|
Thread Number: 29493
New member here, just found a vintage matching Frigidaire washer and dryer! |
[Down to Last] |  |
| Post# 448548 7/11/2010 at 19:34 (5,035 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
Hello,
I can finally get into the vintage appliance collection now that I am a new home owner! I recently moved into an all original 1964 brick ranch with full basement and the only think it needed was period correct appliances. I have an upstairs laundry room, so it was important for me to find clean nice quality vintage units as they will be seen by basically anyone who comes in the house. I just went to an estate sale today and found a matched pair of Frigidaire 1-18 washer and dryers in Avocado green (my favorite color by the way). The dryer seems to work quite well as it was still hooked up, however, the washer was not in service. A newer washer was hooked up in its place and this one was off to the side. Both are incredibly clean inside and out making them a must have. Once I got the machines home, I checked to see what was at fault with the washer. I hooked up cold water, and then plugged it in. Absolutely nothing, turning the dial, pushing pulling on the knob and nothing would happen except for one split second, at one point on the dial, I heard a hum, like an electric motor that wouldn't go but it immediatly stopped and I couldn't get it to repeat itself. Can anyone help me with some pointers on these units, what could be at fault with the washer (sounds electrical, possibly the timer switch?) and also, what should be addressed for preventative maintenence etc. I have not even opened anything up on it yet. Im also curious as to exactly what year these are and where they were built. I alway liked the old Frigidaire appliances, especially the real deal ones when they were part of General Motors. Im very hands on mechanically capable person, Im just new to the vintage appliances. Its something I always wanted to get involved with but simply never had the space or time until finally getting my first house. Heres the model numbers: Washer: WIA3T, s/n: 41EB 7495 Dryer: DIAG3T, s/n: 31DM 1643 Thanks! Doug 
| ||
|
| Post# 448550 , Reply# 1 7/11/2010 at 19:41 (5,035 days old) by thor (Buenos Aires) | ||
|
Welcome and congratulations! Doug, I really like your new Frigidaires, but I really love you 1960 4 door hardtop Impala, my favorite car! Please post some pictures of it as well! Emilio | ||
| Post# 448551 , Reply# 2 7/11/2010 at 20:01 (5,035 days old) by strongenough78 (California) | ||
 | ||
Post# 448562 , Reply# 3 7/11/2010 at 20:41 (5,035 days old) by joelippard  (Hickory) |
||
Well, | ||
|
Post# 448564 , Reply# 4 7/11/2010 at 20:48 (5,035 days old) by appnut (TX) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 448584 , Reply# 6 7/11/2010 at 22:02 (5,035 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
||
Very nice first set Doug - nothing like starting out with something from Generous Motors!
The T line 1-18's came out for the '72 model year, with the 3 designating the set being from '73. Right at home for someone who has great tastes in automobiles. As Joe mentioned, try the washer out in spin with the lid closed. If you get spin, then we can go from there. If you get no spin, try the fabric setting in both regular/colorfast and perm press/delicate to see if one of the windings is shot in the motor. Hopefully it shouldn't take much for you to be enjoying your new set. Welcome to the board - I think you'll find there are quite a few car folks here as well (I'm more from the BOP crowd, but I do like your '60 - what year exactly is the green Chevy?) Ben | ||
|
Post# 448587 , Reply# 7 7/11/2010 at 22:13 (5,035 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
||
Aferim
Nice set.
Hope you'll be able to get the washer up and running without too much toil. I'm not anywhere near as expert as most of the charters on this site but anything I can do to help I will. You'll love that dryer; it's huge, fast and reasonably quiet. Does it have a lighted drum? Could you post some pictures of the interiors of those things? Closeups of the control panels would be welcome too! | ||
| Post# 448593 , Reply# 8 7/11/2010 at 23:18 (5,035 days old) by A440 () | ||
|
Awesome find! Love the color! They look mint! Brent | ||
| Post# 448596 , Reply# 9 7/11/2010 at 23:24 (5,035 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
|
To heck with the!!!!! Chevy, give me the green DODGE!!!!!!!! | ||
|
Post# 448599 , Reply# 10 7/12/2010 at 00:02 (5,035 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
||
Frigidaire washer and dryer! | ||
|
Post# 448607 , Reply# 11 7/12/2010 at 00:55 (5,035 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon) |
||
Congratulations!
Great looking set. I am wondering if you have a bad lid switch. I could be wrong but on my 1971 1-18 I think the lid must be closed for all operations. Later on they changed it so that it would fill and agitate with the lid open but wouldn't advance to spin unless the lid was closed. There should be a small pin under the hinge closest to the back of the machine. It depresses the switch when the lid is closed. You can stick a small screwdriver through the hole to activate the switch. Try this when the machine is turned on and see if you get anything. I ran across a machine once where the pin was snapped off the hinge and so the lid switch was bypassed under the top by cutting and connecting the 2 wires together.
