Mark
Maybe 303 protectant for rubber, vinyl, plastic. ??
Good question, hope someone here knows what's best.
Maybe 303 protectant for rubber, vinyl, plastic. ??
Good question, hope someone here knows what's best.
Laundromat in Westchester NY
- Thread starter reversajet
- Start date
Help Support :
marks
Well-known member
Hey, can someone point me in the right direction for a service manual for this machine. I'm pretty sure it's a LB-4. Right?
Congrats on a great machine to save!
Mark I would not remove that boot if it is intact. It will be extremely difficult to get it to seal again on the outer tub side.
I would suggest some really hot water to start to soften it and go from there.
Mark I would not remove that boot if it is intact. It will be extremely difficult to get it to seal again on the outer tub side.
I would suggest some really hot water to start to soften it and go from there.
marks
Well-known member
Thanks, I was thinking the same. The tub is all off of every one of it's leaf springs and is going to take some work to realign it all properly. Any tips on that? Does anyone have a photo of the water inlet on the top? It looks like at one time there would have been a rubber sleeve, but that's long gone and there is just a copper pipe about 2 inches away from the inlet.
The bottom is completely rusted out, but I have a spare. Are the 4 stay bars bolted to the bottom floor, or the chassis where the feet mount?
First I'm going to get the tub back on all of its springs, wire in a new plug, replace the drain hose and possibly the inlet hose, reattach the balance weights, then I will feel safe to try and fire it up. Any tips on getting this tub back in line would be greatly appreciated!
The bottom is completely rusted out, but I have a spare. Are the 4 stay bars bolted to the bottom floor, or the chassis where the feet mount?
First I'm going to get the tub back on all of its springs, wire in a new plug, replace the drain hose and possibly the inlet hose, reattach the balance weights, then I will feel safe to try and fire it up. Any tips on getting this tub back in line would be greatly appreciated!
arbilab
Well-known member
Never took one that far apart but if the weights are off the tub will be out of range of all the damper plates except perhaps the bottom one. The leaf spring for that one attaches at the front of the base which will need replacing before the spring will bear weight. Depending upon condition that may be why the weights were removed.
Mark congrats on getting the Westinghouse. I would put a 1/2 cup of hot water on the ridges in the boot. Check for a leak. I do not know much about slant fronts. My mom had spacemates she would put a cookie sheet under her machine to finish washday, or until she got the repair guy for a new boot. There is a difference in the slant front and spacemate, I know the water level is above the boot on the older spacemates, the slant front water level was below the door. Both designs used plenty of water, fun and splashy. I think a small leak would be tolerated longer in a basement than in a kitchen as my mom's were. I remember a" leaky boot" as drips, not a flood. Arthur
marks
Well-known member
Put me on the list for the new boots, I'm sure I will need it at some point!
All of the leaf springs and rubber buffers are there and intact, just all off place. I removed the weights to be able to pick it up and load it into the car, so they're all there. I will work on it tonight trying to get it all back in place, then reattach the weights.
There is some rust in the door and along the bottom. Any tips on rust work other than sanding down and repainting?
My daily driver Easy has a slight drip, and I use it anyway, so if there's a little leak, I'm not concerned.
All of the leaf springs and rubber buffers are there and intact, just all off place. I removed the weights to be able to pick it up and load it into the car, so they're all there. I will work on it tonight trying to get it all back in place, then reattach the weights.
There is some rust in the door and along the bottom. Any tips on rust work other than sanding down and repainting?
My daily driver Easy has a slight drip, and I use it anyway, so if there's a little leak, I'm not concerned.
marks
Well-known member
Got some time to mess around with the Westy and here are the issues:
The motor appears to be dead! It will turn by hand, but just gets hot and smokes. Any tips other than sending it out for repair?
The mixing valve is dead and just keeps letting water in. I have a spare maytag one, will that work?
Otherwise, the boot is solid! It came without a top, so I will be harvesting parts from somewhere...
The motor appears to be dead! It will turn by hand, but just gets hot and smokes. Any tips other than sending it out for repair?
