Zanussi Washcraft (Z9292T) struggling on 1000rpm

[fl1012]

Hi all

Looking for abit of help. I bought the above machine a couple of months ago and as itd been sat in the garage since, decided to plumb it in a fortnight ago & give it a run. Its been running really smoothly so i decided to leave it in place for abit. It's probably done around 20 loads of washing in the fortnight & had no trouble at all.

However, today my sister put a load in on 40 Cottons & on the final spin it went to increase the speed from 500 to 1000rpm but it cudnt manage it. It was almost like trying to accelerate in a car in 5th gear at 30mph, it just couldnt gain momentum.

I gave it 10 seconds to see if it was gonna work, then switched it off as i was concerned it would damage the (induction) motor. I re-started it at the start of the spin program and it was fine, sped up to 1000rpm no problem. Then i tried putting it on rinse & spin & it struggled again, but once i stopped it & re-started, no problem again.

It didn't appear overloaded as there was a gap at the top of the drum and the washing was tumbling freely, but when it did the 500rpm spins in between rinses, there did seem to be marginally more water/suds than usual.

Does it sound like it was struggling due to the weight of the wet washing & the water being spun out (hence not struggling once it was re started) or does anyone know of a common problem where this happens, and could spell trouble?

Would be gutted if it's not well as it sounds perfect when it's running, no hint that the motor or pump is tired. From looking at the product number, it looks like it was made in 1984. (Photo Below, albeit not too clear).

Thanks in advance

 

[fl1012]

Anyone?!!

 

[panthera]

Liam,

I don't know those models too well, so this is just general advice.

So, here goes. There are four ways to set up a spin.
1)Do it to it. Except for the extremely powerful AEGs and Mieles of earlier eras, this approach died out about the time things went past 700rpm.
2)Use a sensor to trip when things are out of balance and skip the spin or leave it at the lower speed.
3)Full electronics
4)What I suspect to be your situation: A variable diameter pulley mounted on the drum. It uses centrifugal force* to raise the speed smoothly. Eventually, the springs involved wear out or things gum up over time. Or, the belt just plain slips due to age and wear. All problems are fixable.

Please, take the top off, give us a quick shot of the pulley on the back of the drum and I bet someone can help you directly from there.

Those were good machines. Which is why I didn't see too many in the late 80's when I was working in a shop.

Good luck!

*Yes, I know, I know. Let's not and say we didn't, ok?

 

[keymatic3203]

Another thought

Hi Liam,

I would suggest checking that the machine is emptying efficiently, these 1000rpm induction motors have a clutch pulley on the motor to smooth the ramp up to spin speed, if the drum still has water left in it or can't clear the spun out water the drag would make the spin appear sluggish.

You obviously know on these machines that you need to start a spin only programme at the distribution phase as the spin windings rely on the motor running at slow speed to give it the start rotation for the spin speed to run. Ie if you select the actual spin section the motor may not start, then overheat. Thefore starting the spin again would give the pump extra time to empty before the spin kicks in.

This is just a suggestion, I found this fault several years back on an ariston.

Hope you solve this one, and enjoy the machine for many more washes yet,

Mathew

 

[fl1012]

Hi Panthera & Mathew

Thanks both for your replies

Well, had a hectic evening on Saturday so unusually for me, the washing was left in the machine overnight & i unloaded it when i got in on Sunday morning. When unloading it i couldn't believe how much my sister had got in there. It had:

*2 pairs of trousers
*4 T shirts
*2 thick heavy sweaters
*2 blouses

plus countless items of underwear, all in the little 4.5kg drum. To be fair there was space, but as alot of it was very high absorbancy, i should think the weight in there when full of water was immence.

Ive not used the machine since the problem, but think i'll be doing some towels tomorrow, so i'm going to see how that goes. If it stuggles again, i'll go down the route of taking the lid off and getting a photo or two done. However at the moment i'm thinking Mathews point about the water creating drag on the motor looks the likely problem.

Im sure the pump is fine as it does clear the drum of water with time to spare before the machine ramps up to 500rpm, however im thinking that because the machine was so full of heavy clothing, the pump wasn't able to shift all the water during the 500rpm spin, before the timer advanced to 1000rpm, therefore when the motor went to increase to 1000rpm, the water flying about from the wet washing put extra strain on the motor and so after trying for a short time, it aborted the spin & went to drain only.

This would also explain why it span fine on the second attempt, again as Mathew says the start of the spin program gives the pump extra chance to shift the water before the higher speed kicks in.

Thanks once again for both of your replies. Glad you have fond memories of these machines Panthera - did you used to live in the UK then? I certainly love the old Zanussis, so smooth & effortless (except for yesterday lol).

I shall report back once ive run another load in it, hopefully without hickup!

Take care,
Liam.

 

[panthera]

Liam,

I've frequently had the pleasure of visiting and spending holidays in the UK, but never lived there. Got relations and friends across Ireland and Scotland and way way up in the very tip-top North of England (where mad maggie just about destroyed all life as we know it).

