Whirlpool washing machine drum does not rotate

It is unpleasant when a neglected Whirlpool gets up with a full tank. The clothes are loaded, the powder is poured in, the water is filled, but the wash does not start - the drum does not spin. It is impossible to ignore the situation, otherwise the laundry will remain in the machine forever. But it is not necessary to call a specialist - you can deal with the braking yourself. We offer you to find out where the failure could have occurred and how to fix it with minimal risks.

Which element failed?

It is worth immediately assessing the “symptoms” of a breakdown on a Whirlpool washing machine. This is the only way to understand the causes of the problem and localize the problem. More often, only the drum slows down, and the rest of the system functions without problems: the board reads the selected program, the tank is filled, and the pump pumps out wastewater. The only thing that raises suspicion is the engine, from which a barely perceptible crackling noise can be heard. This means that the motor either works, but does not transmit impulse to the shaft, or has failed and remains motionless.

• Several failures lead to this situation,
• The drive belt has fallen off the pulley or is torn,
• Electric brushes are worn out,
• The lamellas on the motor shaft have peeled off,
• The tachogenerator (Hall sensor) has failed,
• The engine broke down,
• The drum is jammed by a foreign object.

This applies to situations in which the drum does not rotate at all. If the container unwinds even tightly, then there will be many times more malfunctions.

The motor does not perform its function.

The drum remains motionless when the engine does not have enough strength to spin it. The conclusion is logical, but in practice everything is more complicated: the engine may not accelerate enough or may not start at all. If the engine hums, the shaft rotates, but when the drive belt is connected to the chain, the mechanism stops, then the problem is in the electric brushes. They need to be replaced. To check and replace electric brushes, you need to:

• Unscrew the back panel from Whirlpool and put it aside,
• Tighten the drive belt,
• Find the engine and remove the wiring from it,
• Loosen the bolts holding the engine and remove the engine from its seat,
• Try to unwind the shaft and evaluate its serviceability,
• Unscrew the fasteners securing the brushes to the engine body,
• Unhook the electric brushes.

The case of the electric brushes unwinds, the spring compresses, and the rod with the carbon tip is pulled out. If the “coal” is less than 1-1.5 cm, then replacement is necessary. An important point is that only two elements are changed, even if the second one is completely intact.

 

If the brushes are of sufficient length, then there is a high probability that the drum does not rotate due to a faulty tachogenerator. This sensor is attached to the motor housing and controls its unwinding. If a breakdown occurs, the device stops measuring the revolutions gained by the engine, and the board stops the cycle for safety reasons. To check the device, you need a multimeter, which turns on in ohmmeter mode and clings to the contacts.

Often the lamellas - collector plates - cause the drum to stop on a Whirlpool washing machine. They are glued to the shaft and ensure the transmission of current through the mechanism. When peeling occurs, contact is lost and the motor stops working. It is necessary to disassemble the engine and assess the condition of the stripes.

After inspecting the lamellas, you should check the winding. It may be damaged or punctured. For diagnostics, ohmmeter probes are applied to the collector plates and the result is assessed. Values ​​of 0.1-0.4 Ohm will indicate that there is no breakdown. Otherwise, the motor needs to be replaced.

Drive mechanism damaged.

If the drive mechanism is damaged, the repair will not last long. To begin, spin the drum by hand. Too free rotation will confirm the guess - the belt has fallen off the pulley, stretched or torn. As a rule, the rubber band needs to be replaced.

Changing the belt is easy. It is enough to unscrew the back panel from the body, remove the old rubber band, place the new one on the small wheel and pull it onto the drum pulley, turning it at the same time. The work is quite troublesome - Whirlpool washing machines use tight cuffs.

Something inside the tank is interfering.

If you cannot spin the drum even by hand, then the problem is not in the components and mechanisms of the machine, but in a foreign object. A foreign body, a bra wire, a coin, or keys, got into the tank and caught on the tank, jamming it. There is only one way out - to pull the “lost thing” out. At Whirlpool, the stuck object is removed through the hole in the heating element. We proceed in the following sequence:

• Disconnect the back panel from the case,
• Pay attention to the heating element located under the tank,
• Disconnect the connected wiring from the heater chip,
• Loosen the central retaining bolt,
• Loosen the element and remove it from the grooves,
• We look into the vacated hole with a flashlight,
• We find the stuck object,
• With our hand or a thick wire bent into a hook, we try to get the “lost thing.”

If it was not possible to get the item through the heating element, you will have to take a more difficult path. You will need to disassemble the washing machine completely, get to the tank, take it out with the drum, separate the containers and take out the “lost” one. It is quite possible to figure out on your own why the drum is not spinning. You just need to consistently check all possible “sore points,” starting with the simple and ending with the complex. If the reason for the stop remains unknown, you will have to contact the whirlpool service center.