Repair Help - Sears Kenmore 800 Washer from the1970s

[wendyp]

Hi,

I moved in to a flat in North Oakland this summer and bought a washer and dryer set from my landlord. It's a sears kenmore 800, yellow, probably from the early 70s. I've been perfectly happy with the washer until it stopped working a couple days ago. It was doing a load just fine, washed and rinsed but when it was time to spin, the alarm went off and continues to go off if i try to turn it back on.

Does anyone know of a repairman in the Bay Area who can fix this for me? I'd really like to keep the set and I'd rather not deal with looking for a new one. I already called Caseber in Berkeley and he didn't sound hopeful.

Can anyone help me? Thanks.

 

[cleanteamofny]

It sound like you're out of balance switch is a defected.
Try moving the tub back and forth until basket bangs the rear of the cabinet to knock the sensor loose. If this does not work. Take off the rear panel and look to the right I think for the out of balance switch. Disconnect and replace. Very simple to do it yourself.

 

[wendyp]

It worked! My roommate kept moving the tub around and now it works again. Thank you so much!!

Do you have any idea why the matching dryer snags towels and sweaters?

 

[danemodsandy]

Snags:

There is something rough in the dryer drum or on the inside of the door. It will take close, careful examination to find it.

One possibility is that you have something wrong with a baffle. Baffles are the vanes inside the dryer drum that flip the clothes as the drum turns. They are attached to the drum, and sometimes they can come loose. Plastic ones can crack or break, creating a rough place. Get back with us if that's the case; you'll need help replacing a baffle.

It could also be the drum itself; if you find a rough place, you can smooth it down with fine emery paper (hardware store), then clean the drum carefully with Windex and touch up the paint. Gray spray paint would work.

This is just going to be a patience issue, looking carefully until you find what's wrong. You may also fix something, and find it's still snagging; there could be more than one rough place. Again, patience will win in the end.

Those are VERY good machines, well worth fixing and looking after.

 

[cleanteamofny]

The dryer seal on the rear bulkhead may be worn and can be replaced.
The dryer is very easy to disassemble and the rear felt can be replaced!

At the same time, you may want to replace the drum supporting wheels.
For years we hear about the classic thumping when the cold dryer started because of flat spots on the rubber wheels, but in reality it is the drum seams bumping the wheels.
Also check the rear bulkhead where the lint filter exhaust vent may have something caught on it.

Clean the inside of cabinet and remove the dryer vent and clean the whole area for greater drying performance and safety.
Good luck!

 

[wendyp]

Thank you so much for all the help! It's refreshing to find people that don't buy into the materialistic, throw-away mentality.
This is an awesome site.

 

[wendyp]

Burning Smell - could it be this part?

So this washer has been running well for almost nine years now but just yesterday I ran a load and it started making a horrible burning (possibly rubber) smell. Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Also there is one part that might be the problem because looks like it's deteriorating and has little black bits surrounding it. I don't know the name of it. I'll add a photo.

 

[maytag85]

The burning smell is likely from the belt. Probably will need to be replaced since it very well could be it’s original drive belt.

 

[combo52]

Is it a burning rubber smell ?, if so you might have a loose belt that started to burn when the transmission went to shift and the belt stalls and starts to burn because the motor is still running full speed.

 

John L.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Could be that the belt is just loose/slipping and the motor needs to be repositioned and tightened.

The motor could also be going bad.

It would help to have pictures from the motor and transmission area.

 

[DADoES]

 
The part in your photo is called a snubber.  It cannot generate a burning odor during machine operation.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Yes,

As Dadoes wrote, that is the snubber, and while yours looks well worn and could use a replacement soon, it looks like it's still working alright.

If you can look in the lower back area, you'll see the belt toward the top of the opening. With the machine unplugged you can grab the belt and try moving it in the direction it would travel and see how much resistance you get. You can also push against the belt to see how much 'play' there is in it (whether it's excessively loose or worn).