General info required about brushes and rotors

[admin]

Hi,

I’m new here. I love forums like these and use similar sites for car info. Only just found this one by trying to troubleshoot my machine. It’s a Whirlpool 419602023759, tried Whrilpool.com and .co.uk but can’t find literature because its an old machine. It was bought as an ex-rental (so no manuals) about 6 years ago and has been fine until recently.

The symptoms:
Refusing to spin at 900 most of the time unless empty (sometimes)
Spins OK at 500 on low loads with 1/2 load selected sometimes
I am guessing that this is due to a current limiter which makes sure the windings do burn out when it’s over loaded.
Usually full of water at the end of a cycle (I think this is because its not being spun out of the drum since it will drain properly if I set up a syphon)
The rotor or armature looks like it is coated in a thin black film (copper oxide formed at temperature or under a strong electric field? or graphite from the brushes?) A friend suggested switch cleaner, rotating or cleaning the brushes. I’ve cleaned the brushes and it usually helps but the symptoms come back and gradually get worse. The brushes still make contact with the armature so they shouldn’t need replacing yet. What can I safely use to clean off copper oxide deposits (if thats what it is) to improve the connection?

[admin]

Re: General info required about brushes and rotors :cured:

Scoured around on here a bit and tried exploring some other avenues.

I experimented with a forced spin (turn dial to triangle) and it worked at 500 and 900 RPM both empty and with the half load that failed earlier today. So obviously not a fault with the commutator or brushes but they are still a bit noisy but no arcing.

I had a poke around inside and eventually found a sock it the rubber bit that fits directly below the drum. This is why its was not draining water before spinning, then failing either during or before the spin because it was trying to spin an almost full drum fo water hence overheating the motor and cutting out (is it thermal or current based?).

The most fun part was putting the sprung circlip on the outer seal of the door. Could have been better designed, but these things are designed for cost rather than ease of use and service (approved service “engineers” only).

Anyway, thanks for existing and providing some guidance on how to troubleshoot washing machines. Do you have a CE section because my DVD player sometimes has to be tipped up to get it to read discs?

No doubt I’ll be back next time I need to stop my wife giving us a better debt rating by salvaging dying whitegoods…

[Author]

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