AEG (Electrolux) Lavamat L50600 pausing mid cycle

[Bazfletch3]

Hi all

I have a 16 year old AEG (its also badged Electrolux) L50600 Lavamat Washer which has behaved perfectly for us through constant use.  A couple of years ago I changed the carbon brushes on the motor when it stopped working but apart from that its never missed a beat.

Recently however it started behaving a little strangely.  The key issue being that it stops mid cycle.  After a lot of investigation it seems as though it stops whenever it starts to vibrate or shake more than normal (or the controller thinks it should) - which is usually at the start of the spin cycle, but sometimes also during a wash or rinse cycle when it seems to fire up for an agitation a bit quicker than normal.  My first thought was that the shock absorbers could be worn, and as they were an easy fix I ordered new ones and swapped them over - which didnt make any difference. 

Since then Ive run through the full suite of diagnostic cycles, which all complete without any errors; Ive also run cycles without any clothes and they too go through fine.  Its when I add any clothes in that the fault occurs - although it never shows up as a fault within the diagnostic system.

What I think may be happening is that the washers balance logic isnt quite working as it should - given that the cycles work as expected when theres no load (ie: clothes) I dont see that it should be a control board fault (although after reading another article I did remove the control board and cleaned all the black dirt and crap off the pcb - and reflowed a couple of solder joints I didnt like the look of); Im wondering whether the controller is somehow getting "bad info" relating to load and balance; ie: the controller thinks the load is balanced properly, starts to ramp into a full high speed spin, then quickly realises somethings not right and aborts.  It seems to then pause for an indeterminable period of time before trying again, although it typically tries to fire at full speed again, so the process continues......

However im not really sure how the "balance logic" might work; is it just measuring current draw on the motor as a broad measure of load/stress?  Could a worn/stretched drive belt cause something like this perhaps?  Theres a tiny bit of movement in the drum but nothing that seems like the bearings need replacing

Im convinced its actually a simple fix underlying somewhere  - if I cant find it - and all the parts seem fairly readily available still so I want to give the old thing every chance to keep living!

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

Barry

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Barry. It's also possible that it could be a connection fault somewhere on the motor plug and harness or the wiring leading between the motor and the PCB or module. I would carefully examine all of these. It's possible that when the drum sways around with laundry inside it is causing a problem.

Other than that, unless you can see that it has a very crude out of balance system (like Hotpoint washing machines used to have) such as simple microswitches on the suspension legs then the out of balance system is likely to be controlled by electronics. At sixteen years old I would think it highly unlikely that you could even buy any replacement parts, and even if you could I would expect them to be extremely expensive.

[MelS]

According to the appliance list I have downloaded that's a EWM1000 platform machine. https://tds.electrolux.com/others/599/724/080EN.PDF

You'll find various electrolux service manuals and diagnostic guides for their older models on that site and via google. Some have various diagnostic flow charts and winding resistances of the various motors used etc. 

Electrolux call their balancing system “FUCS” (Fast Unbalance Control System) which I believe compares the actual motor speed to the intended speed to work out if it is out of balance.  Manual for the later ewm1000 plus platform https://tds.electrolux.com/others/599/517/413EN.PDF

I'd guess one possibility is a cracked corroded spider. 

 

Edited October 25 by MelS
worked out electrolux links

[MelS]

electrolux service manual 599386023.pdf seems to cover fucs fairly well.

[MelS]

Forgot to ask if you have checked for error (alarm) codes. I think it is position 10 in diagnostic mode, if the machine doesn't have a display, you have to count flashes, and you can cycle through  previous errors by pressing the option button that you pressed with start to get in diagnostic modes. You should also clear the errors after checking so that you are not shown old errors next time it happens. It's documented in the service manuals.

Edited October 25 by MelS

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

4 hours ago, MelS said:

Electrolux call their balancing system “FUCS”

Looks like they have a good sense of humour 😁

[MelS]

I guess so 😂

They've got some pretty good service manuals, have come in handy when fixing mine, shame they don't have them available for recent machines.

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I think they are one of the better washing machine manufacturers 

[MelS]

I'm quite pleased with mine ( a slightly later model zanussi jet system ), its 14 years old although I have changed the bearings. I was planning on replacing it with another electrolux, either Zanussi, or AEG when something fails that I can't fix, but have been rather put off by their switch to sealed tubs.

