Visimatic timer?

[tuxedoronny]

Hi everyone,

Lately I've noticed that when I run my Kenmore Visimatic, sometimes it just washes away forever regardless of what I set the timer for. Other times it gets the job done, but it might take 20 minutes instead of just 10, etc. The timer sometimes just stops ticking so I'm sure that's where the problem is.

Has anyone else had this problem, or ever fixed such a thing? I'd take it apart to give it a gander but it's a huge pain to get at the underside of it (needs to be flipped over on its side) and even then I've never worked the control panel before. Shot in the dark; worst case scenario- does anyone have a spare? Or are all washing machine timers the same and I can put the old knob on a new one? (UNLIKELY!)

Also, reference picture in the link

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo293/TuxedoRonny/Visimatic%20Washing%20Machine/011.jpg

 

[mickeyd]

HI Ronny

Mine has two screws to remove and the whole panel falls forward. Yours is the rare panel with the pull up shafts.

A few times my timer has stuck on a cold winter day. If you're washing in an icy Boston basement, maybe a blow dryer's warm air will do the trick.

Quick story ~ As a young kid of single digit age, the few times I was able to sneak into Dolores Moran's basement, I gawked in awe at her Visi, just like yours. In the minutes I had for my illegal entry, I would press down on the agitate and drain panels, but nothing ever happened. Never thought to pull them up. Was also so fascinated by "HOLD".

You can seach around for a replacement. I was able to get one from Walt of Gasport, NY, but he no longer warehouses parts. Keep searching. The first Ebay one I sent away for was way off; it's the vertical panel that won't fit yours, and this morning when I read your thread, I thought I might be able to salvage the timer for you, but it's dead. Sorry. I would have enjoyed that.

Would you treat us to more pix of your gem?

 

[mickeyd]

Woke up thinking about this ~

There really should be front access to the control panel. My agitate/drains controls are slim, custom handles on the sides, so the panel has no obstruction. But I'm so curious as to how yours is rigged.

Not too many of us have Visimatics, and like you I'm pretty bonkers about mine, so much so that i don't use the pump driven filter any more, because I want the pump to last forever. So I modified the filter and the original filter hook to fashion an inlet, and I love it: hands free filling, and underflow rinsing which really scoots lint away making the filter moot.

Time to put the cap in the dishwasher; it's hard to keep it black with the hot sudsy wringer-return liquors blasting it all the time.

 

[tuxedoronny]

Hmmmm

Well that does make sense! The room it's in has been a steady 20 degrees, so no wonder. If it's ever going to stick at all, it'll stick now. I'll try a hairdryer to see if that gets it loosened up and maybe I can leave a space heater on low. It figures the panel wouldn't be the easy type to remove (murphy's law, lol), but I'll get to it in the summer when the weather's warm and I can take it apart outdoors.

As for pics of the old girl, right now I only have the small album I took when I got it- mainly because I started restoring it by sanding and sealing some rust last summer, and all the parts and panels are in various states of disassembly being tuned up or repainted with white appliance enamel. So right now it's not the most glamorous thing to look at! I will however post pics of the disassembly process come the warm weather when I can finish it. The appliance enamel takes months to cure when it's under 60-70 degrees you see... P.S. it gets EVERYWEHRE.

ALSO! What a great idea using the drain hose as an inlet filler! I might try that if I can rig something up in my spare time (doesn't everyone want their drain pump to last forever?) I tell ya, the invaluable library of knowledge, tips and tricks forums like these provide really makes me grateful for the internet. Thanks!

http://s385.beta.photobucket.com/user/TuxedoRonny/library/Visimatic%20Washing%20Machine