O.K. Here is my problem: I have a GE profile washer, model no. WPSR3100. It will agitate, rinse and drain. However, when it gets to the spin cycle, it will start to spin for a couple of seconds and then stop. It will then start to spine 2-3 times for a couple seconds during the cycle and just stop. While I am waiting for the motor to start up again, I can see and hear the pump operating.
The belt and motor pulley will spin in both directions. I know I should not do this while the washer is plugged in, but when I turn the pulley clockwise during the spin cyle, the motor will start up and the tub will continue spinning throughout the spin cycle.
When it spins for a couple seconds and stops, does the motor stop rotating or does it continue but the pulley stops? (there’s a clutch inside the pulley). If the motor stops rotating is it humming or silent? You can tell if the motor is rotating by observing the clip on the motor shaft below the pulley. If the clip is rotating but the pulley is not, then the clutch is slipping. If the motor is humming, you may have a bad timer. Timer contacts reverse polarity to the motor start winding to reverse direction of the motor for spin versus agitate.
When the pulley stops, the motor also stops. It is hard for me to tell if the motor is humming because usually when it stops, the pump continues, so I do hear a hum, but I think it is coming from the pump.
It’s funny, though, because I just tried the spin cycle without any clothes in it and it spun throughout the cycle (I went straight to the spin cycle instead of going through the whole cycle).
The full model number is WPSR3100W1WW. Any thoughts?
Sounds like the motor overload is tripping because it won’t come up to spin speed fast enough. It is a thermally operated device and will reset itself when it cools, starting the motor again. It should be relatively easy to hand rotate the motor pulley clockwise (viewed from below) which should rotate the main drive pulley, transmission and basket. If it takes a lot of effort to do this, it could be clothing between the tubs, a bad tub bearing or something with the transmission. It might also be the motor going bad. It takes more effort for the motor to operate in spin mode versus agitate mode, especially with a load of wet clothing in the basket. If there doesn’t seem to be any restriction when rotating the motor pulley in the spin direction by hand, I would suspect the motor but would have to check the voltage at the motor connector first to rule out a voltage drop issue through the timer contacts before condeming the motor. The original motor is no longer available and has been replaced with a new style motor that requires a new motor wiring harness, start capacitor and relay. This all comes in a kit with instructions and is easy to install but is a bit costly ($292).
Thank you so much. I am not sure that I want to buy a whole new motor. I will check whether there is any clothing between the tubs and the voltage at the motor to rule out the timer.