Doesn't anyone fix motors anymore?

Christmasshopper

My tumble dryer has been a bit temperamental lately. It has been diagnosed as "motor on its last legs". I can't find anyone who can fix it; they just say it probably won't be possible to get a new motor for it because:
a) It is old
b) It is American.
I'm pretty sure that a few years ago, when my washing machine went faulty, I sent a motor off to an engineering company to be repaired. But, when I suggest this to any of the repair men who have been to look at my tumble drier they just look at me as if I'm mad.
So what I want to know, is am I mad? Or does anyone know of a place that fixes motors?

weekendwarrior

There are still firms that rewind motors etc.

Do a google for motor rewind and thousands of firms pop up.

Christmasshopper

Is rewinding what it needs then?

plumb1_2

Could just need new carbon brush,s.

Christmasshopper

plumb1 wrote:

Could just need new carbon brush,s.

I don't know anything about motors. I just know that sometimes my tumble drier struggles to get going sometimes, but when it does get going it works ok. The latest repair man, who didn't even look old enough to be out on his own, just switched it on 2 or 3 times and said, "It's yer motor...on its last legs...I doubt you'd get a new one for that...best scrap it...and don't use it again it might be a fire hazzard." I asked how he knew and he said he had heard them like that before!
So assuming it is the motor, is a carbon brush something I could replace myself? It sounds cheaper than a new tumble dryer.

OddjobKIA

These machines are put together in a factory that runs thousands of these a day.

to repair one you need to be a skilled worker and you could take up to 3 hours to fix one motor!

So lets say the factory produces one at a cost of around 98p

or your local firm employes a skilled technition at £18,000 a year for a turnaround of a 1000 a year plus parts that works out at £20 per motor and that is if he is constantly working on 3 motor's a day. Then the firm breake's even you then put on 33% + vat
you get £31.00 per motor

add carriage of £5.00 each way
insurance for postage £2.00
you have to give 6 month guarntee for you work so you then have to factor in a return of stock at about 22% which eats into your production run.

this then cost you £68 for your motor to be repaired.

A new part costs you £35
a new tumble dryer cost £120 upwards.

And then when you have your reconditioned motor in your belt snap's and the heating element goes for good.


Why do you think garages are filled with FITTERS not mechanics nowadays??

ariba10

It works out cheaper to fit a new whatever than to repair one.

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

I wouldn't advise trying to fit new brushes. You'd have to completely strip the motor and then fiddle about trying to get the new ones in at the same time as putting the motor back together. Made harde by the fact that the brushes have springs on them

Christmasshopper

Can anyone suggest someone to fix it for me then? If as OddjobKIA suggests, it will cost around £68 then I would be happy to pay that much. A similar tumble dryer would cost around £350.

fatnbald

If the machine is making a horrible buzzing noise and being intermittent on either starting up or running speeds I will put my weekly spends (not very much BTW) on it being the brushes and not the motor.

Try turning the drum by hand and if it is fairly easy to do then I doubt it is the bearings on the motor, (another possibility covered). That leaves the motor windings - if it is that it would probably be blowing fuses and /or smelling a great deal (similar to burnt fish), if it isn't then try your brushes.

The brushes are usually pretty easy to replace - it is a case of common sense and being a bit handy with some fiddly phillips screws. Most cost 10 - 20 quid for a pair.
There are plenty of places on the net to buy new ones, just a make and model is all that is normally needed.
A tip! - If you have access to some surgical gloves when doing this use them as the carbon dust is a pain to get off your hands.

Darkroom

You rarely need to completely strip a motor to replace the brushes for motors used in domestic appliances. Most slide out, complete in their housing fairly easily.

Have a look at https://www.cpc.co.uk under their manufacturers spares section you might find it there.

Also before replacing the brushes wipe away as much black carbon dust as you can and try the machine. The carbon sometimes causes arcing.

If you're not up to doing it yourself then try a car alternator refurbisher.