Kenmore belt drive clunking/banging and not spinning/draining properly?

[barcoboy]

One thing to check for is once draining starts, does the washer try to start spinning before the timer moves an additional increment? Time how long each timer increment is... I believe they should be 2 minutes. In between the wash and spin portions of the cycle, there should be at least one if not two increments of the timer (ie: 2 or 4 minutes) where the neutral drain occurs, and the timer does not send power to either wig-wag. If the washer tries to start spinning in the increment immediately after the agitation stops and draining starts, then that is not normal.

One other thing you can try is a different cycle on the timer to see if the same thing happens in that cycle.

 

[mrb627]

Timer

You may need to time the neutral drain as well as monitor the timer advancement.
I suspect there should be 2 increments of neutral drain before spin is engaged. Additionally, the water level may have been adjusted too high which invites small items to hope the edge of the tub and get down to the drain port. Perhaps a long shot, but we are all throwing stones in the dark...

I would get over there and examine operation yourself as soon as possible.

Malcolm

 

[dustin92]

The water level is definitely not too high, I've thought about raising it a bit but never actually have. I'm pretty sure it's one of the first portables, I'll snap a couple pictures of it when I go over there, probably this evening. It definitely doesn't start spinning immediately after agitation stops, it drains for maybe 45 seconds to a minute, then starts attempting to spin.

 

[yogitunes]

from what I have seen, all portables had a 4 minute drain, already built in for purpose of using a sink connector, hence the smaller hose restriction...still way more than enough time to drain out the tub...

timer increments, at least for a electromechanical timer is 2 minutes.....only machine I ever see to alter was an electronic/digital machine, which would measure and account for when the tub was empty, to jump into spin.....so as a small load would not take as much time to drain as a full tub...my own experience has been with a direct drive machine....

but even my full size, super capacity, 1984 belt drive had a 4 minute drain....
and all water was gone before the first two minute part was finished....the rest seemed a waste....

but actually, is this a true 24" portable?......or the one with retractable wheels?

 

[panthera]

I hate to say it

but ours really does only drain for 45 seconds before it begins to spin.

 

[DADoES]

A direct-drive machine must pause & restart the motor to shift from neutral-drain to spin, which requires a timer increment. The timer increments on it are 45 sec duration?

 

[dustin92]

It is a portable with retractable wheels, one fill valve and push to start timer. No temp control, load size is set by turning the knob past the fill portion of the cycle, otherwise it is a full load. Two speed motor with normal, delicate and permanent press cycles. Gold straight vane agitator, waterfall manual clean lint filter.

 

[mrb627]

So... It is this?

Is this the machine?

Malcolm

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?30712

 

[dustin92]

Yes! That's exactly it, washer and dryer both. They are white, but obviously that doesn't make a difference in the mechanical side of things.

 

[dustin92]

I'll be going over to check it out today, I was planning on going yesterday, but by the time I got other things done, it was getting a little late, and roads were getting a little slippery, and it's a 15 mile drive.

 

[mrb627]

I would bet...

That this machine is designed to have a standard drain hose and not the thinner hose for a 24" portable.
They may need to switch out the hose, then pay extra attention to the basin the machine empties into...

Malcolm

 

[dustin92]

I went over and observed it's operation, started a load- filled, started agitating (with a slight clunk, nothing too unusual), drained for 50 seconds, then made a large, loud clunk into spin (not out of spin as I'd previously thought), with about 1/4 tub of water. Kicked out of spin and almost immediately back in with another loud clunk. Immediately upon kicking into spin, all draining stopped, and as soon as it kicked back out, a strong stream of water was gushing from the drain hose. Would have continued on until either the spin cycle had finished or all the water drained so I just lifted the lid to stop it from spinning. In about a minute, the tub was empty and there was nothing flowing from the drain hose, so I closed the lid and let it get on with spinning. Again, large heavy clunk and all draining stopped, but slowly recovered as the tub gained speed. This time it did it's spray rinses and continued on into the rinse. Same story at the final spin- it kicked in with loud clunks and stopped draining, then back out and began draining. I left the lid up until the tub had emptied and it worked fine, same clunk but eventually came up to speed and drained the spun out water. The machine is agitating perfectly fine, draining well as long as the lid is left up, and coming to full spin speed after a large clunk. I then started a second load with the lid up, and as it was filling I closed the lid to hear a loud buzzing (possibly a solenoid?) Which stopped as soon as the lid was lifted (but continued to fill), then started back as soon as the lid was closed. Filled to its proper level and washed, and as soon as I heard it draining, I lifted the lid until the tub was empty, then closed the lid to begin spinning (single loud clunk), same for rinse minus the buzz while filling. I'm thinking the belt is slipping for one, but that isn't causing the clunking noise. I will attach a couple pictures, the first should be the water level and lint filter flow while washing, the second a picture of the washer and it's current location.

