Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

[zedhickman]

Hi.

My drum kept sticking so I replaced the brushes, which solved the problem. Now, a few weeks later, the drum seems to keep sticking again, and the wash cycle seems to get stuck part way through (because the drum won’t turn??). I have taken a look and the brushes, and area around the brushes, are very sooty and burnt looking. The female part (sorry, don’t know the correct name for it) that fits over the brush pin, is burnt and now melted in place.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Zac

[Goatboy]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Did you use genuine brushes?

It sounds like you might not have tightened the connection tight enough, so it has got very hot, and burnt 🙁

The brushes might of overheated, and are now stuck in the holders, or the motors armature could be damaged 🙁 🙁

Engineer time me thinks 😕

Goatboy (Engineer)

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi Goatboy,

Thanks for your reply.

‘Genuine brushes’? You mean the correct make a model for my type of machine? Not sure I did…..Would that be a problem??? (Is that a really stupid question?)

Ok – another (probably) basic question – what connection? I slid the brushes into place (not a problem) and put the female part over the brush pin…nothing to tighten…

Have removed and replaced brushes so not stuck in place and they are still free moving in plastic housing.

Any other suggestions – or could it still be a whole number of things?

Cheers

Zac

[Goatboy]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

zedhickman wrote:‘Genuine brushes’?

I mean, are they made by Hotpoint, are are they a copy. Copies cause overheating problems!

The female connections that goes over the pins have to be very tight, or because of vibration, the connection will become loose, and burn.

It sounds like the motor could of overheated. Of course I’m guessing, but if the brushes seem ok, that is what I would look at next.

The motor could overheat because of a loose conection (mentioned 😉 ), or over-use after replacing the brushes (they aren’t the right shape at first and need a few easy washes to ‘bed in’), or general over-use, like doing two washes in a row without giving the motor time to cool down, or oversoaping, or non-genuine brushes sold cheap on feebay (mentioned)

The problem is, we have to find out if the thermal fuse in your motor has blown, or the armature has blown, or your PCB has blown 🙁

Unplug the machine before looking.

Goatboy (Engineer, it’s true, I have a certificate!)

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi Goatboy,

Great stuff!! Very helpful – will investigate all!!

Many thanks

Zac

[Goatboy]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Any joy Zac? 😕

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi Goatboy,

Sorry for very delayed reply – bought and fitted some genuine brushes as I had indeed bought cheap and nasty ones 😕 . One of the newly fitted non-genuine brushes had been worn away to nothing in a matter of 2-3 weeks (ish). Machine worked a treat after fitting genuine brushes…until yesterday. Same old problem – drum stopped turning. Machine makes all the right noises as if it is working properly, but drum doesn’t turn, and sometimes stops mid-cycle (possibly becasue drum refuses to turn?).

Am having a look at it over weekend to see condition of brushes, but I am assuming there is some other deep-rooted problem if the brushes (actually just the one) are being worn down at such a fast rate – what other problem might it be?

Hmmmm
😥
Many thanks Goatboy.

Zac

[Simon46]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Have you lifted the retaining tags on brushes so they slide freely in the holder? Unplug power before having a look.

Regards
Simon

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the reply. This was indeed double checked at the time.

Regards

Zac

[Goatboy]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

If it’s going though brushes that quick, I’d think that the armature is goosed 👿 New brushes, (even genuine) need easy loads at first to ‘bed’ into the armature, and take the right shape.

It’s hard the tell if the armature was duff before the non-gen brushes, or maybe the non-gen brushes ‘duffed’ the armature. Or maybe the connection wasn’t tight enough?

It all sounds pretty terminal for your motor, I’m afraid 🙁 Of course, I’m only guessing :hide:

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi,

Hmmmm – the mystery deepens. Is it straight forward to check out the armature theory? Can I easily ‘get at it’ to see what sort of condition its in? How will I know if its knackered? And can they be replaced easily? Or would it be time to call it a day??

Cheers

Zac

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Most armatures are no longer available now (complete motor only replacement), what is the model of the machine Zac ?

Dave.

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hi Dave,

Old machine – Hotpoint Aquarius 1000 WM20.

Any ideas on the problem, problem resolution, repair likelihood???

Cheers

Zac

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Hotpoint’s solution is a complete motor only at £82.00 ex VAT and carriage but you should in theory be able to replace the armature on this one.

If you have a local repair shop, take the motor in to them and they should be able to advise better as we can’t see the state of the armature but it sounds (as GB says) that it is badly worn.

If you are feeling up to the job or your local guys have a problem, let me know as I have the armatures in stock 🙂

Dave.

[zedhickman]

Re: Hotpoint Brushes and drum problem – sooty

Ok – this is becoming a regular weekend job for me! Will tackle it tomorrow and see what’s what. Thanks for your help!!!

Zac

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