Gyrafoam's Experience with his Flaming Queen


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Thread Number: 7217
Gyrafoam's Experience with his Flaming Queen

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Post# 142161 7/13/2006 at 22:35 (6,490 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)
Checkrate/Likes We know the story of Mark and Lady Kenmo's Speed Queen (with the Easy agitator), NOW I dare any member to ask Steve (Gyrafoam) about his experience yesterday with his Flaming Queen............ Go For It. Honey, we are glad you are OK Steve

Post# 142162 , Reply# 1 7/13/2006 at 22:37 (6,490 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes Tell me about your Flaming Queen Steve!! Glad u r ok.

Post# 142166 , Reply# 2 7/13/2006 at 22:45 (6,490 days old) by andrewinorlando ()
Checkrate/Likes A flaming Queen??? Here? NO!!

Post# 142172 , Reply# 3 7/13/2006 at 23:14 (6,489 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes *Convention SQ from Garage...* He called me right after the tragic end to the SQ motor. Luckily he still has the three speed motor that just needs some re-wiring to restore the washer to it's original (and very, very rare) three-speed glory. Did you get those curtains washed and ironed yet Steve??

Post# 142184 , Reply# 4 7/14/2006 at 00:05 (6,489 days old) by spinout (Phoenix)
Checkrate/Likes *Do you know...* What exactly happened with the motor? Please don't discard it as I may be interested in the core. Thanks, Joe

Post# 142228 , Reply# 5 7/14/2006 at 08:30 (6,489 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)
Checkrate/Likes *Oh wow---who knew-----* O.K. I was washing a medium sized load of towels and wash cloths in the S.Q. While that was going on I was in the next room at the computer, so I could hear the machine in operation, but was not real tuned in to it----but I knew which sequence it was in. I remember it doing the overflow rinse, then the solonoid slamming as it shifted to spin. Next thing I knew it was all quiet---which did not immediately register as odd. Then I remember thinking how long the final spin is on that machine and I thought it can't be through already! It was through all right! At that moment I glanced towards the door to the kitchen and a CLOUD of white smoke was rolling into my bedroom! (And its been a while since my bedroom smoked!). Anyway, I quickly grabbed Killer and threw him out the back door as I tried to figure out how to best clear the kitchen of thick white acrid smoke. Grabbed a box fan and a fan on a tri-pod and managed to attain a front door to back door flow through the house. In the meantime I had glanced at the outlet the S.Q. was plugged in to-- as it has a surge protector on it and I could see it had done its job and tripped (the fuse had also fried), I just wanted to be sure no more power was flowing to the machine. It took the better part of half an hour to exhaust all the smoke from the house----that was how bad it was. I had to launder the drapes and wash down the walls in the kitchen to get the burnt smell out---a mess. I then removed the "stanky" machine. (Back in the slot goes my good old Highlander!)The clothes in the machine were still plastered to the walls of the tub-----but could be wrung out as the machine had never reached full spin speed when the incident occured. I had to drop the drain hose and gravity drain the machine out the back porch door on the way to the workshop. In retrospect I am grateful to have been home when this event occured. My first concern was my tiny dog---I will never know if he would have survived in an atmosphere that full of choking smoke but I think it would have been a closer call than I would EVER want. I am also glad I was able to reverse the course of all that smoke before it enveloped the whole house--got into all the drapes, rugs and upholstery,air conditioners, etc. As the ault folks would say "es geyt a reyekh" "it stinks"! I am grateful to Greg for fussing at me a little for leaving the house with any of my old machine running unattended, as I used to do all the time----including with this S.Q. He is right---ALL these machines are very old, operating LONG after their planned services lives so ANYTHING can happen at any time!!!! I think from here on out I will also unplug every machine at the conclusion of wash day. I hope everyone else will too. You just never know-----------

Post# 142263 , Reply# 6 7/14/2006 at 10:07 (6,489 days old) by unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes Hi Steve, sorry to hear about the motor fire, thank goodness the breaker tripped. Yes I agree 100%, never leave the house with any appliance running, vintage or modern, its just asking for trouble at some point. Of course we have no choice with the refrigerator, but everything else is off.

