BigWallop once wrote in
....

"David Morris" wrote in message
...
We've got a Hoover AE230 Quattro machine. The tub motor is no longer
turning the tub.

I've had the motor off and had our sparkies at work check it out. There
are no bush problems and the field windings etc are intact. The rest of
the machine functions are OK as well - it fills and pumps but the drum -
he no turn.

There was a suggestion that it may be the motor capacitor, but having
taken off a large cap (with five leads - two blue, two brown and an
earth) and tried to match it up with any of the ones on the various web
sites (espares etc), I can't see anything like a match. I was wondering
if this was only a mains filter cap?

Has anyone got any suggestions before I give up and ring Washing Machine
Repairman?

David Morris

Does the motor turn at all? If you remove the belt from the motor and drum,
then put the machine on spin cycle. Does the motor even look as though it is
going to turn?

Before I took it apart, I tried gave the motor a "helping hand" but it
didn't seem to want to start, so I suspected it wasn't even trying to
turn. I'll give it another go when I put the motor back on, but I'm not
hopeful.


Are the carbon brushes worn down? At he end of the motor, that isn't at the
belt end, you should see two plastic slide in holders. These have a wire
attached to them and should disappear into the connector you were looking
at. The holders themselves have a clip affair that holds them in place in
the motor body. This looks like a strip of plastic which springs out from
the holder and catches behind the metal body of the motor. The clip can be
released by pressing a screw-driver against the little tab provided, and
squeeze it in toward the holder until it clears the motor casing. It then
slides out away from the motor casing.

We've checked electrical continuity through the brushes and they're
fine. There's also a (small) current flow if you meter up the motor and
manually spin the shaft, so we suspect no problems there either.


Inside the holder is a piece of carbon. This carbon must touch against the
commutator segments of the armature (the bit that actually spins) for the
electricity to flow and make the motor turn. They should be at least 15 mm
in length, and anything less than this can cause problems.

They look fine.

The other possibility could be what I suspect is a speed / motion sensor
on the opposite end of the motor shaft to the brushes? Presumably that
detects what the motor's doing and feeds back to the control circuitry?


The next thing to check is the motor control unit.

I suspected sooner or later someone would suggest that :-)

This is a Printed
Circuit Board which is housed against the side casing of the machine. It
can be hidden by a flap of plastic, or inside a solid plastic cover, and
will be sited (usually) near the top of the machine to prevent is from
falling victim in leak conditions. Remove the whole board from its clips
and catches, and then inspect it for signs of burning or charring. If it is
showing signs of excessive heat on or around any of the component, then it
is worth having the unit changed. Even if the unit does show some signs of
heating, and is still working, it is advisable to change it. If only to
prevent it from further damaging the motor in the future.

Sound advice. I think I know what I'm doing this weekend!

Thanks for the help.


Get your screw-drivers out mate, and a torch, and get looking around inside
the machine.

REMEMBER TO UNPLUG THE MACHINE COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU TAKE THE
CASING OFF !!!!!

Sound advice again. Thanks.




--
David Morris