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indesit jobbie, the drums stopped spinning. makes all the right noises, so powers going to it, but just not turning.
ive youtubed it and seen how to take it apart to change the belt (the favourite culprit), but on taking the top off, i can see the belts fine. ive now taken the side off so i can see which bit isnt moving, aaaaand, its the little silver spindle that the belt goes around.
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if i move the drum by hand, which is easy enough, it hasnt seized, both belt AND spindle turn. put the leccy back on, switch dryer on, i can hear the motor, but the spindles not turning.
all of this suggests that nothings seized, everythings free, but somethings stopping the motor from turning the spindle.
time for a new dryer, or something fixable?
thanks 🙂
sounds like a reduction gear between the motor and spindle has striped but I have never taken one apart. What make/ model?
I haven't seen one like that. Our Hotpoints (=badged Indesits) just had a short spindle on the motor that the belt went directly onto - your spindle seems to extend into the white housing on the left.
Try asking on https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/forums/
Its an Indesit IDC8T3. a youtube of that model brought up this, which looks like the same one although i cant be certain.
thanks for the whitegoods link, ill ask on there too.
cheers
Sounds daft, but does the spindle turn as well as the small pulley that the belt goes around.... just checking it's not a grub screw that's let go.
Do driers have a reduction gear? I'd have thought that the spindle was a direct connection to the motor shaft.
the silver spindle and pulley turn with the drum when i move it by hand, but the spindle doesnt turn when the motor should be turning it (and the motor makes a noise trying to turn it, so power is getting to it).
hope thats a bit clearer 🙂
If its a direct spindle to belt ( no reduction gear) and everything turns by hand the the motor has failed or its bearing have at a guess
are you sure the spindle isn't turning? It might turn so fast that you can't see it compared to moving it slowly by hand
Otherwise try removing the motor and taking it to bits. It might be that the rotor has become detached from the spindle. I've not tried on a dryer motor but the vacuum motor I took to bits came apart quite easily. Just pay attention and lay stuff out logically as you disassemble
edit: before you do that, check the connections to what looks like a capacitor in the right of the picture (obviously unplug it before you do). Assuming the motor is a simple one rather than synchronous then it will use a capacitor to drive the phase winding. If there is a problem with that connection then you might get some sort of noise due to the power being on the main winding but without the phase winding nothing will turn
TLDR - check the connections. most problems with machinery are dodgy connections
narrowing it down.... 😀
found this video
which suggests if it doesnt turn, makes a noise still, but when you try spinning it by hand it does indeed turn after you let go, then its the capacitor.
just tried it and this happens.
so..... what do we know about capcitors?
(leffeboy, the connections to it seem fine).
thanks
All I know is that they can hold a lot of charge and can do bad things to you if mistreated - be careful!
Start capacitor was my guess too. As above, be very VERY careful when removing it, especially if it's not offloading charge to the motor.
so….. what do we know about capcitors?
They have the potential to fail? (-:
I'm no expert but I'd guess the cap is probably there to give the drum an initial shove to start turning. If you're comfortable poking around with it live, which it sounds like you are, try giving the drum a poke to see if it then starts running. (I'd probably do this with a wooden broom handle rather than hands. It's easier to replace broom handles.)
Either that or just replace it on spec, they're not expensive. I'd probably want to short it out before going near it or wear marigolds.
Failing that, have the motor brushes worn out?
try giving the drum a poke to see if it then starts running.
as above ^^^ thats what i did and it turns 🙂
(I’d probably do this with a wooden broom handle rather than hands. It’s easier to replace broom handles.)
i used my hands 😀
so..... even with power off these will hold a charge yes? i knocked the power off and was twiddling the connectors about looking for a loose connection, ill mebbes be a bit more careful when unscrewing it.
thanks for the warning.
as above ^^^ thats what i did and it turns 🙂
Ah, I read "turns" as "not seized" rather than running under its own steam.
even with power off these will hold a charge yes?
Yeah. They're kinda like rechargeable batteries only they charge / discharge very quickly. Small ones are harmless, bigger ones can give you a bad day, really big caps can give you a short one.
In this case it's probably OK as it should discharge through the motor coils (though if it's broken then who knows). Leave it a few minutes after you've turned off the power then short the terminals with a filament torch bulb (finally a use for that old Maglite). Or a screwdriver if you're feeling sparky. (-:
I’m no expert but I’d guess the cap is probably there to give the drum an initial shove to start turning...
Failing that, have the motor brushes worn out?
Looks like an induction motor to me - no brushes, but a motor run capacitor. Motor will have little or no torque if cap is duff (will just sit there humming).
Just get a replacement capacitor (value in in uF or mF on the side, same voltage, terminals & mounting arrangements, etc.). Should be fairly cheap and readily available.
If you’re comfortable poking around with it live, which it sounds like you are, try giving the drum a poke to see if it then starts running.
That's interesting - our tumble drier struggles to get moving sometimes if it's quite loaded up. If I open the door and give the drum a turn it then carries on quite happily.
Seems like the capacitor is going on our too (it's pretty old though).
Looks like an induction motor to me – no brushes
👍 I believe you're right, yes.
I know a little bit about electrics but sod all about tumble driers.
so….. even with power off these will hold a charge yes
Yes, but it's even more complicated than that :). You can fully discharge it so there is no voltage across it then leave it on the bench. A few hours later it can have voltage on it as the dielectric 'relaxes'. Always be careful when picking up capacitors although AC ones are generally ok as they haven't been sitting at a high voltage for a long time
For the capacitor, some multimeters can measure capacitance, so see if your meter does that. Otherwise most multimeters will also measure resistance. Make sure the cap is discharged (short it with a screwdriver) then measure the resistance across the terminals. You are looking for a resistance that starts low and gradually creeps up. Most likely the resistance stays at zero which means it is dead
or just replace it, they won't be that expensive
all sorted, capacitor it was, £10 fix, all up and running again.
thank you very much......