transmissions

[gelaundry4ever]

Hello everybody. I have been interested in washers since I was a kid. I was especially interested into the transmissions. What types of transmissions did modern washers use? I know that GE has always used transmissions with steel gears as did speed queen. What types did the whirlpool/maytag use?Also, I noticed that they have always used heavy oil. Did they use ball bearings in addition to gears or just gears alone? I am speaking of brands like GE, Frigidaire, whirlpool/maytag, speed queen etc. Thank you all.

P.S. Why do people say that GE transmissions were full of plastic when they actually used nothing but steel?

 

[askolover]

personally

I love the Maytag orbital transmission, seemed so simple, but it has plastic gears inside it too.  My mother's is 22 years old now but still chugging along.  I'm looking around for a new one at a good price to have just in case....because she has a stacked unit and it's much better built than anything like it today.   It would be better for me to refurbish her unit than to replace it with a new stacked set.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE tranny

My GE has all steel gears and ball bearings. Filled with heavy gear oil... you bet!

 

[DADoES]

 
GELaundry4ever said:  "My GE has all steel gears and ball bearings. Filled with heavy gear oil... you bet!"

You've disassembled the transmission for a look-see at what's inside?  Got any pictures to share?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

unfortunately...

Unfortunately, I don't. I just suspected that the transmission has heavy gear oil when I examined the pulley. I'll see if I could attach a video of the steel gearbox.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naqcjr6QUmo

 

[kb0nes]

Who cares if the gears are steel or plastic?

OK so at the first mention of a polymer (Ack PLASTIC!!) gear, the paranoid folks are likely to jump to conspiracy theory's such as planned obsolesce or cost cutting etc. Clearly plastic can't hold up like good old fashioned solid metal...

But one material or the other isn't magically superior except in the mind of someone that wants to "Monday morning quarterback" the engineer. One can rest assured that if a given material is chosen there is a valid reason behind it.

 

[johnb300m]

great, but....

None of those videos show anything about the oil or the gears.
I do believe the gears on GE's older transmissions with the 1 "see saw" reciprocating gear, ARE metal.
But that doesn't tell any of us what oil was used in the case.
As far as I know, GE does not sell rebuild parts.
You have to get a whole new transmission. They don't even sell oil, from what I can find.

Also, AS an engineer, there are in fact, many plastics out there that can replace steel applications. And they can be even better at times, because they can act as their OWN lubricant!
In addition, many other parts of the assembly have been thinned out, lightened, and such, where metal gears no longer are needed.
Spin-drains are a thing of the past. And no more does a transmission or motor have to spool up a steel tub with 150lbs of water in it.

In fact, new top loaders have NO gears at all. No oil.
Just a belt and a digitally controlled motor.

 

[johnb300m]

PS

I'm not referring to the "holy oracle" of Speed Queen of course.

 

[glomain]

John

thanks for clearing that up about SPEED QUEENS ! LOL

 

[gelaundry4ever]

90 weight gear oil and metal

I think steel is better due to the durability. Also, I have seen the insides of my dad's GE. When I saw the pulley, I noticed how heavy the oil was. There's nothing wrong with the machine. I do notice a faint smell of gear oil during operation, however.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

P.S.

I'm reffering to the '95 and later models. Not to get off topic, but I wonder how the clutch is single speed if the motor is 2 speed. For example: switching the machine from gentle to normal. I like how the motors sound along with the chunka chunka chunka chunka sound. I believe it's the steel gears. That must explain why I hear a rhythmic sound. I wonder how the transmission was able to handle high torque during agitation. Did they make refinements or something? I have a 2000 model with electronic/rotary controls model WWSE3160AOWW and matching dryer. You would think it would be done for by now. It's still running.

 

[qualin]

Just to chime in here...

Maytag washers (Pre-Whirlpool) used a nylon drive gear in their transmissions, they were known for their reliability. Still are.

It was a design decision made for reliability reasons, not for cost cutting reasons. I'm sure there are threads here which explain why this decision was made. Frankly, the results speak for themselves.

But like John said, with things like GE's Hydrowave, conventional transmissions are a thing of the past, with Alliance being the only hold out.

The reliability of hydrowave-style systems is yet to be seen. We've already heard reports of numerous earlier GE washers having failed mode shifters. I'm sure GE has already revised the engineering on that. Again, it is hard to say how reliable these new systems are until they've been in the field a while.

 

[brucelucenta]

Back in the day, when I did tear down an old GE pre 1961 transmission, it was mostly metal gears. But it did have a plastic catch of some sort that kept the tub from rotating when agitating. I do remember that this plastic piece had broken on a couple of the transmissions which made the washer useless until the tranny was taken apart and the piece replaced. Which was no easy job. The older Maytag transmissions had at least one plastic gear too. The oil seal on the older units was a real pain to replace. It required taking the entire transmission apart. On the Frigidaire Unimatic and Pulsamatic transmissions they had the heavy oil too. The Unimatic actually pumped the oil over the working parts while it was agitating.

 

[washman]

Plastic is for toys

IH, on their 266 304 345 and 392 V-8 engines ran metal to metal timing gears. You NEVER,ever, not in a million years had to change a set out.

Contrast that with one particular 351W engine I had in a 79 Grand Marquis that had "polymer" cam gear that at 95K the teeth shredded off requiring replacement of that gear, crank gear plus timing chain. I used a Cloyes all metal setup and never looked back.

I cannot right at the moment recall other automakers that used gear to gear, but I do recall the Slant Six while it did use timing chains used metal crank and cam gears.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I've gotten gear oil on my hands

when examining my GE washers - both the filter-flo and new-style post-filter-flo models. I wish I had pictures, but you could imagine how thick and heavy the oil is and same with the strong smell.