Gorenje washing machine drum does not spin

One of the most unpleasant situations in washing is the sudden stop of the drum. You have already loaded the dirty clothes, poured in the washing powder, poured in the fabric softener, selected the required program and started the machine, but the wash has not started, because the drum simply does not spin.

If the Gorenje washing machine does not spin the drum, then you cannot accept it, but you can fight it. At the same time, there is no need to call a service center specialist because of this, because you can deal with the problem yourself. Read about what could have caused the drum to stop and how to deal with it safely in our article today.

What part stops the drum?

First of all, it is necessary to correctly determine what exactly caused the malfunction in order to understand how to deal with it. Usually, the washing drum itself begins to slow down, while all other elements function as normal: the board correctly determines the washing program, the tank fills with water, and the pump removes used water without any problems. In this case, pay attention to the engine, especially if you hear a faint crackling sound from it. This is a signal that the motor is either broken and therefore does not drive the drum, or it has simply stopped transmitting impulse to the shaft. This can happen for a number of reasons.

• The drive belt has broken or fallen off the pulley.
• The electric brushes are worn out.
• The machine's engine has failed.
• A foreign object has entered the drum and jammed the movement of the element.
• The tachogenerator, also known as the Hall sensor, has broken down.
• Finally, the lamellas on the motor shaft could peel off.

It is forbidden to use Gorenje household appliances and machines from other companies if the drum has stopped rotating - such a working cycle can damage the motor and tank of the washing machine.

All the points described apply to a situation where the drum has completely stopped rotating. If it continues to rotate, just very slowly and tightly, then there may be even more possible causes of failure.

Broken engine

The drum stops moving completely when the motor cannot spin the container. It seems that everything is simple - the drum does not spin, which means the engine does not have enough strength. However, in reality, everything may turn out to be more complicated: the motor may not turn on at all, or it may not accelerate strongly enough to set the drum in motion. When the engine starts to hum, the shaft rotates, but when the drive belt is connected to the chain, the entire mechanism stops - this is a signal that the problem is hidden in the electric brushes. In such a situation, diagnostics followed by replacement of elements is necessary, for which you need:

• disconnect the device from all communications;
• remove the back wall of the Gorenje washing machine and put it away so that it does not interfere during repairs;
• tighten the drive belt;
• get to the engine of the machine and disconnect all the wires;

Be sure to take a few photos of the wiring to help you connect the wires correctly during assembly.

• remove the bolts and remove the motor;
• Now you should try to unscrew the shaft to evaluate its performance;
• remove all fasteners that secure the brushes to the engine;
• disconnect the electric brushes.

Next we need to unscrew the brush case and pull out the rod with the carbon tip from it. If the rod reaches a length of only 1-1.5 centimeters, then it definitely needs replacement. Then you should buy a couple of new brushes at a hardware store or service center. These parts are always replaced together, even if only one is damaged.

When the rods are more than 1.5 centimeters in length, then most likely the drum has stopped rotating due to a damaged tachogenerator. This part is fixed to the engine body and controls its unwinding. If the tachogenerator is faulty, then it will no longer determine the number of revolutions the motor picks up, so the control module, for the sake of safety, will simply stop the cycle. To test the tachogenerator, you will need a multimeter with ohmmeter mode, the probes of which should be hooked to the contacts of the element.

The collector plates, also known as lamellas, may also be to blame for the drum stopping. They are fixed on the shaft so that they transmit current through the mechanism. Problems begin when parts peel off, causing contact to be lost and the shaft to stop working. To make sure that everything is in order with the slats, you need to disassemble the engine and personally assess the condition of the strips.

Finally, if the cause has not yet been determined, then you can examine the winding, which may be broken. To do this, you should also use an ohmmeter, the probes of which must be applied to the collector plates and winding. If the results are within 0.1-0.4 Ohm, then there is no damage, otherwise you will have to change the motor.

Worth checking the belt

If the drive mechanism is damaged, repairs will not take much time. If the problem is hidden in the belt, then you can check it simply by turning the drum with your own hands. If the rotation is too free, then the belt has actually come off the pulley, either because it has broken or because it has stretched too much. Both cases require urgent replacement of the element.

Never buy a belt by eye, as there is a risk of purchasing the wrong product - always check the serial number of the washer or the belt marking.

Anyone can cope with replacing rubber bands. To do this, you just need to remove the back panel of the “home assistant” housing, place the belt on the small wheel, and then pull it onto the drum pulley, while simultaneously turning it. It is much better if someone helps you - Gorenje household appliances are famous for their tight belt mechanisms, so with an assistant things will go faster and easier.

Object stuck between tank and drum

If the drum does not spin even manually, then the problem should be looked for not in the internal structure of the device, but in an external irritant. Most likely, some foreign object simply got into the drum, for example, a coin, a button, keys, a bra wire, or something else. Even such a small thing can catch on the drum and jam it. Then only removing the foreign object will help. For automatic washing machines, the procedure consists of the following steps:

• disconnect the washing machine from the power supply;
• remove the back panel of the SM case;
• we find the heating element at the very bottom of the tank;
• disconnect all wires from it;
• loosen the retaining bolt located in the center of the water heating element;
• loosen the water heater and remove it;
• now you can look into the vacated hole, where with the help of a flashlight you can find a foreign object;
• we retrieve the lost item by hand, wire or any other convenient method.

Such instructions help in most cases, but it may happen that the item cannot be reached through the heating element.Then you will have to disassemble the entire washing machine, remove the tank and drum and disassemble them in order to remove the foreign object.

As you can see, if the drum has stopped rotating, then this is not a reason to call the technician. You can figure out this problem yourself, you just need to accurately diagnose it, and then fix the problem yourself.

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