[PHRoberts]

My Mom has a Kenmore 70 Series Model 110.26702693, S/N CH1024046.

She's not getting any cold water into the tub - but the hot water side is fine. She has the flood-safe hoses, and I tested the hose by disconnecting it and turning on the shutoff valve while spraying water into the drum to make sure the check valve hasn't tripped. The water flow is fine through the hose. Is the inlet valve a common failure item on these washers?

Also, she has complained for a couple of months that she doesn't think the spin cycle is working properly. The clothes come out dripping sometimes, and it's especially noticeable on towels. With the washer empty, the spin cycle looks fine to me - but I don't have much for comparison. The tub stops very quickly when I remove the screwdriver from the lid switch - if that tells you anything about the clutch or coupler condition...

Is this beast worth fixing? Would this be a relatively easy fix? I'm pretty mechanically inclined - but I don't really want to make a weekend project out of fixing her washer.

We shopped for new HE front loaders yesterday and after reading up on everyone's repairs I'm a little gun shy. We bought Kenmore front loaders for our house in 2006 and have been happy with them - but I'm almost afraid to make eye contact with them now after reading about circuit board replacements and bearing failures!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - particularly on fix vs. scrap - and if your advice is "scrap it" what brand/model would you recommend for a replacement?

Thanks!

Heath

[sidfink43]

This is one of the better basic washers ever made. It lasts for a long time, it is easy to repair and the parts are inexpensive. I have a version of it. If you buy a front loader, buy the extended warranty. Front loaders have microprocessor controls. What do microprocessors not like? Heat, moisture, vibration. What do washer have??

Anyway, sounds like you have two problems. The first sounds like the water valve is not opening. Use a meter to see if it is getting 120v to the cold water valve, if so, replace the valve.

The machine may not be spinning at the right speed, which likely means a clutch replacement. This site will show you how to change it, and check the pump and drain hoses for obstructions on your way in as they may be the problem.

Clutch Replacement on Whirlpool and Kenmore Washers

Fix this one, you will be much happier.

[PHRoberts]

Thank you for the advice! I switched the hot and cold electrical connections to the valve, and the problem stayed with the cold input. So I swapped the cold water hose with the hot one so she can at least use it to wash it on a cold/cold cycle. Beats having her tote gallon jugs of water into the laundry room for the rinse cycle!

For the very small load she did today - maybe three hand towels and a t shirt and pair of socks - everything drained and spun fine. I asked her to run it some over the weekend with different loads and figure out if the spin cycle is going to need attention. Is there a good way to test the clutch? I noticed while I was watching the spin cycle with a screwdriver in the lid switch - that if I removed the screwdriver the tub stops spinning very quickly. The whole washer even twisted a couple of inches. Does this tell you anything about the clutch condition?

Replacing the valve looks easy enough but I'm not sure if I'll take the time to replace the clutch vs. just going with a new washer - and the extended warranty. She's ready to spend the $$$ on a new set, but I'm kind of frugal - especially these days.

Heath

[sidfink43]

Well, I am heavily biased against buying new, but if it will mean peace in the family by all means do it.

Your description suggests there might be a problem with the clutch or brakes, but what I would do is to go over there, put a big load in and run it through the rinse cycle and see if it spins out dry enough for you. If so, keep on trucking, if not and the new route is best for you then go there. You can look at the Sticky at the top of this page by Richappy which has a very good description on direct drive clutch and brake issues.

Good luck.