Well, today was a interesting day. I went over to Tcox's house for some washer fun with 3 big loads of laundry to do.

The first machine of the day was Uni's Speed Queen. Pretty machine. Unfortunately, the old girl was very temperamental today. The motor did't start up at first.

Lesson learned: If you just unpacked a washing machine, test it outside without clothes.

OK, so we have a washer full of water and clothes and no motor.. bummer. Todd transfered the load to his small Haier front loader and got it started. I opened the front of the SQ to see what's the matter. I absolutely love the front access and the hinged panel. Go SQ! So I looked under there. No loose wires so I jiggled each one and made sure they were tight. Pulled the timer and whoosh, she roared to life. So were like YAY and I got it to spin the water out. Just then we noticed lots of water hitting the floor instead of out the pipe :( . Busted drain hose. So I lowered the hose out of the door of the shed so it could drain. Poor old SQ. She must've been traumatized during shipping.

Next machine was the Ebay Hotpoints. We started the washer and it agitates and spins at the same time. Gansky reminded us that it's the brake. Easy fix. We didn't have time to do it today so maybe the next wash-in will be a fix-in. The HOtppoint is a fun and quiet machine. It's Fountain filter burpilates on both strokes and it very neat to watch. There are no leaks and besides the brake problem, mechanically it works like a charm.

So that's the report for today's interesting washin. I wound up washing in a Haier, an LG and my mom's Maytag.

That's too bad about the drain hose, at least it should be easy to fix. Washers really don't like to be moved 1000 miles, but what choice do we have. We just fixed 'um and enjoy them.

As for the Hotpoint, that is going to be an interesting challenge. I'm pretty sure this late of a model has a brake and that it could be stuck open or something like that. The earlier machines without a brake had a anti-indexing spring. On occasion, with heavy loads my Hotpoint doesn’t always catch the spring and starts to spin during agitation, so I stop the tub with my hand and help it "catch". Usually works.

Hey thanks for the tip. I'm gonna pull the back off of the Hotpoint and see if the brake's jammed or something. As for SQ, she should work like a champ. I know you owned her and took immaculate care of her so a new drain hose will make her like new again.

We treat these machines like fine antiques. Those truck drivers and unloaders treat them like big stuff so they get banged around.

Next get together will be the fix-in.

Sorry to hear about your Wash-in near miss. Would love to see that speed quenn live in action. We have an older laundramat not on the other side of the tracks that I believe still has the solid tub coin-ops running in it. If it were in a safer neighborhood, I might frequent it occassionally to get my fix.

MRB

The machines are indeed nearly mint. But, as Robert said, they don't like to travel so far. Fortunately, both repairs are very minor. On the Hotpoint, if you lift the lid during the spin, you can hear it "trying" to spin, but it doesn't quite slow down. So, the brake seems to be the culprit. We will do our repairs and have a real wash-in soon. Todd

Todd and Jason can you describe the symptoms of the Hotpoint a little better? First of all is it spinning up to full 600rpm? Second, when you push the knob in to stop it when the tub is spinning does the brake work at all or does it take a minute or so to coast to a complete stop? I might be able to get you the right service info to get you started. The brake assembly is not going to be a minor repair, but its one that could be done with the proper instruction. At least all of the brake components are on the outside of the tranny, but they are located with a special cup-like mechanism that is going to need to be disassembled.

Here's what happens. While it's agitating, the tub also spins. When the spin cycle is over, you can hear the brake pads scraping, kinda like a

Here's what happens. While it's agitating, the tub also spins. When the spin cycle is over, you can hear the brake pads scraping, kinda like a "Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh" sound but the tub keeps on coasting to a stop, but not like if the brakes normally kicked in. That's the best way I can describe it. Maybe Todd can describe it a little better.

Actually I have a video of it doing this noise so I might just email it to you.

I'm impressed at how quiet those old machines are. Except for a slight hum from the motor but the SQ and Hotpoint make very little noise (except for the solenoid)

I wonder if the brake pads have fallen off the shoes and the scraping sounds were the shoes scraping on the brake drum housing??? Actually I had a similar problem with my first vintage Hotpoint, the clutch pads had fallen off of the clutch shoes. What I had to do was take it apart, and JB-Weld the pads back on the shoes. I get more info for you guys on this tonight.

That's exactly what it sounds like. The brake solenoid is kicking in but the brake pads themselves are there to stop the tub.

I saved $200 on a new carbuerator for my old VW Bug with JB weld. Great stuff and holds up in a pinch.

Todd I wouldn't run the Hotpoint anymore until the brake is serviced, that scraping might do more damage than is necessary. If I get a free moment, I will look for and scan some Hotpoint service stuff tonight regarding the brake assembly.