We've got a Hoover AE230 Quattro machine. The tub motor is no longer turning the tub.
I've had the motor off and had our sparkies at work check it out. There are no bush problems and the field windings etc are intact. The rest of the machine functions are OK as well - it fills and pumps but the drum - he no turn.
There was a suggestion that it may be the motor capacitor, but having taken off a large cap (with five leads - two blue, two brown and an earth) and tried to match it up with any of the ones on the various web sites (espares etc), I can't see anything like a match. I was wondering if this was only a mains filter cap?
Has anyone got any suggestions before I give up and ring Washing Machine Repairman?
Does the motor turn at all? If you remove the belt from the motor and drum, then put the machine on spin cycle. Does the motor even look as though it is going to turn?
Are the carbon brushes worn down? At he end of the motor, that isn't at the belt end, you should see two plastic slide in holders. These have a wire attached to them and should disappear into the connector you were looking at. The holders themselves have a clip affair that holds them in place in the motor body. This looks like a strip of plastic which springs out from the holder and catches behind the metal body of the motor. The clip can be released by pressing a screw-driver against the little tab provided, and squeeze it in toward the holder until it clears the motor casing. It then slides out away from the motor casing.
Inside the holder is a piece of carbon. This carbon must touch against the commutator segments of the armature (the bit that actually spins) for the electricity to flow and make the motor turn. They should be at least 15 mm in length, and anything less than this can cause problems. They have a spring which keeps constant pressure on them, so they stay tightly against the armature. The springs may also have weakened and this too can cause problems.
The next thing to check is the motor control unit. This is a Printed Circuit Board which is housed against the side casing of the machine. It can be hidden by a flap of plastic, or inside a solid plastic cover, and will be sited (usually) near the top of the machine to prevent is from falling victim in leak conditions. Remove the whole board from its clips and catches, and then inspect it for signs of burning or charring. If it is showing signs of excessive heat on or around any of the component, then it is worth having the unit changed. Even if the unit does show some signs of heating, and is still working, it is advisable to change it. If only to prevent it from further damaging the motor in the future.
Get your screw-drivers out mate, and a torch, and get looking around inside the machine.
REMEMBER TO UNPLUG THE MACHINE COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU TAKE THE CASING OFF !!!!!
We have the same model w/m and the problem has always been worn brushes. They look ok, and you can apparently get a continuity through the commutator, but in fact they are worn-short and the springs are at full stretch.
Before doing anything more drastic, remove one of the brushes, (Torx key needed), and just check whether there is a decent extension of the brush as you take it out.. ie, as you remove the last holding screw does the brush holder push itself away from the commutator.
New brush assemblies are about £20 a set from Hoover, and delivery is about 2 days.
On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 21:25:36 +0100, "Vortex" strung together this:
Depends, I know of repairmen who would probably fix most faults like this for 50-60GBP on average. Although the Hover Quattro isn't the best machine it's better than most wanky sub 200 quid jobs.
Before I took it apart, I tried gave the motor a "helping hand" but it didn't seem to want to start, so I suspected it wasn't even trying to turn. I'll give it another go when I put the motor back on, but I'm not hopeful.
We've checked electrical continuity through the brushes and they're fine. There's also a (small) current flow if you meter up the motor and manually spin the shaft, so we suspect no problems there either.
They look fine.
The other possibility could be what I suspect is a speed / motion sensor on the opposite end of the motor shaft to the brushes? Presumably that detects what the motor's doing and feeds back to the control circuitry?
I suspected sooner or later someone would suggest that :-)
Sound advice. I think I know what I'm doing this weekend!
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