Indesit WIB101 Running Amok

[haxisfan]

Hi guys... thanks again for your comments on the previous thread 'Chuck Away Society". I decided to create a new thread as the focus has now shifted from the 'throw away society' to this washer's odd behaviour.

I made a video where you can see the action I've taken to solve the erratic motor operation of the Indesit front loader I salvaged... where you can also see some wash patterns... some I find rather unscheduled! It seems that the motor is suffering from a thermal cut out every now and again.

As always, your input is most appreciated. Thanks

 

[ozzie908]

Hmmm

My instinct is still erring towards brushes as it seems its not getting up to speed which as it does all its tumbles etc at the right speed would not indicate a PCB issue it may be worth seeing if you can lay your hands on another set of brushes/motor and seing what occurs then.

Austin

 

[dj-gabriele]

I must say that the machine is remarkably balanced when it stops and start spinning again!

 

[haxisfan]

I agree but...

Austin... my thoughts entirely... but I cannot help being doubtful as I've never heard of a machine behaving like this due to worn carbon brushes! I strongly doubt it's the PCB. I'll get a new set of brushes sometime soon...

Gabriele... stunning isn't it? However, I can assure you that the machine would not even attempt to balance the load should have not been balanced when this was happening... in fact in one instance (which I didn't capture as I wasn't filming) the machine had a good share of thumping! That made me realise that these stops were utterly unscheduled!

Those bathmats (and some grubby socks) were washed really well, so the machine did its job properly... however, they felt as if they had been washed on a synthetics cycle with a short 800rpm spin!

 

[superelectronic]

Having seen one of these working properly, I can attest to the speed control being pretty woozy at the best of times, so it would be normal for it to speed up and slow down a bit during the high speed spin. Perhaps this is just an extreme version where whatever speed control has worn too far.

 

Could there be a fault with the feedback from motor to speed control module, perhaps where it's feeding back the speed too infrequently? Admittedly, my technical knowledge is VERY patchy...off the top of my head I think it's the tacho that's involved (I could well have just made a total idiot of myself there, though!).

 

Good luck with your investigations!

 

With any luck you can still mark it up and sell it on in the time honoured tradition.

 

[ultimafan]

...

For some reason, the Indesit's spinning behaviour seemed to remind me of Candy's when it would distribute for five seconds and zoom into the final spin.

 

[haxisfan]

Thanks Alex! The last thing I would think of is that you made an idiot of yourself! This whole scenario leads me to think that other components might be involved... and you surely mentioned more technical bits than I ever did (now who's the idiot?).

I guess the only way to find out whether the brushes are responsible for this stop/start fashion is to replace the them... after all, the ones shown on the spares website's pictures are at least 5 times longer if not more! B.t.w. you won't believe the infinite range of carbon brushes that Indesit/Hotpoint have for their machines... each with a different price: I wonder if the pricier ones are deliberately made for cheaper models like this one to deter people from repairing them or it's just reverse psychology?

 

[optima]

WIB101

Just watched it i think it's more of a programming issue because it does everything it should do up to the final 1000 spin. Yes it does need new brushes but i think it will not solve this problem. If it was a problem with the tacho it would not have got right up to the final stage of the programme because it was spinning correct in between the rinse stages. Just as well you had a decent load of washing in it during this video. The out of balance sensor is none existent! One pair of jeans or some bathmats doesn't bare thinking about.

 

[haxisfan]

Hi Optima

Yeah... I don't think the machine 'realises' that is actually stopping... then it carries on spinning without balancing: most of the time it was balanced by sheer luck!

I received some feedback on YT about the luck of spring pressure on the brushes since they're rather worn, and this might cause them to detach from the commutator at high speed; I found that entirely possible... so, I'll see what will happen when I fit a new set of brushes next week.

Thank you again everyone for helping me in my quest ;-)