Drum Stops Turning Intermittently

[ergolargo]

Hi folks

I've got a slightly troublesome Hotpoint Electronic 800 De Luxe 9524W, which I believe is one of those classic old British made models from the 80s. It's more or less running fine, but frequently enough to be a bit annoying, the drum stops spinning and sometimes even stops turning completely, when it has what I consider not too heavy a load, e.g., a couple of towels. I can consistently get the drum working again, by pulling the machine out and unplugging the motor from the control unit for a few minutes.

I'm no expert, but this seems to indicate to me that the overload switch has become too sensitive, and is unable to reset itself back - unplugging the machine doesn't seem to make any difference. Does anybody know if there is a way of adjusting/overriding the switch on this model, or if there is a trick for resetting the switch without having to get inside the casing?

Any ideas gratefully received.

Regards

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

There isn't an overload switch, check the carbon brushes, also check the connectors on the motor and motor plug carefully for loose tags or connections. Other than that these machines often had faults on the pcb or timers that could cause intermittent problems with the motor.

[ergolargo]

Replacing the carbon brushes certainly did do the trick for my washer, apparently it is best to do so regularly - is it because when the brushes become too worn down, the motor cannot draw sufficient current for a spin? That might explain why the drum could still turn at slower speeds.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Check out the fault finding section on my main Whitegoodshelp site about drum not turning or not spinning

[edhorwood]

I started by having to replace brushes every year, then this went to every 6 months. Best thing I ever did was buy a new motor.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

They were probably non genuine brushes edd, some of them (especially the black Hotpoint ones) were pathetically soft and wore out rapidly filling the motor with carbon dust and wearing the armature out.