Our Indesit WG1234T washing machine doesn't appear to be rotating the drum. At first we noticed it wasn't spinning, however after running a full wash I noticed that it isn't rotating the drum at all. I can rotate the drum manually, just doesn't spin/rotate when it should.
What could be the cause of this?
Programmer dead? (I doubt this as everything else works) Motor dead? (Possible as both wash rotate and spinning don't work)
I've looked inside and checked as much as I can see, however nothing appears to look different/burnt etc.
Any suggestions what to do? I'd prefer to get it fixed quickly and don't want to be buying lots of parts to try out what could be wrong. Having a way of definitely confirming what the fault is would be very helpful.
Ahh, sorry, I should have said. I've had the top + back off so know it isn't the belt - though that was my first thought.
Since posting I've found that one terminal on the motor controller has a burnt connection, and this may affect it. I'm trying to bodge it so that the connector is repaired and see if it works. If so, then I've located a source online for this controller and can get a new one.
The annoying thing is that I've managed to re-solder the connection, however I cannot get the solder to take on the whole pad, just the tip which doesn't make contact with the connector. Anyone know how to get solder to stick to fibreglass circuit boards? There used to be a solder strip there, with a tip which has a solder pad (which I can resolder) - just can't do the strip again. Don't want to blow £35 on a new controller board just to find its something else and the burnt connector is just a red herring!
Just to let you know that my bodge worked! I soldered a strip of stranded wire onto the pad such the it made better contact with the connector. My thoughts were than a thin strip of solder couldn't carry that much current, so a few strands of wire plus solder must handle the same amount or more.
Therefore, I think I'll keep my bodge now unless I notice any failures. Looking at the connector, I believe the spring pads weren't touching enough and therefore causing a high resistance connection, which finally burnt out. I've now sprung the connector more, plus with the few strands of wire + solder, it makes a much better connection - so shouldn't happen again.
Saved myself £35 on parts, and only took about 4 hours of my time on a Saturday night. :) Pretty pleased with myself.
There used to be a copper track bonded to the fibreglass which was then covered in solder.
One way to repair the board is to use solid single core wire[1] to replace the missing (burnt out) copper track[2]. On some printed circuit boards they put down a mask of solder resist (green or orange) to stop solder attaching itself to all the copper. This can be scraped off if you need to solder to the copper underneath it. If you are attempting to solder to a copper track on an older board you will need to clean the copper to remove oxidation. A fine abrasive should surf be okay - I have used a fine grade of wet and dry or one of those green pan scourers in the past.
Circuit boards don't burn without reason. The fault may have been a dry joint which was arcing or a hot component fitted too close to the surface of the board.
[1] Use a size of wire suitable for the current it will carry. The solid core from mains or lighting cable should be okay if the missing track was thick.
[2] If the board is really black the carbonation may conduct current to a neighbouring track. It may be worth digging out with a craft knife or similar any badly burnt areas.
Quite possibly, poor connections can get warm, oxidise, get hot, oxidise more, form an arc, and burn away the trace.
Can you easily get to the other end of the cable? Wire from controller to other end. Alternatively, take some copper wire, and a hammer. Hammer wire flat, so you've got a copper strip (anneal first). Glue onto board with epoxy, and solder the end.
The capitalism police will be round, don't you know that you'r subverting the whole system by not buying a new one :)
My washing machine is currently waiting installation of a new pump, the new one is here, but while waiting for it, I cleaned out the old one, and it hasn't failed yer.
Making boards cheaply doesn't mean that they are unfit for purpose, unreliable or unsafe. .A board designed to burn in normal use is likely to cost the manufacturer a lot more than any savings he may achieve in manufacturing costs.
That depends on whether people believe that the warranty represents the time limit for getting things fixed for free and on the price charged for replacement boards.
As long as the board fails outside warranty, the vast majority of people are either unaware of their statutory rights and/or do not have the Victor Meldrew gene.
Ok, you have connector A, it costs 1.20, and has an average life of 20 years, and 0.1% of them will fail in 3 years, or connector B, which costs 80p, with an average life of 15 years, and 0.1% failing in 2 years.
Do you spend the extra 40p, and add some 50-60p onto the price of the item, or save the customer a little money, and still end up with a product that will almost certainly last a decade...
It depends on what the connector is used for. Often the life expectancy is based on the number of connect/disconnect operations. If the connector is not used for many connections the figures for life expectancy or failures may be somewhat meaningless and the cheaper connector may be just as good as the expensive connector. They will both last for more than a decade.
On average, in a washing machine the connector will be made once during manufacture. It is unlikely to wear out with repeated connections being made However in a washing machine vibration will be a more important factor and stopping the two halves of the connector moving relative to one another should be an important design consideration. Using a better, more robust, connector may be one solution but a cheaper solution may involve the routing of wires and providing some physical strain relief.
On something such as a TV or video recorder, again the connection to a plug/socket will only be made while setting-up or moving the equipment. It may not be touched again for a year or more. The connectors fitted will be reliable for a decade for the home user operating the equipment in a benign environment. They may not be suitable for the 'professional' user. Who do you design for and at what cost?
Even more off topic. I was visiting Great Yarmouth recently and in one of the electrical shops there were two TVs set up. They were different technologies and someone had taken a lot of trouble to set one of them up correctly and the other had been de-tuned with the contrast and brightness adjusted to give a washed out picture. A hand written note said the difference in picture quality was due to one being connected with a cheap connecting lead and the other with a mega-price lead. In this case I doubt if the price or quality of the SCART lead made any difference.
If you live in the area and know the shop ask them to swap the leads without adjusting the TVs and see which picture is still better :)
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