Background on Calypso problems - our experience

There are many posts on this forum about problems with the Sears Elite Calypso Wash Motion high capacity washing machines as well as the Whirlpool Calypso washing machines, and the Class Action lawsuit.

Here is my story about my Sears Elite Calypso, Model # 110.21084000, and perhaps you will find it useful. There is a second model in this class of machine, 110.21084001. I do not know the difference in the two units as I have not researched that question on the Internet.

I have taken to making repairs myself once we had a failure, having read so many stories about problems getting a qualified service technician and the high price of repair. There is much good information about all this and a search of the Internet with a short phrase like Sears Elite Calypso will lead you to most of the forums that tell stories.

There are less forums which tell you what you can do about problems with this type of washer, if you are somewhat mechanically inclined and do not mind taking some risk upon yourself to just diagnose and fix the unit, which in some cases is very easy and which will save you big bucks.

We purchased our washer in early 2001 in Dallas, Texas at the Sears in Valley View mall. The first unit failed within 3 days. We called Sears repair and Sears promptly replaced it. The 2nd unit failed about a month later and Sears promptly replaced it as well. My wife was so enthralled with the huge capacity that we made a conscious decision to try and not give up.

We have had the 3rd unit ever since. We have been fortunate that our unit has functioned well...until recently....(no black streaking on clothes that has been widely reported, or other problems such as clothing being tied up in knots).

However, one day last fall my son came to me and said "Dad, the washer just made a funny noise and now it's making another weird noise. You'd better go look at it".

FL blinking on LED display

When I got to the washer, "FL" was flashing on the LED display. I pressed STOP/CANCEL and then attempted to restart the washer.

I heard the pump running, and it only ran for a few seconds and made an obviously ominous, abnormal sound before it shut off and "FL" began flashing again.

"FL" means "Flood Condition" in the washer (Failure to drain properly).

From the tech sheet I was able to get (Whirlpoo Job Aid Part No. 8178010 - not exactly the Sears Elite version of this washer, but close enough for me at the time, from www.repairclinic.com - "With an overfill condition, the beeper repeats a warning every 10 seconds with no time out. The pump is cycled in drain mode for 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off until the overfill switch resets or power is discontinued to the unit."

Try as I may, I could not clear the FL condition and the odd noise from this pump (a water drain/recirculation pump), I could tell the unit had suffered a component failure...but which part?

There were two choices to be made at the time: (1) Call Sears and pay for a repair, since my unit was out of warranty AND since I did not qualify for the Class in the Class Action suit. Had the unit failed one more time within its warranty period for which I had paid for repairs I would have qualified. (2) Do the repair myself.

I decided to try and do some research and see if there might be enough information to do the repair myself.

Diagnosing the “FL” display

“FL” – Flood Condition – the washer will not drain itself.
There is a lot of information on the Internet if you use a search engine with the noted keywords – Sears Elite Calypso Washer, or Whirlpool Calypso. I was able to find articles about pump problems, and one that indicated that the pump had been redesigned. I also found lots of articles about bad repair experiences with both Whirlpool and Sears, so my decision to do it myself continued to look like the right choice, as I am graced with a certain amount of natural mechanical ability.

Anyway, with “FL”, either the pump impeller is clogged, or the pump unit has failed – but which could it be? Nothing I did would clear the “FL” so I decided to take the unit outside to the driveway pad and try to confirm the problem before deciding what to do.

Once I got the unit outside, since I had it on a two-wheeler used to move it, that I also padded to avoid scratching the paint on the washer, I tipped the unit on its front face, since then the lid would not flop open against the control panel but rather would swing down and stay out of the way.

I hooked up a cold water hose to the cold inlet on the washer and when I pressurized it, water flew out the hot water inlet, so I put the hot water hose back on and stuck it inside the tub, held in place by the lid, to keep from spraying the bottom of the washer, which was now sideways, facing vertically (to one side) instead of horizontally (to the ground).

Then I carefully attached a 3-prong grounded heavy duty extension cord to the washer power cord, making absolutely certain that the power cords were nowhere near the water hose or any wet driveway surface (a potential electrocution hazard!).

