Another washing machine component.

Long and rambling post incoming: Old washing machines are awesomesauce for assorted interesting and mechanically/electrically useful bits and pieces. Most people never do, but when you really think it through, they are also marvels of modern-day mechanical and electrical engineering, built down to a cost. Here is a machine that is asked daily to accept a randomly distributed load of soft textiles, which are then soaked in 60-80 litres of a very vaguely defined water/soap mixture with a huge number of chemical and human variables. The motor/agitator assembly must then manipulate this 5-10kg load of wet textiles to maximise cleaning efficiency, but without causing any damage to a wide variety of common fabrics. This cleaning action, along with other variables such as water temperature and wash cycle options, must be precisely controlled according to the user's desires. The machine must then pump out that 60-80L of soiled water, refill and repeat for the rinse cycle (and again for a second rinse if desired) , drain once more, then switch into "spin mode" and belt that 5-10kg of randomly distributed wet textiles around at several hundred RPM without shaking itself apart. It must also be able to repeatedly and reliably brake that rotating mass to a complete stop within one or two seconds, every time the lid/door is opened. The last washing machine I owned was a fairly cheaply made top-loading "NEC" branded unit, made in Korea and purchased new for AU$500 in 2001. It gave me not a single problem (apart from the nylon mesh lint filter eventually disintegrating) until it finally died in late 2016 due to some caps on the control board exploding. I briefly thought about repairing it, but the whole board was embedded in a 10mm thick layer of clear silicone. But still... 500 bucks. 15 years. Zero servicing of any kind. Used solidly several times a week. That is fucking amazing to me.

Chris Talbot

If pulling a solenoid coil off and leaving it powered you can stick a screwdriver into it to give it something to work with.

Big Clive

I suspect those other ports are for the emergency drain hoses that you find on some machines, to allow a controlled discharge into some sort of vessel before opening the door or removing the filter ..

​Will the coil make a demagnetiser ?​ ​ Smoke Warning with coils and solenoides in the 1980's I was fault finding on a water heater test rig and pulled a couple of coils off the water valve solenoids for testing the rig ;-) my testing to a bit too long and the heat generated on the dangling coil lead to smoke signals that alerted my boss ;-) ​ A​bout 10y ago I opened up our ​dishwasher and found that the magnetic rotor had cracked not sure why ? frost damage. the cost of the spare pump was more than a replacement machine. The dishwasher heater was interesting it was a conventional coil heating element (like a thick wire on an old style cooker hob) it was wrapped around 50mm SS pipe; a much better way of protecting the element compared to our old 1960's Swan dishwasher which lasted 40y+ providing you occasionally pressed the reset button on the back of the big pump motor it had to be big to drive the cast iron rotating spray head propeller. Bra under wires going through the holes in the drum or they end up cutting a grove in the outer plastic liner (does any one remember putting lollipop sticks in a bicycle breaks to rub on the spokes) Tip Washing machine drum baffles can often be removed to gain access to the top of the pump from inside the drum, I have had to do this to retrieve a bra wire. Tip2 Washing at 40'C or less does cause a problem over time. We buy 5L QAP30 disinfectant (Pink Floral) less than £3 it is not that strong and we put a shot glass of this in the comfort section of the washing machine soap draw, so it goes into the wash near the end of the cycle. 1/ all the black around the rubber front loader has gone 2/ no more nasty marks as you drag out the washing 3/ no more black specs on the sheets 4/ damp towels no longer smell like wet hay 5/ I think we get less skin / chest infections but that could be a coincidence. 6/ you can't tell you have used disinfectant after the washing has dried. The Pine "flavoured" qap30 was a bit niffy; we get ours at buyology.co.uk in Barry, VOG John

John Harrison

It has fairly wide impeller clearance to deal with fluff, so it has a good flow, but low head of just a few feet.

Big Clive

Just a handy little pump in its own right for other uses. Wonder what volume it can drive through?

It looks a blown up version of what's in our aquarium filter pumps. The aquarium pumps have a similar assembly, but much smaller rotor and the same impeller design where it can turn independent of the rotor a partial turn. Just like that pump, gunk does build up in around the rotor, leading it to it getting stuck after a few months. However, it's just a matter of cleaning out the rotor/spindle section and the pump works like new again.

Seán Byrne

If it's a classic front loader first thing to check is whether the lower front plate of the machine at floor level can be unclipped. That can take a bit of force. If there's the filter handle behind it then cleaning that out may solve the problem. Proceed with caution if the machine has lots of water in it as it will come out fast if you just pop it straight off. Have towels and bowls handy. Let me know if you find the problem.

Big Clive

This seems to be appropriate as my Wife has just informed that the w/mch will not pump out. Making an appropriate buzzing noise from the pump. Not my Wife making the noise before anyone miss reads.

i think my washing machines pump like that the other hole is for a drainage tube so you dont need to let it all out at once

Steven Cox

I was thinking cooling but it may be a bit of "planned obsolescence" going on as well. It seems to me that eventually the water will get into the really important bits and cause the pump to go out.

It looked like it was unused until that last bit. Why is that part even open? Seems to me like they could make the injection mold so water can’t get back there in the first place? Does it have to do with cooling or sound dampening?

Lostngone

Clive sniffs the goo so you don't have to.

Rob Clark