Maytag A712-wont spin or agitate

by Rod Ralph
(Ottawa, Ontario)

It was given to me by a friend, as working. I connected it and ran it through a cycle. Everything worked (I did think that the agitate cycle was short)--but it spun at both speeds very well. I noticed a leak on the floor, and stopped the machine and found a loose connection, tightened it and started it again. This time with only a little water in it. It would not agitate or spin, but it did drain the water. Near the end of the spin cycle, I could smell rubber burning and it came from the belt. I inspected the belts and they looked ok (no frays, but somewhat loose.

With no water in the machine, I tried to find the agitate and spin cycles on the timer--the only cycle that seems to work now is the drain cycle, and the burning persists after a few minuted on drain.

Any suggestions?





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Answer


Replacement parts in MAYTAG A712 Washer - Top Loading
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Hi Rod,

First off this is a great machine (I wish they still made them) I hope you can get it going at a reasonable price.

Before you check anything let everything dry out because the water that leaked on the floor could have gotten on the belts causing them to slip rather than turn the pulleys. If the washer works after it dries you can assume that is what happened.

There are a few things that will typically cause this.

One is that the belt is too tight; there should be a lot of loose play on both of the belts on this machine. I don’t think this is the problem with yours because typically this cause this motor to stick and not start and on yours the motor is running because it will pump out.

There are rollers on the motor that allow the motor to move back and forth so that centripetally force will cause the motor to move to the right to tighten the belts once the motor starts. If the rollers are broken or worn the motor will not move back so the belts never tighten themselves. It is possible that it his moving back enough to allow the pump to turn.

It could simply be a worn belt but typically one of the two things I mention above will cause the belt ware out.

It could be the transmission but this is unlikely being that it doesn’t work on spin or wash.


Thank you,
Shawn/administrator

Comments for Maytag A712-wont spin or agitate

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Shawn's reply
by: Rod

Thank you very much for your thoughts. Shawn, I have, over the years repaired many Inglis machines. This is the first Maytag.

I did think that water may have caused the belt to slip and dried it off as best I could. The belts were loose--I was not sure how tight they should be, but I would think , given what I now read on-line, that they are not too tight. There was no hint that the belts were frayed, but the machine was even trying to agitate or spin.

I mentioned that I had tried to find the agitate and spin cycles on the timer, without success. I mean that the motor did not start at all (and therefore the belt was not slipping)--so that baffled me. As I said, minutes before the thing was working. One possibility--Is it possible for the machine to go into the drain cycle without the lid switch making contact? In other words, can it drain without the switch on? Could I have somehow screwed up the lid switch? I did open the top to dust it off, but why would the drain cycle still work if that were the case?
RE
by: Shawn

See the way this machine works is the pump is connected to the main motor that turns the spin and agitator. If the water is pumping out but the washer isn’t running the belt is slipping or broken. If the lid switch were broken it wouldn’t pump out.

Make sure the motor is free to move back and forth and if not the rollers are bad.

Also start the machine and let it fill with water to see if it will wash and if it will wash but it will not spin then there is a good chance the spin bearing is locked or something is hung under the spin basket.

Tilt the washer over, remove the belts and see if the big pulley will turn freely both ways. Have the front off the machine so you can tell what is going on. When you turn it one way only the agitator should turn. When you turn it the other the entire transmission and spin basket should turn. If it will not turn or it is hard to turn one way either the spin basket is locked or there is something such as a rag is hung under the spin basket. Note that this is unlikely if it will not wash or spin.
Shawn's second reply
by: Rod

Ok, thanks Shawn--very much appreciate your suggestions. I should have mentioned that I did check the motor rollers and that is A-ok.

I will do as you suggest and check the functions by turning by hand, and also run with water. I think that I did do that already (I do recall that the main pulley went fine in one direction). What I found strange was that I was not able find a spot on the timer where the motor kicked in for agitate or spin--but I will check this carfully. Also strange since it had been fine minutes before tightening the clamp (which whould have nothing to do with it)

But why does the belt continue to burn on the drain cycle? Its not too tight, but it may be a bit glazed, but the ones that I see on some on-line videos are 100% worse and still seem to exhibitsome measure of function--albeit poorly.
spin
by: Val

Ok so my machine was working fine then all of a sudden would not spin but would drain after given it a good cleaning I then noticed that one roll of buttons behind the lid was all out I pressed one in and bingo machine as good as new.

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