Looking for help with a 2-3 year old Whirlpool washer

[revvinkevin]

 

 

A friend of mine called looking for suggestions regarding his mothers Whirlpool washer.   He said it wouldn't fill and would do little else other than spin.   He (or his mom) made it sound like if she giggled the (timer?) knob it would work for a brief time but not long enough to fill.   After reading a little about it online he took the "shotgun approach" and replaced the timer and the water temp switch, but to no avail.

 

At this point it had been nearly 2 weeks since it quit, mama was tired of him messing around with it, she was over it and wanted a new washer.    My friend asked my advice on what machine to buy as a replacement.   Per my suggestion he bought her a Speed Queen AWN 412. 

 

He offered this WP to me and when I went to pick it up I had a chance to look at and briefly play with the SQ and it had just been delivered and installed.   Looks like s nice machine!   Nice that it has a "real" timer.   I'd like to do some laundry in it to play with it!

 

But alas, I'm here to ask for your help on this WP.

 

Model # WTW57ESVWO  

 

Serial # CW4241815

 

Gordon was saying this is a TOL or nearly TOL machine?   Interesting there is no water level adjustment!

 

I hope there are no children present because here is a photo of this washer naked!

 

[this post was last edited: 10/2/2012-22:47]

 

[revvinkevin]

Close up of the controls

 

 

The left side. 

 

The water level pressure tube from the tub goes to the back of the "Fabric Softener" switch.   I assume this one controls the water level and I suspect this is the problem.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Interesting there are six water "temps" and four of them are "cold/cool".   I'll bet the hot is dumbed down too.

 

[revvinkevin]

Right side...

 

 

The timer.

 

I tried filling the tub manually thinking this would cause the washer to agitate, however it did not.  In fact I had filled it to the top of the wash basket, about 2 - 3 inches higher than it would normally fill.   I thought "Oh great!   How am I going to drain the tub without it trying to spin while completely full."

 

I looked and the back of the "Fabric Softener" switch and saw two plugs, one with a bunch of wires, the other only 2.   I ran a jumper wire across 2 wire plug and... it agitated!    I ended up washing a load of laundry in it over the weekend, but filled it and did the "spray rinses" manually.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

 

Thank you!

 

Kevin 

[this post was last edited: 10/2/2012-22:51]

 

[DADoES]

 
This is a modification Whirlpool made on the direct-drive mechanism before it was discontinued.  Automatic water level sensing.  The sensor switch likely has gone bad.

Part Number W10177795, which may substitute now to W10292584.

Make sure the drain hose is minimum 42" height from the floor and isn't jammed air-tight in a standpipe to avoid siphoning.  The sensor switch has a non-resettable failsafe lock-out that may trigger if siphoning occurs.

 

[revvinkevin]

a non-resettable failsafe lock-out that may trigger if sipho

 

 

Thanks much for the part numbers Dadoes!

 

So you are saying.... if the drain hose doesn't have the proper air gap and it siphons.... back into the washer... or empties the washer prematurely(?) the switch trips and the washer will not work again?   If so, who the hell thought up this brilliant idea?

 

One other thing Gordon mentioned is: he heard somewhere if the lid is opened while washer filling, it will cause it to freak out, forget the level it thinks its supposed to fill to and will fill to the highest water level.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have not directly observed these units in operation, but my understanding is that they fill to an initial low level, with the load being saturated by the three-flume fill spray.  Agitation runs briefly to further insure all items are saturated, then the switch calculates how much more water is needed based on time and volume required to reach the low/saturation level.  Opening the lid during the sensing process defaults to a full fill.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Interesting.   I will have to make a video once I get this thing working normally.

 

Thanks mucho!

 

Kevin

 

[retro-man]

The fabric softner switch is actually your rinse selector switch. When it is in the off position you get a slow spray rinse. When the switch is set to on you get a full tub rinse. Just picked up a new pair of hotpoints and this is how those are set up so I would imagine this must be the same for this washer.
Jon

 

[coldspot66]

Speaking as a self-employed service tech, it never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to to avoid calling for service. A $60.00 part would have put that machine back in order...........but instead wasted more $$$ on parts that did not fix the problem & the price of a new machine.

When customers balk at paying for service, I tell them I SAVE them money, not cost them money, for if you don't fix, you buy.

 

[whirlcool]

What people balk at a lot of times is having to pay a tech $150.00 to repair a part that only costs $15.00. Sue, I know you have to get paid for your time & gas to get there but with a lot of service companies the tech gets very little of what is actually paid for the call.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I hope there are no children present because here is a photo

Ha!!!!!

 

[runematic]

Allen, you also have to figure insurance on the truck & health insurance on the tech, parts stock on the truck, lights -  phone -  internet - heating - cooling of the shop, tool cost, additional technical training, etc etc etc.  I realize some companies charge waaaaaay too much.  My main competition here charges $70 to come out and then charges $20/15 minutes ($80/hour) addtional.  We are stupid.  We charge $65 plus parts.  No per hour fee.  Sometimes we make out, other times we don't.  We also don't charge addtional fees if we have to come back with a part we may not stock.

 

[whirlcool]

Unfortunately, most people with appliance problems usually call the first or second service organization they find in the Yellow Pages. The ones with the biggest, flashiest ads are usually the ones that charge the most.

If you are an independent that's fine. But if you belong to a large service organization chances are you are paid very little of what the actual bill amounts to with the service company pocketing the majority of the labor charges.

Your average customer I don't think knows the difference between and independent and a service organization such as GE Service. And they end up getting screwed in the end.

 

[runematic]

I'll agree with you there.  A&E, GE Factory service, et al, bend over & grab your ankles.

 

[revvinkevin]

Update........

 

 

With the info provided by Dadoes (THANK YOU so much!) it lives again! 

 

I've done one test run and one load of laundry so far.

 

Nest I will have to do another load and shoot some video.

 

Thank you for your help!

Kevin 

 

[redcarpetdrew]

It's all your fault, DADoES!

Just when we had a chance of helping Kevin shrink his hoard... Errrr... Collection by one, you had to help him fix it so that now he'll want to keep it and use it...

RCD