Restoring the 1959 Lady Kenmore.......

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Opposite side, with the glass balls removed for cleaning and the lint taken out........these are the two rubber bumpers.....

 

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Glass balls and Lint........

 

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All cleaned out, and ready to reassemble.......

 

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I was lucky to have the service manual for this washer. It describes the system for those of you who like me are facinated by its workings.......So here you go!

 

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more.........

 

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talk about complicated !

 

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more........

 

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and yet more......

 

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for Suds Return.... Notice the Check Valves in the system. They are very important for proper operation.......and a real pain when they dont work properly.....

 

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Here is one of the check valves close up. This one worked fine, thank goodness. This is the lower check valve, used in place of the usual sump, on the underside of the washer...

 

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It consists of a little rubber ball in a "sump". The ball floats up or down according to the flow of the water...

 

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The problem with these valves is that the rubber deteriorates and becomes water logged and wont "float" up or down anymore.....also the inside of the chamber becomes rough and corroded and pourous and the "ball" wont seal around it anymore.......This is the valve cleaned out. Luckily this valve didnt give me any trouble.......and is working fine!

 

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There is ANOTHER check valve, higher up on the side of the tub. This one was a big problem. Its the intake for the water during wash filter recirculation and when the flow of water reverses during pump out, this check valve is supposed to shut to keep the flow of water from re-entering the tub..... Luckily, just by chance Jim Frigiman and I FOUND a brand new one in out last parts hunt.......talk about perfect timing! Old valve on the left, new REdesigned valve on the right.......

 

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Better picture of the old valve vs. the new valve......

 

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The old valve had the rubber ball float in it, and the chamber was completely corroded........ The new re-designed valve has a rubber flapper inside a plastic housing. FSP redesigned these valves in the mid-60's. When I worked for different repair services in the past I replaced many of these valves. I believe they are only used on washers with self-cleaning filters......

 

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New check valve installed

 

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Everything installed it should have worked! It DIDNT! I still could not get water to pump thru the filter... Earlier I had given up on using my NOS pump. Even tho it had never been used, it too leaked when I installed it. I tried to seal it to no avail, so I "modernized" and installed the new pump that the seller sent me.......

 

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And here was another learning experience. THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE...... A three port pump WILL NOT PUMP thru the recirculation system that has a self-cleaning filter. It should, but it doesn't !!
I had another pump, also NOS, 2 Port, of the older style. I installed it and FINALLY, the system worked as it should. It seems the inner chamber on the two pumps is different even tho FSP catalogs this as a replacement, it is not correct. Since there is no way the 3rd port could have been used on my machine, it would have NEVER worked properly using that pump...... The pump on the right DID work and correctly....

 

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A final water test before reassembly. All systems worked, no leaks, it filters and drains......

The washer as shown in the previous link is all back together and works (so far) beautifully. Man, what a complicated washer, but I love it.

 

[tuthill]

Nothing short of fascinating

Thank you for posting this! Certainly the best of 1959. How much of that extra stuff was dreamed up by Kenmore? Could you get all of those features on a TOL Whirlpool?