Westinghouse woes - tub stall issue with the 58 L110 Laundromat

[turquoisedude]

It's been almost a year that I lept on the chance to save a matched 1958 Westinghouse washer/dryer (I had originally thought the washer was a 57 model, but it is a 58).  The washer needed lots of TLC - tub had fallen and was damaged in careless transit by even more careless movie production people, the machine needed a new rear tub bearing badly, and the pump, pump drive wheel/pulley, and water inlet solenoids have all been replaced.  When I run it now, it purrs like a kitten.  Everything should be fine, right?

Nope.

The issue I'm now up against is that the tub will stall with even a medium-size load of laundry.  I have successfully run several tests with just a tub of water and all has been fine - the machine filled, washed, drained, and ramped up to spin.  But just add laundry and....ooops.  

I had noticed the issue last autumn, suspecting the tub height was at fault - not the case.  I also tried changing belts but this has not helped at all (unless, of course, I messed up on the belt size...).

I've got the L110 manual and belt tension is the number one cause for the 'wash basket does not rotate' bugaboo, however there is no procedure/suggestion/incantion for adjusting belt tension.    I've done this with my older Westy, the style with the speed changer, and there is fairly obvious adjusting spring and screw assembly on the speed changer unit.

Now, I mentioned that I changed the belt pulley/pump drive wheel - naturally I thought that perhaps I had not tightened the set screw for this properly (I have the strength of an 8-year-old) but it was good and tight.  

Any suggestions as to how I might be able to tension the belt??  Oddly, there is also no mention of how much the belts should deflect in the L110 service book.

 

 

[swestoyz]

Paul, what a bummer! There is light at the end of the tunnel for you, but man it's taking forever to get out of the tunnel!

To be fully transparent, I have yet to work on one of these, so my advice is not directly related to working on the 3 belt Westy platform but more so from a general troubleshooting lens.

Reading briefly through the '57 L-104 manual, the '58 manual, the '59 manual, the '65 manual, and the most excellent 1985 WCI Frigidaire front loader manual (linked below), the notion of the belt drive itself comes up often as the culprit for a lack of spin, with no mention of adjusting the motor for tension.

What condition is the belt in - is it new (looks like it crosses over to a 4L490), or is it used and possibly stretched out? How clean is the spin pulley? I see what looks like grease finger prints on the wash pulley, so hoping none of that got on the spin pulley. And finally, do you recall if you lubricated the sliding section when you reassembled the motor pulley?

More than likely John will chime in. I'm hoping it's something simple that can be corrected (above), rather than having a truly weak motor.

Ben

https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~555~Frigidaire~

 

[arbilab]

Hope I'm wrong, sounds like the overrun clutch spring is broken.  Tub shaft disassembly blahblahblah.

 

IIRC, empty/off, tub will turn by hand in the direction it operates.  It will reluctantly turn the other way, spinning the motor. 

If it turns both ways without spinning the motor, see above.

 

[turquoisedude]

I replaced the clutch spring last year.... 

 

[combo52]

Stalling WH L110

Hi Paul, What do you mean by STALL, does the motor stop ?, or is the primary belt slipping ? the other would be the secondary tumble belt ?

 

It is not the over-run spring.

 

John

 

[turquoisedude]

John, the motor runs, but the tub stops turning.  The belts don't seem to be slipping, either, just not 'catching' on the pulley.   As mentioned, this only seems to happen when there is a certain weight inside the tub.  Really small loads of clothes are OK, but anything heavy like towels and the tub stalls.  

 

I'm going to try what Ben suggested - there may be something in the pulley groove that's keeping the belt from getting a grip.  I really, really hope it's not the motor itself...  

 

[combo52]

Its not the motor, but again which belt is slipping under load?

 

I think slipping and not catching is the same thing.

 

Post a video of it trying to tumble with a full load showing the pulleys if you want.

 

John

 

[syndets2000]

Check to make sure the sheaves ( pulley ) are not splitting apart-

 

[bendixmark]

Slipping

I have that washer.Havent tried to fix it yet but the E-Z Sudsit Laundromat is almost finished,I used to repair those 3 belt machines all the time years ago but never saw that probooblem.I would change the pulley slider and belts with new ones and I bet that cures it. Caint not work.

 

[moparwash]

You might be missing one of the tension springs in the picture with the pencil pointing to it, or yours are worn out. My tub used to stall until I got and installed the missing spring...there should be 2 of them on your machine, each one is slightly different in shape

 

[turquoisedude]

Jerry, I think the illustration is for a newer model than mine, however you raise an interesting point.  There is a spring underneath the tub, which I did not notice as being damaged (t should be showing at the bottom left of the picture).  Is is possible that it could somehow be adjusted?   I wish I had paid more attention to this when the tub was out of the cabinet! 

 

[bendixmark]

Slipping

The other thought I had is the low speed pulley could be split and the belt is bogging down in the groove.I will have to take a look at mine.

 

[moparwash]

Yes check to make sure that spring is ok...dryers of that era used a similar spring mechanism

 

[turquoisedude]

Videos of the L110 in operation and stalling

Just managed to get these uploaded to Youtube.   First video is of the machine as it starts up - the test load was a medium-size load of shirts (cotton blends).  As the machine starts, the tub is turning normally. 

 



 

The tub got just over half-filled with water when the stall occurs.  The motor itself is turning fine but the belt to the idler assembly is not even moving.  If I attempted to give the idler pulley a push, I got the machine to tumble for a few seconds.  

 

 

[turquoisedude]

So... my thoughts are that the sliding mechanism that the idler pulley is mounted on is what is causing the trouble.  The spring that the sliding plate is connected to seems loose to me - given the banging around the tub got in transit makes me think it's been damaged.

Trouble is there is very little information about this mechanism in the Westinghouse manual.   Not quite ready to give up on this....there has to be a way to adjust the damn thing.

(My apologies...my picture is posting upside down)

 

[moparwash]

That is very similar to W dryers of that era. Make sure the slider is lubed with lithium grease and is attached to the slide rails and the spring is lined up. If it rattles, its off the rails, which means the spring cant supply the rebound to help spin the tub.Check the manuals and literature section on the site for the service manual

 

[turquoisedude]

Jerry, I have the L110 book I found here and there's nothing, nada, rien about how to adjust or reposition this plate and spring.  As my late father would say "ziss is going to drive me foolish". . .

 

[bendixmark]

Belt

I checked the belt on my 58 and its loose.I think its supposed to be. My machine took a beating in transit also.The tub was on its side in the cabinet.A friend from work and I had to put it back together like HumptyDumpty.

 

[steved]

I dunno....

Paul, I did some digging in my manuals and found some info and pics. I don't really know much about these Westinghouse machines, but it looks like that spring is how you adjust the belt tension.