How to Reuse Washing Machine Motors - (The Simple Way ) 

Hey guys, new episodes about this topic are now online: Salvage a washing machine motor+transmission: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H_JV7jTH4wU.html Inside a Washing Machine Motor: Pinout, Teardown, Explanations and Experiments: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CtulRqznbzI.html

I like the German accent, it seems appropriate to technical matters.

MORE! MORE! I don't care how long I have to sit in order to learn my friend. I am 65 and my yerning for knowledge is still the same as when I was 7. That's when I took my first radio apart to see how it worked. Magnificent video my friend. I like your ideas and can't wait to see what you come up with for control with DC supply. Next video. Please.

there is a electrical engineer in my family .he has never shared with me, other then he fixed cell phones for my cousin, as a hobby. your vid just showed me i know nothing.i do know it flows like water . yet i can fix cars, motorcycles,and any thing of properties and geometry.i can test millivolts yaaa. thanks for vid

This guy is simply amazing. I sense a lot of consideration and sacrifice occurred to make videos such as this one. Many many thanks for this. Excellent demonstration and lesson.

Thanks for doing these videos. I studied electronics at college ( a long time ago) and managed with that ok, but I never really managed to wrap my head around how motors, synchros and generators were used in the real world, 3-phase especially! These days. I'm more interested in making some tools for woodworking (such as sanders), so this stuff is really useful to me.

Just to clear this up: I'm aware that the term "frequency of revolution" or "frequency of rotation" is an uncommon term and that it must be strange for some people (especially some American viewers) to measure this physical quantity in Hertz (Hz) instead of RPMs. In Germany the words "Drehzahl" and "Umdrehungsfrequenz" are some of the terms used for this quantity. The letter one means literally "frequency of revolution". The Hertz (Hz) (1Hz= 1s^-1) is the SI-unit for frequencies and is the correct unit to be used in countries that have the "SI" ( also known as the "Metric System"). Any reoccurring event can be measured in Hz, not just oscillations. That includes revolutions per unit time! "RPMs" is a unit that is primarily used in the English-speaking world. It is not an SI-unit and that is why I try not to use it too often. The Metric system might still be uncommon in the general population in the US, but it is the excepted standard among scientist in basically ALL countries around the world. The RPM is based on the "minute" which is totally unpractical to use in many calculations, because all SI-units are derived from the SI-base units, including the second (s) as the SI-base unit of time. Using minutes only brings unwanted conversion factors into the calculations! 1RPM = 1/60Hz => 1Hz = 60RPM When talking about dependencies between "physical quantities" I try to use the names of the quantities instead of using "units of measurement". In this way you can make a statement without restricting it to one system of measurements: 1.Example: "When you step up the volts, the RPMs rise" ( bad practice) 2. Example: "When the voltage is increased, the frequency of rotation also increases" (good practice) When you still have doubts about describing the "revolutions per time period" as a frequency, just check the definition of "RPMs" found in Wikipedia: "Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min) is a measure of the frequency of rotation" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_per_minute I don't say that this is the only way to handle things, but the DMM that I use to measure the how fast the motor shaft is spinning puts out a reading in Hz, so why not just stick to that, instead of multiplying it by 60 all the time.

The induction motor's RPM is a function of frequency and the number of poles by design; not just frequency. 2 poles at 60 hz = 3600 rpm, 4 poles at 60 hz = 1800 rpm, etc. NEMA MG1 for reference has everything you'd ever want to know about motor design. Good video by the way!

BTW: I do NOT recommend to touch a moving transmission like this with your hands (with or without gloves). I was working on a handbrake, but couldn't finish it in time. I just wanted to put the video out, so I did this the quick and dangerous way. Please don't follow my example in this respect.

I understand about half of what you are doing ,but still find it both fascinating and educational, thanks

No. 30+ minutes is fine. You found that out over time. I watched this when it came out. I just watched it again (2/20/23) since it came (back) up in my feed. Your English has gotten to where you speak it better than at least 40 percent of Americans, if not more.

I can see a nice 2×72" belt grinder being built with that rigid cast iron frame, it almost looks designed for one

Thank you again. I for one would like to see more on "Universal Motor" speed control, both a fully rectified "pulsed DC" control and a "smart" controller. Cheers.

My Kenmore front loading washer suffered a mechanical breakdown a couple years ago. The spider which is the pot metal part your test bed is spinning, and attaches to the wash drum was broken in 3 pieces. The cost of a new spider was not worth it. It's only sold as a unit with the stainless wash drum. I couldn't see putting $600 into a decade old washer. So I took it to scrap recycle. Now, I'm pissed that I didn't extract the motor before I dumped the rest of it. I did look at it but I didn't know how to run it outside the washer. Great video! I want to learn all I can about this stuff. Thanks for doing the videos.

