Well, They've started multiplying!! (and Frigidaire washer questions)

[dustin92]

Well, I brought home a washer last week and It's already started to reproduce in the basement (I knew I should have watched closer!). I picked up another set yesterday... Now there are three washers and two dryers in the basement. Saw a post on my local facebook free group "Washer and dryer for scrap, pick up asap" turns out they were less than 1/2 a mile away... They claimed the motor was burned up in the washer, and didn't elaborate on what was wrong with the dryer. Went to pick them up and found a Frigidaire TL washer and a Whirlpool gas dryer. Talked with them for a few minutes and they said the washer ran but wouldn't spin and smelled like something burning. The dryer was said to work fine but takes a long time to dry. Loaded them in my van and got home, unloaded them, and looked a little deeper. The dryer does indeed run smooth and quiet (haven't connected it to gas yet, need to give it a good cleaning first, but the top mount lint filter has one side completely torn out of the frame... And they had been using it. On to the washer... Plug it in, put hose on the laundry tub, set timer to spin. I hear something running, but it makes no effort to spin. Ok, front panel off. Set to spin again, only the drain pump is running... Aha! Ok, move dial further into spin, start. Motor is now running, but makes no effort to spin the tub.. Hmmmmm. I started the motor and then gave the tub a spin by hand, and viola, it starts to pick up speed- slowly and very weakly. Gradually faster. Ok, it spins . I'm thinking it needs a belt and possibly tensioner, the belt seems really loose. Do WCI frigidaire washers have any type of clutch, or do they run by belt slippage, ala Maytag? Haven't dug into it yet, but the belt is very cracked. Not planning on keeping the washer, I don't care for Frigidaire washers, so will be fixing the issues and selling it, but if all checks out with the dryer I plan on replacing the lint filter and swapping it out with the Maytag Performa upstairs and selling the Maytag. Will try to post pics and updates as I go. So yeah, probably should stop leaving appliances unattended in the basement!

 

[askolover]

you need to have "the talk" with your appliances about practicing safe laundry! Next thing you know you'll be having a bunch of little "Frigipools or Whirlidaires" running around down there.

 

[dustin92]

I don't know for sure now if the washer will be repaired or not, I think the tub seal and bearings may be bad... There is evidence of leaking around the tub seal, and when I tried running it today it started squeaking and squawking as it spun. Not a huge loss though, it is really beat up. The dryer on the other hand, seems to be in better condition, but was absolutely packed with lint and I found 70 cents in the process of cleaning it out. Also figured out why it wasn't drying well... It is converted to propane and they were running it on natural gas. We have natural gas as well, so later on I will go and see if I can get the parts (orifice) to convert it back to natural gas. Lucky they hadn't run it as natural gas on propane... That may have ended badly.

 

[dustin92]

Got the dryer up and running, dried two loads in it today and it seems to work great! Not terribly noisy, dries fast. Have not decided if it's getting installed upstairs or not, it would be around 2" too wide for the space, so a shelf would need to be modified in order to install it. It does dry far faster than the Maytag Performa, a heavy load of mostly towels, jeans, and shorts dried in about 60 minutes on Medium (I normally use auto dry, just wanted to see how long it actually takes) and a set of heavy cotton sheets was dried on auto dry, Medium heat, which took about 30 minutes. The Maytag would have taken 70-90 minutes for the first load and 40-50 for the second, on regular heat. I still need to order a lint filter, I found one for $12 shipped on Ebay. Would like to repaint the top and touch up the front panel- The top has been touched up badly. Pictures to follow. Sadly the washer is going to be scrapped, it just isn't worth fixing.

 

[dustin92]

And a picture of the ill fated washer. Lots of rust underneath, the front panel has rusted through in one spot.

 

[supersurgilator]

thats great about the dryer, but too bad about the washer. Anyway we can see a money shot before u get rid of it?