[Whittlehoot]

Re: Carbon Brushes For Zanussi ZWF1000M

Hi Dave

Don’t know how you managed that and I’m impressed. I spent literally hours going down dead ends trying to match the machine to a specific brush part number. I couldn’t find anything that tied the two together. The nearest one I found was the one I posted the picture of from ebay Germany and they wouldn’t post to the UK.

Equipped with the part number, I’ve been able to find a pair for £9, cheap enough to make it worthwhile getting it going until the bearings completely fail. I think they’re reconditioned (new inserts) rather than new, but they seem to work okay. Gives me time to carefully select a new machine, rather than rushing out to buy one.

Thanks very much for your help.

David

[Whittlehoot]

Re: Carbon Brushes For Zanussi ZWF1000M

Hi Dave

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, they’re not like those ones. They’re back on the machine now, but they look like this:

David

[Whittlehoot]

Re: Zanussi ZWF1000M Drain/Spin problem

Unfortunately not on this machine Martin, only on the Japanese or European built ones. Pressing the Start/Pause and Option buttons and turning the selector does not put it in diagnostic mode.

There is some kind of test mode though, if the Prewash button and the Option button to the left of it are pressed while turning the selector. After two seconds, all the leds light up and the buzzer gives three long beeps and three short beeps. One of the water inlet valves opens for a short while then stops. Turning the selector further causes the other valves to open and fill the drum. I’m not sure what two of the positions do, but turning the selector to the Spin position causes the pump to drain out the water and putting it in the Drain position causes the drum to spin. The fastest it spins is the same as during a normal spin cycle, so it’s not really telling me anything. None of the other positions seem to do anything – no beeping and no flashing leds.

[Whittlehoot]

Re: Zanussi ZWF1000M Drain/Spin problem

Tried your suggestion (disconnecting the heater etc). No luck I’m afraid, still not spinning at 1000rpm.

You don’t think it’s possible the short brushes could cause this type of problem?

I know what you mean about far fetched faults. I had to clean the water nozzles on a Zanussi and when I’d finished, the drum motor wouldn’t work. It was thirteen months old and the shop quoted around £160 to fix it. I checked the motor relays and found one of them had an intermittent contact, which I was able to clean, but it still didn’t work. Although the triac measured okay (as far as triacs can be statically tested), I replaced it with an identical one from my old tricity-bendix. Fixed! New triac – £2.60.

[Whittlehoot]

Re: Zanussi ZWF1000M Drain/Spin problem

Thanks very much for your response. I didn’t think it would be checking the balance either (I tried removing the drive belt and doing a drain cycle, with no joy). The reason I mentioned it was because when it first went wrong, it was only sometimes and only on a full load. If I took out half the washing and tried again, it completed successfully.

To answer the points you’ve raised:

I’ve checked the brushes. Yes, you’re right, they are worn, but not worn out (about 7mm left). On the few machines that I’ve replaced brushes on, they’ve gone intermittent first on spin, before failing completely. I guess the armature current increases as the brushes wear down and if that’s being monitored, it could cause issues?

Can’t see anything obviously amiss with the wiring.

Air trap and pressure switch hose are clear.

The drum is whiny rather than wobbly. It seems quite smooth still when turned by hand. The machine had a two year guarantee and just before it expired, I noticed the bearings were whiny so called the repairer out to change them, which makes them about four and a half years old now. The engineer told me that the reason the bearings wear out so quickly on the Chinese built machines is because they are smaller. Before that, the heating element went O/C when the machine was six months old. The engineer spent about half an hour trying to get the diagnostics to work, before calling the workshop to be told there weren’t any. He replaced the circuit board and motor (which had an earth leakage fault) which made no difference, but came back later to replace the heater.

Pretty sure the tank unit is in two halves.

Product code is 914579831/00 (Serial number – 04915861)

Other than not spinning at 1000 rpm the machine seems to work/wash okay. It’s only because it beeps continuously and flashes the ‘spin’ light at the end of the cycle that tells me there’s a problem. Can’t justify an expensive repair, but can’t justify ditching it either.

Thanks again for your help.

[Author]

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