Look what I found!

[brianl]

Some problems though

The timer does not advance and only in certain time intervals does it stop filling and agitate. For example, if I leave it on 8 or 10 minutes in the wash section, it will not stop filling. If I move it to 6, it will start to agitate. Other times I will need to bring it to the agitate section of rinse, and then it will work to agitate at the 6 minute mark on the wash cycle. In either case, I need to manually advance the time through the cycles. I have the double-rinse timer.

Also it either fills hot or it fills cold, but it will not fill warm like the switch shows. It leaks a bit, but I am not sure if that was due to me not stopping the fill soon enough when it reached the opening in the tub to drain out. Since the pump was not running yet, I am wondering if it overfilled internally as a lot of water pumped out when it began to agitate. Since then it did not seem to dump more water on the floor that I could tell.

From what I got so far, it says Model WO-65, but I forgot to snap a pic and the other ones I had did not come out. I will post some soon.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[qsd-dan]

Congrats Brian!

Take in consideration of the age of the unit and be thankful it actually works. There are many here who have got a hold of these and had to perform extensive repairs, not including the hunt to locate parts, before enjoying the unit.

The bearings sound a little noisy during the spin, but they're a standard size(s) so not too much to worry about there. I'd recommend getting a hold of an inner and outer bellows for the future (or for when you want to replace the bearings). You'll want to change the oil in the mechanism soon down the road. Try Larry at Modern Parts for a new timer, but hang on to the old timer for parts.

I haven't had any first hand experience with a unimatic, so others here will chime in with more/better advice.

Again, congrats!

 

[swestoyz]

Hey Brian -

Nice WO-65 you have there. Appears to have a 1956 Pulsator column/cap/rings with a 1950-1952 WO-65 diaphragm. Interesting!

The timer does not advance and only in certain time intervals does it stop filling and agitate.

Early Frigidaire timers work a bit different in the wash section than your typical washing machine. It is a ingenious design to compensate for the solid tub. Simply put, there is a special cam just for the wash fill that appropriately adjusts the fill time regardless of where you set the timer in the wash portion of the cycle. This special cam gets reset each time you pass through an entire cycle. To see if this is still functioning, cycle the timer through an entire cycle then set the wash time at the 4 minute mark. It should in theory start to fill when you turn the machine on. If it does, it is working fine.

Also it either fills hot or it fills cold, but it will not fill warm like the switch shows.

Sounds like the water valve has been replaced with a newer, non-thermostatic water valve (plain hot/cold). This is a pain. I've gotten around this by replacing the valve with a Dole 3-temp thermostatic valve. I suspect it is also possible to wire a relay to engage both solenoids for a WARM wash/rinse.

It leaks a bit, but I am not sure if that was due to me not stopping the fill soon enough when it reached the opening in the tub to drain out.

There really isn't anywhere for the water to go besides the cabinet cavity. I'd check to make sure that all the hoses are not cracked and are sealing around the flanges from the bulkhead of the cabinet to the pump ports. If it is still leaking check to see if water is coming from the fill hose, or also from the top of the pump body. If it is coming from the top of the pump body it is time to replace the pump seal (getting hard to find, most places do not have this).

It also sounds like the bearing is causing a stir during spin as well. Could be a sign that water has breached the mechanism, or maybe not. Defiantely would warrant a rebuild.

Don't be discouraged by the attention it needs. Start hunting locally for parts - and ask every store. You may hear NO 100 times and turn away, but 101th time could be a YES!

Ben

 

[thomasortega]

Hey Brian!

Congratulations for your machine! It looks great!

I can see there's some work to do, but it's very clear it's much better shape than mine.

If you take a look at my thread, you'll see a Frigidaire Unimatic can hide wonderful news and some bad surprises, but the important is never give up.

My friend Steve (Gyrafoam) is helping me by Skype and many other members are helping by email or that thread.

I'm not an Unimatic expert yet but during this whole week I discovered things can be much easier than I thought, specially with a priceless help from our automaticwasher.org friends.

I recommend that you try to fix that bearing and check the water and oil bellows before using the machine again. If the bellows are damaged, water can mix with the oil and cause a huge damage to the transmssion.

Believe me, it's very easy to be done. You just need some persistance, patience and wonderful friends.

Welcome to the VIP Unimatic Owners Club.

 

[appnut]

Brian, it's filling corectly, even with a bit overflowing before it finishes filling for wash. Leave it be!!! The flow rate may be a bit faster than what was specified if the valve has been replaced. Ya put the detergent in the pulsator column and put the rubber cap back on. Start the machine and let it do its thing automatically. The nice thing about that slight overflow fill before it finishes filling for wash is that any floating dirt or reidue is sent over the top before it starts washing. All this was pretty common for most solid-tub machines. With it being a WO60 and not a WO65-2, you get two complete rinses rather than the overflow rinse at the end of the wash as well as the overflow rinse cycle. You're a very lucky man!!

