Rebuilding an early 90s Direct Drive

[ryner1988]

Reply #18

I think the story behind the "shredmore"moniker is that Bob/Appnut owned one of these machines years ago and it kept damaging his clothes. Frayed towels, holes in sweaters, and various other incidents of clothing wear were allegedly reported. I wasn't around on the forum then but he still speaks on it every so often. Others have had similar happen although I never have and I run my DD on high speed often. It's a mystery really why some people have the issue and others don't, but yes, constantly running everything at high speed, including items that can't really handle it, coupled with severe over-loading are practices that seem to exacerbate the shredding. But as I've said, I use high sspeed frequently and have not had clothing damage that I notice, but then again my wife and I have mostly sturdy cotton clothes so that might have something to do with it. I repeat, I don't think anyone has really figured out why some suffer this unfortunate problem and others don't.

 

[blockeight88]

^

I've never had an issue, but at times I have used less water than I should have. I think this was mostly due to people trying to stuff everything inside, or using low water levels.

 

[stuftrock1]

Reply 17

I bought this machine in early July 2022 from my friend's neighbor. The motor is 3349643. Since you say this is a single speed motor, I am now even more confused. It agitates just fine on a normal speed without a noticeable hum, but it isn't spinning anywhere close to 650 rpm from what I can tell. I don't know what rpm my Maytag A512 and LAT4914 spin, but I would estimate this is a good 100 rpm slower, roughly equivalent to my 4914's low speed spin.

 

[DADoES]

 
Have you tried all the cycles ... Regular, Permanent Press, Short, and Soak/Prewash if the machine has it?  They should all agitate and spin at the same speed.

A video of the spin may be helpful.  Videos can't be uploaded directly into posts here, they must be placed at a file sharing service and linked.  Majority use YouTube (set the permissions for public viewing).

Your Maytags spin at 618 RPM for high speed.  I don't recall mention of low speed RPM.

 

[stuftrock1]

I have only used the regular cycle. As soon as the new center post seal comes in, I’ll reassemble and test out the other cycles. I’ll try to get a video of the spin.

 

[stuftrock1]

Quick update

So the new center post seal is supposed to get here on Friday. Had some free time so I went ahead and started cleaning up the inner tub. Managed to get the lint filter off without breaking it, so I’ll be able to reuse it. Also was finally able to get the drive block out of the tub. Thankfully there isn’t much rust, but I’ll definitely still need to put some por-15 on the inside of the mounting stem in the tub. There is a lot of build up on the inside of the mounting stem and on the drive block I still need to clean out though, but it’s a start!

Also cleaned up the console a bit since I hadn’t done that yet.

 

[stuftrock1]

Good news and bad news

New center post seal came in! Bad news is it wasn’t the source of the leak. Shaft seals are bad. Pictures 2 and 3 in reply 4. The center post itself is also a little rusty and has a lot of paint chips and exposed metal, so it needs to be repainted. Even worse news is the spin tube is pitted. Pretty bad. I’d really rather not buy a new spin tube.

So here’s what I have left to do. Need to take a straw cleaner to all the holes in the inner tub and finish cleaning that up, take a wire brush and get rid of all the loose rust and buildup inside the center post of the inner tub, por-15 the underside and inside the center post of the inner tub, take a wire brush to the center post on the tripod and por-15 it, install a new lower shaft seal, install a new upper shaft seal OR buy a new spin tube, clean up the drive block or just buy a new one, pack the spin tube bearings with oil, then FINALLY I can reassemble everything and hopefully be done.

I honestly thought I could be done with everything by the end of the weekend. Boy was I wrong! I had also hoped I could sell this thing for a profit after rebuilding. Being a BOL model LST6132, I don’t think that’s really gonna happen if I have to buy a new spin tube.

 

[DADoES]

 
Anything worn should be replaced if the aim is to get many years more use of the machine ... basket drive (which includes installed agitator shaft bearings), perhaps the agitator shaft (transmission disassembly, neutral drain kit) to mate with those new bearings.  A new tub support which includes installed spin bearings/seals is much easier than dealing with replacing the bearings/seals directly, although of course more costly.

 

[stuftrock1]

A new spin tube and tub support would cost around $400 total. Maybe if this was a TOL set that I could sell for close to $2k (matching washer/dryer), but that’s just not worth it on a BOL set like this.

 

[stuftrock1]

Progress!

Got the shaft seals replaced, and I never want to do that again. Put two coats of por-15 on the center post and mounting stem of the inner tub. I forgot how much I hated painting with por-15 because of how the lid fuses shut to the can once I open it for the first time. Almost have to destroy the can just to open it up again. Also got a new center post seal and drive block.

Now here’s the fun part. Reassembly!

I washed the inner tub off again so I’ll put the rest back together and test it out tomorrow once it dries.

 

[combo52]

Rebuilding a direct, drive washer for resale

Hi Sean, nice job this machine should run for a long time yet.

We’ve rebuilt hundreds if not thousands of machines over the years, it’s an interesting process you have to do it in a way that you can make some money on it and you also want the product to last a long time.