 

[kenmoreman]

Clunk noise

On top of the transmission there is a bar that goes across the top of the both cam bars.It's called a cam bar spring. It is held down by a screw that I believe has a 7/16 or 3/8 head. These sometimes loosen And the spring loses it's hold down tension. When the cam bar shifts during the spin cycle and it will make a very loud clunking noise. You can tip the machine on its face and access the nut with a combination wrench and tighten it down again. This will eliminate the noise when the agitate solenoid or the spin solenoid are activated.It will shift silently. This will fix it.

 

[barcoboy]

I'm really starting to think that there is something either wrong with the timer, or a short somewhere in that power is being sent to the spin solenoid on the wig-wag all the time. Maybe a contact that is stuck closed in the timer? This would explain the buzzing sound you hear during filling and why it stops when you lift the lid, and also why the machine is going into spin too quickly. The only thing that is preventing it from spinning while it is agitating is the pressure switch being satisfied, but once it starts draining, as soon as the pressure switch is no longer satisfied, power gets sent to the solenoid and the washer tries to start spinning, and kicks out once the water rises and re-satisfies the pressure switch (as others have explained). Another thing that would confirm my theory that the solenoid is on all the time is if the washer takes longer to stop spinning at the end of the spin period with the lid left closed than when the lid is opened mid way though the spin cycle. If the spin solenoid stays energized after spin, even though the timer cuts power to the motor, the washer does not shift out of spin and thus the brake is not applied, so the spin coasts to a stop rather than brakes. Lifting the lid interrupts the power to the solenoid, causing the washer to shift out of spin and apply the brake.

 

[dustin92]

Actually if the lid is opened during spin it takes a bit to slow down, but there is obviously some braking going on, the brake may be weak but it's doing something. The buzzing solenoid is only heard during the wash fill, and not always. it stops as soon as agitation starts. (It is loud enough to be heard over the machine) I'll venture out today and see what roads are like (got quite a bit of snow last night) wnd if not too bad I may go over and see if we can get it moved out. There may be a timer problem or something similar, but I'm just trying to get it spinning and draining properly, and eliminate the clunking noise. The short drain and buzzing on wash fill have been present since I picked the machines up for them nearly a year ago.

 

[mrb627]

Hmmm...

A single 50 second increment of neutral drain doesn't seem quite right.
The timer schematic might be on the service panel on the back of the cabinet.
Perhaps the timer was replaced at some point with a 50hz model causing it to cycle fast?
There may also be a hose between the pump outlet and the cabinet joint the is partially kinked.
After the clunk into spin, does the machine fall silent until it gradually picks up spin speed?
Clutch might be grabbing and need adjustment.

Malcolm

 

[akronman]

Kenmoreman

has it right, check the clamp holding the 2 long bars in place atop the transmission. My 1960 did the exact same behavior until someone here told me to check them

 

[mrb627]

Clunk

Does it sound like this? Advance to 6:15...



Malcolm

 

[lorainfurniture]

Your clunking noise is a mechanical problem. Typically on these belt drive units the belt goes bad because something made it go bad.

The pump is the most popular failure. Likely it's binding up, and only pumping when the motor is at full speed. Once the basket engages, there is no longer enough torque to make it all happen. The drive system should turn by hand easily, if not, there is something wrong.

 

[dustin92]

The clunk is similar to that, but louder. The machine seems louder in general than the video