Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

[aneng]

Hi,

My WM52 stopped mid-cycle today, leaving water in the drum. I clicked the dial forward a fraction and it drained, but with no drum rotation. I’ve since had a multimeter on the motor plug and with it on the spin cycle, I’m getting nothing more than a few hundred millivolts on any of the pins with reference to the chassis – though I don’t know what the pinout of this plug is and what pins to expect 240v on.

Is this a common fault ? I’m suspecting the controller board. Everything else on the machine behaves normally – just no movement from the motor.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks !

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Multimeters, suspecting the controller board????: :rolls:

Why not just have a quick look at the motor brushes. 😉

Motor brushes If the brushes are OK then tug on all of the wires going into the motor plug, breaks here are quite common.

BTW, are you really an eng?

PS. There is no need whatsoever to conduct live tests.

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Hi,

I’ll have a look at the brushes tonight. However, I’m not hopeful on that front as when I’ve seen brushes go before, they haven’t just died completely like this. I am an engineer btw, – just not a washing machine engineer !

As for live tests – surely the easiest way to establish whether the fault is the motor or the board / supply is to check for 240v at the brushes ? – or is there an easier method ?

Thanks for your help mate !

[Martin]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

aneng wrote:supply is to check for 240v at the brushes ? – or is there an easier method ?

Aaaaaargh no…..!!! :zap:

Simply isolate the power supply totally THEN check the motor brushes both physically and electrically with a megger or multimeter. NEVER EVER LIVE TEST….!!! :rolls:

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

OK – just about to dive in. Why the big hoo-ha about testing for mains voltages though ? I’ve worked on live valve amplifiers with double that voltage – and DC at that ! I’m not the type who wades in with dangling jewellery whilst standing barefoot in an earthed metal bucket of water 🙂

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

The big hoo-ha as you put it is quite simple. This is a public forum, read by all who chose to do so.. The vast majority of people reading it will have no electrical experience at all, so once again.

THERE IS NO NEED TO LIVE TEST TO FIND ANY FAULT ON A DOMESTIC WASHING MACHINE.

PS. Brushes will often fail with little or no warning, working one minute, motor dead the next. 😉

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Fair enoughski. Just took the motor off for a better look. The brushes are on their last legs wear-wise, but they are making contact with the commutator. Admittedly there’s only perhaps another 1-2mm left in them before they break contact, but measuring across the brushes consistently gives about 2ohms, so there is continuity across the armature coils.

Update: I removed the lot, incl the controller and checked for any obvious signs of kaput-tedness, cleaned the commutator, put it all back together and – it works. 😕 Must be the brushes after all. I’ll change them this week, and whilst I’m at it, I’ll get a new door switch wotsit. I’m getting tired of hearing the Mrs slamming the door shut to get it to work 🙂

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

I would not run the machine with worn brushes, if they arc across they can take out the internal motor overload or even damage the control unit, as can a faulty door lock.

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Right you are Chief. The door itself closes fine, it’s just that it often needs a bash to get the ‘door locked’ light to come on. Would that likely be just the interlock bit (£6) ? (i.e. http://tinyurl.com/bp7exnx )

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Thats the one, well worth changing and a very reasonable price there. 😀

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Yeah, I thought that too ! I got the brushes and interlock for £14 odd inc delivery (from here, obviously !).

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Update: I cleaned up the commutator with an extremely fine emery board and replaced the brushes. Replaced the door interlock, but the door still had the same problem closing, so I dismantled the latch mechanism in the door itself and saw that the spring that loads the latch had become dislodged from its retaining slot on one side. Pushed that back in and the door works perfectly now, so I didn’t need the interlock after all. Never mind… only £6. The machine is now running great again. Better than it ever has actually !

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

TBH, if you now have a new interlock I would replace it. no point waiting until it fails, quite common for a faulty interlock to do serious damage to the main control unit.

Plug out, release the wire clip round the door seal to access door lock, a couple of minutes that could save you a lot of money. 😉

[aneng]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

Yeah, I replaced it at the same time as the brushes.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM52 motor not spinning ?

:tup: 8)

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