Recent Feedback
i have an Amana wash machine, modle LW8303W2. It appears that the motor works in the wash mode or at least it doesn't stop at this phase. Just before the rince or spin mode(when the tub is full of water)it just stops. It will hum for about 2 or 3 seconds and then click off. A few minutes later it will hum and click again. Is it the motor, the pump, a switch or relay? Can you tell me what is wrong with my washer?
Hi Customer;
The unit you have relies on the lid switch for safety during the rinse / spin cycles. If it is not working correctly the unit will not engage the pump and spin the clothes.
Change the lid switch and you should be good to go.
If you have other concerns in this matter please reply here in this thread.
Best regards; The Home Smithy
Reply to The Home Smithy's Post: the door switch was the first thing i checked, it seemed to engage when i shut the door. i guess i left out the bit of smoke coming from the motor. i did test the motor with a meter. there was about 3.5 amps between the two terminals and zero from each terminal to ground. between the two terminal should be zero or close to it. is 3.5 amps too much? it seems something is binding the motor and it kicks off and then resets and smokes a little on the second or third time. the drive belt is a bit worn and needs to be changed, but that doesn't look to be the problem. any other sugestions?
Ok what it probably is is the timer.
If you have 3.5 amps when it should read zero then something is telling the motor to operate when it shouldnt. In other words you have a short in the system that is sending current through the motor .
It could be stuck between cycles and activating conflicting instructions to the motor. ie: turn cc, and turn cw at the same time.
This is about the only thing that I can think of off hand that would overheat the motor. Considering that the unit runs fine till this stage, and the belt isn't jamed or anything, I got a buck says your timer is toast.
Reply to The Home Smithy's Post: when i tested the motor the unit was unplugged and not 100% sure, but i think the timer was pushed in(which means it was also in the off position). would that still indicate a toasted timer?
If you read 3.5 amps with the unit unplugged then I would have to say that you had your tester set to ohms and not amps. Amps is the measurement of flowing electricity.
All in all i still think that the timer is the problem. I did some searching and the sites I went to seem to confirm this theory.
The timers are not thart expensive for this model fortunatly. Most run about $30.00 plus shipping.