Jeremy Felding said I should check out your videos on motors…he was right, Thank You.

Magnificent video! The thyristor circuit seems quite bang-for-buck because it seems it can power the motor quite stably! I cant wait for the modified circuit!

Thanks for this video and the full info that you provide ... Just one thing .. Using your hand to make a load to motor through the belt is not best way ,it may harm your fingers and make high injury Good luck

Your intro works. I didn't know your RU-vid name but listening to the intro and watching it I thought "There should be someone who invents stuff solely for the use in the apocalypse." Then your title appeared.

Fascinating stuff TPAI. I have learned a lot about electronics thanks to you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I would certainly watch an hour long video. But its much easier for you to edit and produce content if its broken up a little.

the Cubans have cornered the market on reusing washer motors,there is even a book made available documenting what can be made using discarded household appliances. Apparently, Castro gave his blessings on publishing a booklet to be released to the general populace incouraging his fellow countrymen to show their spirit of inventivement and later had a book published showing what others had come up with. Apparently there were two published versions made,one after the other became so successful.Go figure. I do not recall the name of such books, but I am sure with a little internet surfing you will find said publications.

That rugged cast iron frame are just perfect for belt sander

My paypal donation links in the video descriptions somehow don't work anymore.I think it's YT's fault. I guess they must have "improved" something in the video descriptions that messes with all kinds of links lately. But if you want to make a donation, you can simply use my business-email-address to find me on Paypal: inventordonations@gmail.com

Duuude even if you put out an _hour_ long video on this, I'd watch the hell out of it :D I think many, if not most people here would agree. Would this work as an idea to get feedback of speed? Power the field windings directly with the AC, but pulse the stator windings with PWM. During the "off" cycle of the PWM, use back EMF from the stator windings to measure frequency of rotation. Perhaps that could be combined with the circuit you have there?

I never realized using washing machine motors were such a pita. I figured you could use the OEM motor controller by finding a potentiometer or frequency control somewhere in the circuit.

Auf dieses Video wartete ich schon ne Weile.. Grüsse aus Paraguay (Südamerika)

I love how clearly you describe and explain things

Enjoyed seeing someone still doing some electronic tinkering. Nice little discussion without getting too technical. I miss being in the lab on my circuits. I will be checking out your other videos. Also I enjoyed your German accent too - its my heritage as well - though no cool accent, only west coast. RHugo here

A year ago I assembled a bench grinder from an universal motor like this, commanded by a triac dimmer for vacuum cleaners. The dimmer's potentiometer is connected to the contacts of a relay, which is triggered by a transistor. The transistor is triggered by the tacho through another potentiometer and a diode bridge. _The relay needs a separate power source._ It's easy to build, but it's also noisy and the no-load faster speeds aren't constant. Under load though, it runs okay. I still use it.

Das ist genau die Videoserie worauf ich seit gut einem halben Jahr warte ^^ This is exactly tthe series of video I have been wating for since half a year. Thanks

Started watching and it was an easy instant subscribe. There is a "je ne sais quoi" about your voice, accent and vocabulary that would make me interested in almost anything. I "liked" this video on my stumbleupon account, so you should see a small spike again. Thank you and I am looking forward to exploring your channel!

This proves that knowledge and wisdom are sometimes mutually exclusive. It is unwise to subject one's hand to such danger!

I've seen some dodgy stuff before in videos that has made me giggle like a little boy, but this has to be the funniest, i could just imagine that wheel coming flying off around the workshop, crazy!! Great video keep them coming.

You sound a little bit like Marvin Martian. No insult intended. We like it.

Thanks for this video, it is very timely. I have some big old 110v DC 1/4HP motor's and some other 220/240v AC including a huge 3HP monster; your video has given me valuable info that I can use to get these running. Cheers.

looks like that setup would work really well for a band saw. Or, like you said, a sander. thank you for the video

As always, great video! Hoping that you'll use the tachogenerator at some point. There's even a Motorola IC for that, the TDA1085C, but maybe you were thinking about discrete logic, which is great!

The problem here in North America is that our three-phase 220v circuits are only in the kitchen and the washing room for the big appliances. I've got a pile of 3-phrase 220v motors which I could easily use, in my kitchen, after pulling out the stove. They still grind those motors out because they're cheap not needing permanent magnets or regulator circuitry.Since the logic of motor field switching comes from the grid itself, we're kinda screwed. All the other motors are 120v with permanent magnets. That makes it hard to salvage from a 110v to 220v. One of the few benefits of WWII, when we rebuilt the power grid, we built it on 220v.

yrs ago i just used the original set up...and attached a round saw blade..therefore using an old table I had a superb rip saw...

Man, I don't know how I missed your channel for this long. +1 sub! But my goodness sir, every bloody time you put "load" on the belt I had a vision of it catching your glove and redistributing your hand bits all over the shop! I know you addressed it and the comments are alive - I just wanted to agree with the "safety" crowd. All in all though, EXCELLENT video and series. You're now featured prominently on my "watch later" list.