Finally, I engaged a wash cycle to see if the washer would spin the motor and emit the odd noise we had heard. It did – for a few seconds as noted previously, as it tried to drain an overfill condition. By looking and listening I was able to tell that the pump was the source of the noise.

Replacing the pump

If you examine the pump and can convince yourself that you can do this, replacing this pump is quite easy. If you get the Tech Sheet as noted above, it has enough information to guide you on removing the old pump and replacing it, so if you are unsure of yourself you might wait until you have that manual and read through it before undertaking this task.

I have just begun a search for an actual Sears Elite Calypso Service Manual but have not completed the search, and the Sears parts site does not seem to show one, but you can find all part numbers at the sears.com site using this unit's previously noted, or your actual, model number.

First, BE SURE you have disconnected the power cord from an extension cord if you run the test I ran to hear the noise. Failure to do so could cause electric shock or electrocution. BE CAREFUL not to contact the terminals on the capacitor connected to the pump. The capacitor stores electricity even when not connected and can cause shock.

Next, disconnect the pump wiring harness by pulling on the white connector. There is a tab which holds it in place you will have to lift.

Then, disconnect the water hoses from the inlet and outlet of the pump and remove the two clips that hold the pump to the motor.

Finally, unscrew the 3 bolts that hole the motor to the cabinet and lift everything out, completing the disconnection of the pump/motor from the washer.

The new pump is a single piece, much smaller, and I purchased mine along with a lifetime warranty from www.pcappliancerepair.com.

You will need to use isolation rubber grommets on the pump attachment points, and my new pump had them already installed but if yours does not you could remove the grommets from the 3 bolt attachment points of the old pump and put them on the new one.

Just reverse the steps to replace the pump, skipping the part about the 2 clips as the new unit does not require them. Be sure not to forget to plug in the electrical connector, which as I recall is easier to do first before seating the new pump in place.

Finally, reconnect the two hoses and use the clips to hold them in place.

Because I did not want to move the washer inside only to find I had a problem or a leak, I again hooked up the unit as noted before, though this time I stood the unit up normally. I then ran a very short cycle to insure that the pump drained, which it did - right out into the driveway near the electrical cord - so BE CAREFUL not to let that happen!

A New Problem - MOLD in the washer

9 months after completing the pump replacement the unit is still going strong. However, recently my wife began noticing a musty smell, and I also had noted that some of my own clothing laundered in our Calypso did not smell right.

I did another Internet search. YIKES! Many washers - front and top-loaders - are known to have mold problems and some are so severe that people have done many things, including junking their washers, to try and solve the problem.

I found a cleaner - Purewasher, available at www.smellywasher.com, but not wanting to wait until I received it, I decided to consult my handy-dandy Tech Sheet and open up the washer lid and take a look underneath to see if I could see anything that I might be able to clean myself. I'm a biologist by college training, so a little mold doesn't scare me.

However, my eldest son is VERY ALLERGIC to mold and so my wife and I realized at once we had to address this issue immediately.

Getting the Top open - a challenge

You can't just open the washer lid and see all the water-bearing components of a washer.

You have to open the TOP, which is the piece into which the LID closes.

The Tech Sheet for the Whirlpool shows how to open the TOP, but this is one place it deviates from the design of the Sears Elite, so I had to adapt their procedure for the Sears washer.

First, this unit has 2 (not 3 like the Whirlpool) clips which hold the front of the top to the cabinet and there is no screw like there is in the Whirlpool. Opening the top takes two steps and a bit of muscle. The back of the top where the control panel sits is hinged (you can see the two flat metal hinges on the back of the unit).

Next, you can open the top by scooting your washer out from the wall a few inches. You do not have to take it out to the driveway like you might to replace the pump!

Third, UNPLUG the unit but you can leave the water hoses alone if you have enough clearance. You will be working from the front of the unit.

