Well I have found a pulsator solenoid too...
Crises just keep happening here but I will get to the post office eventually.
Mike:
As far as I know, the keyplates are the same on all slant fronts, aren't they? They are made of different materials and different colours, but the sizes and notches are all the same.
I know there are hot fill, cold fill and cold wash keyplates, but you can take a keyplate from any 3224 or 3226 and bung it in another 3224 or 3226 and it will do enough to test the machine. Or is that just the Australian ones?
The concept of the keyplate is really pretty simple. Each face of a keyplate (and there are 8 faces - 4 sides x upside down or right way up) and each face has a different series of notches and bumps. Each notch corresponds to one particular increment of the timer, whether it is a notch or a bump decides if that timer increment is completed or skipped. So for example the wash part of the timer has an increment for a 4 minute wash, and another increment for another 4 minute wash. Programs that use an 8 minute wash will stop the timer at the first wash increment and it will wash for 4 minutes. then the timer will advance to the second 4 min wash increment. A program with a 4 minute wash will skip over the first 4 minute wash increment and go straight to the second. Another notch on the keyplate will determine if the final 4 minute wash increment has pulsator action or not. (Pulsator action washes are only 4 minutes long.)
This system means there are an incredible maze of wires between the timer and the keyplate reader - 2 wires for every notch in the reader! Plus another pair for the "extra push" it takes to start a cycle. If you remove the keyplate during a cycle, all segments are de-selected so it skips straight to the end.
I always liked that it actually does EVERY action as it passes that increment, whether that increment is selected or not only alters if it stays on an increment or only does it for a second. So if you start a cycle and then remove the keyplate, you get squirt (hot fill) -click (timer increments) squirt (cold fill) click-click- click (heater different temperatures) - click ( 1 second tumble) - click (another tumble) - click ( 1 second pump) - and so on, clickety clacking with little bursts of activity, pausing only to pump out completely if there is water in the drum before its quick tumble and jump to spin for a second, then shut down.
Well that's me, yes I am barking mad.
Chris.
