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A little bit of history on the machine first. Bought in August ’12, so just over 10 years old. For the first five years, there were only two adults in the house, so never heavily used. For the past five years, there has been only one adult, so it’s getting used less, and rarely with more than a 2/3 load.
A couple of months back I put it on the usual wash cycle I use, lasting 1h46m with a 700 spin cycle. It started normally adding the water and seemed okay. A later visit to the kitchen and it seemed to be washing fine. A much later check and the timer had gone back to 1h46m and the washing machine was full of dirty water. Turning the control dial to any other option displayed ‘Err’ in red on the display, but no numbers. I powered it off for about 15 minutes, switched it on and set it to drain. I then tried the spin cycle, but it wouldn’t do anything. Switched it off long enough to allow the door unlock to function and removed the sodden clothes. Tried it a few days later with just a handful of clothes and it did the same thing. On the third attempt, I kept a closer watch on it and all it seemed to do was keep adding water, making noises, but not turning the drum.
After emptying it, I took it apart, removed the EWM electronics module, dismantled it and discovered parts of it were covered in soot, both on the board and the plastic cover. It seems to be coming from a capacitor. I ordered up a new part from the only supplier, having first confirmed with them the correct part. When it arrived, I put it all back together and tried a handful of clothes, and was getting the same result, so I suspected that maybe the timer circuit at the front also had an issue, so ordered up that part as well. Whilst I was waiting for that part to arrive, I decided to check everything else on the machine, including the filter, the pump, the pipes, the drive belt and the brushes, and in typical fashion, it’s always the last thing you check.
Only one of the brushes was touching the armature, with the second one looking like it had broken off. I then ordered a set of these, and in the meantime decided to pull the old ones out. I was somewhat shocked when I removed them, as the one I thought had broken, hadn’t. Instead, it had somehow got stuck in it’s plastic holder, and you could see burn marks on the holder where it had been arcing across to the armature. Both parts arrived, but I returned the timer circuit since the brushes seemed to be the obvious issue now. Checking them against a brand new set, even the worn down one is still longer than the new ones by about 3mm. The one that was stuck is about 5mm longer that the used one.
Anyway, new brushes were put, and the small plastic retainer tabs removed, everything put back together and tested. The wash cycle seems to be running fine now, but don’t know what’s happened to the spin cycle, as the clothes are still coming out damp, so damp in fact that I’m having to wring them out before putting them on the line. I ran another test at the start of the week, and now it is just annoying. I had 1 shirt, 5 t-shirts, 6 pairs of underwear and 6 pairs of socks. Not exactly a heavy load. I used the same wash cycle as I always do, 1h46m with a 700 spin cycle. After that, I then ran just the spin cycle, which on this machine is 1,600rpm and runs for 17m. Even after all that, apart from the shirt, I had to wring out every other item. Having never sat in the kitchen and watched the machine, I don’t know how the cycles work, but on the spin cycle, it seems to speed up to about 200rpm for a few seconds and then stop. It would reverse the action. Then it would switch direction again but increase the speed, but again only for a few seconds. It would continue to do this in increments, but never seem to run at that speed for more than a few seconds.
The main circuit board cost around £150 and the brushes cost around £10, and it still doesn’t work properly. I contacted Zanussi about this, and the fact that a stuck carbon brush seems to have resulted in the EWM board blowing, the expense I’d gone to for no little gain, and their response was typical (yes, I know it’s 10 years old, but a failed carbon brush shouldn’t break other parts of the machine). They suggested an option whereby I could trade it in, which is pointless, as I’d get very little, and I’d already put £160 of new parts into it, and I don’t have £300 or more to throw into a new washing machine.
Apart from putting in a new timer board (around £120), is there any other parts of the washing machine left that I can check? Forgot to say that the drum seems very stable during the wash and spin cycles, with no unusual noises or vibrations.
So we know that after the brushes were replaced on the wash cycle the drum now revolves c/wise and anti/c/wise as it should. We know that it also pumps out the water. But still will not spin properly / even anything remotely approaching a decent spin speed.
Well since the motor does work on wash i.e. turns c/wise and turns anti c/wise and tries to get up to a spin speed but fails to do so. You changed the pcb (973914530218002 – r/h/s at the top) and it has not made any positive improvement.
Ok what I think might have happened is the pressure switch`s air chamber is part blocked up and this will give you: 1) a higher water level than is usual so check this first against the height of the door glass so water level 5 to 7, 8 to 4, 9 to 3 as ref a clock face this means the machine will still work until 2) the water is pumped out = if too much water to pump out the machine runs out of time = no spin until that drains BUT 3) the air compressed in the air trap is not escaping (due to blockage) which = the pressure switch ( abev swt) will not “click out”*** = will not allow the machine to spin (the 200 rpm is really, I suspect, the distribution speed – pre spin speed) = so you get no spin.
