It's Timeline time!!

[turquoisedude]

I'm planning on bringing this one into the regular rotation - it's actually going to bring me one step closer to an all-50s machine laundry room.  Of course that is conditional on a slot opening up on the wall of washers in Ogden and fingers crossed, a space may just open up this March!

 

[alr2903]

Great Video Paul,  Thank You!  I really enjoyed your posts through out the restoration.  You have brought it a long way since racking billiard balls in reply #12, LOL..  Thanks Again!    A

 

[philr]

Wile E Coyote and his latest project... Hopefully this one won't have a catastrophic failure!

 

;-)

 

[turquoisedude]

Well, speaking of catastrophic failures...

OK, so I'm blowing it a wee bit out of proportion....  

 

I spent the last week down in Ogden, hiding out with Canyon while they redo the floors and trim at the 'new' house in St-Liboire.  I was eager to put the Norge into a permanent slot in the Ogden Laundry, so I double-checked and changed the clamp connecting the tub fill hose and the water valve on the '56 Norge.   The good news is that the leak I had observed during the filming of the 'debut' was resolved.  

 

The bad news was that the Norge no longer wanted to spin...  I swear I could hear the Hotpoint mocking me from out in the garage.  

 

So, I did some digging.  The test I did was with a full tub of water. I noticed that when the washer started up in agitation, there was a short buzz from the motor but the washer would begin to agitate within 10 or 15 seconds. But when I tried to get '8 of 56' to spin, all I got was motor buzz...  I siphoned out the water and tried again.  The washer started to spin.  As is the case with me, I was already jumping to conclusions about what was wrong.   My first instinct was the belt tension.  For the heck of it, I tried taking the belt off to see what the motor did.  For spin and agitation, it started up immediately and seemed fine.  I tried to tighten the belt, ever so slightly and with an empty tub, I was able to get the washer to agitate and spin.  But when I filled the tub again - no dice. 

 

I was a little miffed, but figured I should consult the doctrine... Fortunately I have the '57 Norge service literature from the board library.   I read the symptoms and cures thoroughly - and sure enough, the manual had a section on the motor describing the trouble I had encountered.  The suspected cause?  A weak capacitor.  

 

It made sense to me and had actually been one of my 'suspicions'... The start switch in the motor was another probable cause.

 

Well, I extracted the motor and took it to my faithful repair place in Magog last week to have both items checked.   Hopefully I'll have a repaired motor sometime over the long weekend and the Norge will be set into its rightful place in the Ogden Laundry. 

 

Of course, in the meantime, it's place is being kept ready by another, rarer machine of mine that miraculously fixed itself last week, no doubt as a consolation for not being able to play with the Norge.   Hint: the washer brand name begins with 'D'....

 

[turquoisedude]

Well....

On Tuesday, I got the call from the motor place in Magog - the Emerson that drives the Norge had been fully serviced and was ready for pick-up.  Hubby took off for Brazil on Wednesday, so you can guess how fast I hit the road on Thursday to head back down to Ogden by way of the motor shop in Magog.  And on Friday, I reinstalled the motor... 

 

It worked like a charm.  Wonderful!  Marvelous!! (Careful, if you say 'Awful Nice' you will haunted by the ghost of Cole Porter or Ray Conniff, depending on who's available....)   Now where was I?  Oh yes, the Norge.   It agitated without the slightest hesitation.  It went into spin smoothly.  I tried it with water and without.  Didn't make a difference this time - that motor spun out a tubfull of water in the blink of an eye.  

 

BUT....

 

Yeah, we all saw THAT coming...    It seems the Timeline Cycle Control doesn't like me anymore.  When testing the repaired motor, the control stalled at the fill, wash, and spin phases of the cycle...  Oddly enough I could hear the timer motor running, but that Timeline was not a-budgin'.... 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

I took the control out and opened it up again to investigate.   At first I thought the set screw that holds the screw-shaped drive gear was too loose and the screw drive was not contacting the timer carriage assembly where the contacts are.  

 

I was able to tighten it, no problem.  

 

[turquoisedude]

I put the control back together again.  It still wouldn't advance.... 

 

I checked the gear that meshes with the timer motor to make sure it was making good contact.  

 

It was (and still is).... 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

And it gets better... When the rear cover plate of the control is off, the timeline will advance.  The moment I put that cover back on, it stalls.   I also have no more photos as of this point 'cause I had a 'whoopsie' that sent my camera across the basement floor and I think it's finito... 

 

Camera problems aside, I am now stumped...  My first instinct was that perhaps the metal fingers of the carriage (a previous picture shown here) are pressing too tightly against the cover, but I feared that any adjustment to them would mean contacts to the fill solenoids, motor, tub brake, etc would no longer be made reliably.   But the other concern is that perhaps the screw drive itself is worn to the point that it just doesn't allow the carriage to move along it.  

 

I've taken that thing apart so many times, too, and I wonder if I've not inadvertently messed something up.  

 

Has anyone run into a situation like this before??  Canyon was no help whatsoever.... LOL

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Turquoisedude's trial by timeline...

Well, that about sums up the weekend... LOL  

 

I was itching to get back down to Ogden to tinker with the Timeline cycle control and spent the better part of the day (and evening) on Friday doing just that.  I didn't have a lot to go on but the Norge service literature I do have made mention of greasing the mechanism several times, so I figured that would somewhere to start.  It started to feel like I was stuck in an endless cycle of dismantle, grease, re-assemble and test.  But each try got me a little closer and I learned a lot about these Timeline controls; hopefully this can be of assistance to another Norge owner.

