Repairing a washing machine with 3-D printing

[adam-aussie-vac]

Hey guys, my vintage Czech washing machine finally came in the Romo Fulnek one, And in postage The Fan cover mount/housing spacer had unfortunately gotten partially destroyed during its long trip in between the Czech Republic and Germany then Germany and Australia,I found something which was a really close fit, But it wouldn’t really work, so I would potentially have to 3-D print the Bakelite part that broke, Apart from that I have not tested it but the motor does spin when turned manually,I was hoping for the And that goes into the water not to be broken, and there appears to be in absolutely perfect condition, is it okay to run it without the fan cover? Just for testing purposes? I’ll grab photos maybe later depending if I’ve got work

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

These photos show the part that I would be trying to recreate with 3-D printing, the part both keeps the motor in the centre preventing it from touching the casing, it directs air from the fan which has been removed in the first photo in past the motor windings then out at the slots at the bottom of the motor, and it holds The fan cover on so people’s fingers would be safe, The second and third Photos is how the original part was reconstructed, it’s got four prongs in the same arrangement as 3–6–9–12 on a analog clock, with 12 being roughly where the electrical cable would exit so that small spacer would be much more narrow, then the rest of the three, I could potentially try to glue all the pieces back together but not all the pieces are physically there sadly, the forth photo is what the part originally look like installed

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

And in this photo

This is literally as what’s left I have of the mounting ring

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

And in this photo

This is literally as what’s left I have of the mounting ring

 

[lowefficiency]

So this piece is right up against the motor? You may have trouble with 3D printed parts softening/deforming/melting due to the temperatures involved... There are some plastics with higher melting points, but it gets expensive quickly... SLA resin prints might be an option, but the majority of resin printers are too small to print something this size...

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Oh okay

And the motor is designed to be totally enclosed and fan cooled, so it probably won’t heat up so it should be alright

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

And it’s not right up against the Motor

As there is a gap to help provide airflow, and it is attached to the housing that surrounds the housing of the motor