Turn power off, lid off, r/h/side there is the p/switch which has a thin black pipe that disappears down underneath or near underneath the tank to the air chamber (part 1327360002) this area is where it COULD be blocked up hence the problem BUT before you do anything your best bet is to remove the thin black p/swt pipe from the p/swt and blow through the pipe – if you can easily blow through it I am wrong, if you can almost blow through it is part blocked and we`re on the right track – take a gob full of water and blow that down the tube and try to clear the blockage if not it is a case of dismantling the machine…..yet again or working on it from underneath if possible. ****WHAT YOU DO NOT DO is blow into the actural p/swt itself. These wretched modern p/swts do not mechanically click like the old fashion ones – It should automatically reset itself to zero unless of course the swt itself is naff but there is no meaningful test you can do other than replace the part and try again so hopefully it might be just a blockage of soap / sludge which is common on older machines like yours`!
In other words you have 2 faults running in parallel cetaininly not unkown. I had a machine with 4 electrical disasters once that took some figuring out and 3 bowl fulls of St Bruno.electrofix – I never tried spinning it with no clothes in it, and never checked the brushes for sparking since they were new.
andyjawa – Thanks for a very detailed explanation. However, I think you’ve misinterpreted part of what I said. The washing machine worked fine until the day it just failed to do a proper wash/spin cycle. I’m assuming that it had reached a point where the gap between that one brush and the armature was too great and would therefore not turn the drum. The PCB was replaced at that point, but it did not cure the problem. Only when I changed the brushes did it start to work properly. i.e. it ran through the full wash and spin cycle, but the clothes were still wet. The water is being drained from it, as there is none left in the drum. I may also have misled you with the 200rpm comment, so sorry about that. What I was trying to convey was that it seemed to be a very slow spin speed. It would then stop, reverse direction, and the speed would increase by another factor, based on sound rather than any proper measurement. It just seemed to increase to a certain speed, but wouldn’t maintain that speed for anymore than a few seconds. In terms of water level, I honestly have never noticed the water level being any different. I’d guess it were around the 8 to 4 level, but will check later, but reckon the pressure switch is my first port of call.
I’m about to head out, so will try the empty spin and check the brushes later. I can also checkout those other aspects that andyjawa mentioned. Will update later.
Dragged into several other jobs, so this just pushed aside, and since the kitchen is an old style galley kitchen (I can touch both side walls), pulling the washing machine leaves about 8 inches of space to get between.
Anyway, took the top and back covers off to have a look around, and noticed the following just doing a spin cycle on an empty drum.
1. The waste water pipe pulsates as if water going through it (even though the drum is empty, including the filter area at the bottom of the drum)
2. It spins normally with nothing at all in it
3. As it’s getting to the higher rpms, I am noticing it sparking (more reflected light from the side panels as I can’t see the brushes directly)
4. The pipe from the pressure switch has no objections whatsoever, with no effort at all to blow throughWeather has turned lousy today, so wasn’t prepared to put any clothes in it, as I know they’ll still be wet, even after two spin cycles. May just have to try a new pressure switch, but will be annoyed if that doesn’t cure it.
1. The waste water pipe pulsates as if water going through it (even though the drum is empty, including the filter area at the bottom of the drum)
thats normal nothing to worry
2. It spins normally with nothing at all in it
which means it can
3. As it’s getting to the higher rpms, I am noticing it sparking (more reflected light from the side panels as I can’t see the brushes directly)well that could be it. depends why they are sparking. they will spark more with higher loads. try taking out the brushes, look at the face, the shiny bit is where the contact is. if it only in contact a small amount try rub obb just the shiny bit with emery. be carful its soft and you only want a little but off. then see if it sits better and does not spark as much
if the motor clicks as it turns around and you have a high segment in the armature then you need a new motor
4. The pipe from the pressure switch has no objections whatsoever, with no effort at all to blow throughgood
Dave
electrofix wrote:3. As it’s getting to the higher rpms, I am noticing it sparking (more reflected light from the side panels as I can’t see the brushes directly)
well that could be it. depends why they are sparking. they will spark more with higher loads.
Good news on the other points, but somewhat annoyed at this prospect, as these were brand new brushes that were put in, and not cheap eBay stuff, and this test was with an empty drum. The motor isn’t making any noises at all, thankfully. It was the one brush that wasn’t even touching the armature that I believe started all this, but it always spun the clothes properly. Will give it a go and report my findings.
Got the wrong end if the stick the last time.
