Latest Acquisitions

[DADoES]

AeroSmart Dryer Clean-Up

 
The previous owners apparently had pets, lots of short white/black animal hair in the lint accumulation.  Also some general dirt.

Disassembly is by removing the top panel, front panel, and the door grabber mechanism.  The internal chassis then tilts out forward as a unit for further disassembly.

The heater box and motor control board mount to the floor.

Two heating elements, 3,400 watts (2/3 capacity - A) and 1,600 watts (1/3 capacity - B).  Both elements energize on high temp, forward drum rotation.  Only the A element operates on medium and low temp, forward direction.  Only the B element operates during reverse tumble.

The lint filter ring rotates with the drum.  A scraper piece about 1/8" distance from it peels accumulated lint off the inner surface which drops into a collection bucket, thus effectively keeping the filter clear throughout the cycle.

The ring of dimples embossed into the drum is optically read by the sensor board in Pic 9 to monitor the rotational speed and direction, and position (the gap in the dimple ring) for opening the drum door.

The wad of lint and hair in Pic 10 is behind the housing where the collection bucket sits.

The back of the lint scraper can be seen at the top in Pic 11.

 

[DADoES]

AeroSmart Reassembly

 
The blower pulls air through the heater box, through the input flume on the right side of the chassis, into the drum, through the filter ring and the duct on the left side of the chassis, and blows out the exhaust duct.  Can reach into the exhaust duct from the back and touch the blower wheel.

New bearing shaft.  Sorry, I didn't get a pic of the bearing assembly that mounts to the drum.

 

[DADoES]

 
The drum baffles and door housing are mounted into the drum during assembly and cannot be disassembled.  I wanted to remove the baffles to clean the lint that surely is accumulated in them but that's not possible.  :-(

The drum door is secured closed by the red latch tabs and the locking bars.

A dual-pulley assembly applies tension to the drum belt.

The drum door is opened by way of the drum rotating slowly backwards, the door grabber mechanism moving down to release the red latches, catch and lift the locking bars and "grab" the door.  The door then essentially is held stationary as the drum continues to rotate, which slides the door through the slots in the housing and it ends up hanging in front of the drum.

Closing the door is the reverse ... drum rotates forward until the door is closed, then the door grabber lifts to release and engage the locking bars and "let go" of the door.

The lid, of course, locks during operation for safety ... otherwise fingers could get caught and mangled by the rotating drum.

The lid unlocks during a power failure.  A tab is provided to manually press the lid grabber down while rotating the drum backward by hand to open the lid.  There's an information sticker on the drum lid with instructions.

 

[DADoES]

Dryer Refurb Complete

 

 

[gansky1]

Nice work, Glenn, the dryer looks amazing. Your detail and cleaning skills are to be commended, just sparkling work.

Now I want one of these dryers, again. I've seen a couple over the years on CL, etc. but haven't bitten. May have to try one, they are very unique.

 

[deltablu]

Looks like your lint filter is intact. With that much garbage in the filter bucket area, that's impressive. I did see that your A element is beginning to sag. Probably want to pick up an element kit while the parts still exist, unless you already have one.

 

[DADoES]

 
AeroSmart swapped in.  SmartLoad swapped out.

I like the lighter colors on the SmartLoad panel better than the black AeroSmart.  :-/

 

[DADoES]

 
The AquaSmart worked with new suspension rods.  Yay!  I also changed the RPS so can't say with 100% certainty the suspension was the problem, although I imagine so.  I don't "feel" much difference on the dampening of the old rods vs. the new when pulling on them so it's apparently subtle.

For those who noticed the reference above to "worked" ... that's right, it's now not working.  My fault.  Playing with it too much.  I raised/lowered the top several times while watching it spin ... one time too many and too high up, causing a wire in the new RPS harness to get cut against the sharp edge of cabinet where the wire bundle passes up to the console at a notch at the right rear corner.  The catastrophe zapped the motor board.  Not fully dead but non-functional, has a burned spot.  The new RPS probably is also damaged.

The replacement RPS has a hard-wired 5-lead harness which eliminates a connection plug at the RPS in the motor to avoid potential for corrosion or erratic contact.  The original wire bundle has a heavy wrap of electrical tape at the corner.  The new RPS harness is zip-tied to it at several points up from the bottom but is otherwise exposed at that corner.  I should have either taped it there or run it on the inside of the bundle instead of on the outside.  I left the original RPS harness in place in the wire bundle so can swap that RPS back in but have to replace the motor board.

 

[iowabear]

Enjoyed all the pictures.  The dryer looks smaller than the typical FL one, yet the capacity shows 6.2, so it's not really that much smaller.  Is it just an optical illusion?

 

Does the reversing action really reduce tangling on things like sheets?

 

[DADoES]

 
It is smaller than what's typical nowadays, especially the 8.8 and 9 cu. ft. models that are available from some brands.  The service manual states 6.5 cu. ft. (but the AeroSmart model number nomenclature references 6.2).  I've always found it able to take a full washer load although the limit is pushed on occasion by my extra-large towels/socks/kitchen linens loads.

Reverse tumble seems effective.  There's no way to watch the tumble action with the drum being sealed closed during operation.  A single large item such as a quilt or bedspread doesn't roll-up to have any remaining damp areas.  The one time I dried a queen-size quilt in the WP 27" Calypso-match dryer on the designated Bulky cycle ... no such joy.

