Solved

Washing Machine Causing Interferance Through Tv And Radio

CUCurious
Asked about 20 years ago 2,017 views
0

I have a washing machine and its giving me "Interferance Lines" through my television when motor turns to wash & Spin.

I have removed the Brushes and there is loads of life left in them and the armature looks like new. Any Idea what could be causing the interferance from the washing machine?

Also I seem to be getting a high speed "Whine" noise coming from the motor on high spin speed since I put the brushes back in - do you reckon I seated them OK or do they just have to "bed in"?

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.

Washing machine causing TV/radio interference when motor runs

The problem
The washing machine produced interference lines on the television when the motor was washing and spinning, and there was also a high-pitched whine from the motor on high spin after the brushes were removed and refitted.
Likely cause
The accepted reply says this type of interference is usually caused by motor sparking. Probable reasons mentioned were excessive sparking from worn brushes or armature, a suppressor not filtering correctly if it has been bypassed, or brushes not refitted correctly so one rides over the commutator or the brushes were swapped left-to-right.
What fixed it
Recommended action was to check whether the motor is sparking excessively, confirm the suppressor has not been bypassed, and make sure the carbon brushes were seated correctly and not refitted on the opposite sides. The unusual whine was described as consistent with brushes being incorrectly refitted rather than properly bedded in.
Checks to try
  • Observed interference occurs when motor turns to wash and spin
  • Brushes were removed and found to have plenty of life left
  • Armature was reported to look like new
  • Check whether motor is sparking excessively
  • Check suppressor has not been bypassed
  • Check brushes are seated properly on the commutator
  • Check brushes have not been swapped left-to-right when refitted
Parts or tools mentioned
  • carbon brushes
  • suppressor
  • motor armature/commutator

Safety: Do not bypass the suppressor or any other safety-related component. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.

Cause identifiedGenerated 9 Aug 2026 · AI summaries can make mistakes — read the full thread below.
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1 Answer

Accepted Answer
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WH
WhitegoodshelpVerified Engineer
Answered about 20 years ago

A washing machine causing interference on the TV or crackling on the radio is usually caused by the motor sparking. Is the motor sparking excessively? (A few miniscule sparks is normal if confined to the brush and exactly where it meets the armature)

The suppressor should filter out any interference - as long as it's not been by-passed. It's not usual for an engineer to bypass a suppressor because he hasn't got a replacement although this shouldn't really be done other than temporarily.

A motor that's interfering with the television is usually sparking quite a lot due to worn brushes and or armature.

Make sure you have seated them properly. It's possible for one of the brushes to ride over the commutator on the armature when it's pushed into place instead of just butting up to it. If that happens, the motor will still work for a while but will spark more than usual particularly under load. Another possible cause of an unusual noise after removing and refitting the carbon brushes is if you refit them the “wrong” way round. That is, the left brush gets put in the right side and the right brush gets put in the left side. As the brushes had already bedded in on the other sides, they wouldn’t run as quietly the other way round.

Whitegoods Help — appliance repair expert and forum host.

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