Hello all,
OK its just been on its first full (well ... half full) wash, and it seems to be running dandy-o!!!
Its now on its second slightly heavier (with bath-pre-soaked clothes
) load and its a third of the way through.
One the first run I noticed a high pitch squealy (not rubber squealy - more of a metally squealy) noise - but this has stopped after the first washes end high spin session ... It does not make this now on the second run so I will put it down to brush realingment / settling in after I took them out for a clean up or some other righting of the unit for all its ins / outs / ups and downs (the washing machine waltz) recently.
Hopefully all should now be OK for a while (touch wood).
Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with this - its very much appreciated. Hopefully others will learn from this post ... here are some things I have learned on my journey...
1) Play safe - even when unplugged, there may still be danger of electric components not discharged.
2) The metal shield on some (all?) Speed Control Modules (SCM) are LIVE !!! The sticker on it with a lightning bolt through a hand means the metal shield is live and not just components!!! So unplug before sticking your hands in !
3) If the SCM has blown (may not be just fuse - but triac (black thing with three legs normally attached to metal shield) and perhaps other components on board also) something else may have caused this - dodgy motor or short somewhere - so check other things before plugging in a new module - or you may find your new investment literally go up in smoke ... I have put my fault (at the moment
) down to carbon dust build up around brushes which may have arcd to the motor therefore blowing my unit.
4) When investigating, clean any dust from motor brushes and surrounding areas with slightly damp cloth - please note I took my motor out of machine before doing this - do not put damp cloths into electrical area of washing machine !!!
5) If you are lucky, you can pick up parts such as modules cheap off ebay - RRP £30-£60 from shops, mine was £2.50 on ebay - if my only option was to buy a £30 or £60 board with still a possibility of it not working, I would have not risked it but bought a new machine - thankfully I got lucky on ebay (again thanks to the ebay seller of this item - much appreciated).
6) If you can take your motor to a domestic appliance shop, they may test it for a few quid - before you shell out on a £40-£60 motor. - or again, £3 +£10 PnP off ebay
but make sure its the right model - it may look the same on photo - ratings may be same - but sizes differ !!!
7) If you are not sure about anything - dont do it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Call a pro.
8 ) Meet lots of really GREAT people on forums
9) If you cant find the exact SCM, a lower spin speed one might do as long as connections (pcb layout etc) are the same - for example, mine was an Elmarc EM13SFB 1200 PCB but I bought an Elmarc EM13SFB 1000 off ebay - my guess is it spins the motor at 1000 instead of 1200 - mine works
- but I would not advise getting a higher one (eg 1200) to replace a lower one (eg 1000) as the motor may produce "indeterminate results" (overheating / fire / god knows what)
I am not a pro so take all the above with a pinch of salt - apart from number 8
... but it worked (so far) for me ...
Once again, many thanks to one and all ...