Torchwood is my entire reference for Cardiff, but it looks like a neat place to live.

Those machines were marketed here, too and have a good reputation. Hope that was your problem, next time you have her open, give us a few shots, would love to see.

Have you thought of joining secretsanta this year? Still time!

 

[panthera]

That was, Hi Liam and Matthew,

I should not attempt anything before the first cup of coffee.

I'd forgotten about the motor needing to be energized before the spin, suppose with a clutch that would make sense...your load would always be defined and who would play with a programme selector besides us?

 

[fl1012]

Aah i see, family all over then! I guess youre referring to somewhere like Northumberland or maybe Darlington, around the old mining areas? As you probably know, there's been quite abit of critisism of our current Government, with many people seeing the Conservatives as a good replacement next year. However, when you see what they did to some areas of the Country, it makes me wonder whether we might be better off with the lot we've got now!

How does the Secret Santa work then?

By the way, i ran another load tonight, it was pretty full, quite alot of towels. Put it on D - Fast Coloureds Heavy Soil (60 degrees with prewash) so it was on for a while, but it span fine. It does slow down abit when the water & suds start flying about in the drum, but i'm hoping this is partly characteristic of the machine & partly because it's at least 25 years old & doesn't seem to have had any maintenance.

I'll be packing it back away in the garage soon anyway, so it can rest for a while now that it's had a run. I guess we've got the 2 year old Essential for the heavy work!

 

[fl1012]

It's hapenned again

Had a relatively small load in the machine tonight but when it got to the 1000rpm point, the drum/motor clunked abit and slowed to around 300-400rpm, so there's definately something wrong. I switched it off immediately and restarted the spin at the beginning of the program as the washing wouldve been drenched. It ran fine then, but i wouldnt be happy using it on an ongoing basis knowing i could be causing damage so it'll be unplumbed over the weekend.

Ive been advised to check the filter before i use it much more anyway, as it usually throws alot of water around on the 500 spin, which isn't what these machines usually do & could signal a draining problem. Unfortunately i can't check it that easily as the cover/handle is broken so i've gotta somehow undo it with pliers & order a new one for once i've got the old one out.

I was going to do this soon anyway, but as it's obviously suffering abit, i think the machine best rest until i manage to sort the filter.

Better try the FL1012 out now, see how that's fairing! Never a dull moment with old machines is there!

 

[marthalover4eve]

Try checking the fluff filter

try checking the fluff filter it might be clogged up

 

[fl1012]

Can't check it at the moment.......

.....unfortunately the handle on the filter is broken, so it won't undo. Ive got to order a new one & then when that arrives (£20 - ouch) i'm gonna take a pair of pliers to the old one and force it out.

In the meantime, it's had a 90 degree service wash, been cleaned, and is packed away in the garage for a rest

Before i packed it away though, i did some videos of it. One of them is here

Liam

 

[favorit]

Hi Liam,
nice tumbles with very short pauses! only machines with strong motors can do it. A Candy washer would turn into a BBQ in a while .

A question : when you run a full load of towels does it fill several times at the wash start ?

I go crazy everytime I see these old Zanussi timers working.
I had a Rex dishwasher (a R80 .. speaking Zannish a Z80). It had extended cycles A and B (with/without prew) C normal with prew, D normal without prew

Anyway Zannies were/are exported in Germany too, mostly badged as Privileg and looking like our Zoppas-badged zannies.

Here in the pic is one of the very early Electrolux-badged zannies (Zanussi merged into E'lux in 1984). Despite of the different look of knobs and of that dropdown door, it's a washcraft
Pic source :

http://www.waschmaschinen-forum.de/bilddestages/bilddestages.php?Sprache=Englisch&Tag=2&Monat=4&Jahr=2006

 

[fl1012]

Hi Favorit,

Cheers for your post, and the cool photo - i love the old Electrolux models too

Yeah at the start of the wash it usually tops up with extra water. It does it on virtually every load i put in it, but particularly stuff like towels where it'll top up 3 times on some occasions.

My washer also has the with/without prewash cycles like your diswasher. B is Whites with prewash, C is Whites without prewash, D is Fast Coloureds with prewash & F is Fast Coloureds without prewash (there is no program E on the machine, as with alot of Zanussis i've seen). It may also have a with/without prewash program on the synthetics side of the programmer too, but i'm less sure without going & checking.

It's pretty clever because when it's been set to a program before the prewashes, like when i put it on program C, it automatically runs through program D without draining at the end like it would do if i started it on D. I believe it uses the water temperature to judge which cycle the programmer was set to and therefore whether to drain the water or not, which i think is pretty clever for a machine which was, incidently, made the year Electrolux/Zanussi merged, 1984.

It puts my mums Zanussi from 2007 to shame with its really fast effortless tumbles & it would absolutely walk all over a new Indesit Group machine that does those stupid slow tumbles that don't look like theyre cleaning anything! Ive just plumbed mums Zanussi back in yesterday & although its pretty decent for a new machine, i already want the Z9292T back in place!

Liam