 

[brianl]

Looks like the original water valve

I noticed a picture of the water valve from the service manual on this site, and it looks like the original one. Looks like some work was done on the washer though, as the 2 wires from the motor are cut after about 3 inches and new wires run to the terminal jacks with some electrical tape to join the new and old wires. I noticed the service manual said it is a 4 minute fill, so I might just try turning down the water pressure and time 4 minutes out to see what happens. Is this a good test to try? Could the timer not be giving power appropriately to allow for a warm mix of water?

Could there be some other reason why the timer is not advancing or is it just the motor being burned out. I was thinking something along the lines or a loose wire to the timer motor or something.

Is it possible for the inner cavity of the washer to overfill and leak? When the washer went into wash cycle, it was pumping out extra water for close to 2 minutes before it finally stopped. Does this mean that a certain amount of water always stays in the cabinet until the next wash? I noticed water not really pumping out during the drain and spin, but only when it goes to the next wash or rinse cycle.

I would like to thank everyone for their support so far. I want to be very careful with this machine and am easily intimidated by its complexity and lack of readily available parts. I see why this machine is highly cherished in the group, and I am glad to have found it. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way yesterday, but worth it. Looks like it still has its original Delco motor in it. I hope I didn't duplicate any questions here and will definitely see what other threads here can help me out with.

Thanks again,
Brian

 

[thomasortega]

Brian
THe first thing I recommend is stop using the machine immediatelly and check some vital parts before continue using it.

Those Ingraham motors used on the timers are famous for their unreliability. (wow, now I'm talking like an Unimatic expert LOL)
It's very easy to check the timer motor.

UNPLUG THE MACHINE BEFORE ANY SERVICE TO AVOID ELECTRICAL SHOCK RISKS!

Remove the dial, the screw right behind it and the little nut on the hot/warm selector to remoce the crome plate.
Then you'll see the timer, it has 4 screws. Remove them.
Pull out the timer, but be careful as you don't want to damage the wires or the terminals.

right on the back of the timer, you'll see the motor (it's black and round) and on it's side, there are two wires connected side by side.

carefully disconnect those two wires and connect a test wire (any double wire with a plug) and plug it directly to the outlet.

You should see the motor running.

The Unimatic's pump runs during the whole cycle so, if the tub overflows during the fill, the water will start draining as soon as the machine starts agitating. The Unimatic never keeps water in the cabinet until the next load.

I think you should also let the machien dry completely, remove it's top and clean the area between the cabinet and the tub, specially the botto. It's not unusual to find lint buttons or any other debris in that area that could clog the drain of even damage the pump.

I also recommend that you really check the water and oil bellows. those are two of the most important vital parts of your machine. If they are worn or damaged, some water will enter the transmission and cause a disaster.

As I told before, I thought it would be very difficult to disassemble the machine, but with all the help from many club members, specially Steve, I discover day after day these machines are very simple and the work is much easier than I thought.

Also, don't be afraid to ask twice, 3 times or a million of times the same thing until you understand perfectly each step of a restoation. Even Robert, who's knowledge is impressive or Steve, who helps me like phisically in front of my machine had many questions to ask when they restored an unimatic by the first time.

I just added you to my msn so I can help you in real time (up to the point i've reached in my restoration) if you want.
Also, I believe Steve would be very glad to help you too.

The best of all. I discovered by my own experience that most of the tools the manual says you'll need can be replaced by tools that you may already have at home or find in good hardware stores. On my thread you can see many answers, including pictures of helpful tools and some step by step instructions that are updated almost every day.

If you want, I can also put my restoration on hold until you reach the same point, so we can do this together and be helped together.

And even being hard to find the parts, it's not impossible and not so difficult as I thought too.

 

[brianl]

Thank you Thomas!

I think I will be learning a lot from your thread and may be able to benefit from the knowledge you gained. I did forget to mention that it actually only leaks on spin. After the overfill on the wash cycle, I dried everything up, and had made a second attempt that same day and noticed no leaking until it spun out the water. I definitely want to fix those bearings though and get the machine running nice and smoothly. Any information on what bearings I am supposed to look for would be great.

Do I need any specific parts before I start taking the machine apart. The bellows and seals seem to be a hard item to locate I noticed from your thread and that some parts were NLA (forgot which ones at the moment.) Is there a parts book or something with part numbers? I would like to be able to do some research online for stuff if possible.

Lastly, I would hate to delay you on your restoration if you are that far ahead. I am pretty slow at times, and could probably follow off of yours if I need assistance. I will probably need all the help I can get though, and am glad you will be around if I need it as well as the rest of the group. We should start up a Frigidaire class with lots of information and train some people to be certified Unimatic repair experts!

 

[thomasortega]

Brian, the only tooks I used when I started the restoration was a pressure plier (is it the correct definition in english) that I used to remove the pulsator nut without damaging it.

I think the most important to always have in mind is that it's a 55+ years old lady so, be gentle, always!

