Speed Queen Washer Overfilling - Sometimes AWN432SP113TW04

[WeirdStuff]

Speed Queen Washer AWN432SP113TW04

Our washer sometimes overfills. My wife has noticed it filling too much several times until a couple of weeks ago when it ran over for up to an hour and a half.  Luckily we have Life Proof flooring and a basement below that the majority drained to with not much damage to items.  I should have an overfill pan under it but I don't.

We did not buy the washer new about a year ago.  The tub seemed to fill to a point that was lower than it should be for the largest load selection so I adjusted the screw on the level switch to a better top fill.  That seemed like a lot more adjustment than I would have expected but what do I know.  Fast-forward and we had the overfill event.  We did have 2 or 3 minor overfill in the past.  The part was $65. and two days away so while waiting for it to arrive I decided to take the switch apart to see how it operates. I tried blowing in the tube and confirmed it does click. I tried blowing into the tube towards the tub as well and didn't detect any leak down in pressure that I could detect.  With the switch open I found the diaphram was intact, very dry but didn't see dry-rotted.  I didn't know if there should have been some sore of sealing goo that had dried up so I applied a little petroleum jelly around the seal just to see if that could make any noticiable difference while the part was in-transit.  We didn't have any other issues before installing the new one but that didn't prove anything.

The new part seemed fine but then several days later my wife felt like it was going to overfill. She thinks that using a different cycle has stopped the issue but it's not clear how she concluded that.

 

My question; aside from any other advice offered, does something else control the signal that turns off the fill valve?  Could it be that the fill valve is not closing?  I assumed they failed in a safe mode but I read somewhere to test this when overfilling by unplugging the power. I have not had that opportiunity.

Thanks in advance for advice.  

[citizenX]

There are actually two pressure switches on that machine. The main one is the one with the knob that I'm guessing you replaced? The other one is mounted to the back of the console and acts as a safety to cut power to the fill valve if the main switch doesn't cut it off. The fact that it is overfilling over the tub means either both switches are bad (highly unlikely) or you have a bad fill valve or clogged up air pressure dome (more likely).

Both of those switches retail for over $100 so I'm guessing the one you got for $65 wasn't a factory OEM part? Not that that's automatically a bad thing but for stuff like that and valves, I only use OEM parts. 

Yes, it is possible you could have a valve that is mechanically sticking open. It happens. If you happen to catch it in the act, then unplugging the machine will verify as the valve should close with no power. There is no "safe" mode for something like this so if the valve is mechanically stuck open and you don't catch it, it's going to wash your floors for free. 

Also, check the air dome at the rear bottom left of the outer tub for gunk build up. Take it all the way out and clean it and check the hose. It is just a plastic piece that pressure fits into a rubber seal in the outer tub. Just twist it and pull out. You can take off the front panel (two 5/16" screws at the bottom) and the front hinges out from the top. Then remove the two screws that hold the top down in the front and raise the top for better access. Make sure the black rubber seal is properly in place in the hole in the tub before you reinstall it. Use a little water or soap to make the plastic piece go back in easier. 

Edited September 22 by citizenX

[WeirdStuff]

Thank you very much for all of that. I will look into all of that in the next week and I'll be sure to come back and update what I found. 

The pressure switch that I replaced is the one on the front of the console where you select the fill level. I was unaware of the other one. I purchased the replacement from a reputable appliance part distributor but yes it may not be OEM. I guess I just didn't think of it and used them rather than eBay or Amazon fakes. I suspect  the original one isn't even malfunctioning now that you mentioned the second one. 

I'll let you know how it goes in the next few days. Thanks again!

[citizenX]

Yes, please do. A word of caution though, when reinstalling the pressure dome piece into the outer tub, make sure no part of the edge of that seal gets rolled over and gets pushed inside the tub. Check the entire seal all the way around. There should be an obvious lip around the edge. Whatever you do, don't accidentally push that seal all the way through into the outer tub because now you gotta pull the inner tub to get it back. (Ask me how I know).  That's where using some water or soap is your friend. It's not hard, just be cautious. 

[evaappliance]

On 9/21/2024 at 1:31 PM, WeirdStuff said:

I adjusted the screw on the level switch to a better top fill. 

if this is the plastic switch don't adjust it , it doesnt end well ,  pre 2015 they had a metal  pressure switch and you could adjust it with no issue.   

[evaappliance]

i'm thinking that one only has the one switch,  i think ?

[citizenX]

4 hours ago, evaappliance said:

i'm thinking that one only has the one switch,  i think ?

