Vintage Washers Tripping the Electrics..??

[keymatic]

Afternoon Guys,

Not sure if anyone is going to be able to help me on this topic, but I will give it a go, so I have recently plugged in a couple of old Twin Tub washers and they have tripped the electric's, they are in a dry garage, not warm but not freezing cold.

They both have capacitors to start the spinner motors, could these be the problem or the fact that the capacitors have got cold and are somehow shorting out ? I am fairly sure they are not leaking anywhere to cause the shorting out.

Another thought I had was if the brake on the spin motor was stuck on would this cause the electric to trip ?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Regards
Keith

 

[foraloysius]

If several machines do that, I would check the electrics first.

 

[maytag85]

The circuit braker might be weak.

 

[yogitunes]

do you have it plugged into a 'ground fault' outlet?

 

[bradfordwhite]

ground fault outlet is an RCD in the UK.

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Maybe try plugging the washer using a extension cord into another outlet in the house. A outlet that for sure would have a higher rating.

It could be the belt on this is stiff from non-use and being cold and that is acting as bind on the motor. Maybe check the belts and pulleys from free movement.

 

[vacbear58]

Tripping washers

Keith

Is this something you have noticed before or has it only happened recently.

I wonder if the problem could be condensation inside the machines which is causing the tripping to earth, particularly where in insulation inside may not be a strong as it one was. Our weather flipped from very cold to rather mild and it maybe that when the warm (and damp!) air has hit the machines it has condensed as they will not have warmed up to the same degree. I find I can have condensation problem in my "outside" washer room in the spring as the appliances and floor ar cooler than the outside air.

Just a thought

Al

 

[gizmo]

I would try taking the back off these washers and leaving a fan heater blowing on them for a while to dry out the innards, then replace the backs and try again.

If there is a filter capacitor inside, these seem to go leaky when not connected to power for a while.

My current Miele was a rescued scrap machine, when I first got it, it would trip the RCD when plugged in, but if you plugged it back in straight away it would work fine... I stopped switching it off at the power outlet between uses for a couple of weeks and it is fine now, even if switched off /unplugged for a while. May have been moisture, or internal leakage inside the filter capacitor unit.