Topload Speed Queen help!

[pulsator]

Disclaimer: I am an employee of Whirlpool Corporation and these are my personal opinions. They do not reflect the opinions of Whirlpool Corporation.

A close friend of mine has a Speed Queen AWN 432, it's about 5 years old and it's in dire trouble! My friend's daughter decided to CRAM THREE LOADS of clothes into one load and let it go on it's merry way. The result is that the machine can barely make it to 100 RPM during spin now. They have been hobbling along with it but this afternoon my friend ran a medium load and the machine managed to lolly gag through the interim spin but when it reached the final spin and just refused to move the basket at all, instead it began smoking profusely and making a horrible whining noise. The smoke does NOT smell like burning rubber at all. Agitation is as strong as ever. What happened? What went wrong?

My only guess thus far is that something (a pair of underwear, maybe a sock or two) went over the basket rim between the basket and the tub during the mega overload. The clutch got severely worn during the overload and when the stray clothing item finally got caught on the basket and tub locking them so the machine couldn't spin during this last medium load, the clutch overheated and began smoking. She loves her machine and would like to have it fixed. The question is, what parts need to be replaced? How much would it cost to have it done? Is it worth it or should she just get a new machine?

Thanks guys and gals!
-Jamie

 

[cfz2882]

these have a "clutch belt"instead of a clutch-probably had a worn belt that got"finished off"by the overload event-with a belt in good condition,should have handled the overload with only a slow spin,but a belt worn past the slip coat down to rubber could cause smoke If belt is bad,make sure any molten rubber deposits are cleaned from the pulley groove for best results.

 

[combo52]

Non-spinning speed Queen washer

You are correct there probably is clothing stuck between the tubs. The clothing will have to be removed and the main drive belt replaced it may have also melted the main drive pulley on the transmission and in some cases it will melt the plastic drive part of the water pump.

The washer should be Worth repairing total repair cost should be between 175 and $250.

 

[appnut]

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard of how offspring have managed to do something like this to their parent's washer due to double to quadruple load in one load.  If kids cannot wash without over stuffing, then parents need to make sure they do their kids laundry.  I'm tired of hearing these scenarios.  So much for letting kids do their own laundry.  Ends up not helping parent out at all and ends up having a broken washer too not functional at all.   Make kid(s) use only the Laundromat from then on. 

 

[paulc]

Surely it the parents job to show their children how to
use the washer correctly in the first place.

 

[mrb627]

Laundramat World

I wonder how often something like this happens in the coin-op world...

Additionally, make sure the new belt for your machine is a Speed Queen belt and not some generic fits all belt or spin performance will suffer.

Malcolm

 

[joeypete]

Wow that sucks. That was totally me as a kid though. My love of washers goes way back. I'd stand on a chair and stuff clothes in with a broomstick. lol. We always had either WP or KM DD machines. They took a beating!

 

[jetcone]

Truer words Bob!

My friends daughter came to do laundry, she was an electrical engineer at MIT of all things. She washed 5 loads in 5 machines, then put ALL of them into the dryer at once! As I was making dinner she called up and said "The dryer has died" !!

 

I go down to find the 5 loads bursting out! She got berated for sure!! Especially with her training !!

 

The odd thing is her mom is a meticulous house keeper, her defense was her mom had never trained her to do laundry!!

 

 

 

[yogitunes]

you can talk until your blue in the face....and I don't care who you are......kids minds are in another world, and have no intention of listening.....

I have gone over laundry with my kids from the start....even trying to make it fun by giving them a paint brush and liquid detergent, play a game of find the stains and pre-treat....

the minute you walk away out of sight.....all of that knowledge has gone out the window....

was over a nephew's house a few months back......while hanging out in the garage, I could see over his shoulders of the kids doing wash......trying to load the washer full of clothes, AND standing inside the machine trying to jam the clothes down inside.....upon more horror.....holding a big jug of Tide upside down pouring about the whole bottle inside......yeah, I freaked!....on them and the parents....who claim their kids 'know' how to do laundry.....it also answers why their machine is always breaking, and why their going through so much detergent....

it doesn't stop there....dishes, vacuuming, cleaning their rooms.....they look for the short cuts, and then run for the Ipods.....

I really think they do it on purpose so you wont ask them to do it again......my theory on the whole thing, you don't go out, or play videos until you master your chores first.....they didn't need NO instruction on how to operate the Xbox!!!

 

[rp2813]

I guess it goes without saying that offspring can't be bothered with sorting, either.

 

Dave's daughter used to wash jeans with bras.  Then it would all go into the DG806, which of course didn't stop drying until the jeans were done.

 

More than once I spent quite a while fishing out the curved metal strips from bras that got stuck between the drum and the housing and created a scraping noise.

 

[mr_b]

We did the same thing to my Mom!

This is a very funny post for me. When I was a kid, one day, I got upset at my mom because I had run out of underwear. On that fateful day my mom decided that if she wasn't doing a good enough job, that I should start washing my own clothes. Not only that, she decided that my brothers also had to start washing their clothes. My mom showed us everything we need to know and the next weekend end my brothers and I got together to wash and we did the exact same thing the original poster reported. We stuffed all of our clothes into that old machine, and when I tell we stuffed it, we sat on the lid to get it to shut. Much to our surprise that old thing gave up the ghost, making a most horrendous sound when the agitator engaged. Needless to say my mom was not pleased. The only thing that save my hide was that my dad and mom had already decided to buy a new washer and dryer. We learned not to stuff it after that. From then on my mom never bought a new washer or for that matter any appliance since my brothers and I always replaced all of her appliances when she needed them. Have a happy Thanksgiving!!