Maytag 606 Motor Overload on Spin

[Wobbly]

Last night our Maytag A606 would not drain and spin. I replaced the belts with genuine Maytag belts with no improvement. This morning I replaced the motor with a new one. It also tripped out attempting to start the spin cycle. I then cleaned all the pulleys with rubbing alcohol with no improvement. The pump and motor pulleys turn freely. The transmission pulley turns freely in the CCW direction when looking up from the floor, and turns with slightly more resistance in the CW direction.
There's an electrical odor before the overload trips.

The timer was replaced last month.

Help!

Thanks!

 

[cfz2882]

clutch belt

is the motor"carrage"seized?must be a problem with the belts(even though they are
new),the motor carrage not moving freely,or too much tension on the motor
carrage.With a properly working clutch belt the motor will not overload even
if the tub is held from turning.

 

[Wobbly]

Hi,

The motor carriage moves freely. When the belts are removed the carriage springs move the carriage out so that the motor shaft rubs on the bottom panel. With the belts on there is no contact.

 

[arbilab]

Can't well be the motor if 2 do the same thing. Not familiar with the timer's reversing contact set but offhand I'd say to look there.

 

[MaytagA710]

Perhaps the brake package has trouble releasing and allowing the machine to go into a spin.

However, more than likely its the motor not getting enough voltage and therefore, not powerful enough to handle the load, and trips off. Id suggest checking the motor voltage when the machine kicks into spin.

 

[Wobbly]

The voltage is 120. Where is the brake? When the transmission pulley is turned the transmission housing with counterweight doesn't turn. When the transmission housing is turned (lots of resistance) the transmission pulley does turn.

 

[cfz2882]

even if the transmission pulley cannot turn,the clutch belt should slip enough that
the motor will run at or near full speed and not bog down and trip the overload
protector.When the washer tries to spin,how many(if any)revolutions does the
tub make before the motor trips off? Does the motor run good in spin direction
with the belt removed?(and carrage blocked to prevent rubbing,if necessary)

 

[MaytagA710]

The brake is housed in the drive pulley assembly. If you turn the pulley by hand counter-clockwise, it will engage the transmission to agitate. If you turn it clockwise, it will release the brake, and engage spin. There is going to be resistance when turning it clockwise as you have to overcome the brake spring. The reason why you feel resistance when you turn the whole transmission is because of the brake, as soon as the motor stops spinning the tub, the drive pulley is no longer holding the brake rotor up, and it slides back down and makes contact with the brake shoe.

I originally thought it could have been the start switch stuck open (in either start or run), but if you replaced the motor, this shouldn't be why its tripping.

You could also check the motor by rigging it up to a cord and plugging it into the wall to test it separately from the other components. It can narrow down the reason why pretty quick.

You could also check the timer by placing it on spin, and using a multimeter to see if you get continuity on certain contacts. Could be a defective speed selector switch, or capacitor.

Good luck! I hope you find the issue, I hate it when things don't work, stresses me out.

 

[Wobbly]

There is a strip of fibrous material coming out of what I assume is the brake.

 

[Wobbly]

Should the brake rotor bearing and the brake package be replaced together?
Any chance that a seized tub bearing might be part of the problem?

 

[Wobbly]

As the brake package was unthreading the transmission became progressively easier to rotate. Conversely, as the brake was threaded back on, it became harder to rotate the transmission, until it wouldn't turn.

 

[Wobbly]

The replacement brake package has arrived and I'm not sure how tight it should be threaded in. The washer is tilted back to allow access to the pulley area. As the brake is threaded in it the transmission becomes harder to turn and it seem like the counterweight is rubbing on something (but perhaps it's just the brake innards rubbing). As the brake is unscrewed the transmission turns easier and the rubbing disappears.

I used a drift to unscrew the original part. Do I need to screw the brake as far as I can by hand and then tighten more with a drift?

Thanks!

 

[Wobbly]

I hand tightened the brake and then gave it a few whacks with a drift. Now when it attempts to spin it knocks before tripping. In the wash cycle, the counterweight rotates about 90 degrees, pauses, then rotates another 90 degrees. It doesn't seem to have the same sound it did when agitating previously.

 

[Wobbly]

Well, I think it's time to admit defeat. The new brake didn't help. I'm guessing that the tub bearing is bad. New motor and belts didn't help. We need a working washer, and there's no place to store this while I stumble along trying to repair it.
I'll probably try to sell the replacement motor and brake and some controls which I recently replaced. Sad to say goodbye to this faithful friend.

 

[arbilab]

I didn't see the result of running the motor both directions with the belt removed. If what I think is happening is happening, it won't run backwards/spin even with no load, still smell and trip. As above from people who know more about it than I do, the motor should not be mechanically prevented from starting even with the tub locked. Due to the sliding motor arrangement.

What I think is happening: To reverse motor, polarity is reversed on one winding. The motor won't start without both, and the one winding that's on will draw lock-rotor amps and shortly trip. In reverse/spin, one contact set is open. I know it has a 'new timer' but nothing says a new part can't fail early, especially in the high-current (motor) contacts.

But notice I said "think". As in hypothesis. Easily confirmed or dismissed with an ohmmeter.

 

[Wobbly]

I did run the motor in both directions with the belts off, but neglected to report. Ran smoothly in either direction without the belts.
Thanks for the reply!

 

[arbilab]

Rough. I might give up too, specially if I had laundry piling up. Chance the motor would start on one winding completely unloaded. All it has to do is jump one pole and it would continue to rotate whichever direction that was. Loaded, it would jump that one pole and stop as the mechanism absorbed its inertia.

One last shot besides the ohmmeter (assuming you don't have one). If the old timer failed from the clock motor and you still have it, reinstall.

I don't know if this machine uses a motor capacitor, but if yes and it starts reliably in one direction it should start in the other.

The pulleys turn by hand. New motor does the same thing. Open capacitor, it shouldn't start in agitate. MIGHT start unloaded with one contact set open. There's nothing else left in question but the contact set. That I can think of. I mean, there are only 4 variables to start with. Motor, capacitor, load mechanics, timer contacts.

 

[MaytagA710]

A reading from the book of Maytag!

I scanned in some pages from the Maytag manual on the 06 series on how to remove the drive pulley, and replace the brake package. This first page is page 29, and the page previous, 28, at the very very bottom has "Drive Pulley Removal" and it immediately continues on page 29, so you will see, at the very top of this page, how to remove the drive pulley.

 

[MaytagA710]

Here is page 30.

 

[MaytagA710]

And finally page 31.

Hope this helps! And I also hope that you get the machine working again in fine order.

 

[Wobbly]

Thanks much for the scanning and helpful information from all.
I had to get a new washer today. Did some fevered research on the net. I waffled all over the place from $1500 high efficiency machines with steam made in Korea to a $400 top loader agitator Whirlpool made in the USA. I got the $400 one at Costco. Sure was lighter than the A606. Less steel and copper. At least it doesn't have a touch pad or computer to replace. Lots of complaints on the net about the high efficiency washers not getting clothes clean, tying them in knots, and requiring frequent expensive service calls.

 

[arbilab]

I expect you will be perfectly happy with the WP. They are not as good as they used to be, but neither are Twinkies, Coke, or Fritos. And I'm not buying the 'electronic' razzmatazz long as I can avoid it.

 

[DADoES]

 

Lack of touchpads is not an assurance there's no computer board.  Many models with rotary dials do have an electronic control, the rotary dial is a selector/programmer for the board.