I have watched and enjoyed your work for some time now. A choice between FB and RU-vid got you as my second offering from youtube. Happily watched.and this shows as a recent upload from you. It helps that you are relevant, articulate, and just plain good.

I'm so impressed with how intelligent you are and enjoy your videos.

And there's me thinking all you had to do was feed some power to a motor ! Not so.. Excellent tuition and education.. Thank you very much

Very interesting. I have a motor from a washer but not the rest of the parts in your video.

Great video. Back-EMF controllers have eluded my own personal study. I look forward to the next video.

I used a wrong terme when describing the setup. The belt is not "toothed" since it doesn't have any "teeth" :D

Excellent video! Just what I needed. I recently salvaged a washing machine motor, along with the circuit board inside it. I plan on making a multitool with it (bench grinder/buffer, belt sander, maybe other things). I'll keep these bookmarked for reference later. Thank you!

Thank you soooooo much for combining your isolation transformer with a variac. My friend that's been helping me to plan and design my workspace and tools. My original plan was to install my own dedicated breakers, running new, thicker, better insulated power wires from the breaker box into an isolating variable transformer and finally out to multiple outlets of 110-125 and 220-250 (probably through use of taps on the secondary winding. Since I'll probably only be building my tools for the higher voltage, and using ready-made devices on the 110-125V outlets, therefore really only needing the finer adjustments on the higher voltages).And he said an isolation transformer cannot be combined with a variable transformer. It's a weird statement that I couldn't concretely disprove with Google quickly. But your creation/use of one takes care of that for me. So now we can get back on the same page designing it rather than letting such a small detail split our ideas so severely

Was this video shared on some platform or forum? Views have been going way up over the last few hours? Who sent you guys here?

I was thinking about adding full bridge rectifier before the thyristor controller, then the negative side would be the positive side and you should (in theory) have more power.

Running in closed loop with a controller can maintain the prime mover despite a changing load providing the load is within the power range while taking into consideration duty cycle or any reductions of output.

Years ago City & Guilds 224 qualification used "AIM64" programming for closed loop motor control technology.

Thanks for the information presented here about universal motors, and the great youtube channel.

What about the tree-phase motors? They use switching mosfet's to generate the correct frequency using the 120VAC line, turning it into DC first.

Really nice educational video, I like the way you present the theory of operation. Thank you.

I have virtually the same motor only it's from a whirlpool washing machine. I have the "three phase converter" hooked up but I need to know what to hook the three smaller wires coming out of the "converter" to. I want to get it on a dial like you have it so I can use it on a honey extractor, as I'm new to beekeeping and am trying to do things on a tight budget. I appreciate your help. I also have eliminated the other components in the machine by means of the diagram provided from whirlpool. Thanks again!

I could listen to you for forty minutes ... BUT, maybe smaller chunks are more easily digestible (and retainable xD)

Part 2 to this video is now online! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aBVb87kemJI.html

you could use the motor to increase the temperature in forges, modifying the motor to include a fan which blows into the fire.

NSA will be coming for you. Very creative. Thanks.

In school, I learned a lot of reading, writing and arithmetic. However, viewing this video and, considering the state of the world today, I feel my education is sorely lacking. These are the kind of skills that are really going to pay off in the not too distant future.

Hi, this is inspiring, I'm curious to see what comes next. Long videos are not a problem, coming from you. Keep on trucking ! (from France)

Love the last circuit, simple and elegant. Thanks

Awesome video as always but 15 mins spent on a hand brake lever and demonstration of Safety Third would have been better. And a shout out to whomever is supplying your really impressive gloves, protecting those very expensive fingers.

I wished all washing machines were made as good as the siemens, that cast bracket looks really great for experementing and perhaps inclusion into a project :-D . I enjoy your teaching method, showing the reasons for each circuit and improvements. I would imagine that hall effect sensor output would be converted to a feedback voltage that can be used to trim the motor supply, much like in switchmode power supplys :-).

i enjoy the longer more detailed videos

I seen these used as pump motors. And that motor has options in how you want to use it being both AC\DC driven.

The simple way is always the more durable and reliable way

Wasn't quite sure if I watched this to try to glean new knowledge or just to see if his glove would get caught on the belt when he touched it while the "wheel of death" was in motion and suck his hand into that mass of metal spinning at 100hz/6000rpm.

all you demonstrated was that the motor is usable. what ideas can you present for actually reusing it in an applied manner?

Hi there! So, I found recently that a Samsung brushless washing machine motor works with 93volts and 2.8 Amps (Washing) and 218v + 2.0 amps (spinning). I think that if you increase the amps and decrease the voltage, you can get more torque even for a universal motor.