Our goal is to have rebuilt machines leave the shop that will last a minimum of 10 years under average conditions and many have lasted more than 20, all while spending as little as possible on the rebuilding process, we can sometimes put out machines with no cost outlay at all other than our time for cleaning and repairs I try to spend less than $50 and even less than 20 per average rebuilt appliance. We give a one year parts and labor in home warranty on all rebuilt appliances that we rebuild and install for customers.

You should come up and spend some time with us rebuilding stuff I can show you a lot of tricks. For example, replacing the seals on a direct drive washer should only take about 10 minutes and it’s easy to do with the machine is disassembled.

This coming week Chris may be coming in from northeastern Ohio and we’re going to rebuild a belt drive 24 inch late 60s Kenmore for example for him to take back with him.

Get in touch with me if you want to learn more about economical rebuilding for resale.

John

 

[stuftrock1]

Reply 29

Thank you very much! I’ve definitely really enjoyed rebuilding these old machines. Maytag has been my favorite to work on so far, though I have had very limited experience with this. I’d love to learn how to work on a Whirlpool built belt drive, since that’s now the only big name design I haven’t worked on yet (I’ve done a Filter Flo (to an extent), a Maytag, and now a Whirlpool built direct drive). Only problem is I haven’t seen a single belt drive for sale in my area since I’ve started looking.

I’d certainly love to take a trip up there to learn the ropes and see your collection, and I very much appreciate the offer. I’m in college right now and I don’t exactly have the time or money to make a big trip like that, but we’ll see. I’ll definitely reach out to you for any questions about rebuilding these washers. Thank you again!

 

[stuftrock1]

Finished it up!

Got it completed reassembled! Really happy with how this turned out. I also went ahead and added a fabric softener dispenser.

Now just gotta run water through it. Fingers crossed I put the new shaft seals on correctly…

 

[stan]

Good job Sean!

Looks great
I got lost here on the problem with spin speed.. how did you resolve ?

 

[qsd-dan]

all while spending as little as possible on the rebuilding process

This is why I'll NEVER purchase a "rebuilt" or "refurbished" appliance. It's all about turning the biggest profit in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of effort and money. Give me a machine from the scrap pile and I'll tear that bitch down myself and restore it, the right way!

 

[stuftrock1]

…how did you resolve the spin speed?

I was using an extension cord to test it then. I don’t know if that’ll actually cause it since I know some washers like Maytags really don’t like extension cords. I also put fresh turbine oil in the spin bearings. Either of those things could have fixed it.

Heck, maybe I’m just really good at putting things back together better than they were before lol. My A512 had a bad tub break that indexed like crazy. I fully disassembled the machine and rebuilt it, and it worked perfectly when I got it back together. Tub was nice and firm with zero indexing. I never touched the brake assembly, or the transmission for that matter.

 

[circlew]

Extension Cords

They aren't meant to take the place of permanent wiring, of course. However, if they are sized properly, they will not be a problem. Issues arise when a cord of incorrect wire gauge for the length is used, resulting in excessive voltage drop. A quality industrial grade cord of #12 or #10 wire should be sufficient. The cord should be no longer than necessary, and should be fully uncoiled when in use. Also, the plugs and connectors must be in good condition, as must be the receptacle. If a plug doesn't fit securely, the receptacle or cord connector needs to be replaced with a high quality commercial grade device. A decent receptacle can be purchased for around $4.00 each.

 

[blockeight88]

Reply #33

Amen. My thoughts exactly which is why I have nearly stripped down 3 machines now and rebuilt from the bottom up.

 

[stuftrock1]

Replies 33 and 36

I actually completely agree with y’all. If I ever buy a rebuilt/refurbished washer, I’m still tearing it down myself to make sure he or she did a good job.

As for me and the machines I rebuild and sell, I take pride in my work. I replace every part that is broken or badly worn out, and for raw labor like cleaning and disassembling, I do everything that needs to be done. I rebuild every machine as if it was going to someone in my family. I sign my name on every machine I rebuild, and I don’t put my name on things that I half ass. I really hate how a lot of people nowadays, especially in my generation, just don’t take pride in their work. They want to get a job done as quickly as possible with the least amount of effort.

This is why I thoroughly document all my rebuilds and extensively test each machine before selling. I want to make sure anyone who buys from me can see everything that I did. The only things I didn’t do to this washer that I probably should’ve was repaint the cabinet, top panel, and lid, and replace the spin tube assembly. I didn’t repaint because I couldn’t find an exact match of this almond color, and I didn’t replace the spin tube because the old one is still in decent shape and a replacement is too expensive, especially to replace something still in decent shape. The pitting you’ll see on the spin tube in reply 25 picture 4 are just surface marks. They have no depth to them. I’m still thoroughly testing out the machine myself to make sure it doesn’t have any problems, and I will replace it if it does.

 

[blockeight88]

Rebuilding DD's...

I have had 3 different used appliance owners tell me it's not worth their time to clean the machines internally. The same ones also said that when it "spin drains" this is normal and doesn't have any effect on the machine. Now I just laugh...