Swedish Electrolux EWC-1350 help needed...

[cfz2882]

little electrolux

anyone have a wiring diagram for this washer?-should be a way to trick it into
working on 60 hz...if that is indeed the problem(looks like it is...)motors will
run a little fast on 60hz if induction(pump might be synchronus wet rotor"magnetic"
that will run fast too)I have run 50hz motors on 60 hz many times and it doesn't
seem to bother them-electric motors are pretty tough.

 

[MrX]

The problem is more likely to be down to the fact that most current generation European front loaders use full variable speed drives rather than simple motors. The incoming AC power won't impact on the motor speed, but it may not be compatible with the drive-control electronics.

The electronics rectify the incoming AC power and then re-modulate it into wave forms to control the speed of the motor by varying the frequency.

See below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_drive

 

[qualin]

That makes me curious..

Any modern personal computer will have a power supply which can take anything between 100 volts straight up to 240 volts as long as the power supply doesn't have a voltage selector switch. You can feed anything from DC straight up to 60 hertz into them and they won't care, they'll always put out 12v and 5v.

Why not drive the control electronics with a power supply like that?

The other issue I think, would be the heater elements. I think the most cost effective solution would be to have a voltage selector switch in the rear of the machine which would switch a step-up transformer in or out so the heater element always sees 240 v. The added cost would be minimal.

As long as the washer doesn't draw more than 1300 watts with the heater on, it would be OK.. but I'm sure a lot of UK machines draw around 3000 watts...

 

[dj-gabriele]

to have a voltage selector switch

In theory that could be done but it would be very expensive and it would render the machine bulky with many more electronic components.

A transformer for 2500 VA would weight as much as the machine and switching transformers like the ones used for notebooks or other worldwide travel appliances are designed only for small voltages and amperages.

This plus the fact that 110-120V 60Hz countries are a minority renders this a non-issue for the manufacturers.