Hotpoint Wmt03 Spins Twice Then Ends Program

[Hotjim]

Hi I have a Hotpoint WMT03 which was periodically not performing the final spin. It decided to forget the final spin altogether last week while making a racket like a bag of marbles was in the drum.

I firstly checked the brushes and they look fine with plenty of wear left and no scorching. The commutator also feels good and smooth. After i popped the motor back in any program choice now always results in the same. It starts off with a spin straight away say only 5-8 revolutions then a pause of 10-15 seconds or so then another short spin and end program light comes on.

I replaced the bearings as they needed doing and no other parts looked broken, burned or otherwise damaged when it was apart.

Apart from taking the brushes off and cleaning them nothing was done to the motor. What could be causing the 2 spins then the abort? If anyone can shed any light on this i would very very grateful.

Robin

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

When you say it spins twice and then ends, and that it spins 5 - 8 revolutions do you literally mean that it spins - at spin speed? Or just that it spins as in turns round? Over the years I've had so many people use the word spin when all they meant was it revolved around that I need to ask. It makes a difference whether it actually spins at spin speed then stops or whether it only turns around slowly then stops.

[Hotjim]

Ah right well it seems to be spun up by the motor quite fast (not full spin speed fast but not a slow turn at all) then the motor seems to release straight away and it just comes to a stop of it's accord.

That probably makes no sense i know but i will try to get a video of it up or maybe a sound clip.

Thank you very much for the interest!

[Hotjim]

I'm back with video...

This will be a whole lot better than my descriptive powers!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

The washing machine has lost control of the motor. When it starts to turn the motor is should be nice and slow, after tumbling the load and then distributing it over a couple of minutes it then spins properly. This motor is spinning as soon as it receives power and the washing machine is at least detecting this is wrong and aborting the programme. However, it should be reporting an error code - especially as it clearly knows something is wrong because it aborts.

The first thing I would check is that the small tacho coil or magnet at the end of the motor hasn't fallen off.

This article explains more about the tacho coil and what it does - Hoover Error 8 - what is a tacho coil?

If it isn't the tacho coil or the tacho magnet then it could be a pcb fault. I would get in an engineer if you can't see anything wrong with the motor.

[Hotjim]

Thank you very much for your advice on this. It turns out none of the three repair guys i called will touch it. I found a cheap "working" pcb on ebay and tried that as a last ditch effort but no joy still exactly the same problem. I can't seem to get to the tacho coil as there is a plate pressed onto the top that without breaking what's below i'm loathed to force out. It's definitely all there but whether it's working or not i can't say. I have tested all the wires and bar the motor being shot i'm stumped.

One thing i have noticed is that that motor is spinning out of control against the natural run of the brushes. This is rounding the tips and i do remember them being nice and sharp.

In your opinion is there anything other than a new motor that could be causing this issue?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I think the fact that the 3 engineers weren't interested shows that it can be a tricky fault to diagnose and one that often involves parts so expensive people won't have the fault repaired even if they find it. Therefore trying to fix it diy-style is probably not worth it. In my experience the main causes of a motor spinning when it should be washing are the tacho magnet breaking or falling off, or the control module. But I can't rule out other causes.

[AdrianWelke]

It's the Tacho on the Motor... New motor = Happy Days!

Ade

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Do you mean the tacho coil Ade? I thought they all caused no motor action these days if they went open circuit? If you mean the magnet I presume they won't sell just the magnet ?

[Hotjim]

Yes! Thank you. A new motor did the trick. I was looking at giving up but your reply Ade gave me new hope. It's happily spinning away at a much more reasonable speed

Thank you again

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Glad you got it sorted. As I said, the tacho coil or magnet is the number one suspect, what's outrageous is that you needed to buy a motor when all it needed was a cheap coil. The manufacturers are scamming us all big time.