Thread Number: 17040
OH NO! NOT THE CALYPSO!!!!!!! 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 280693   5/19/2008 at 06:44 (5,819 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

My beloved Calypso is sick. It took over 2 hours to run a medium size load of slacks yesterday. I used the "Normal" cycle with the defaults. It was supposed to take 49 minutes. I checked on it some time later (around an hour, I'm not sure), it said 2 minutes. I noticed that it was stopping and starting a lot. I went inside (my laundry room is off my garage). Came back an hour later and it was at 1 minute.

I thought it had taken a long time last week to run a "Whitest Whites" load, but I was distracted and not paying attention. I have been working insanity hours and just doing what I can when I can.

The timing on this just sucks. We are leaving on vacation next Saturday, and I do not need to be without my washer. I still have the parts machine, any suggestions on a quick fix, or should I just call Home Shield and let them deal with it?




Post# 280716 , Reply# 1   5/19/2008 at 10:44 (5,819 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Did you try repositioning the items in the load? It could have been as simple as an unbalanced load condition. If the wash plate was not level when it was trying to spin, it is a more serious problem because it cannot spin until the plate is level, but if it had reached the last two minutes of the cycle, either the U joint had just gone out or that is not the problem. When you rebuilt the machine, you did replace the O ring when you opened the U joint assembly, right?

Post# 280800 , Reply# 2   5/19/2008 at 19:58 (5,818 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

This isn't the machine that was being rebuilt. The second machine that I originally bought as a parts donor was only suds-locked and worked perfectly and I have been using it. I felt of the wash plate and it wiggles very slightly. It sounds like someone is cutting the power off and on, it runs and quits, runs and quits.

I talked it over with my wife, she suggested calling Home Shield. They are sending Sears out tomorrow morning. I have been working crazy hours and we do not know when I will get time to play with it. They have hired me some help, so my life will be mine again soon. We are going on vacation next week so I can get reacquainted with my family, and we need to wash clothes to pack. My wife is domestically challenged, I have always done most of the house work and all of the laundry. The house looks like a tornado has been through it.

Post# 280827 , Reply# 3   5/19/2008 at 21:29 (5,818 days old) by andrewinorlando ()        

If it seems like it is having power turned on and off, and from what you described that you saw on the countdown timer, it sounds as if you could have either a loose or bad control board. The Calypso does not stop to "level" a load, like a front loader does. It ramps up to medium speed on the final spin, stops after about 2 minutes, redistributes the load, then ramps back up to full speed. It never goes off balance thanks to its balance ring and it never slows down from full speed until the cycle ends. Actual full speed depends on the cycle you have selected. I have washed single pillows, single rugs, and even heavy bathrobes, and it has never gone off balance. It may get a little noisy as the tub rocks rapidly back and forth during spin, but I've never had it go off balance where the "OB" indicator illuminated on the control panel. Also, the countdown timer never stops the way you described for any reason, unless the machines displays an error code.

The Calypso has 2 control boards...a motor controller and a cycle controller. One of these two boards also controls the dispensers (don't remember which). Glenn has more info on this and can tell you the difference between the two, but they are an easy changeout.

If the u-joint had gone out, the nutator plate would be loose, and you would be able to move it up and down by pulling on the center cap. If the leveler broke, the machine would not be able to level the wash plate and lock it in its level position. The nutator plate is normally very tight. If the wash plate cannot level, then the leveler is broken. The leveler sits right under that center cap. If the u-joint is worn, the machine will be quite noisy when it washes as the wash plate moves up and down while it nutates if the joint is bad. The leveler, however, is what locks the nutator in its level position. Don't know if this helps, but, when the leveler in my machine went, along with the u-joint, it was still able to spin just fine. It made a lot of noise washing and spinning, but it still worked. I would find the wash plate at all sorts of odd angles at the end of the cycle, but it still cleaned, and still spun. Don't know if that's typical or not.

Post# 280923 , Reply# 4   5/20/2008 at 13:45 (5,817 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

The Sears guy came by, it ran perfectly. He declared it suds-locked (whatever) and left. I started a load and it promptly started malfunctioning again. I am now waiting for him to call me back. I took a video of it acting up for him to see when he gets here. I put it on you tube for the real experts to diagnose :-)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO jaxsunst's LINK
Post# 280927 , Reply# 5   5/20/2008 at 14:06 (5,817 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
The pump seems to be in control of the starting/stopping. Periods when the pump stays on long enough, nutation also gets going. Maybe a bad motor board? The pump motor has a thermal overload, if it has bad bearings and is overheating, it'd likely stay off for longer periods. Same for the main drive motor.

Did you keep the motor board from the trashed machine to swap-in?

Post# 280960 , Reply# 6   5/20/2008 at 19:21 (5,817 days old) by andrewinorlando ()        

After seeing the video, I have to agree with Glenn...looks like a controller board of some type. The machine seems to work fine otherwise, except for the control issues. It's hard to see the display on the video, so i can't see the countdown timer to know where it's at in the cycle.

Post# 280971 , Reply# 7   5/20/2008 at 20:15 (5,817 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
Well, of course the pump isn't really controlling anything ... it's just the most obvious signal that the controller board is turning the motor outputs repeatedly on/off. Isn't the lid switch, as that would require pressing start to continue. The board fuse obviously is OK or nothing would run at all.

Post# 280997 , Reply# 8   5/21/2008 at 06:32 (5,817 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

According to the Sears guy, it is the control board. He is ordering one and it will not get installed before we leave for vacation. I do still have the other machine with a good board in it. The problem is time to mess with it. I worked till 10 last night, it looks like I will be doing that until we leave.

I informed my boss that my laptop and cell phone are staying in Memphis. This trip has been on the calendar since January, and they knew it was coming.

Post# 280998 , Reply# 9   5/21/2008 at 06:33 (5,817 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

BTW, Andrew,

It was on Rinse. It is now doing it all the time.

Post# 281017 , Reply# 10   5/21/2008 at 08:54 (5,817 days old) by andrewinorlando ()        

Yep, definitely the control board then. Like most electronics, they can remain flaky before they fail completely. Since you have warranty coverage, you might as well let them pay for the new board and the labor, too. At least you get a limited warranty with the new part instead of stripping down the other machine.

Post# 285240 , Reply# 11   6/14/2008 at 20:30 (5,792 days old) by jaxsunst ()        

The Calypso was fixed earlier this week. It was the control board. I finally got to use it today.

One thing different. With the old board when you selected a cycle the display showed wash time only, now it shows total cycle time. I actually like that better.


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