Bosch
WFMC1001UC/05
Alright, trying to fix my parents washer for them. When you start a cycle, the door locks, it fills with some water (all water temps work), then when the water stops filling, I hear a click coming from the motor, but it will not start spinning.
I just replaced the drain pump. The old pump worked fine, but the cover broke, and that part isn't sold separately for this specific model. After replacing the pump, I confirmed that it drained, didn't leak, and that it agitated/spun. A couple days later I'm told that it wasn't spinning.
I tested the washer, and it spun for me, so the problem appeared to be intermittent. I dismantled, and tested the door lock switch. Everything appears to work correctly, safety switch works (the push button that sticks out and is contacted by the door). When the cycle starts, and you release the safety switch, the washer shuts off immediately, beeping, and lights flashing. All parts move properly, locks, and the release lever works as well. I was unable to get any continuity readings for the top coil, which has 3 terminals, but I might not have been testing that properly.
Next I moved on to the motor. Brushes appear to be perfectly fine. No breaks in the wire, springs aren't hung up or stuck, brushes are making solid contact with the commutator, and both brushes appear to be about 1" long or so.
Motor spins freely by hand, the only noise heard is the brushes on the commutator. Belt was snug/tight. When spinning the motor, or drum pulley, the other unit would spin in unison.
My next step was going to be testing the capacitor mounted on the rear bottom of the unit inside the back panel. I had assumed the clicking was a relay in the control board, which made me believe the control board was functioning properly, but the motor wasn't getting enough voltage from the capacitor, which I assumed was the start up cap for the motor.
Is there something I missed? Something else to check? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, as I do NOT want to have to remove this washer. The basement door isn't wide enough, and when I brought this unit in, I had to remove the door, door frame, and some framing.
EDIT:
I was tinkering with the motor a bit, hooked everything up to test it, and started a cycle, and the motor started spinning. Inside the red circle, I saw a lot of sparking/arcing for a minute or two, then it stopped. Motor was working in both directions for agitating.
I then stopped the cycle, drained it, then ran the spin cycle. Motor spun up to what I believe is normal operating speed, and with no sparks again.
What would be causing the sparks, and how can I eliminate that issue? I'd like to fix this problem permanently.
Antics attached the following image(s):