The drum rotates at 47 RPM during drying.  4 mins forward tumble, 40 seconds reverse, repeated throughout drying and cool down.  Cool down is to 95°F or 10 mins max on auto-sense.  5 mins on 20 mins timed, 10 mins on 40 and 80 mins timed.  Anti-wrinkle function tumbles 30 seconds every 5 mins (direction reverses for each tumble period) to a maximum of 255 cycles (approx 23 hrs).  20 RPM when searching for "home" position to prepare for door opening.  5 RPM after "home" is found until the door unlatches and the drum stops, which is via stalling at the end of the door's travel range.

 

[iowabear]

Found this article about the development of these dryers, not really sure who the audience was for this but it's fascinating. 

 

A feature I like is auto lint accumulator which is discussed on page 23.  At certain times of the day the sun shines though my basement windows and when I clean the lint filter on my Maytag dryer you can see the lint go flying!  No wonder the basement gets dusty.

 

The detail on the auto-dry is great too.  It's funny, we had a GE dryer with auto-dry when I was growing up but my mother never used it.  She taught me just to use timed dry and the amount of time for jeans, towels, mixed loads, etc.  I have no idea why she didn't use it.  After that I used coin laundry and the first time I used auto-dry was when I bought this house with an older 1987 Maytag dryer.  I was actually surprised when it worked almost perfectly.  I've changed the drum rollers and belt and it's still working fine.

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media.datatail.com

 

[foraloysius]

Thanks for that link! What puzzles me is why they never took this a step further and designed an H-axis toploader. They could have used the same technology to open the washer drum automatically.

 

[iowabear]

Technology in washer and dryers doesn't interest many.  The last two people I know who bought new washers were both single men and both bought one of the giant top-loading wash plate models.  (one Samsung, one LG.)

 

When I asked why they chose them, both said the same thing, they were the biggest ones that were on sale.  When I asked how they liked them, they both said "fine" and that was the end of the conversation, LOL.

 

[askolover]

Here's the door opening/closing mechanism in action courtesy of RedCarpetDrew

 

[fisherpaykel]

Jim, yes thanks for that link, made for very interesting reading, engineered for sure. As to tangling of sheets I've had the dryer long enough that I forget about that problem-the worst is the ocassional sock getting caught in a corner of a fitted sheet. Glenn am I correct that previous owner must have used dryer softener sheets as that lint looks like sticky softener impregnated lint? Does correct dosing of liquid softener avoid the stickiness of dryer sheets? I don't use any softener myself. I have not removed the filter cover on my Smartload to check but sure hope I don't have that accumulation. Having recently replaced the pump on my GWL11-squealing on startup, sure enough rust on motor- good that they have this new pump design, similar to dishdrawer pump, which avoids pump shaft seal leaks. I assume this pump design is also on the agitator models? Thanks for all the detailed photos. Is that your Whirlpool Calypso in photo?

 

[DADoES]

 
I found that dryer document 6 years ago.  It seems to be an updated version issued when AquaSmart and AeroSmart were introduced, with the addition of references to those models.  My SmartLoad dates to 2004 and has a different model syntax.

Whatever all was involved in their research of the auto-sensor algorithms resulted in very accurate and consistent performance in my experience.  SmartLoad defaults to the regular "Dry" level on all cycles and I *rarely* have anything needing a recycle.  Microfiber fabric throws it off-kilter, blankets/throws and I have a set of sheets that I don't much like anyway.  I also have a set of cotton towels with large-weave pima cotton loops on the surface that are always left damp.  They're not very absorbent for the intended function after a shower so are relegated to decorative purposes.

AeroSmart defaults to "Dry/Extra Dry" (one step up from normal "Dry") on Heavy (which is equivalent to Denim on SmartLoad) and Sheets.  I've used Sheets once thus far and it seemed overdried so I will drop that to "Dry" on the next use.

Yes, the previous owner(s) used dryer sheets, there was one stuck under the edge of a drum baffle.  The filter mesh had some residue, washed it thoroughly (and carefully) with Mr. Clean and a toothbrush.

I believe the WashSmart agitator models went to the SmartPump.  The Selni pump was still used on agitator EcoSmart (non-AquaSmart) models through at least Phase 9 in 2010.  Word is the vendor in France that produces them is shutting down (or already has) so they've gone NLA except for existing stock.  I bought three spares and used one on the GWL11 refurb for my mother so have two left.  I ran across a pump replacement how-to video on YouTube from a supplier in Aus that offers a substitute but there's no info provided for where/how to get them.

Yes, the Calypso.

 

[DADoES]

 
There's a black-panel EcoSmart and SmartLoad set for sale $50 in a small town 20 miles up the road.  Ad says the dryer has a squeak and the washer panel is "getting finicky."  Nope, not doing it.

 

[iowabear]

Think of all the cheap parts that might be hard to get one day...  Only $50...  They wouldn't take up that much space..

 

[DADoES]

 
I gave-in.

The sale is on FB Marketplace.  I noted the seller's current location and the tiny town he's from via his profile.  Contacted him.  Discussed some details, then I asked if a couple of names related to his "from" town are familiar.

Yes, very much so.

His dad worked with Granny's brother-in-law.

 

[iowabear]

Hard to pass up for $50.  We'll be awaiting another set of pictures!