Good luck and keep us posted. Patrick | ||
| Post# 448653 , Reply# 12 7/12/2010 at 09:52 (5,034 days old) by blondie () | ||
|
They are so pretty congratulations! | ||
| Post# 448663 , Reply# 13 7/12/2010 at 11:43 (5,034 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
 | ||
|
Post# 448702 , Reply# 14 7/12/2010 at 16:15 (5,034 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
||
 | ||
| Post# 448866 , Reply# 15 7/13/2010 at 08:20 (5,034 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 448921 , Reply# 16 7/13/2010 at 12:51 (5,033 days old) by autowasherfreak () | ||
|
AWESOME set! Love those thumpers! | ||
| Post# 449108 , Reply# 17 7/14/2010 at 08:57 (5,033 days old) by dnastrau (Lords Valley, PA) | ||
|
The green car looks like an early '70's Dodge Corone ...for anyone who is curious. Nice Frigidaire set by the way! | ||
| Post# 449109 , Reply# 18 7/14/2010 at 09:07 (5,033 days old) by washernoob () | ||
|
In fact It looks like a 72-73 coronet. :) Almost thought it was a Chevy at first. Looks awesome against that set. :) | ||
| Post# 449424 , Reply# 19 7/15/2010 at 09:43 (5,031 days old) by veg-o-matic (Baltimore, Hon!) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 449609 , Reply# 20 7/15/2010 at 23:41 (5,031 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
|
HI guys,
FYI on the cars, the green one is a '71 Dodge Coronet and the black one is a '60 Chevy impala sport sedan. Thanks for compliments! Yes, Im better known for my oversized TV collection over at videokarma. I figured there should be some VK members here too! As for the washer, I finally got around to checking it out today. The switch seems to be fine, it clicked no problem when I stuck a pen in there and I got that loud resonating hum to start up so I immediately let off the switch. I pulled the front panel off to see what was going on as I suspected a motor fault. First off, I was amazed to see how clean it is inside the washer. I played around with it to see how the mechanisem worked and I'm impressed with it. The pivoting ball joint arm, or I guess its properly called an agitator arm seems to be in good shape and no slop. However, I found that I could't turn anything by hand via the drive belt. So I loosened the motor and belt to check what was in a bind. Sure enough, the motor is toast, totally locked up solid. That was simple enough to diagnose and even easier to remove. Interestingly enough this is NOT the original motor though. I knew right away when I opened up the unit that the motor was much newer. Its a GE replacement from 1993! There is basically no good way to service it as the case is spot welded to the laminations. So I'm on the hunt for a new motor on this one. Also, there is a plastic sheild looking thing that was off to the side that appears to have gone around the motor. Does anyone have a picture of exactly how this plastic (I assume water sheild) is supposed to be placed? I assume that it folds and the two holes overlap and that will fit around the centrifugal switch assembly on the bottom? In trying to keep it all correct, Im just curious exactly how its supposed to be positioned. As for the motor issue, hopefully replacements are not totally extinct. Thanks-Doug 
| ||
|
Post# 449619 , Reply# 21 7/15/2010 at 23:58 (5,031 days old) by pdub (Portland, Oregon) |
||
|
motor water shield | ||
|
Post# 449689 , Reply# 22 7/16/2010 at 06:37 (5,031 days old) by joelippard (Hickory) |
||
|
Doug,
Here is a link to a 1-18 motor on ebay. It seems a little expensive to me -- others here may have other ideas about motors for these since it's a common Emerson motor.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO joelippard's LINK on eBay | ||
|
Post# 449691 , Reply# 23 7/16/2010 at 07:03 (5,031 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
||
'60 Chevy impala sport sedan | ||
| Post# 449775 , Reply# 24 7/16/2010 at 13:20 (5,030 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
|
excellent! Thanks for both the very helpful photo of the sheild and also the link to the motor on ebay!
