Progress report on the 57 GE washer

[turquoisedude]

Oh, Hubby's got the number on speed-dial and has an itchy finger.... LOL

 

Seriously,  although I'm concerned about the original motor, I do nonetheless have a plan B and C.  Plan C will require a schematic wiring diagram from a later 2-Speed Filter-Flo machine though...  

 

[potatochips]

I have a mid 80s wiring diagram I could mail you Paul if needed. 

 

[turquoisedude]

The day so far....

While I do believe gremlins can play tricks on you when you are not looking, I still figured I should try the 57 GE again. Well ok, I triple-checked the wiring first...

Nothing was glaringly obvious so I figured I'd try a power test.  But this time, I tried the washer in spin....

Sonofab.... started right up and went to full speed! Then I tried advancing to rinse and POW.  The breaker tripped.

During the spin I heard solenoids buzzing and I observed the push-pull switch on the timer did not work....

So I still have an electrical issue, possibly with the timer. And I can't help but fret that it might be a shorted winding for clockwise/activation operation but I want to find out why that push/pull switch isn't working and why the solenoids stay on...  Stay tuned....

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hey Paul, it really doesn't sound like the motor because all the timer does is reverse the polarity of the voltage into the start windings. If the motor works in one direction it should be fine in the other. It sounds like a miss wiring of some sort or an issue with the timer. Please keep us posted.

 

[turquoisedude]

Meet 'miss wiring' of 2018

And that would be me... LOL 

I did some continuity testing and was troubled that there seemed to be'hot' power flowing to certain components through the neutral feed from the line cord.  I checked the wiring diagram again and.... wait for it....

The white lead from the line cord had to be connected to the red-black terminal on the patch panel!  How did I mess that up you ask? Well when Mr. Know-It-All very carefully (HA!) checked the connections it seemed fine - three white wires were connected to the white terminal.   Except I neglected to trace the wires... I was and should have been 1 wire short on the panel because I disconnected the suds return valve and pump.

I connected the wire line cord wire to the red-black terminal and all my troubles went away!

The GE fills when it's supposed to and tricking it into activation with the water saver now actually starts activation.  Timer runs, push-pull switch works, and it even spins.   Film at 11... LOL 

Seriously I am greatly relieved and will post videos probably early next week.

Now to raise a glass to victory!!

 

[bajaespuma]

Malotov!!!!!

 

[pulltostart]

As we say in the south...

Hot Damn!!!

 

lawrence

 

[turquoisedude]

Yay!

That's all I will say for now.   Video proof coming tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

[lesto]

Awesome. Can't wait to see the video! So glad you found the wiring problem. The 57 is such a rare find. Love the pink and grey activator cap!

 

[potatochips]

Im glad you got this running Paul, and what a machine to work on too. This is a real beaut of a machine, special and milestone machine. Congratulations, were all proud of you! 

 

[114jwh]

Congrats Paul.....

Super happy for ya! Although its frustrating to run into a hiccup doing these projects, isn't it such a great relief when it turns out to be an easy fix! Your perseverance always pays off.

I'm glad you got it working and can't wait to see the full deal soon!

 

[turquoisedude]

Time for some videos

I apologize in advance for the video quality.  My shakes and shudders make it a challenge to take video with my phone (still haven't gotten a new camera...) and I was pretty darn excited too - these are the very first tests with water in the washer.  Now, I have to do some serious rearranging down in the Ogden Laundry to make room for not only the 57 GE, but that 58 Duomatic, too!

 

 

[turquoisedude]

A short video of activation with suds.  Note - this is not a test with Rosalie's Zero Suds.... LOL 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Here's the first spin post-restoration.  It seems as if it takes a while to spin out the water, but then again it's not a Frigidaire.... LOL  

 

What has me slightly puzzled is the way the Sudskill behaves on this model - the spin cycle pauses but there's no water flowing in as it does on the '51 (and supposedly on the '53).  I did read the service manual (no comments, please) and did not see anything to indicate that the WA855 does a water-spray Sudskill.  Could that possibly be because of the suds-saving capability in this model?  I know that both the Kenmore and Inglis suds-savers will divert the spray rinse drain water to the drain port that goes to a standpipe and not into a wash tub....  Anyway, something else to keep me up a night.   

 

But boy, this was a sweet victory.  Can't wait to try some clothes soon!!

 

 

[swestoyz]

Victory!

Oh Paul, this is wonderful! So happy for you and the progress you've made with this amazing GE! I believe you are the only one in the club with a working '57?

The spin does seem a bit slow but I'm no expert on these. If it is indeed slower than normal it may take a few loads for the clutch shoes to break themselves in again.

Ben

 

[pulltostart]

We have LIFT-OFF!!!!!

 

Thanks for the videos - fun to watch, fun to see the 1957 brought back to life.

 

lawrence

 

[114jwh]

Congrats once again Paul!

I see what you mean about the spin stopping and then starting back up again - what would be the point if there isn't any spray? Maybe it does have something to do with the Suds Saver? I don't know very much about GE washers but I know with the older Inglis machines the timer was the same whether you had the suds model or not. If GE did the same thing you could rule that out maybe? Or maybe its somehow a by-product of removing the suds saver components? Agree though, its odd that it stops spinning and then starts up again for no apparent reason.

Awesome job!

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Thanks for sharing, I love you persistence.

 

[gansky1]

Excellent work, Paul! Congrats on getting this running again, you'll enjoy solid tub Filter-Flo washing a lot, it'll be one of the best for removing "Canyon hair" from your washday blues

 

[bajaespuma]

Suds-Kill

Archie,

 

AFAIK the suds-kill is built into and underneath the Fill-Flume. There's a small metal plate inside the inlet port that constantly diverts some of the water down into the outer tub. I noticed it when I first broke into my 850-P, brilliantly cracking the hard plastic flume so I got to dissect the thing. That's when I noticed the flume had a port for the rinse dispenser on top and a port on the bottom to send water into the outer tub, presumably to add water to start activation but also to rinse spun suds down the drain. I haven't operated the 850-P for many years, but the spray rinses on the other Solid Tub FF's I've seen have two generous 20 second spray rinses on either side of the big pause.

 

Being a FF, our first Solid-Tub oversudsed frequently(until some serviceman told us to use Dash instead of Tide) and I don't think the suds ever stalled that machine. Usually the suds cake would rise above the balance ring and get pushed out into the outer tub through that big gap between the ring and the lid that they later closed up with a rubber boot.