Post# 142272 , Reply# 7 7/14/2006 at 10:22 (6,489 days old) by lightedcontrols ()
Checkrate/Likes *Now Girlfriend!* As I've told you before, this is what happens when you terribly OVERLOAD a machine and put in WAAAAAAAAAAAAY toooooo much soap powders! Now you've gone and burnt yer moter. m m m. OK....I'm running like hell nohttp://www............................................................................................................................................................

Post# 142471 , Reply# 8 7/15/2006 at 06:08 (6,488 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)
Checkrate/Likes Yikes! I can imagine that was a heart-pounding experience. As bad as it was having to deal with the smoke, I'm certainly glad there was no fire. I hope your Highlander will be better behaved for you.

Post# 142474 , Reply# 9 7/15/2006 at 06:34 (6,488 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Steve* Great washer drama! You had a terrific instinct with Killer ( I LOVE that name BTW) as dogs are much more sensitive to smoke than us. Good on ya! Are these SQ's known for this? Or is Mark right and you suffer from COS?? (Chronic Overload Syndrome) running for cover in the thick new england bush.................... jet

Post# 142480 , Reply# 10 7/15/2006 at 06:58 (6,488 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)
Checkrate/Likes *Jet-----* Honnnnnney-----Mark "ain't right" at all! He is just saying that because I fuss at HIM all the time for overloading and oversudsing! Girrrl can't help it! Gets all 'kuntry and 'evrythin(envision Sissy Spacek on the front porch of a cabin in the hills-----'younguns 'runnin around everywhere---Loretta ---thinks she needs a box of Breeze (per load) to get those clothes clean----poor old "burpalator"! When you think about it, everything with a motor could burn up like that. I just don't know what triggered it. I have yet to pull the front panel off and take a look. Maybe today as I need to get in that workshop and get busy with that Kelvy!

Post# 142530 , Reply# 11 7/15/2006 at 12:27 (6,488 days old) by lightedcontrols ()
Checkrate/Likes *I just wonder.....* .....How many of us, after working and working on those Kelvinator's, Frigidaires, Speed Queens, Philco's, Bendix's, etc......at the end of the day, put everything in a Maytag to actually get our laundry done? That's why I love them so! Mark

Post# 142535 , Reply# 12 7/15/2006 at 12:52 (6,488 days old) by westytoploader ()
Checkrate/Likes YIKES, glad everyone was OK and nothing was damaged! Now it's time to get that proper 3-speed motor in! :) Hopefully I won't experience this in the future...I have been shocked before but have never had anything go up in smoke on me!

Post# 142541 , Reply# 13 7/15/2006 at 13:36 (6,488 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)
Checkrate/Likes *Hi Austin-----* I hope you are feeling MUCH better!!!!! Now, you just need to hop on a plane and get out here and help me figure out which wires go where on this three-speed Flaming Queen! I am going to call up to Milwaukee on Monday and see if I can find someone with a correct wiring schematic for this rare machine----and get them to copy/scan it for me. In the meantime the Highlander is doing just fine thank you! One of these days she is going to tire of being shuttled back and forth in favour of machines of lesser rank and quality---and then I will really have a problem!

Post# 142570 , Reply# 14 7/15/2006 at 16:07 (6,488 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)
Checkrate/Likes *Post-mortem examination reveals------* IT WAS THE SOLENOID! Both Lightedcontrols and LadyKenmo' were right! That thang is fried black! O.K.----so just exactly what does make a solenoid burn up like that? In this case the only real work it is doing is engaging the clutch for the fluid drive so it will spin-------well-----it also slams it into agitation so the solenoid had a dual purpose. Just trying to back-track and figure out what the root of the problem is. Any opinions from the wise?

Post# 142573 , Reply# 15 7/15/2006 at 16:19 (6,488 days old) by westytoploader ()
Checkrate/Likes Wow, scary! The only thing I can think of is that if there's something blocking the plunger from pulling in, the solenoid might damage itself. Since you mentioned that it spun just fine until it started smoking, maybe it just burned up with age. Lemme know whenever you're doin' a fix-in on that '58 Whirly...I'll be there!