Edited October 25 by MelS

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Aye but they’ve virtually all switched to sealed drums 🙁

[MelS]

True  Currently, I'm thinking either LG, or else get an AEG and resort to a saw and polyolefin adhesive when the bearings give up the ghost. 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I would take AEG over LG all day long. 

[Bazfletch3]

Thanks Andy & MelS, your suggestions are amazing - and I also very much like their abbreviations, I suspect the FUCS system is, um....

I did find 1 manual relating to the EWM1000 platform, which led me through the diagnostic cycles, but it didnt go into any further detail around fault finding, so I will do some more searching using the terms you suggested.

Theres only been one instance so far during all my troubleshooting which the machine has registered a fault code, (E52 - no signal from the motor tachimetric generator), so that may relate into things somehow - but I cant get that error to reproduce again.  Although Im wondering if perhaps the machine tries multiple times to continue the cycle after pausing before finally registering as a fault - and maybe I havnt left it long enough to allow that.

Mercifully, most key parts still seem readily available for this machine - although some (like the control board) are quite pricey....

I will keep you posted if I manage to make any progress.

 

Thanks

 

Barry

 

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I have an article about E52 error on Zanussi washing machine which you might be interested in.

[MelS]

Page 36 has a flowchart covering diagnosing a tacho generator fault https://tds.electrolux.com/others/599/703/247EN.PDF

It is for a later model, but probably much the same. There's a table of tacho resistance readings for various motors too.

I believe it should produce an AC voltage, and apparently the controller determines the motor speed from the voltage rather than using the AC frequency.

[MelS]

Forgot to mention, take the belt off and check for play in the motor bearings, a worn bearing could result in the spinning magnet disc for the tacho getting broken. Another possibility: if the old carbon brushes were excessively worn out it could have resulted in arcing and the heat melting the disc if it is made of plastic, so it may have become loose. 

Edited October 26 by MelS

[Bazfletch3]

Thanks again for the advice.  Unfortunately Im still having no luck.  I pulled the motor off and disassembled it, and cleaned all the carbon dust and crap out of it and polished up all the contacts.  Everything still looks serviceable, and the components all tested out with the right resistances, etc.  I put everything back together and ran a cycle through the machine, and tracked it against the sequence of steps I found in one of the service manual.  Everything went perfectly, until midway through the spin cycle the machine just decided to slow down and stop, and then after a pause, just ramping straight up to 100% for a few seconds before stopping again.  This is the same behaviour I saw previously, except just in a different part of the cycle - its as if the machine goes along happily and then just gets confused and runs off on a tangent and gets stuck in its little death cycle.  

Its puzzling because when I run through the diagnostic tests it never does anything wrong, and then in washing cycles the fault never appears in the same spot.  Im starting to presume it may just be a control board fault, which would be a pain as obviously its likely to be the most expensive fix - and still a gamble in a way (an expensive one).

We do have a company locally that claim to specialise in repairing control boards for basically any domestic goods, so I might even reach out to them - although a different board (new or second hand) would be a more definitive option.

Thanks

Barry

[Bazfletch3]

Just wanted to update everyone and also see if there are any further suggestions, as unfortunately I still havnt got to the bottom of my issue.  I sent the control board off to a local specialist repair company and have just heard back that they went right through the board and havnt found any faults; their suggestion based on the fault Ive described is that it relates to a motor/tacho fault.  Replacement motors are available, but they are rather expensive, and Im reluctant to order a new one based on a hunch (an educated one at that).  Im wondering whether my fault could be perhaps an intermittent cable/connector fault?  Does anyone have any suggestions for trying to diagnose a fault like this?  I dont believe replacement wiring looms are still available for my machine - although it could perhaps be possible to try and make one up if I can work out exactly what connector types are used...  My other thought is whether the tacho could have some kind of intermittent fault - Im not sure how likely/possible that is, or whether they either work, or they dont.....

Any suggestions would be appreciated - its almost become a matter of pride now that I get to the bottom of this - although not at any cost! 

 

Thanks

 

Barry

 

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Barry, did you read my article that I linked to previously about the error E52? ( Zanussi E52 tacho error) as I list all of the things to check there. If you can't find anything using this article and the PCB is suspected to be okay then there's nothing really you can do. DIY repairs should only be carried out when faults are straightforward and simple, which many of them are. But as soon as you get into complexities like this it's a rabbit hole that is not worth falling down.