12 replies to this topic

[Skynyrd1977]

OK, so I thought the dryer we bought at a yard sale last month for five bucks and works perfectly was a good deal…until this weekend, when we drive up upon a FP washing machine sitting at the curb with a FREE sign on it. “I’ll bite” I told the wife. So the man says that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, but his wife wanted a “matching” washer/dryer set, so guess what she got for Mothers Day. Anyway, their teenage son says “hey dad, how ‘bout you let me take apart the washer and maybe I can make a robot or something?” Dad says OK, but after teenage son gets bored, dad says “put it back together, your done”. Shockingly, teenage son can’t remember which plug goes exactly where in the motor controller, so nothing works when they plug it in. Dead.

When I get the top panel open and do some simple investigating, I find two things: the display panel clip was attached to thin air behind the display panel, instead of the actual circuit board on the display panel. It looked and felt like it was plugged in, but it was attached to nothing. Next, I discovered the 2-conductor “THERM” plug was attached to the “MOTOR” plug port instead of the “THERM” port on the motor controller. i corrected both these items. Hoping I had just redeemed a FREE washer (perfect timing as our current washer is limping to the graveyard), I plugged it in and was excited to hear a musical greeting! After powering up, all buttons seemed to be working fine so I picked my settings and hit the Start button. The tub started slowly and quietly turning as water started filling it up. YeeHa!

For about 2 minutes. Then, while still filling, the pump started pumping the water out! Filling in and pumping out at the same time, it was stuck in perpetual fill/rinse. It just keeps on going that way.

Now, in Diagnostic mode I was able to use the Water Valve Test to manually fill the tub with water to medium. Then I went back to regular mode and with the water level set to medium, hit the Start button. It again began filling with tub slowly spinning, then when detecting that the water level was reached, it began the washing cycle. From there it went through all the remaining wash/rinse/spin cycles like it should until reaching normal ending. But if I try a normal wash from start the same perpetual fill/empty problem occurs every time. So it works fine if I manually fill the water to proper level and the agitation cycle begins before the pump kicks on.

The Fault Code shows #130 ROTOR POSITION SENSOR ERROR: A faulty signal has been received from the Rotor Position Sensor. Check for bad connection on the harness between the Rotor Position Sensor and the Motor Controller, or a faulty Rotor Position Sensor.

All connections seem to be tight. I have not performed any circuit testing of the harnesses, but it seems that they would be OK since it runs a full cycle after it gets started. I sit in meditation and await the humble teachings of the Masters.

[Skynyrd1977]

OK, I can only meditate so long..... Anyone?

[DADoESTX]

Regarding the pump out during fill when a cycle is started from the get-go ... you have either a bad diverter valve, or it's not connected properly after the son disassembled/reassembled the machine. The valve controls which direction water flows when the pump runs -- either out the drain hose (diverter off) or back into the tub through the recirculation port at upper right/rear of the tub cover (diverter on).

All cycles except Perm Press start with what F&P calls EcoActive wash. A small amount of water (at the selected temperature) is run in to saturate the clothes and dissolve the detergent. The diverter valve is activated and the pump turns on to shower the concentrated detergent solution over the clothes for 3 to 5 mins (while the basket rotates at 25 RPM). A bit more water may fill to top-off the required level for keeping the pump primed. After the recirculation period, the machine fills rest of the way (to either an auto-sensed water level or a manual-selected water level) with COLD water for an agitated wash.

Your diverter is not functioning, thus when the pump turns on for EcoActive recirculation, water drains instead of recirculates.

As per your 4th paragraph above, if a cycle is started with the tub already filled beyond the very low EcoActive water level, it'll skip that function and go on to the agitated wash. Perm Press also skips EcoActive by design, goes directly to the agitated wash.

The diverter valve can be operated in Diagnostic mode via the Delicate cycle button (this info is not on the Tech Sheet you may have found in the console). The diverter is a wax motor, takes a couple mins or so to shift into recirculate when activated, 3 mins or so to shift back to drain when deactivated. There's no indication on the console when it shifts, you just have to turn the diverter on or off and wait the requisite time before turning the pump on.
Delicate (diverter) On + Regular (pump) On = recirculation
Delicate Off + Pump On = drain

[Skynyrd1977]

Thank you very much, I will be abe to check on this Monday!

