Widl126 Motor Weak At Low Speed
Hi, i can hold the spindle of the motor still with my fingers when its on a wash or rinse. The machine is about five years old but has been treated well. So far ive checked the brushes which are so new the face still hasn't worn completely in and cleaned the commutator but it made no difference.
Online reading suggests the motor is generally worn but i can't understand how a motor can go just go weak at low speed. While spinning i can hear it back off as it reaches full speed.
Im sure it would go at low speed if there was slightly more energy from the speed controller.
Thanks if you can help.
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.
WIDL126 motor weak on wash/rinse traced to armature commutator break
- The problem
- On an Indesit WIDL126 washing machine, the motor was very weak at low speed during wash and rinse and could be stopped by hand. The brushes were nearly new and the commutator had already been cleaned, with no improvement. Spin operation was present but sounded as if it backed off at full speed.
- Likely cause
- The discussion ultimately supports a motor fault rather than a control module fault. The strongest evidence was an abnormally high resistance reading of about 9 ohms between one pair of adjacent commutator segments, while the others were around 1 ohm, and visual evidence of a broken wire below a segment. This indicates an open-circuit fault in the motor armature/commutator connection.
- What fixed it
- The broken wire beneath the commutator segment was exposed and soldered back together, after which the motor worked again. However, the original poster considered this potentially unsafe and planned to source a replacement motor. A control board fault was mentioned earlier as another possibility, but the later motor test findings strongly point to the motor itself.
- Checks to try
- Checked motor brushes; they were almost unworn/new
- Cleaned the commutator
- Observed that all but two commutator segments darkened from heat during testing
- Measured resistance between adjacent commutator segments: one pair about 9 ohms, others about 1 ohm
- Found a broken wire below a commutator segment
- Cleaned debris/carbon from the gaps between commutator segments with a thin hacksaw blade
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Multimeter
- Solder
- Replacement motor
Safety: The temporary solder repair restored operation, but because the repair may not be suitable as a safe permanent fix, further diagnosis or permanent repair should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
8 Answers
It could be a fault in the motor but a faulty control module (or PCB) can cause the same. I wouldn't guess, could work out expensive if wrong.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Thanks Andy. Armed with a multimeter, is there any way i can determine whether it be motor or controller?
Not normally unfortunately.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
I spent months trying to get my motor to perform properly. I was changing brushes regularly. There are separate windings for the normal speed and spin. In the end, I just bought a new motor which made me see the difference. Incredible is the word. I had to modify the wiring as stated in the box, because it was a universal motor for old/new machines. However thank goodness I noticed they showed the wires back to front. If I wired it as the instructions stated, it would have probably burned out the motor and the control board.
Yes, i have seen while doing my research that there is two versions of the powerboard. Mine has circuitry for the extra wire but no components, the motor plug has the extra wire from the powerboard but, the motor hasn't got the extra wire.
Anyhoo, i took another look at the motor erlier, where i had cleaned the commutator all but two of the segments had gone dark from heat during testing. Testing between one of the clean segments and the one next to it, with a multimeter set to resistance, showed about 9 ohm but all the others were around 1 ohm. Obviously its gone open circuit. With nothing to loose i've picked off the varnish below the segment and there was the wire, broken. I've soldered the ends together and it's working. I think it might be a bit dangerous like this though so now im off to source another motor having located the problem.
Thanks
I don't like doing that job because where the wires have to be soldered to the commutator, the solder often runs onto the segments which will wear the brushes in no time. I usually wrap selotape around the commutator before soldering, then clean off any glue residue. Did you also get a sharp implement and gently scrape between the segments? sometimes a lot of carbon build up in those can cause a short.
Woah, that was quick, thanks. Yes, when i cleaned the commutator i used the broken end of a thin hacksaw blade to clean the gaps.
Would it be ok to use solder here as a permanent fix?
See, I work with computer hardware so i have good soldering skills and a steady hand but, as the voltage a washing machine runs on is is a different beast. Well, with computer stuff you only need to worry about a bit of smoke or maybe a burned finger.
yes the solder is fine as long as it hasn't spread over the commutator segments.
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