You need a wide putty knife to do this step. Gently pry up on the top from the cabinet at one of the front corners of the washer. Carefully slip the putty knife between the gap in the top and cabinet, about 6 inches in from the corner. You can use a flashlight to peer in the gap and see the inch-wide metal clip. It is this clip you will be pushing against. Now, let the top back down so there will not be any tension on it, now that you have the putty knife positioned. Push in on the clip and then lift up on the nearby corner. You may have to 'rock' this motion of pushing and lifting a few times to get the clip to disengage. It is a spring clip stuck in a square hole and you are pushing in the front, to swing the bottom front 'catch' backwards so you can lift the lid, pulling it off the clip. Don't worry if the clip snaps out of the hole when the lid comes loose. You can snap the clip back in later.

Repeat this process on the other side, and once you do you can swing the top up and back on the rear hinges. BE CAREFUL not to jam the control panel against the wall - you should have pulled the washer out far enough to avoid that. Also, do not let the LID flop open and slam into your wall - that could damage the paint on the lid or make an unwanted mark on the wall.

You might want to find a stick to prop open the lid. It's like a car hood except there's nothing to prop it open.

Searching for Mold, and other things noticed

(Images to come)

On the left side of the top is the Bleach and Water Softener reservoir. On the right side is the detergent inlet. Under the bottom side of the top (not the lid - the top piece you have pivoted up) - there is a gray or dark rubber seal surrounding the big hole in the top. It is the Splash Shield Assembly (Sears part # 8055191).

Notice the various hoses running to the Bleach/Water Softener reservoir and the little hose clips on each end. There are about a dozen of these nearly $5 each hose clips, and all of mine were completely RUSTED. More on this in another step.

If you look closely at this Splash Shield you will see that it is a rubber piece folded over on itself with a giant wire tie inserted in the slot of the fold. You should see a couple of semi-circular cutouts in the rubber where the wire tie is visible. THIS IS A VERY LIKELY SOURCE OF MOST MOLD in your Sears Elite washer. This splash shield, with its several cutouts, can allow soapy water to circulate all the way around the 360 degree circumference of the shield, and you cannot even see this until you pull downward and inward (toward the center of the hole) gently at one of the cutouts.

When I did this, I could see a large mass of BLACK MOLD growing all the way long the groove underneath the wire tie, INVISIBLE to the naked eye until I pulled on the seal. I nearly jumped for joy, because NOW I could understand why you could SMELL mold in the washer when you stuck your face in this hole BUT NOT SEE IT!

And, with all due respect to Purewasher, there is NO WAY to fill up this washer to the level of the bottom side of the TOP, and get the cleaner into this seal, without lifting the top AND REMOVING THE SEAL to take it out and try to clean it up.

Lastly, with the top propped open, while I was looking at all of the shields for other signs of mold, the shield attached to the underside of the top, on the right rear side of the lid hole, (to the right side of this hole toward the rear), was in the wrong place! This shield is installed by sliding it onto a plastic 'rail' that is attached to the underside of the top. In this case it had, over time, slid about halfway off the track and so was hanging loose behind the rear section of the hole in the top. I slid it all the way back on the track and when I did, after running several wash tests, water that was flowing up to the lid seal and flooding back into the washer when you would open the lid has completely gone away, thanks in part to this shield being back in the right place. Apparently the slight turning and rocking motion of the tub slowly, over time, caused this shield to work itself out of place. A judiciously-placed dab of silicone glue would hold it and prevent that.

Cleaning the mold

(Images to come)

You can kill mold most of the time with ordinary household bleach, but be sure it is chlorine bleach and it really should not be "HE"-style. You don't need any detergent in it, in other words, though if that's all you have, it's better than nothing.

You also need very hot water. I used our bathtub because two of the parts I needed to clean were bigger than any sink in the house.

First, I finally figured out that the Splash Shield can simply be lifted off the metal shroud which forms the downward section of the hole in the top. There is a groove in the Shield that sits into the lip of the shroud, to keep it from slipping off. If you lift up underneath one of the semi-circular cutouts beneath the big wire tie and then gently pull downward, you can then run your finger around the underside of the Shield in one direction or the other and lift it off. It's rather like trying to get a car tire off the wheel - you have to stretch the seal just a bit as you pull it over the wider mouth of the shroud, but be careful not to rip it or you will be "down" while you order a replacement part. You cannot run the washer without this Shield in place - it will leak all over the floor!