During the last week I had a lot of time to work on the frigidaire because of the Christmas. My times are also tight and when I have time, it's usually after 10pm and I can't make much noise as I live in an apartment and I don't want to disturb my neighbours.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work, but I'll have some days off again starting on 31st until the next monday. I think it will be enough to disassemble the whole transmission.

on Jan 4th, a new vacation's intensive course starts at the school I teach so I won't have time at all for a whole month, except sundays. and I'll be usually tired and it will be the only day I'll have time to do all my laundry and iron everything so the frigidaire will be on second plan.

I hope I can disassemble the whole transmission until there to let it soaking to remove the rust.

On march I'll probably receive the parts and start reassembling it, April is my birthday and on May (if everything goes fine as planned) I'll spend some days in the US visiting some AW.org members and making new friends.

Now I have a washing machine in front of my bed (i can touch it with my toes), the tub on the right side and the top cover and the lid on the left side. (I can also touch them with my toes). I think i'm sleeping in heaven with this decoration LOL.

 

[brianl]

Sounds like you got your work planned out for you. When you say "pressure pliers", I guess you are referring to vice-grips? This is my first ever taking a machine apart, as I am still waiting on parts for my Whirlpool. I am so nervous about screwing something up, but I think with everyones help, you and I can get our Unimatic's up and running. Maybe your friend Steve can order us both parts lol. I appreciate all the words of confidence.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[appnut]

Brian, the water doesn't completely leave the cabinet until the final spin. the pump is kinda weak, but that's how it was back then. Unimatics are wonderful washers. Since I kinda grwe up with these and other solid tubs, I can't quite relate to your perplexity and concern about the water in the cabinet. But it's all functioning properly. The spins between the wash and rinses is long enough to get most of the water out of the clothes. Residual water is pumped out druing each rine. But there's always some water kinda bouncing out of the tub holes up top. I think you'd be even more perplexed, or maybe put more at ease, if it was a WO65-2 with overflow rinses. If you haven't experienced it yet, I cannot wait until you do a 140 degree hot water wash and it throws that hot wash water against the cabinet. It's such a rush, ya might need a cigarette afterwards.

 

[brianl]

What if I don't smoke

My partner might leave me if he sees me to excited by my washers Nonetheless, that spin cycle is wicked. Even though the feet were level, it started walking across my floor a little. My load was a bit unbalanced, and until it started getting up to a good speed, it kinda decided to go for a little walk to my surprise!

 

[mickeyd]

Brian, I had the same trouble with overfilling in the '5

The machine had passed thru at least five Aworg brothers.
It is a beautiful machine, as you might imagine with the care it has received.
But the new timer motor installed somewhere along the great parade of owners--maybe Mark Lightedcontrols-- caused the machine to overfill.

(If you were getting a two minute pump out after the first fill, you were filling the tub TWICE!)

I did what you were talking about. Reduced the pressure at the faucets till the fill level matched the fill time. Works perfectly. We had the same idea.

Good luck with your beautiful machine. Make sure the round little metal feet are level. If not, adjust, and the walking should stop.

 

[brianl]

Even though I reduced the water pressure, I let it go for close to 6 minutes, and it still did not go in wash. Even at the 4 minute mark. If I bring it to a rinse agitate, it will immediately start to work. Then bring it back to the 4 minute mark on the wash, and it will begin to agitate. Really strange. As before, I only noticed it leaking during spin and not any other time. Not sure what that is about. Are the bellows save-able if they are working fine, or should they be replaced?

 

[mickeyd]

Don go near them if they're working fine--Good Lord

I'm tellin' ya Brain: putting on a Unimatc water bellows is one of the hardest things ever. Maybe the pros know some tricks, but if yours are fine and dandy, count yer lucky stars, Man, and let them be.

Leaks during spin: did you check the hose that leads from the pump to the drain hose port for tiny leaks?

 

[thomasortega]

If the bellows are working fine (of course you'll check carefully BEFORE removing them) I think you won't need to remove them.

However (I hate this word), you'll have to remobe them to reach the transmission to replace those fu**ing bearings).

A lady like that wouldn't like to be heard by the neighbours 1 mile away from you.

 

[brianl]

Darn those bearings

I will definitely check the bellows out and I have a c-clamp, so I will carefully remove the ring that holds the bellows down. I will take pics as I go in case I get stuck. Gotta check the hose when I got it apart. I am sure it could use a new one anyway after all these years.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[mickeyd]

Brian,

what happens when you start the machine at "10" and slowly advance the timer to "6" ? Does the agitation begin? Getting very curious as to what your machine is doing?

You know of course that you can always advance the timer to shorten a fill, yes?

 

[jetcone]

Amazing find in the old

Home Town.

Post working pics when you get it.

 

[brianl]

Hey Mike,

Was not aware you can advance the timer to shorten a wash fill, just a rinse fill I thought. Can you advance the timer while it is pushed in and running? I would advance the timer by pulling out and moving it a minute or 2 and then pushing it back in. Only after I bring it to the rinse and then back to the wash cycle at 4 minutes, will it start to agitate. Left to its own devices, it will keep filling in the wash cycle and never stop. Maybe I am resetting something?

Hey Jon,

Yes looking forward to taking some pics. Should have taken longer video of the cycles, but my memory card was telling me otherwise.