The mixing valve is dead and just keeps letting water in. I have a spare maytag one, will that work?
Otherwise, the boot is solid! It came without a top, so I will be harvesting parts from somewhere...
classiccaprice
Well-known member
Good luck, Mark! Check the archives, I think I was reading about a mixing valve issue a while back... Was it your machine, Paul? I'll help you search this weekend if you can't find it.
arbilab
Well-known member
How long was it on before the motor smoked?
The start capacitor may be bad. They don't always age well. With the motor sitting still, current through it doubles and it gets hot pretty fast.
You can test the capacitor for open or short with an ohmmeter. Short the terminals before touching just in case it's still charged. Short again just before each metering. On the 2K or 20K ohms scale a short will read near zero and stay there. If it's good the reading should go up pretty quickly from near zero then read overrange (usually blanks the right digits). Better multimeters can have a scale that will read capacitors directly. The charging action is easier to see on analog meters.[this post was last edited: 3/19/2014-01:46]
The start capacitor may be bad. They don't always age well. With the motor sitting still, current through it doubles and it gets hot pretty fast.
You can test the capacitor for open or short with an ohmmeter. Short the terminals before touching just in case it's still charged. Short again just before each metering. On the 2K or 20K ohms scale a short will read near zero and stay there. If it's good the reading should go up pretty quickly from near zero then read overrange (usually blanks the right digits). Better multimeters can have a scale that will read capacitors directly. The charging action is easier to see on analog meters.[this post was last edited: 3/19/2014-01:46]
WH L-4 Problems
The inlet valve needs be dissembled, cleaned and new diaphragms, unfortunately the diaphragms are hard to find for these early valves, it is usually easier to use a newer style inlet valve and then you will have hot-warm-and cold water temps.
The motor is an issue with most of these older two belt slant front WH washers, the best thing to do is adapt the motor from a late 70s-1988 3 belt WH-FL washer, after WCI bought WH they started using GE motors and I never saw a bad motor on these later 3B machines.
The inlet valve needs be dissembled, cleaned and new diaphragms, unfortunately the diaphragms are hard to find for these early valves, it is usually easier to use a newer style inlet valve and then you will have hot-warm-and cold water temps.
The motor is an issue with most of these older two belt slant front WH washers, the best thing to do is adapt the motor from a late 70s-1988 3 belt WH-FL washer, after WCI bought WH they started using GE motors and I never saw a bad motor on these later 3B machines.
marks
Well-known member
Thanks guys!
It's the motor coils, and there is a place locally that rebuilds them. I didn't get a price yet though.
The current broken mixing valve isn't the original, and it has 4 electric connections. Will any valve that has 4 connections function properly as a replacement?
It's the motor coils, and there is a place locally that rebuilds them. I didn't get a price yet though.
The current broken mixing valve isn't the original, and it has 4 electric connections. Will any valve that has 4 connections function properly as a replacement?
L-4 Inlet Valve and Motors
Yes they all have four wires going to them.
While the motor can be rebuilt GET AN ESTIMATE, this was the major weak point of these washers 60 years ago and I would be very surprised if anyone can rebuild one today and get it to work for long.
Yes they all have four wires going to them.
While the motor can be rebuilt GET AN ESTIMATE, this was the major weak point of these washers 60 years ago and I would be very surprised if anyone can rebuild one today and get it to work for long.
marks
Well-known member
I will definitely get an estimate first, and if it's outlandish, I will get a replacement motor of the same capacity.
Does anyone have a cache of Laundromat parts?
Does anyone have a cache of Laundromat parts?
Mark
some rubbers can revitalized by rubbing glycerin into them over months. Hand rub once a day for awhile. Glycerine seeps in and seals the rubber against further oxidation and usually makes it flexible again.
I thought we had someone working on producing new boots for these????????
some rubbers can revitalized by rubbing glycerin into them over months. Hand rub once a day for awhile. Glycerine seeps in and seals the rubber against further oxidation and usually makes it flexible again.
I thought we had someone working on producing new boots for these????????
classiccaprice
Well-known member
I posted this a few weeks ago when someone else asked
Thread 43746
To sum up the thread (which was 63 replies long)...
