Bosch Washing Machine Help Anyone????
Discussion
Right.
Hopefully someone out there can help me. If not I need a new machine and that seems a shame considering..
Our washing machine refused to spin yesterday. I thought it might be not realising all the water had gone, but the switch for that appears to be working..it clicks at any rate! Close inspection shows a track has blown off the PCB (which I can replace), but the cause ius still a mystery. The wire attached to the track goes to the motor which has 6 wires to it and the one which attaches to the burnt track goes to a small component housed inside the motor. It looks like a small flat capacitor (??) I can provide photos if anyone is interested enough to help.
Thanks in advance, oh pistonheaders!!!
F
Hopefully someone out there can help me. If not I need a new machine and that seems a shame considering..
Our washing machine refused to spin yesterday. I thought it might be not realising all the water had gone, but the switch for that appears to be working..it clicks at any rate! Close inspection shows a track has blown off the PCB (which I can replace), but the cause ius still a mystery. The wire attached to the track goes to the motor which has 6 wires to it and the one which attaches to the burnt track goes to a small component housed inside the motor. It looks like a small flat capacitor (??) I can provide photos if anyone is interested enough to help.
Thanks in advance, oh pistonheaders!!!
F
How old is the appliance out of interest,
ours (not Bosch) has endured an entire * months arduous service
before playing up in a similar way#although shortly after the Xmas holidays it
resumed complete service again,
Now it makes such a complaining series of noises on completing its cycle
we wonder just how many days it has left.
built in obsolescence/crap manufacture I dunno
ours (not Bosch) has endured an entire * months arduous service
before playing up in a similar way#although shortly after the Xmas holidays it
resumed complete service again,
Now it makes such a complaining series of noises on completing its cycle
we wonder just how many days it has left.
built in obsolescence/crap manufacture I dunno
I've seen that is it any good,
And yes if its fixable then its got to be better, our last one
acutally rusted away big-time around the soap drawer
so much so that although used out of site in a space below stairs
it had to be binned
That is a capacitor and not some ballast thingy on the motor right
And yes if its fixable then its got to be better, our last one
acutally rusted away big-time around the soap drawer
so much so that although used out of site in a space below stairs
it had to be binned
That is a capacitor and not some ballast thingy on the motor right
Right!!
I know the less practical amongst us might not be so excited about this, but...
I decided to actually think about this in purely Physics terms instead of being blinded by the fact that I know FA about washing machines. My mind was also focussed by the fact that a new motor costs...wait for it.... £235!!!
So....
It occurred to me that there MUST have been a major short to earth (or neutral) to blow the PCB track which ties in with a trip fault we had yersterday, but which didn't SEEM to affect the washing machine since it still made noise after the event (I think now this may have been the pump motor...)
The brushes are at the end of their life and the motor was full of carbon....
Close inspection shows the two points in the photo. (After copious amounts of brake cleaner
)
A. Shiny short mark on earth point.
B. Shiny melted brass on brush carrier.
And that, dear Watson, is where the fault occured due to carbon build up.
So..
New brushes. Clean up the commutator. Repair PCB. Done.
I'll let you know if it works!!
F
I know the less practical amongst us might not be so excited about this, but...
I decided to actually think about this in purely Physics terms instead of being blinded by the fact that I know FA about washing machines. My mind was also focussed by the fact that a new motor costs...wait for it.... £235!!!
So....
It occurred to me that there MUST have been a major short to earth (or neutral) to blow the PCB track which ties in with a trip fault we had yersterday, but which didn't SEEM to affect the washing machine since it still made noise after the event (I think now this may have been the pump motor...)
The brushes are at the end of their life and the motor was full of carbon....
Close inspection shows the two points in the photo. (After copious amounts of brake cleaner
) A. Shiny short mark on earth point.
B. Shiny melted brass on brush carrier.
And that, dear Watson, is where the fault occured due to carbon build up.
So..
New brushes. Clean up the commutator. Repair PCB. Done.
I'll let you know if it works!!
F
Six wires to the motor - probably a pair each for armature, field and tachogenerator - so from each wire you should be able to measure continuity to one other wire and open circuit to all the others and the motor frame.
Small flat capacitor thing probably is a capacitor, for suppression... these are not supposed to be able to fail short circuit but nothing is impossible If it is a suppressor it will be possible to simply take it out with no ill effects to the washing machine.
Only thing is it's vanishingly unlikely that there's a wire that goes to a suppressor and to nothing else. So either there's another connection on that wire that you haven't spotted yet or it's not a suppressor. If it's not a suppressor I might hazard a guess at it being a thermal cutout which by the sound of it hasn't worked
Photos would probably help identify that department.
What sort of condition is the commutator in? Any burning/pitting/discoloured segments?
Small flat capacitor thing probably is a capacitor, for suppression... these are not supposed to be able to fail short circuit but nothing is impossible
If it is a suppressor it will be possible to simply take it out with no ill effects to the washing machine. Only thing is it's vanishingly unlikely that there's a wire that goes to a suppressor and to nothing else. So either there's another connection on that wire that you haven't spotted yet or it's not a suppressor. If it's not a suppressor I might hazard a guess at it being a thermal cutout which by the sound of it hasn't worked
Photos would probably help identify that department.
What sort of condition is the commutator in? Any burning/pitting/discoloured segments?
Ah, your post with the motor pic crossed with mine. Flashover due to carbon buildup. I think you've got it 
Line round the commutator probably doesn't matter. Be canny cleaning it with abrasives - make sure to get all traces of abrasive dust off afterwards!
I too am off out now (someone put petrol in a diesel
) so I'll check your post later
Line round the commutator probably doesn't matter. Be canny cleaning it with abrasives - make sure to get all traces of abrasive dust off afterwards!
I too am off out now (someone put petrol in a diesel
) so I'll check your post later 
I lost track........of the amount of brushes my Bosch went through, I gave up in the end and scrapped the damn thing, all of my Bosch white goods have failed in one way or another over the last 10 years, Washing M/C, Dishwasher, Tumble dryer and Fridge.....no more Bosch for me.
Kevin
Kevin
I learnt quite early on that (and I don't think this is a big surprise) there is Bosch and there is Bosch.
When we bought the Bosch Dishwasher we have, a friend of mine who worked in the shop explained (and even demonstrated) the difference in quality of the Bosch made in Germany and the Bosch made in Portugal in a factory that also made some other make (which escapes me).
Our Dishwasher, like the washing machine has lasted over 8 years now. This is the washing machine's first breakdown. I don't think that's too bad.
When we bought the Bosch Dishwasher we have, a friend of mine who worked in the shop explained (and even demonstrated) the difference in quality of the Bosch made in Germany and the Bosch made in Portugal in a factory that also made some other make (which escapes me).
Our Dishwasher, like the washing machine has lasted over 8 years now. This is the washing machine's first breakdown. I don't think that's too bad.
Commutator's a bit worn but not overly so for 8 years and I've seen significantly worse ones nevertheless work just fine. The line round the middle is probably damage from things going awry when the brushes wore out at some point. It's not losing a huge amount of contact area and again loads of them have similar marks. As long as there are no loose or discoloured segments I'd be happy to put it back together with new brushes. The bees' knees treatment is to skim it in a lathe but I think that would be a bit OTT unless you like playing with lathes
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