Karl’s Asylum ... for the terminally deranged

…that comes here to repair our 15 year old Hotpoint washing machine.

It’s been whining like a tired child and interfering with the TV/Freeview. So, it’s “new motor brush” time. We’ve done this 3 times now..each time it’s got whinier and whinier as they wear down. No biggie.

So, out comes the engineer. Breaks out the toolkit. Poke. beep. Poke. beep.

Spins the drum by hand. “It’s VERY noisy..your bearings have gone”. Oh, theres a shock, considering they were replaced 12 months ago. “Ah, no, I mean your MOTOR bearings. Hmm…your motor’s probably knackered mate”.

Oh, said I. It was working fine, it’s always sounded like that. It’s just in need of new brushes. It’s been several years (4+) since the last set.

So, he plugs it in and tests the machine..sparks like a good ‘un. Hmm. Yep, brushes worn out.

“You may have a short on the armature mate”. I doubt it. So, he stuck the new brushes in, and tested again.

“See all the sparking? Thats not good.”. No, agreed. However, you have just stuck square profile brushes onto a rounded armature…it WILL spark while they adjust to the right shape and bed in. Pretty though.

He then decided to clean the armature..good move, I approve of that. Then he tests again as I walk away.

“Uh-oh…the motor isn’t spinning..looks like it’s new machine time mate..the motor’s had it.”.

Odd. It was working 30 seconds before…When I queried that and pointed out I had only one cheque and had, as requested, already made it out for the brushes, he decided to re-examine the brushes only to find one stuck, not touching the motor. Hence no motor movement. One clean later, it’s back and spinning ever faster as the brushes settle in.

“Suspensions gone too”. Eh? Is this the Astra, or the Hotpoint? Oh, you mean the DRUM is LEANING a bit. Ah well. Probably a worn spring-it works anyway.

Do I subscribe to panic buying tactics? No. Do I trust workmen? No. Do I stand and watch, and question? Yep. Do we now have a working and behaved 15 year old Hotpoint ready for another few years service? Indeed.

Don’t try to baffle me with bullshit - I’m not my mother. There’s naff all complex in a washing machine apart from the controller, and that is fine.

So, this holiday we’ve :

fixed the washing machine
fixed the cooker (Blown element in the oven)
resealed the bath
had new brake pads and disks put on the Astra
fixed Jems filling

Not bad at all..:)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 4:05 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.