Yes. I want / need to learn this. Want to use for wind,solar power. Thanks for the info.

Great video, really interesting stuff but please please please stop touching the belt when it's running! One time you'll get your glove caught and a few milliseconds later you'll be missing a finger or worse.

Hello my friend i have seen some circuits that could possibly control this type of motor but i will have to do some research if it can be applied again the circuit is very simple.

Jeremy Fielding reminded me about your channel. On 17Dec2019. Thanks for the good videos.

speed is a matter of the number of poles in the motor in the USA 1725 and 3450 are common we use 60 hertz in the variable frequency drives to control rpm so rpm is correct we dont use metric . the frequency drive is programmed from motor data plate as to its speed and drive is set to correspond to this speed then the 60 hertz is varied to control rpm

Excellent video! Thought i'd get bored when i saw 18 mins, but i didn't haha... :P

The easy way to do this is to separate the field coil connections from the rotor. In this way you can control the speed of the motor by varying the voltage on the rotor with respect to the field windings.

Long videos are great! Really looking forward to the next one!

I salvaged a washing machine motor and the circuit board that ran it had a PIC microcontroller on it (a pic16c56). I desoldered most of the more useful parts from the circuit board before thinking about whether or not I could just jack into it to control the motor. I have a few ideas for what I'd like to do with the motor, most prominent being a lathe, belt sander, or bench grinder/buffer, or perhaps building all of those and having the motor be movable between them. What I'm struggling with is driving the motor. I got it spinning using "the simple way", but it's not being controlled, just spinning unloaded. I'm not wealthy, so I don't really have the means to buy parts to put together a control circuit, but I've salvaged quite a but. The thing I struggle with is the triac/diac use in circuits. What the heck is a diac? I've taken apart many AC control circuits and looked up part numbers but I've never come across anything that says "diac" in the datasheet, is there another name for it, or another something that can be substituted?

Perfect for driving a drill press or small lathe which both need variable speeds

Can you make a video tutorial on how to make a boost converter that is regulated by a 555 timer as the pwm genorator and an octocoupler to give a varying resistance as one of the drive resistors of the oscillator? I really want you to continue your smps tutorial series... I hope that's what you've been working on.

Just a very small correction : This belt is called a groove belt. Tooth belt is something else.

Perfect, sehr gutes Video Genosse. Gruesse aus Kanada.

HI MR P.A. Inventor, I see some videos online on how to change the washing machine motor into a power generator. They use an older upright type of washing machine. Can you perhaps tell me step by step how this is done with a normal washing machine?

Tanks for uploading. this video is just what i was lookking for I cant wait to see te way to build the propper motor reagulator.

Genialer Kanal, endlich hab ich Dich entdeckt :-) LG, Berrit Andersen

There is one super simple way to stabilize rotation: Just connect motor windings in parallel instead of series like it is now. Parallel excitation motor will provide very stable rotation frequency which also can be regulated by adjusting excitation winding current. there may be problem with very powerful startup as it will draw enormous current during startup and also it may be that excitation winding cant hold full mains voltage so you may be required to connect some ballast in series. My guess is that motor will run in about 5000rpm but it will have very high torque and it may tent to overheat. But all that should be tested to check how well those motors work in parallel excitation mode.

I suspect that when you say "isolation transformer" you may actually be referring to a standard variable voltage transformer ("Variac".) A variable transformer may or may not provide isolation from the line, so your description may be vague-but-correct. But most don't. If it's a standard Variac-type variable transformer it won't provide any isolation from the line and this can be a critically important difference regarding safety in some situations.

Saw name, saw thumbs, subscribed

thanks! Suscribed, project from salvaged common appliances is what I'm looking for (greeting from France)

Iv got a washing machine motor running an old cement mixer. The petrol motor was burnt out. Its been working for over 10 years now. Its used once a week to mix over a tonne of sand and cement.

I was sweating when you were slowing the motor with your hand/fingers. I was having a flashback to the time I was working on an assembly line and I lost my balance putting my pinky finger inside of the belt and getting pinched between the belt and pulley. The conveyor came to an abrupt stop.

Nice vid ! It is a poly v belt. Can be easily found in hutchinson trade ;-)

Good job! Professional video presentation...nicely explained and ably demonstrated. Thank you.

Just use TDA1085C and you will have stabile RPM regulation regardless of the load, but you have to use the TACHO signal from the motor.

A lot of the newer front loader motors especially whirlpool and maytag have a tachometer built in.

Your're German accent is fading. Good video BTW.

Minor mistake at about 5:20. The speed difference between two wheels like that is dependant on circumference not on diameter.

Cool Video in well understandable european english,love to learn about this Engines all,good Luck,dont get blitzed to often,hehe..

LEARNING HOW TO USE THINGS IN THE FUTURE , TNX