Washing machine fault diagnosis...

Hi all! Have an Indesit W143 washer. Drum tries to turn but to no avail. As the drum "pulses" a little I presume the belt to be ok, but the motor seems unable to turn the drum. Could this be brushes?

Les

Reply to
Les Hemmings
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Sound very lilkely

Reply to
Demon

Yep, it turned empty but balked at a few clothes. After further fiddling, which I probably shouldn't have done, it now just buzzes and smell of hot motor.. points me to brushes again I think.

Les

Reply to
Les Hemmings

Further, took the brushes out. There seems lots of meat left on them. Although the armature where the brushes make contact is dark, sooty and not bright copper.. There were bright tips to the brushes.I cleaned the armature and replaced the brushes. It half heartedly works.. almost like the motor is under powered. Gets slowly worse until it stops. Then switch off, wait a while, and it will run again. The belt isn't slipping and doesn't appear worn..

Puzzled!

Les

Reply to
Les Hemmings

There maybe a shorted or burned out armature winding. It's probably worth trying a new set of brushes as they should be only a few quid (try CPC), but be prepared to discover it doesn't fix it as the motor is burned out.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Les.

Sounds just like the problem I'm having with my Hoover vacuum motor. See thread entitled "Hoover vacuum motor problem" posted on 4/10.

Neil

Reply to
Neil

I it's important when you clean the armature to make sure you get all the dirt from between the segments. Use a penknife to do this.

Reply to
Bob Watkinson

If it is a variable spin machine then there will be a speed control card in it somewhere. One of my old machines burnt the crimp off the end of the wire and took me a few weeks to find, every time I had a fiddle around the back I disturbed the wire and made an electrical contact which made it work for a few hours.

The other thing to check is the tacho pulse generator, it monitors the speed of the motor. If it doesn't detect any movement when the unit is meant to be spinning it stops the machine totally ( possibly your juddering effect ). It will be a small unit about 1.5 - 2 inches square with two wires going to it fitted to either the front or rear of the motor around the shaft. If this is at fault don't be fobbed off by the spares telephonist trying to sell you a complete motor unit, they do come separately. My one for an Ariston machine was about £8.

Reply to
Mark

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