Looking for Skinny Mini motor

[keith_otr]

New member here and didn't know there were others that appreciate older machines like my Skinny Mini. I guess I'm not so strange after all!

I'm having some difficulty locating a replacement motor for my late 70s Frigidaire Skinny Mini with the Agitub. It is a GE 5KH40KT37S two speed reversible motor. Any idea where I can locate one or find a drop in replacement? I'm not sure, but I think the motor for a GMini will also work. Pictures of the original attached.

Thanks in advance,
Keith[this post was last edited: 10/7/2014-20:23]

 

[davetranter]

Motor problem

Greetings from across the 'Pond', and welcome to AW.Org, Keith. What is the nature of the problem with your motor?? Have the bearings failed, or has it just 'stopped working'?? If the latter, it's just possible that the thermal 'fuse' may have failed, which is fairly cheap to replace, if a little difficult to get to. I have (over the years) repaired several 'dead' motors in this way. the phrase 'Thermally Protected' (photo#3) is often a giveaway ;-)

Please reply for more details, if needed.

All best

Dave T

 

[keith_otr]

Thanks

Thanks for the reply. The motor will run, however, you have to give a pulley a push to get it started. Also, it only runs in one direction. The washer/dryer combo was installed on a motor yacht that partially sank. About 1/4th of the bottom of the motor was submerged in fresh water. It hasn't run properly since. I took it to an electric motor repair shop and they said that it could not be repaired because the motor was welded together and couldn't be disassembled. Any ideas that I've overlooked?
Thanks!

 

[philr]

I can be wrong but I'm almost sure that my 1973 GMni washer has a different-looking motor. Also a GE reversible 2 speed but if I recall correctly, it's round.

I don't have a spare motor but I think other models should fit. I think that early machines also had Delco motors.

 

[wiskybill]

This may help

I recently did some repairs to my 1970 LCT-2 Skinny.

New parts installed and all put back together and the motor
would not start. Hmmm. It worked two years ago the last time
I used it, but it had a bad bearing so was very noisy.

After quite a bit of trouble shooting, I found it had a broken/corroded
wire in the start winding.

The motor in mine was a Delco D27, cap start. What to do?

I have two 1-18's, one of which is a parts donor. It had a Delco D21 motor.
Same ratings, 2-speed, reversible, but different armature and mounting face.

But, the field coils were the same for both motors. Off to the operating
table to perform a transplant. Using the end caps and armature from the
original and the coil from the donor, and the proper start switch, I had a good working motor.

It's all put back together now and working.

The pic is a breakdown of the mechanism with part numbers. It may or
may not help you but it's all I got. You my have to enlarge the pic
to read the part numbers.

Bill

 

[combo52]

Skinni-Minni Motor

These washers were built from about 1969-1979, the round motors were GM Delco motors, and the square welded motors were GE motors, I am sure that I have a good used motor if you need it, in fact I have a complete extra washer assembly that I would love to sell, message me if interested.

 

[philr]

John, I found some pictures I took of the motor in my GMini Agitub washer. They aren't very clear but it's a round GE 2 speed motor. 

 

 

 

[combo52]

Skinni-Minni Motor

Hi Phil, you are correct that is a GE Round Motor, I did not realize that this earlier style GE motor had also been used on SM washers, I would imagine that all three types of motors are probably interchangeable.

 

[peterh770]

Hey Keith,
I have a Skinny Mini in parts that I lost interest in... If you would like the motor (or the entire thing), drop me a line at [email protected]... I'm in Marietta, right outside of ATL...
-ph

 

[keith_otr]

Thanks Guys!!!!

I think I may have located a motor. It is the older "round" motor, but it should work. I should have it this week. Thanks for all the info....the collective knowledge of this group astounds me.

 

[philr]

Keeps us informed of the outcome!

 

[keith_otr]

Skinny Mini in action

Thanks to all for you tips and information. I installed my replacement motor this afternoon and straight wired it to test it. I made a quick video of the action "down below" for my own entertainment. While scrolling through the forum this evening, I realized that there are others who would get a kick of seeing it in action....so, here's a link.....

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbN_1pJ-dHI&feature=youtu.be

 

[philr]

Thanks for making a video! I never thought about it when I was repairing mine!

 

[combo52]

Skinni-Minni Transmission

Thanks for posting the video of this unusual machine running, it has been many years since I worked on one of these washers.

The entire Skinni-Minni washer-dryer was a great engineering achievement of building the cheapest to build machine with the least possible number of parts. I have always been fascinated with the ways GM engineers came up with to build this machine.

Unfortunately for Frigidaire dealers they were never very thrilled with these machines, the dealer I knew sold 48 the first year and ran over 50 warranty calls in the first year. Even for this time period that was a huge failure rate for first year failures, regular TL washers usually had about a 25% failure rate, contrast that to today where most automatic washers have a failure rate closer to 5%, Quality Control today is light years ahead of 40 years ago.

For our museum project I have saved one of the very first SMs [ 1969 ] and one of the last ones as well, a 1994 WCI built machine. Even though the washer mechanism still worked on the orignal [ it made all kinds of noises ] I installed a complete washer assembly replacement that Frigidaire dealers sold to repair SMs that had big problems.

 

[philr]

And serviceability could have been better too. The amount of time I needed just to replace the water pump bearing on my GMini washer made me wonder how serviceman dealt with that!

I like the idea of having an outer tub made of plastic (was it the first automatic to use that?) but I think they should have avoided to integrate the water pump to it!

Just to remove the sub to assembly on mine was a bit time-consuming! Once that was done, removing the tub/agitator assembly was easy but the next step wasn't!

The agitate mechanism is also quite strange!

 

[roto204]

Agitate mechanism

It dawned on me, when I stared at the video long enough--it's just a traditional oscillating agitator linkage, without the case and oil bath. The band-pulley at the leftmost articulation would normally be a toothed gear.

So clever! I love these machines, even though I know they're beyond difficult to work on.

 

[goatfarmer]

That brings back memories. And not pleasant ones!

 

[keith_otr]

My Skinny was installed below decks in a motor yacht. When the motor went bad, I thought that I would replace the whole unit with a new Kenmore 24 inch combo. Unfortunately, I discovered that the unit was apparently built into the boat at the factory and removal/replacement would entail disassembling a lot of cabinetry, walls, etc. Replacing the motor was the best option for me. I was able to remove the tub assembly (with motor and other stuff attached), without removing too much of my boat. I brought the assembly home to work on it.

Long story short, I've kinda fallen in love with this thing, but it's been a love/hate relationship. I think I would love it more if it was in my garage with 360 degrees of access though.