Full Cased Washers: How Can I Access The Motor?
Hotpoint wma40 as with with many machines has not got a removable back. How can I access the motor to check connections and brushes?
Solution Summary
AI-generated from this discussion
This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.
Hotpoint WMA40 motor access on full-cased cabinet
- The problem
- The owner of a Hotpoint WMA40 asked how to reach the motor to check its connections and carbon brushes because the machine does not have a removable rear panel.
- Likely cause
- No fault was conclusively diagnosed. The thread mainly explains that this full-cased design limits access, and that on this model the motor is typically reached from underneath rather than from the back.
- What fixed it
- The accepted advice was to access the motor by carefully laying the machine on its front and working from the underside. Another reply stated the bottom silver panel can be removed for access, and that the motor should be removable from there to replace brushes. Cutting an access hole in the cabinet was suggested by the original poster but was not endorsed.
- Checks to try
- Check motor connections
- Check carbon brushes
- Remove the bottom silver panel for underside access
- Recheck brushes if removed
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Carbon brushes
Safety: Do not modify or cut the cabinet to make an access hole. If there are signs of overheating or a burning smell, stop using the appliance and further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
5 Answers
This is very common these days especially on the cheaper machines and down simply to cost cutting. It's cheaper to produce them like this. Many even have totally sealed tubs meaning you can't strip them down to repair or retrieve obstructions. Many motors can't even be repaired apart from replacing brushes. The motor can often be accessed only by laying the machine down on its front, and then with difficulty.
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How about angle grinding an access hole,its either that or a new machine, if i make sure there is mmetal all round it shouldn't compramise the strengh of cse...should it?
The motor is accessed by laying the machine on its front. It should be able to be removed from there too to replace brushes. It's just that it's a lot more difficult than when they used to have a removable back panel.
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I too had this problem, I removed the bottom silver panel to access the motor in order to replace the carbon brushes.. one thing though, we have now noticed a weird 'heady' burning plastic odour from the machine, I once again removed the motor to recheck the brushes etc but found that everything seemed to be in order. I then removed the top panel and the smell seems to be coming from the PCB panel that sits behind the Program settings dial, although the washer seems to be working fine.. any clues?
Thanks in advance.
Smells are difficult to identify as they can rise to the top of the machine or the smoke created can coat other parts creating a smell. Could the brushes be excessively sparking when the motor runs? If it's not the motor, something is clearly overheating. Don't ignore such a smell, it could catch fire.
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