I am figuring that there is some kind of a centrifugal switch that activates the heater only if the motor is running. How to fix the problem is now intriguing me...

My first thought was pull the motor (I wasn't sure if I could just remove that switch block) and figure out how to tighten the connector post. But then I had another thought... Maybe this is a good opportunity to use a relay to control the heater instead of a motor switch.

One way or another, I want to correct this to avoid any unpleasant surprises (do feel free to remind me of the lousy connections I did on the '53 Westinghouse dryer and how well THAT worked out...LOL).

If I do go with a relay, what should I be looking for in terms of the relay itself? Should I be thinking of wiring it in such a way that the relay was powered when the motor was running, as the centrifugal switch does? All advice and opinions are welcome!

While I mull this over, I think I may still begin disassembly of the '57 GE dryer which I also believe is suffering from a motor switch issue. It's gonna be a fun summer!!

 

[lowefficiency]

>> when you get it rebuilt I would not use this one much.

What's the fun in that?

 

[sfh074]

Ace Hardware ......

always has a nice assortment of woodruff keys in the hardware section.

 

[turquoisedude]

May have found a suitable relay

Yes, I am fishing for suggestions and recommendations here...

I did a little bit of head-scratching and searching and I think (you all know that process is flawed, too.. LOL) I may have found a relay that would work for the heater on the Frigidaire dryer.

My thoughts were that I'd need a 240v DPDT relay that could handle 40 amps. This is a damn good match that I found at Acklands-Grainger Canada.

Will this work or I am setting myself up for yet another failure??

 

[pulltostart]

Paul,

Why don't you run this one past the border security guard?  You never know.....

 

 

 

lawrence

 

[turquoisedude]

Lawrence, I think I will. He may be a vintage appliance fan now, after all the crossings I've done with vintage machines and parts... LOL