[J5]

ok first i would check the divertor valve and see if it has something stuck in it

you can always set the washer in traditional mode and it avoids the recirc at the beginning of the cycle

130 rps i would remove it from the motor, it is prob corroded , try cleaning it up and see how it goes

it may have been an old fault from the past

[Skynyrd1977]

OK...the diverter valve works. there was nothing clogging it, but it would not work when connected properly to the motor control unit. A spec sheet I found online says there should be 110VAC coming out of the motor control terminals for the diverter valve; there is only 6-10VAC fluctuating. So I took out the diverter valve. At first I thought I found the problem...I thought the son had cut off any wiring going into the diverter valve from the diverter valve's terminals which detach, until I realized that there IS no wiring! It must use The Force, because I hooked up 110 to the valve's terminals and watched as the valve inside slowly but surely turned. After several successful attempts, I reinstalled it. Then I tried running a cycle in Perm Press mode, and to my delight the entire cycle ran. I then ran another test cycle with a full load of clothes, it worked just fine.

As far as rps I have not removed it, but this machine is the cleanest used appliance I have ever seen, I swear they must not have used it much. Everything on the inside that is visible looks new (not even cobwebs for crying out loud!). There was just enough dust to be able to tell that they had not intentionally cleaned it or wiped it down.

I opened up the motor control to try and detect where the fault might be, but no luck. So, correct me if I am wrong, but I either need to buy a new motor control or a new wardrobe for the whole family that is Permanent Press?

[J5]

so there is no wiring to the divertor ???

i'm not familiar with the US model numbers but think i knw what machine you are talking about

if you go into the menu is there an option for traditional wash ? and using the adjust button you can change between on and off ?

if so if you press the adjust button to change to traditional on and keep it pressed down then it will save as traditional wash after a few seconds with a beep
meaning that it will not do the divert/eco wash at the beginning of the cycle

[Skynyrd1977]

There are wires that go to the diverter valve and attach to a clip on the outside of the diverter valve, but the clip will easily snap off of the valve and there is no wiring from the clip penetrating into the valve. i can only imagine with my limited electrical knowledge that when current hits the clip on the outside of valve, either heat or magnetic waves cause the valve to very slowly start to turn, and when shut off, a spring brings the valve back to original position after time.

Are you meaning the "diagnnostic" menu? I have only the 2-page sheet that came folded up inside the top panel which contains but a few commands and does not mention this code, I do not have the full manual. Does anyone know this code?

[DADoESTX]

GWL11 does not have a menu option to select a Traditional Wash. J5 who suggested that above is confusing model GWL11 with other models that do have the Traditional Wash option.

The only way to get a so-called "traditional wash" on GWL11 is by using the Perm Press cycle. Traditional wash simply means that the EcoActive recirculation wash phase is not performed.

There should be two wires running from the control board to the diverter. They're orange wires on my IWL12, connected to typical spade terminals on the diverter. This picture shows one wire removed.

Attached Files

•  DiverterWires.jpg   48.17K   9 downloads

[Skynyrd1977]

[#10171] You do not have permission to view this attachment.
i get this error trying to look at picture, but it sounds the same as mine. I don't have power coming out of the control board port which should send 110AC when activated.

The Perm Press cycle does not allow HIGH speed setting for spin, so not sureif it would be good for heavy wet clothes such as jeans.

[RegUS_PatOff]

[#10171] You do not have permission to view this attachment.

grasshoppers can't wiew attachments posted directly to this board

[DADoESTX]

Hmm. There's an announcement dated 5/14/2011 advising that "grasshoppers" can upload attachments to posts in Kitchen, Laundry, and HVAC. They can upload pics, but not view?

Perm Press can be set for medium spin. If you want to put a load done on PP through a high speed spin, simply re-run the load at the final spin on Regular or Heavy.

[RegUS_PatOff]

... They can upload pics, but not view?.

I'm not sure, but I think they can only view their own uploads ...