Now have a Duet 9600 and the water levels are poor at best. It has a pressure sensor rather than the adjustable limit switch. Was doing some research on the topic and came across this. This guy has spend a lot of time developing his theory, but as far as I can tell never implemented it. Read through it and see if he has an good idea, or is off in left field.
"
Duet Owners and others,
Our Whirlpool Duet front loader doesn't use enough water to wash or rinse.
This past weekend I decided to try a little experimentation to determine just how the
pressure switch works in the machine. I decided to replicate the function of the machine by
cutting a piece of 1-1/4" pvc pipe the height of the washer and install a hose barb at the
base of the pipe to allow connection of a piece of 1/4" clear plastic tubing that would
connect to the pressure switch. I located the switch at the same height that it is in the
machine, connected an ohm meter so that I could tell when the contact closed that indicated
full water level. I really learned a lot by doing this, none of my original ideas proved to
be true but after seeing for myself how the switch reacted to water level I began to
understand what would have to be done to increase water level in the machine without having
to make an adjustment to the switch. It really is simple after you see how it reacts.
This is what I learned. The length of tubing has very little to do with when the switch
closes, the orientation of the tube has everything to do with when the switch will close.
Let me explain by getting you to draw a simple XY graph. First draw the vertical and
horizontal axis lines, next starting at X=0 and Y=0 draw a 45deg.line on the graph go back
and add two more lines equally spaced between the X axis line and the 45deg.line, do the
same for the Y axis. Be sure to allow the angular lines to extend the full length of the X
and Y lines. It should start to look like one quarter of a spoke wheel at this point. At
this point take a kids drawing compass and draw a quarter circle with the point of the
compass located at X 0, Y 0, allow the pencil to extend to the full height of X. Everywhere
the pencil crosses a line represents water level on the X axis based on the angle of the
tub with relationship to the vertical axis. If you were able to follow my crude instructions you should now see how the orientation of the tubing that feeds pressure to the
switch is effected by the angle that it leaves the machine tub and travels to the switch.
If it’s not plain yet just draw a line at each cross point parallel to the horizontal axis
and let it run to the vertical axis. Where it crosses the vertical axis represents water level in the pvc pipe.
I haven't opened up our machine yet so I don't know if I will be able to increase water
level with what I have learned but I plan to try. All depends on how the line is oriented
now and if there is room for me to reroute the tube in a more vertical direction as it
leaves the connection point on the washers tub. Horizontal travel is additive and once you
have reached the maximum horizontal travel allowed by the switch calibration no amount of
vertical travel will change the trip point. You have to go vertically as quickly as
possible with the line to increase water height in the machine to the desired level at
which point you want to travel horizontally to the switch.
Look at the graph you'll see how water level increases when the tube travels in a more
vertical direction and decreases as you move toward the horizontal axis.
I sure hope I can make this work because it will be a simple fix for the water problem that everyone is having with these front loaders and want require any electrical knowledge and better than that want require any money unless you have to add some length to the tube. Twenty feet of the clear 1/4" tubing cost me $2.68 and about the same for the double ended 3/16" hose barb. I'm hoping someone will see this and give it a try with success and pass it own to others. If not I'll give it a try as soon as I have time.
If anyone gives this a try please let us hear from you on how it worked out. Remember look at the graph, when I tried filling the pvc pipe with the tubing running straight up the pipe I was able to get 28 inches of water in the tube before the switch tripped, this is a lot more water that your machine will hold so take it slow. I'm sure you will not be able to find a straight vertical path but vertical adds just like horizontal as long as you get the vertical travel ahead of the horizontal. Remember always unplug the machine before you start working on it!!!
Sincerely,
Tim Tucker
tim.tucker2881@yahoo.com
P.S. This has all been inspired by a guy named Joe Tass after having read his blog it got me to thinking about a simple way to solve the problem. I sure hope that it works out. I'm going to post this in the comment section on his blog as well. Good Luck All
(whirlpool-dueling-with-duet.blogspot.com)
Sorry my word processor tried to double space everything.
I will continue to work on this problem as I have time. I encluded the address to Joe's blog because this is what inspired me to get as far as I have gotten with this problem. If anyone follows up with this information let me hear from you as to what you did and how it worked. I know that it will work if there is enough space in the machine to run the pressure tubing vertically. Remember in the test that I ran this past weekend I use the orqinal pressure switch from my machine and made no adjustment to the switch. When I ran the tubing vertically up the pvc pipe I was able to achive 28" of water in the pvc tube before the switch tripped. If your water level is too high just add small amounts of horizontal change to the path and the water level will start to drop on the next fill cycle. Good Luck"
This was posted on '09 and I did not see any follow up from him.
Comes to the Rescue!
