On Wednesday, 9 October 2019 14:59:22 UTC+1, Commander Kinsey wrote:


So what do washing machines use, AC or DC?

Water and some sort of cleaning chemicals dependent on personal choice.



since they can rotate either way, does that mean they have to be DC? Or
can it be AC using different coils?

Or driven differently. Is a stepper motor DC or AC ?

I don't know. I've only used them briefly in radio control models, but
not looked at the circuitry in great detail.

You don't need to. You know the basics of how they are
driven. The problem is with whether that is called AC or DC.
Strictly speaking it isnt either.

Does the current flow one way or both?

I'm guessing it flows the way it wants, usually from a hight potentail differnce to a lower potential differnce.
Depending on whther you are talking about real current or conventail current.


Any idea where I can find out what a typical home's power factor is nowadays?

I thought you claimed you could measure it.