I have a GE washing machine that was made within the past few years, and the guts do not resemble either of the architectures shown in my general appliance repair book.
Overall symptom is that it won’t spin or agitate. It will pump water. After I took it apart, I saw a separate motor for the pump…
When I got down into the guts, I figgered out the main motor won’t run. I can run through the cycles and hear the start circuit engage, but not the main rotor. I pulled the harness off, and could see voltage for both motor speeds. That rules out bad relays in the controller board.
The provided diagram shows a thermal overload link inside the motor somewhere, but I could find no external reset.
Q1: Is the thermal overload supposed to reset on its own?
Q2: If not, is it something that a moderately skilled computer engineer could fix?
Q3: If the thermal is OK, what’s the ballpark cost on a replacement motor?
Q4: Is there something else to check that I haven’t come across yet?
Yours isn’t doing what mine isn’t doing…and I’ve no idea why–never thought to check the voltage to the motor however, very clever of you. 'course, mine’s a pretty simple design: wire bundle from the control board to the motor, motor does what it’s told (agitate, spin, whirl, swirl, jiggle…whatever).
But I still might be able to help. Go to www.sears.com. In the top left of the homepage select “parts” and when prompted, enter your model number. You’ll get the option of looking at several diagrams for your washing machine as well as a parts list–simply a wonderful site.
The thermal overload link, in all likelihood, is not replaceable or resettable. It’s essentially a fusible link that responds to heat instead of current. It’ll probably be built in to the motor windings. It’s purpose is a last-ditch effort to prevent a fire in case of a massive current overload, due to motor seizing or excessive loading–basically, it “burns out” the motor to save your house. AFAIK, about the only thing for it is to replace the motor outright. It’s a good bet that if the thermal overload blew, the motor was toast anyway.
most light duty motors have internal overloads that reset themselves. They are buried in the motor windings and will reset when the motor cools. If the motor is very hot that can take a while (an hour at mosy I would guess). If the condition that caused the motor to draw too much current persists it will eventually kill the motor. (Assuming that in fact the overload was tripped) If the motor is cool to the touch, it is probably not out on overload. If 120V are being applied to the motor, and the motor is not being restricted from moving (bound up somehow), and it’s cool to the touch, it’s usually an indication of a motor gone bad.
So…
Q1) Yes it should reset on it’s own. If not, it will be a push button on the end of the motor. But I highly doubt it.
Q2) If you said *mechanical *engineer I’d say no doubt. Still, I’d bet you can do it. You’ve already shown more moxie and acumen that 99% of homeowners.
Q3) $45-$85 wholesale at a parts house. If you’re not a contractor/service provider they may get you for more.
Q4) A)** Verify** that 120V id being directly applied to the motor. b) Verify that the motor is not bound up somehow. (stuck belt, foreign object etc) C) make sure the motor is cool to the touch. If so, I’m guessing a bad motor. Does the motor have a capacitor?
GE transmissions, in my experience (family owned a laundromat for 19 years), are not that reliable. Fortunately, most of the time, it is the “gentle” cycle that quits working.
Is the motor humming at all? If it is, try manually manipulating the various solenoids attached to the transmission. You may get it to agitate or spin or both. That would indicate that the transmission and motor are good, but the timer is on the fritz.
If the motor doesn’t hum, then try activating the fluid level sensor. Disconnect one end of the sensor tube and blow into it. If the motor starts up at that point, you’ve got a blockage. If the motor doesn’t start up, and you don’t hear a click from the sensor itself, then the sensor has failed. If you hear a click, then you have other problems – generally costing more than the cost of acquiring a used washer.
I finally got the money rounded up to buy a new motor, and spent a lovely, bright and sunny, Saturday afternoon, putting the d*mned thing in.
The hard part was that while the new motor was a manufacturer’s part number substitution for the original, they were not the same, and I had to re-wire the machine with a supplied harness.
My technical talent (and insecurities) ran amok that afternoon. The machine ran like a champ when I was done, and it worked on the first try.
The new one cost $180, more than half the cost of the washer when I bought it new in 2001. I still wonder if the old one could have been fixed in a motor shop for less.