Since the replacement brushes were new (A)presuming they are the right ones i.e the running face are at the same angle as per your original set therefore BOTH RUNNING FACES are facing either to the left or facing right – get this bit wrong, because you got the wrong set (what is the part number you ordered these on? and the machines product code as read off the label on the machine, begins with a prod code 9………../..) = your are asking for trouble = would make a god awful clicking noises even if the motor worked at all which you do not mention so presume you do not have that problem at all) based on that the brushes are correct and since you fitted them correctly and it now spins, at least empty, but with lots of sparking the only conclusion is you have a nuked armature from when the previous brush failed, hence now it sparks but the question is how much sparks since all carbon brushes spark just like a Guy Fawkes night sparkler! So you say you get no `orrible noises on spin so that is good so that should discount (A) BUT if you get LOTS of blue and green flashing lights from the motor it will either, as Electrofix mentions, the running face of each or just one brush needs, as he suggests, to be very gently refaced though you might, to be frank, be too late. So just because you bought a new set of brushes to cure the original problem does not mean an instant cure with this new set if the armature is faulty / worn/whatever..And if so they tend to visually on the commutator segments or some of the segments an electrical glazed look about them due to the heat as opposed to an even matt black look which usually means you will get away with it with no severe sparks. In severe cases the segments are brutally damaged and if so it is plainly obvious, makes one hell of a racket if any movement in which = a new motor or THE CORRECT second hand one and NOT just so happens a second hand motor from any old Zanussi.
“It was the one brush that wasn’t even touching the armature that I believe started all this, but it always spun the clothes properly” That is because it was jammed as you correctly said ( usually it is due to heat) meaning either the original brush just split and jammed because it got bored of life or the armature was the main culprit and due to sparking was the cause of the old brush jamming in the first place not necessarily the former – but you`ll never know let alone prove that all you can know is the brush jammed cause it split. If a jammed or near worn out brush jams very very close to the armature, as is most common, the power jumps through air or jumps through carbon dust but should, if that is the case, have been sounding a trite off key and makes a crackling noise (well, normally that would be the case but not always to be fair) until its final demise = ending up doing nothing = no motor action at all and if unlucky when a new set is fitted it is too late = nuked armature = new motor.
Use the machine with an iffy sparky motor and you stand a bloody good chance it`ll take out the main pcboard.
So have a good look at the motor because nothing else can cause a motor to spark badly other than the motor itself OR water dripping on it; if the latter you will see water staining.
Hopefully got the right end of the stick this time.andyjawa – Once again, thanks for the very detailed explanation. Even though I have notifications enabled, I’m not receiving them, so a bit late on the response side.
So good news to report. I’ll start at the end by saying that I have a load of clothes airing outside as I type. Now for the outcome, and I have to say I’m lucky that I dropped one of the brush bolts into the motor. Because of the confines of the kitchen, the machine was on it’s side so I could access the brushes, and they were swapped over with the motor in situ previously. This time when I was removing one to inspect it, I dropped the bolt into the motor, so had to remove that to find it.
When I did so, I noticed that there are two positions that the brushes can attach to the motor, noted by three bolt holes and two ‘seating’ holes for the plastic lug on the brush. I had fitted them in exactly the same way as the original ones were fitted, matching their alignment with the other secured one, and also by the line of dust from the brush, and from the restricted viewing angle, they looked as if they were seated correctly. It turns out that the brushes I got had the angled slope on the contact edge opposite to what mine were, and as a result they were only touching the armature by the tip of the brush. This obviously meant not enough power going to the motor, which is why it was never running as fast as it should. That might also explain why it kept doing the rotation/counter rotation at various speeds. Not sure if links work here, but I just came across this image which partially shows the extra holes for mounting the brush in a different orientation:
https://siteassets.ransomspares.co.uk/Images/Articles/General/motor.jpg
As soon as I fitted them the correct way, I tried the empty spin cycle again, and noticed an immediate difference. It did a very slow rotation for a few revolutions, and then repeated this in the other direction. Someone mentioned above that this would have been it load balancing. After that, it then started to rotate and gradually increased speed up to its indicated 1600rpm. I switched it off, put the panels back on and set it back in place, and ran a load of clothes through earlier, and they came out slightly damp, as expected, instead of soaking wet. Even a heavy sweat shirt came out slightly damp.
In terms of the brushes that I bought, they came from the only supplier online that sells Zanussi spares, and I had provided them with full part numbers beforehand, so don’t understand why the brushes have two different fitting points with corresponding brush faces going the opposite direction.
with brushes the model and pnc are just a good guide
the motor info is also required as they fit more than one motor in a production runthere are more then one seller of zanussi spares inc the manufacturers own site
Dave
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