I called around a few appliance parts dealers in Chicago, they are old established places that I knew about and figured they'd have some stuff lying around to help me out. Of course everyone just types in the model number in the computer and says "nope, nothing matches" and thats the end of the call. Its like what the hell, don't they have either the old hard copy manuals or micro fische still? You walk into some of these places and its still like 1959 inside. I guess it boils down to everyone is just lazy and they don't care to help you if it means they have to put a little more effort into it. Everyone thinks that if its not in the computer, either the parts are gone for ever, or you are giving them a model number that never exisited like you're some kind of idiot who doesn't know what he's doing. So I figured, that ebay motor is exactly what I need and it was available so I went ahead and bought it. I just pay a few extra bucks but I at least know I can hopefully get my machine up and running again and not deal with the hassle of the personalities of these parts people over the phone. So I can now hope the motor arrives all in one piece and all works out like I hope it will! | ||
|
Post# 449777 , Reply# 25 7/16/2010 at 13:42 (5,030 days old) by joelippard (Hickory) |
||
|
| ||
| Post# 451237 , Reply# 26 7/23/2010 at 06:01 (5,024 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
|
The new motor arrived yesterday! I've been anxiously waiting the whole week. Still in the orignal Frigidaire box, dated 12-77. Its so nice finding original NOS parts. I put the new motor in and gave it a test run.....Everything works perfect! All the water valves appear to work like they should, the timer switch and different functions and discharges water like it should with no surprises. I never saw one of these in operation before. Its definately a powerful machine. Not the quietest machines around but who cares. It makes kind of a "roaring" sound when it goes into its spin cycle. Its almost like the sound of just the urathane rollers and or bearings. Speaking of bearings, does this machine have any ball bearings on the shafts, or just bronze bushings? I must ask, there is a label that specifically indicates "Do not oil mechanisem". Isn't there something I should try to lubricate considering we're talking it almost 40 years old. What about that agitate arm with the ball joint? It seems pretty tight for the most part, but it seems very dry on the pivoting ball connections. The shaft that goes up and down for the agitator also seems pretty dry and there is like a light black dust on and around the edges of the ball joint and shaft. Not sure if this is just wear or perhaps even graphite powder used as a dry lubricant. Any other pointers to help keep this machine working like new for years to come would be greatly appriciated!
Oh one last question, as for that plastic water shield around the motor, does it just fit up on the bottom of the motor relying on friction to hold it in place at the end of the motor, or is there some kind of clamp that secures it so vibrations of the machine do not cause it to fall off? Thanks! | ||
|
Post# 451270 , Reply# 27 7/23/2010 at 10:26 (5,023 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
||
FRIGIDARE 1-18 WASHERS
Almost all the major bearings on this machine are sealed ball bearings and can't be easily oiled. If you get even one drop of oil on the rollers it will not spin or agitate, we used to see these stop working when they were in very roach infested houses just from the residue the roaches left behind. If the machine roars in spin you may have bad spin ball bearings this is usually caused by a little water getting into them at over time. Sometimes if there is no obvious leak the machine may continue the run a long time with noisy bearings. The motors on these wonderful washers are usually the least of your service problems, I have many good used motors if anyone ever needs one just Email me.
| ||
|
Post# 451295 , Reply# 28 7/23/2010 at 12:41 (5,023 days old) by joelippard (Hickory) |
||
|
The black dust you see is just a little clutch dust and likely misc dirt over time. Just clean it off with a rag dampened with alcohol. It never hurts to hit the rollers with a little alcohol too. Whatever you do, keep oil out of there. Period! It's normal to have a light to moderate roar, if the bearings go, you'll know it. I've heard they sound like a train coming thru... If you are getting squeaking when you go into spin it's probably a little dry in the ball joint of the agitate shaft. There are oil impregnated pads inside the ball joint area -- just run the heck out of it and this should go away with time.
| ||
| Post# 451296 , Reply# 29 7/23/2010 at 12:44 (5,023 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 451302 , Reply# 30 7/23/2010 at 13:06 (5,023 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
Had no idea
the 1-18's used the roller mechanism, thanks to Pat John & Joe. That's a real enlightenment and over-joyed to know about it. So it really was a design for the future when it came out in "65 ? and it remained till the end. How cool is that! And even cooler that Veg brought you here.
Good luck with your pristine machine, Doug, and welcome to the club. You picked one of the true Holy Grails to start your collection. What do you think of the stunning circle jet spray rinse? Check it out. | ||
| Post# 451304 , Reply# 31 7/23/2010 at 13:13 (5,023 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
|
q | ||
| Post# 451679 , Reply# 33 7/24/2010 at 22:38 (5,022 days old) by drh4683 (Chicago western suburbs) | ||
|
Thanks everyone. I'm very impressed with these units and Im so glad I got them. That circular spray is great too! The machines are still in my kitchen dining area which is where I worked on them, but before I put them into service, Im repainting the laundry room to make it all ready for the new appliances.
Mike, thanks again for your help and assistance. Glad to see you are also a member of this forum! I'll be in touch with you for future parts for sure. Just curious, is there a parts manual, or parts diagram for these machines available on the web? I'd like to study it and become familiar with the entire mechanisem. | ||
| Forum Index: |
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
