gibson front loader

[ydoc]

Hi all - I have a Gibson gwt445rfs2 that started to smoke and emit a rubber burining smell. Or so I was told as it occured in my absense. Opened it up and saw the belt rubbing the back of the tub housing (towards the front of the machine) and what appeared to be the shedded belt debris sprayed inside the housing. I think this is a pre-1999 machine with original belt so I replaced it. The new one was much tighter but worked fine. Ran several loads with no problems. Then once again when I was not present the machine "smoked" again but my wife did not know what it smelled like; perhaps electrical. Now there is no power - door lock light does not come on, pump does not turn, motor does not turn. Ideas?

[appl.tech.29501]

the smoking was probably either your belt or motor, the fact thats it's dead now probably means it took out the board. Double check the work that you did (repalcing the belt) what was the part# of the belt that you replaced?

[ydoc]

Belt seems fine - not touching the housing like before. New belt part # - 134051000

[appl.tech.29501]

Thats the right belt, keep on looking

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Ok we have to track down where we're losing power. But first, that business with the belt rubbing the drum housing is a problem-- usually this is caused by either a loose drum pulley or a bad drum bearing. Some pics of this area would helpful.

Anything visibly burnt? Look around at the speed control board and motor for signs of burn damage.

Any indication as to the general area from which the smoke originated?

I'll need to look at your wiring diagram. Can you scan it in and post it or fax it to me at 866-315-4504?

[BrntToast]

ftp://ftp.electrolux-na.com/ProdInfo_PDF/Webster/131788100.pdf

 

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Domo, Sublime Master Brnt!

ydoc, no need to bother with the tech sheet but we'll still want to do that visual before we start poking around with a meter. So check it out and let us know whatcha find.

[ApplianceTerminator]

Was the unit noisy in spin....  most times the rear bearing goes bad and you shred the belt ...... shake the inner tub when ya get the door open .... shake it towards the front and to the back if there is alot of play and you can it to clunk  its a bad bearing also look at the back where the pulley is ....there is a weep hole drilled into the tub on some models if you see silver or black mix dripping out its shot.....

[ydoc]

This picture shows what I think is the belt shedding as a result of it rubbing ( the brownish film). It did not break but seemed very stretched out compared to the new one. Bearing seems fine - not alot of noise on spin cycles or excessive play in the inner tub. Can't find any obvious scorched electrical components. But regardless of the belt this must be my primary issue as there is no power to the unit, right?

[ydoc]

[user=2264]ApplianceTerminator[/user] wrote:

Was the unit noisy in spin...

 

not any more than before

most times the rear bearing goes bad and you shred the belt ......

belt was streched out but not shredded

shake the inner tub when ya get the door open .... shake it towards the front and to the back if there is alot of play and you can it to clunk  its a bad bearing  

no clunk

also look at the back where the pulley is ....there is a weep hole drilled into the tub on some models if you see silver   or black mix dripping out its shot.....

no weep hole that I can see

[appl.tech.29501]

get ya something like this and start from the outlet and work your way through until you find where the power has stopped.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

ydoc, look at your wiring diagram and start at L1 (where the cord goes into the back of the washer) and use a voltage light stick like the one appl.tech linked you to or this one and trace through the circuit until you find the component that's stopping the voltage.

One caveat here: the light sticks are good but only as a preliminary check-- they do not replace a meter. The big reason for this is that lots of times we're in a situation where the problem is junk voltage (something significantly less than the required 120vac). This junk voltage may be enough to trigger the light stick making you think you have valid voltage through the component being tested when, in fact, you only have junk voltage.

Sounds complicated but it's not. Bottom line: do your initial trace out with the light stick if you like (and I do this myself on service calls). But always verify with your meter.

[ydoc]

Thanks - I'll get both.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

[user=28902]ydoc234[/user] wrote:

This picture shows what I think is the belt shedding as a result of it rubbing ( the brownish film).

Ruh-row, trouble in doggy land! That picture looks an awful lot like this one, which is a pic of a frigidaire front load washer (same manufacturer as yours) with advanced drum bearing failure. That brown staining is water-borne rust splatter. What's that stain like? If it's from the belt, it'll be black and schmeary. If rust splatter, it'll be more granular and powdery. Can you post a close up pic?

[ydoc]

That is exactly my condition. Bearing shot. So is it worth it to replace bearing and track down power issue or time to move on?

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Hard to tell because it partially depends on which component is burned out and causing the power issue. And how much you're in love with this washer-- replacing that bearing is not a walk in the park, about 6+ mugs on the world-famous SUDS-o-meter. More info on replacing the bearing in this topic.

[ydoc]

Power issue has been solved - I put the dispensor drawer back in! So now just a bearing. I'm going to dissassemble to see if the spiders are cracked before I buy the bearing. If cracked I'm in for the rear half of the tub I guess. Don't love this unit but I also don't want to spend 1K$ for something new. I would want to get something that is 4.0 Cu. Ft. if I got a new one. How big is the Staber? didn't see it speced on their site. What about a top loader with a "washer plate"? Anyone have any experience with these? Saw something for $800ish.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

I would not recommend buying a Staber right now. They're having long production delays (8+ weeks for delivery) due to supply problems with the motor control boards. And then, on top of that, the boards they've been getting have been having quality problems. I recommend that you either fix this one or buy a another front loader.

The Gibson's aren't bad-- our washer is a Gibson front loader, just like yours. We're a family of 5, have had this washer for about 10 years and use it everyday. The only problem we've ever had was the plastic door latch broke and I had to pay $0.59 for a new one and then remove two screws to replace it. If all repairs were so simple and so inexpensive, all of us techs would be out of work!

The Fisher Paykel top loading washer is not a bad choice, either. It's a high efficiency washer just like the front loaders. F-P also makes a version of this washer for Whirlpool which is sold as the Cabrio. You can watch a video of how to tear down the Cabrio washer here.

[ydoc]

All apart - just need to get bearing out. Very gunked up - will look at replacing rear tub. Spiders okay except for more rust colored gunk and slight corrosion. There is no tub seal - guess it just disintigrated. Shocks have no oil inside - shot. And the tub housing that the springs go into has a deep groove from not enough help from the shocks I guess.

[BrntToast]

you can prolly just lube the shocks, and if your tubs have grooves your looking at both front and rear shells

otherwise the ne tub will be holding all the weight from the spring

btw the springs are supposed to have white plastic sleaves, if the tubs are grooved those are prolly gone and if the sleves are gone the springs will cut into the new tub too

 

[ydoc]

you can prolly just lube the shocks,

cracked...

and if your tubs have grooves your looking at both front and rear shells

$ $

otherwise the ne tub will be holding all the weight from the spring

I think it has been like that for a long time

btw the springs are supposed to have white plastic sleaves, if the tubs are grooved those are prolly gone and if the sleves are gone the springs will cut into the new tub too

Thanks - The last bits of the white sleeves ( part that had no contact) is all that remain.

I'm shopping. Looked at the lg 2455 but can get a post recall samsung 316 for less for both the washer and dryer. Very tempting. Anyone have any experience with either?

[BrntToast]

stay away from LG washers, they are having alot of problems with an LE error code

supposed to mean locked motor..... LG is blaming the error code on customer using wrong soap, over loading, or whatever else tech support can think of to blame a customer for

oh.... and they get smelly too

 

[AccApp]

Stay away from the Samsung unless you know of a good service co in the area. Most techs are unfamiliar with these.