No, this one has both. But to your other point, adjusting the gray plastic one is tedious indeed. I've adjusted my share with success but not as easy as the older ones. I usually only do it for customers who keep breaking the shaft off the switch by cranking it around too far and torqueing on it with the force of Thor to allow extra water in. I tell them to stop because it's just a cheap plastic switch and it will break, but they still do it. I remember pre covid that switch was about $40...now it retails for $110! 

[evaappliance]

1 hour ago, citizenX said:

No, this one has both

Your right !   

[WeirdStuff]

11 hours ago, evaappliance said:

if this is the plastic switch don't adjust it , it doesnt end well ,  pre 2015 they had a metal  pressure switch and you could adjust it with no issue.   

Yeah it's a plastic one.

[evaappliance]

when they first came out i adjusted them , but weird stuff would happen like the water would stop coming in but the motor would not get power till i adjusted it back down ect..., so i decided it wasn't worth the liability ,very fickle piece of junk switch !   i hate the government regulation on the water level !  now with all the electronics there is absolutely nothing we can do about the water level ,  ( well except voting all the nuts that thought stuff like this was a good idea out of office )    

[citizenX]

Yeah, not to get political but these energy restrictions really have screwed the appliance industry (and customers) in general. The older metal pressure switch never had these issues.  I've had my share with these plastic ones that either will fill but won't switch over to wash or won't switch back to fill when the tub is empty so the machine just starts agitating without water. A quick knock with a screwdriver handle on the pressure switch knob will usually make it work again but customers tend to frown on that as a professional level repair, so I always recommend replacing it.  I did have a guy recently though who didn't want to replace it but still jokingly remarked that it must great getting paid to just smack things with a screwdriver.  I got to use my favorite line about you aren't paying me for smacking it with a screwdriver - You're paying me because I knew where to smack it!! 

[evaappliance]

1 hour ago, citizenX said:

The older metal pressure switch never had these issues.

yep ! the only metal switch i ever put on was in 2009 when the new water fill regulations went into effect and speed queen didn't warn us ahead of time so i thought the switch was defective , but it was just the new normal.  

[WeirdStuff]

1 hour ago, evaappliance said:

yep ! the only metal switch i ever put on was in 2009 when the new water fill regulations went into effect and speed queen didn't warn us ahead of time so i thought the switch was defective , but it was just the new normal.  

Does anyone have a part number for the good metal ones?  Would they work for my machine?

[citizenX]

7 minutes ago, WeirdStuff said:

Does anyone have a part number for the good metal ones?  Would they work for my machine?

The part number is 201609P, BUT it is NOT a direct drop in replacement for your machine. Not saying you couldn't MacGyver it to make it work, but it mounts differently and the new one uses a wiring harness whereas the old one just has wires that plug on, plus I think the shaft for the knob is shorter and I can't guarantee it would even line up with the correct load settings size, if the knob even fits. I'd just stick with the plastic one and don't be too rough when turning it to change the water level. Truthfully, mine just stays on Large and I never move it. 

[WeirdStuff]

14 hours ago, citizenX said:

The part number is 201609P, BUT it is NOT a direct drop in replacement for your machine. Not saying you couldn't MacGyver it to make it work, but it mounts differently and the new one uses a wiring harness whereas the old one just has wires that plug on, plus I think the shaft for the knob is shorter and I can't guarantee it would even line up with the correct load settings size, if the knob even fits. I'd just stick with the plastic one and don't be too rough when turning it to change the water level. Truthfully, mine just stays on Large and I never move it. 

Thanks for that. I should get to the machine in the next three days to check out what you said and the other guy. I'll get back to you. 

[WeirdStuff]

On 9/22/2024 at 6:24 PM, citizenX said:

There are actually two pressure switches on that machine. The main one is the one with the knob that I'm guessing you replaced? The other one is mounted to the back of the console and acts as a safety to cut power to the fill valve if the main switch doesn't cut it off. The fact that it is overfilling over the tub means either both switches are bad (highly unlikely) or you have a bad fill valve or clogged up air pressure dome (more likely).

Both of those switches retail for over $100 so I'm guessing the one you got for $65 wasn't a factory OEM part? Not that that's automatically a bad thing but for stuff like that and valves, I only use OEM parts. 

Yes, it is possible you could have a valve that is mechanically sticking open. It happens. If you happen to catch it in the act, then unplugging the machine will verify as the valve should close with no power. There is no "safe" mode for something like this so if the valve is mechanically stuck open and you don't catch it, it's going to wash your floors for free. 