 

I apologize in advance for the repeat postings of some photos and the poor close-ups, but the picture is needed to help explain what I discovered. 

 

First discovery - note the colour change of the drive shaft.  I had thought that was simply discoloration from old grease having dried on.  Nope.  It's actual wear.  

 

One of the issues '8 of 56' was having was the timer seemed to get stuck at the initial fill.  After heaven knows how many times taking the timer apart, I noticed that when the carriage was started on the lighter section of the screw drive, it would advance then get stuck.  I figured it had to be when the carriage hit the worn section of the drive and when I did further testing, I noticed that if I kept the carriage on the grey section of the drive, it would advance normally.   Well, it made sense to me...  

 

I also greased that drive screw very well and this seemed to help.  

 

[turquoisedude]

In my further tests, I still noticed that the Timeline was not working consistently when the contact plate had been re-installed.  I had already discovered that the screw drive shaft had to be held in place tightly enough for the carriage to 'bite' the threads but not so tight as to prevent the shaft itself from turning.  I had overtightened the set screw on the right side of the housing so the shaft was binding on it.  I also figured that the drive screw shaft was not true...  I think that I probably bent the shaft when I reinstalled-removed-reinstalled the knob for the carriage. So with a slightly wobbly screw shaft, I figured there wasn't going to be much that I could do.  

 

I'm pleased to say that I managed to adjust the shaft so that there is just a bit of play.  And if I'd looked carefully, I would have noticed that the set screw that holds the shaft in place could be adjusted with an Allen key...  

 

I made the adjustments with the timer motor running and when I heard the carriage was binding (the timer motor changed pitch) I used the Allen key to loosen the set screw.  Bit by bit, I seemed to find the right spot for it.  After multiple tests out of the washer, the cycle control seemed to be operating with the contact plate in place. I was never happier to hear the clunk of the contacts as they moved along!

[this post was last edited: 4/11/2016-10:30]

 

[turquoisedude]

And here's something to beware of in Timeline cycle controls.... Those screws on the lower section of the carriage should be good and tight, but the screw directly above the control bar should be just tight enough to hold the carriage firmly.  I believe I had tightened this screw just a wee bit too much and with the slight wobble on the screw drive, it was getting the carriage stuck while the machine was in the Wash portion of the cycle.  

 

I also greased the housing where the carriage made contact to make sure it would move smoothly.

 

I did several tests and I was very happy to see that the washer no longer got stuck at the 6-minute mark of the wash cycle.  I only did two full-cycle dry test with all the components connected again, but I was able to get through the wash cycle both times.  

 

[turquoisedude]

So that's it for now.... I ran out of steam and needed a break (I went garage-saling) so I'll probably do a real wash test only this coming weekend.  

 

My concern is that I may still have some trouble with the initial fill - the water pressure in Ogden is not terrific and I do have some difficulty with the time-fill machines getting enough water in them.  However there is an adjustment that can be made using that fan-like lever on the left side of the cycle control (see the photo in the previous reply).  This sets a stop position for the timer control bar to allow the carriage to run for a shorter or longer period during the initial fill.  I'll need to play with that and hope I don't position the carriage at the unworn spot of the drive shaft... 

 

But even more importantly, I now have to decide where to slot the Norge in the Ogden laundry.  That means it may take the place of the Blackstone or the Inglis.  The Dominion jumped into the slot I had freed for the Norge (because I thought I had actually sold the Maytag A702 but that deal fell through).   

 

Oh, I'm going to be tossing and turning all night this week over this.... LOL 

 

[gansky1]

Interesting timer control in that, isn't it?  I've not had any trouble with mine so we'll keep speaking in hushed tones so as not to startle it  I've been lucky so far...

 

It's wonderful how far you've come since you first found us here, your courage and stamina to keep plugging away at these vintage treasures is inspiring.  

 

Keep us posted on your wash-load tests, I'm sure they'll do just fine now.

 

[norgeway]

One thing for sure!

They will outwash just about anything!!

 

[turquoisedude]

So....

I did manage to run a full-load test with the Norge on the weekend.  The timer stalled on me during fill and the first few minutes of the wash part of the cycle.  However, by manually advancing the control to about the infamous 6-minute mark on the timeline, the carriage seemed to engage and the rest of the cycle completed automatically.  

 

I also noted that the washer did not use warm water for the rinse; it was hot.  This however uncovered a plumbing snafu caused by the contractor who redid our bathroom...  For some reason, the way he plumbed in the cold water line to the laundry tub/washer connections there is some kind of siphoning going on that sucks hot water out of the heater tank and sends it down the cold line to the washers!!  Contractors....Eesh!  He's been informed and I know where he lives... LOL

 

In the meantime, I'm planning another Norge rescue mission - stay tuned!

 

[toploader55]

OMG.

A Norge Village in Ogden.

 

[turquoisedude]

Yep, get yer Viking helment and come visit... LOL

 

[toploader55]

Should I bring Sven God of Shaft Seals and Bearings ???

I hear he has quite the Fluid Drive.

LOLOLOL

 

[turquoisedude]

Oh, thanks Eddie... Just sprayed the computer screen with coffee...  Oh, well, at least no weeds will grow on it this summer...  LOL

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Does AW have a, Biggest Gluten For Punishment Ward"...oops I mean, "award"?

I mention this parenthetically to your anoucement of securing another Timeline, purely a happy coincidence...