Post# 142579 , Reply# 16 7/15/2006 at 16:39 (6,488 days old) by lightedcontrols ()
Checkrate/Likes *sometimes....* ...the insulative material in these solenoids will crystalize because of the heat they produce. You can hear them frying sometimes. They really will smoke your place up! The Maytag AMP solenoids were famous for smoking. I've seen LOTS of Maytags that people threw out because of the solenoid. People NEVER trusted the machine afer an incident, and had the false belief that the machine had actually caught on fire......LoRetta

Post# 142582 , Reply# 17 7/15/2006 at 16:44 (6,488 days old) by westytoploader ()
Checkrate/Likes "The Maytag AMP solenoids were famous for smoking" That's nice to know...so I'll eventually end up being smoked after all!!! LOL

Post# 142680 , Reply# 18 7/16/2006 at 00:17 (6,487 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)
Checkrate/Likes *Valium anyone?* oooh child. That's scary. I'm thinkin a 60 minute wind-up timer to cut off the power is in order as well. Hope you had a Vitamin V in stock to calm down!

Post# 142817 , Reply# 19 7/16/2006 at 15:40 (6,487 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)
Checkrate/Likes ".....How many of us, after working and working on those Kelvinator's, Frigidaires, Speed Queens, Philco's, Bendix's, etc......at the end of the day, put everything in a Maytag to actually get our laundry done? That's why I love them so!" You so funny Mark, I will admit - ALL THE TIME Like Steve says "machines of lesser rank and quality" Ok so now that it has been discovered, is there another solenoid that can be used? I will see if I can find any information out on the wiring configuration for the 3-speed motor as well. I aint all that when it comes to the wiring mess. Killer, you ok honey? Tell daddy to stop with all those washers and crap all the time, we know he makes you nervous. Steve

Post# 143643 , Reply# 20 7/19/2006 at 20:25 (6,484 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes The motor on the 806 that I gave my mom when I found one with the blue band that matched my dryer went up one afternoon. When that shellac on those motor windings burns, you have smelly smoke. A "very nice young man from Maytag" came out to replace the motor. He was a single father and liked restoring old Maytags and was very interested in my collecting...according to my mother. Is there a nice Maytag service tech who is raising his son alone in Atlanta who is part of this group?

Post# 143660 , Reply# 21 7/19/2006 at 21:14 (6,484 days old) by westytoploader ()
Checkrate/Likes "How many of us, after working and working on those Kelvinator's, Frigidaires, Speed Queens, Philco's, Bendix's, etc......at the end of the day, put everything in a Maytag to actually get our laundry done?" Strangely enough, I usually end up using a belt-drive Kenmore! The Frankenmore (and even before, when it was the 1982 Kenmore) has saved my @$$ on MANY occasions when one or more machines were down and I needed to wash, especially when I was working on something and had no clean rags! More recently, the '77 GE has been bailing me out as well, like when the flood-protector hoses decided to trip and stay tripped halfway through the spin-spray on the AMP. Threw the load in the GE and rinsed it in there!

Post# 143688 , Reply# 22 7/19/2006 at 22:23 (6,484 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)
Checkrate/Likes OK Austin, I agree, but you have spent too much time around jasonl.

Post# 143707 , Reply# 23 7/19/2006 at 23:19 (6,483 days old) by spinout (Phoenix)
Checkrate/Likes *About solenoids...* Austin got it right: "...if there's something blocking the plunger from pulling in, the solenoid might damage itself." The foregoing analysis is correct. In order to realize maximum inductance and, hence, minimum current, the plunger must be pulled completely in. (Solenoids intended for continuous duty are designed to have the plunger seated.) The plunger is part of the magnetic circuit and even a small amount clearance will reduce the effectiveness of the magnetic path. When the pole piece (plunger) isn't seated the coil will behave as a short--through just the resistance of the winding--resulting in overheating and eventual failure.

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