Also, check the air dome at the rear bottom left of the outer tub for gunk build up. Take it all the way out and clean it and check the hose. It is just a plastic piece that pressure fits into a rubber seal in the outer tub. Just twist it and pull out. You can take off the front panel (two 5/16" screws at the bottom) and the front hinges out from the top. Then remove the two screws that hold the top down in the front and raise the top for better access. Make sure the black rubber seal is properly in place in the hole in the tub before you reinstall it. Use a little water or soap to make the plastic piece go back in easier. 

I finally got back to this an hour ago. After another mild free floor washing of course. 

This does have the second pressure switch you mentioned. I removed it from the back wall of the washer and examined it, and blew into it lightly and it does click. I noticed there is a tiny piece of plastic insides the inlet and it's so unique looking it must be part of it. I didn't play with it. 

I put that back. 

I removed the air dome; which was clean and clear but just inside the opening of the tub was a clump of fabric. It wasn't in the air dome but I could guess it could have been interfering sometimes but not every time. I took the top ring of the tub off and with a flashlight looked for anything else between the basket and the tub. Nothing was there. 

I've put it back together and I'm going to go get a drain pan and run a hose from it to wherever I can that's lower than the pan. 

Nothing that I did guarantees anything unfortunately so at this point I guess it's a waiting game to see what happens. 

If anyone has any ideas how I can prove the second fill sensor is bad I'd be interested.  

The only remaining idea is a bad fill valve which I think I actually have one already but I guess it makes sense to wait and see if there are any overfill incidents so that I can feel better about the lint being the root cause. 

 

[citizenX]

Well there definitely should not be any random balls of lint floating around in there like that so that could certainly be causing an issue if it happens to end up in the opening of the air dome. 

As far as the pressure switches, I've never had a secondary one be bad, but you really wouldn't know unless the main one failed first. How to test it? Never had to, but I guess if you could bypass the first one and let the machine fill almost to the point of overflow, the secondary switch should trip and cut off power to the fill valve before it actually overflows. Like I said earlier though, highly unlikely you've got two bad pressure switches. I'd vote for a stuck fill valve first or the lint ball causing your issue. 

[WeirdStuff]

On 9/22/2024 at 6:24 PM, citizenX said:

There are actually two pressure switches on that machine. The main one is the one with the knob that I'm guessing you replaced? The other one is mounted to the back of the console and acts as a safety to cut power to the fill valve if the main switch doesn't cut it off. The fact that it is overfilling over the tub means either both switches are bad (highly unlikely) or you have a bad fill valve or clogged up air pressure dome (more likely).

Both of those switches retail for over $100 so I'm guessing the one you got for $65 wasn't a factory OEM part? Not that that's automatically a bad thing but for stuff like that and valves, I only use OEM parts. 

Yes, it is possible you could have a valve that is mechanically sticking open. It happens. If you happen to catch it in the act, then unplugging the machine will verify as the valve should close with no power. There is no "safe" mode for something like this so if the valve is mechanically stuck open and you don't catch it, it's going to wash your floors for free. 

Also, check the air dome at the rear bottom left of the outer tub for gunk build up. Take it all the way out and clean it and check the hose. It is just a plastic piece that pressure fits into a rubber seal in the outer tub. Just twist it and pull out. You can take off the front panel (two 5/16" screws at the bottom) and the front hinges out from the top. Then remove the two screws that hold the top down in the front and raise the top for better access. Make sure the black rubber seal is properly in place in the hole in the tub before you reinstall it. Use a little water or soap to make the plastic piece go back in easier. 

I finally got back to this an hour ago. After another mild free floor washing of course. 

This does have the second pressure switch you mentioned. I removed it from the back wall of the washer and examined it, and blew into it lightly and it does click. I noticed there is a tiny piece of plastic insides the inlet and it's so unique looking it must be part of it. I didn't play with it. 

I put that back. 

I removed the air dome; which was clean and clear but just inside the opening of the tub was a clump of fabric. It wasn't in the air dome but I could guess it could have been interfering sometimes but not every time. I took the top ring of the tub off and with a flashlight looked for anything else between the basket and the tub. Nothing was there. 

I've put it back together and I'm going to go get a drain pan and run a hose from it to wherever I can that's lower than the pan. 

Nothing that I did guarantees anything unfortunately so at this point I guess it's a waiting game to see what happens. 

If anyone has any ideas how I can prove the second fill sensor is bad I'd be interested.  

The only remaining idea is a bad fill valve which I think I actually have one already but I guess it makes sense to wait and see if there are any overfill incidents so that I can feel better about the lint being the root cause.