Next, you might well just decide, if you see too much black moldy 'goo' in the gap of the Shield, to simply replace the Shield instead of cleaning it. What I did was decide to clean the shield in a tub of scalding hot bleach water, agitating it vigorously to let the water wash through the sections I cannot get to, and then order a replacement Shield anyway - wash now to get the washer up and running, buying some time to get the part.

As well, I removed the rusted hose clips from the hoses feeding the Bleach and Water Softener housing, removing it and washing it completely as well (mold was growing inside the bottom piece - images to come), and replaced these clips ($5 each!) with 30 cent each wire ties - you only need to zip a tie onto the hose to hold it in place, not clamp it, as the plastic pipes on which these hoses fit have grooves to keep them from sliding off.

Then I removed a rusted clip from the hose that feeds the large plastic top of the tub (Tub Ring Assembly, Sears Part # 8317383). I then removed the Tub Ring - there are 7 or 8 tabs external to the assembly and you gently push down on the ring at the point of each tab, lifing the tab off its plastic catch. Work your way around in a circle until you have them all loose, and then lift off the whole ring assembly. There is a Tub Ring Seal underneath the Tub Ring, Sears Part # 8054355, that looks like it might need to be replaced if it is contaminated with mold but in my case, I washed with hot bleach water, and then completely dried the entire tub ring and seal. If I see a mold problem or have any leaks, this is the first seal I would go back after to replace.

Once I completed all the cleaning - including wiping down the metal surfaces inside the top and cabinet with bleach towelettes and drying it all completely, I put everything back together, made sure the hose ties were snug, and then I snapped the lid back down onto the two clips. Remember, if the clip came out while you were opening the lid, squeeze it together and put the front part in first, and then rock the back part into the groove until it is seated. Then snap the lid closed.

Final Steps and Follow Up

Finally, I have run a bleach wash with bleach in all three dispensers (no clothes!) on the hottest water with the 2nd rinse and extended spin, followed by a wash with just clean hot water (no bleach anywhere).

After it completed I opened the lid to let the inside air dry as much as possible.

At this time there is no moldy smell, but who knows how long it will be before it comes back and I have to repeat this cleaning process?

Once I get the replacement Shield I am going to put it in place and use silicone sealer to close up the 4 openings in the Shield (if they have not redesigned it already to take care of that!) to COMPLETELY prevent water from ever getting inside the shield again. That is the only way I can think of to SOLVE the mold problem in that area once and for all.

We also are going to cut back to the minimum recommended detergent, and we will be watching the water softener dispenser housing carefully to see if any mold grows inside it due to the deposits of softener which built up. The way that dispenser is designed, with the water flowing up from the center to mix with the softener before it then overflows the inner cup and drops through two holes into the side of the tub, it is little wonder it could have molded - there's no way it can ever be completely dry!

I will post pictures I took of the mold discovery process as soon as I can, to add to this procedure.

I'm sure the same general mechanisms for searching for mold and cleaning it would apply to other washers, but unless you have a book or some description of how to safely disassemble your unit, you will want to proceed with caution.

Also, I seriously doubt a regular service call from a repair place would do much to clean out mold. Maybe you could have them replace all the seals and shields, but then again wouldn't we expect the design engineers to do a better job of thinking through all these issues and avoid the problems with a better design in the first place?

Because we (my family) appreciates the large capacity of the washer, we have tried to 'stick it out' and find a way to work around what appear, to me, to be some design deficiencies that lead to some of these issues. I do not like to throw good money after bad, but if I can repair a unit for a fraction the cost and not have to buy yet another new, unknown quality, unit, I would rather do it. Besides that, back in the day when we bought this unit a major leading consumer magazine gave it very high marks, and indeed if your unit still washes the clothes well, it is in a lot of cases worth it to spend an incremental amount keeping it well maintained and in good repair.

I agree with many of the postings about these units that there could be nothing more frustrating than having an unqualified repair technician giving bad advice about how to fix an appliance! Even getting replacement units isn't enough to really solve the problem. It just delays it, if the deficiencies that are in the design remain even in the new unit. So, some careful examination of root cause can, as appears to be the case here, lead to ways to permanently solve the problems. I'll update this post when I have more long-term anti-mold cleaning experience with this unit.