Thread: 2-speed washing machine motors: how to wire up?

These ones have me a bit stumped so far.
I picked up a couple of interesting washing machine motors at the tip shop: they have a worm drive with v-belt pulley on one end and a round belt pulley at the other end. In addition they have two round belt pulleys at right angles fixed to the end housing to direct the round blt at 90 degrees.
No photos just yet (but coming if needed).
No label or any identifying marks at all. The housing is a parallel thick sheet metal cylinder with cast aluminium ends. So I'm guessing 60s or 70s vintage, unlikely older..
They have 6 wires coming out of the end. A quick check finds that they connect in sets of 3 to a coil with a tapping, and one end of one of the coils is switched via the centrifugal switch. I connected one of them ignoring the tapping and it started and ran. Seemed a little slower than expected. Only ran it for a few seconds. The centrifugal switch is a bit stuck, so opening that motor will be required - and maybe lifting the mystery of the 'spare' 2 wires. My guess is that its a 2-speed motor.....
Anyone recognise these motors from the description? Any ideas how to wire them up correctly?

Two speed motors for washing machines are usually a two pole 2840 rpm or so) and a 4 pole motor (1440 rpm or so) in the same case - but not always - see later. Each motor consists of a "start" and a "run" winding. The start winding is usually of a thinner wire (higher resistance) of the pair and is switched off by the centrifugal switch once the attains a reasonable speed. The motors (usually) are NOT of the same power rating (HP).

Pope made a 4 pole / 6 pole (about 960 rpm) motor in the 60's or so, so others may have too - just to confuse!

The theory is easy - search "single phase squirrel cage induction motors!" How the manufacturer achieved it (cheaply) is different thing. You could try to find a washing machine diagram for automatic models of the 70's and 80's (not twin tubs). Fisher Paykel made them, as did Pope and Malleys Whirlpool. The lack of information on the motors makes me suspect that what you have are of the 80's vintage and were made overseas. The assistance of an electrical person is probably your best bet.

Good luck!
Alan.

I notice the new ones have LOTS of wires running into them and operate a something like up to 12 to 16k RPM?
The have a small multi ribbed motor pulley and a very large drum pulley
Kind of makes them useless for anything direct at normal speeds.

Originally Posted by BobL

I notice the new ones have LOTS of wires running into them and operate a something like up to 12 to 16k RPM?
The have a small multi ribbed motor pulley and a very large drum pulley
Kind of makes them useless for anything direct at normal speeds.

2 of those wires are usually the speed sensor feedback. They attach at the end of the motor and produce a square wave with a frequency directly proportional to the speed. The other wires are the field wires. They bring all of them out so that it switched from forward to reverse by swapping either the field or brush wires. These washing machine motors can be used at slower speeds with the use of a dirty cheap brushed motor speed controller. They work very well. They sell on ebay for about $15. These motors are usually around 1 - 2 HP so have plenty of berries if run at lower speeds.

Simon

Hi Joe,

Don't most washing machines have a bi directional motor, used when washing as in the agitator moves back and forth? Maybe it's a forward/reverse circuit in the windings as well is the start circuit as described above?

I have an Asko machine and it runs a 3 phase induction motor, dirven by it's own dedicated inverter. That's how it manages the various speeds, soft start and direction changes. How do I know this? I just had to replace the motor control board.

Simon

We have 2 Askos at the moment. The 17 year old one with the dud cold water inlet relay, the the leaky water pump and the swollen/jamming detergent tray. This was our inside washing machine up until the end of last year when we decided to buy a new one. The old one sat on the patio for a couple of months and then I decided to see if I can get it running to wash horse apparel, rugs covers and saddle blankets. I swapped the cold/hot water circuit wires over so I can run water through the hot water inlet. The water pump leak was slowed to a point where it doesn't matter if some water leaks onto the patio and I cut the excess swollen plastics out of the detergent drawer so it now works a treat. I do all the washing so it means the pooey horse gear with the clunky buckles and fasteners no longer get washed in our good machine and requiring a rinse wash afterwards. The grey/pooey water from machine is also runs directly onto the back lawn.

Also on the back patio is a westinghouse that is heading up to the stables as soon as we get the all clear to take it up there and Mums old Bosch which was sold as a "seniors" machine whereby they disable all bar a basic light wash program - it also has a bunch of other problems so that one is getting stripped out for parts.