On 11/30/12, sudslock1 (i.e. Dave from St. Louis) wrote: "I've spoken with a rubber extrusion company and I am making final arrangements now to have (the) Westinghouse Laundromat door boot Q4688 reproduced." This is the boot used on 1949-1963 slant front laundromats. "Another member on here supplied me with NIB boot from Westinghouse that I could use to have a new dye made. I need to know how many people would like to have one (or more) of these so I can start coming up with a solid number ot have produced. The dye would belong ot me so I could have more made down the road if I wanted, but I think it would be wise to just make enough to last for a good long while. The gentleman at the rubber company gave me some ideas of different materials I could use but there is a cost factor so if there are only a few needed I'm not going to use anything super high grade and just try to go with OEM specs. Please let me know either by replying to this or sending me an email on here so I can get a number together. Thanks"
On 12/4/12 he said, "I am waiting on a final quote from the company and then I will place the order for an initial run of 100 boots to be made. I will give a couple of options for material on here and color before I make the final decision to see where the cost will be and if everyone agrees..."
I received an email from him in June 2013 that said "I am going to have 50 made but they won't be ready till fall. I will let you know a final cost when I have them in hand."
On 11/1/13 he said, "I've been kinda waiting to see if any more people wanted these boots because the more I get the cheaper it makes them. I have about 35 soft commitments for boots. I guess I will just go ahead with making 75 and sell them on here or on eBay. I will call the company Monday and give the go ahead for production. When they are done I will post on here and start selling them. I am going to guess they will (go) between $75 and $100 with no garter ring. They will be white in color."
That is the last we've heard about it. I bumped the thread three times through January, but no response.
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?43746
Thread 43746
To sum up the thread (which was 63 replies long)...
On 11/30/12, sudslock1 (i.e. Dave from St. Louis) wrote: "I've spoken with a rubber extrusion company and I am making final arrangements now to have (the) Westinghouse Laundromat door boot Q4688 reproduced." This is the boot used on 1949-1963 slant front laundromats. "Another member on here supplied me with NIB boot from Westinghouse that I could use to have a new dye made. I need to know how many people would like to have one (or more) of these so I can start coming up with a solid number ot have produced. The dye would belong ot me so I could have more made down the road if I wanted, but I think it would be wise to just make enough to last for a good long while. The gentleman at the rubber company gave me some ideas of different materials I could use but there is a cost factor so if there are only a few needed I'm not going to use anything super high grade and just try to go with OEM specs. Please let me know either by replying to this or sending me an email on here so I can get a number together. Thanks"
On 12/4/12 he said, "I am waiting on a final quote from the company and then I will place the order for an initial run of 100 boots to be made. I will give a couple of options for material on here and color before I make the final decision to see where the cost will be and if everyone agrees..."
I received an email from him in June 2013 that said "I am going to have 50 made but they won't be ready till fall. I will let you know a final cost when I have them in hand."
On 11/1/13 he said, "I've been kinda waiting to see if any more people wanted these boots because the more I get the cheaper it makes them. I have about 35 soft commitments for boots. I guess I will just go ahead with making 75 and sell them on here or on eBay. I will call the company Monday and give the go ahead for production. When they are done I will post on here and start selling them. I am going to guess they will (go) between $75 and $100 with no garter ring. They will be white in color."
That is the last we've heard about it. I bumped the thread three times through January, but no response.
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?43746
marks
Well-known member
I removed the boot from the front ant it was soft and nice thank goodness, but still add me to the list!
I need to do some rust work tithe door, front and bottom, which I will do like repairing a car. The motor goes in for an appraisal on Saturday and hopefully it will be an easy fix.
I need to do some rust work tithe door, front and bottom, which I will do like repairing a car. The motor goes in for an appraisal on Saturday and hopefully it will be an easy fix.
marks
Well-known member
Thanks Rick, yes the capacitor was also bad.
I'm having some trouble figuring out the motor wiring now, but I also have to order a new capacitor too.
I'm having some trouble figuring out the motor wiring now, but I also have to order a new capacitor too.
