The most important design element of this pump is that the rotor of the electric motor is on the other side of a non-magnetic barrier [the plastic cylinder around which the electromagnet poles were clamped] so that there is no need for a fancy seal on the shaft of the motor. Yes, the rotor and its bearings are immersed in the fluid being pumped - this provides cooling. This design was a top secret invention of the WW2 American Manhattan Project, the so-called 'seal-less' pump, used for circulating gaseous uranium hexafluoride without risk of the radioactive material leaking from a shaft seal. Very clever idea, and now used in many routine applications as shown here.

"Smells like tea"... Well it IS from a washing machine that was likely operated in the UK...

Thank you for having a video for the obscure answers that are exactly what I needed, and not for the first time.

That “little” port is for spray function when washing clothes using another similar motor. I think it helps distribute water and detergent mix more evenly. Some Electrolux washers have this. The smallest port is for small hose drain, channelling water to a small bucket or tray when the filter needed cleaning, so the water don’t spill on the floor when you open the filter’s door. Thanks for posting the video anyway, very helpful!

I love watching BCDC's videos, because things are either "strange", "interesting", "impressive" or "not good". I've actually learnt quite a lot over the last 2 years, I enjoy how he draws electronic schematics and explains them (not in this vid obviously). I also like the vids when he's messing with high voltage......and drinking beer.

How timely! My interest in electronics has been reignited thanks to your videos. And just last week I fixed our washing machine which uses the same pump module you’re pulling apart here.

3:16 - "They seem to be getting popular again...strange." Not strange..I have a feeling your videos are partly behind the sudden rise in popularity.

A pre drain hose goes on the smaller one, allows ya to drain out all water before ya unscrew the filter and the flap helps stop back syphon on drain hose

Clive, you need a pair of huge slotted screwdrivers called "Brute Force" and "Ignorance"

You're so clear and orderly with how you describe your process, the parts and function

Useful video Clive. Mum's 1971 AEG washing machine is still going, has been in use since purchase. Only new part fitted was a replacement drum lower hose, this was just a few years ago. AEG still stocked them (not cheap!). The main motor in this machine is an induction motor, more reliable than the universal motors that are supplied with most machines, other than top of the range ones. Having said how good the old AEG is, it'll probably fail now!

I find that you are very comical when you take things apart. I don't know why, but I chuckle. Educational and funny.

The video is over a year old but you've just helped me fix my washing machine! Thanks Big Clive 👍

The slight resistance you get when you manually turn the impeller is the built in anti tangle feature. If the pump feels any resistance it will go into reverse to try and free itself from anything that may be obstructing the impeller. Quite a clever but simple design feature 👌 😀

Thanks, you saved my day! Without exaggeration, you saved my whole year!

Funny as hell that of all the videos I have watched of yours, I came across this one today. Replaced my washing machine pump motor about 2 hours ago.

but what about your friend in America you mentioned at the start?? What happened? I can't sleep until i know...

I actually had a sock stuck once in the filter. And the washing machine was completely full with water when I found out what the filter is and opened it. Wish I saw your video a year ago! :D

1:11 a useful little wrinkle, taught to me by an experienced serviceman: Tilt the machine backwards against the wall before unscrewing the filter trap. Then clear it, replace the trap, and you don't have water pouring anywhere.

Eeew it's wet... other peoples yuk!!

I changed out lots of those pumps on my job taking care of laundry at a college. That seal always leaks and the magnet is always full of disgusting stinky glop. The motor runs even with that area flooded. And the thing that fails on them is usually the shaft where the impeller is attached wears out so the impeller gets all wobbly and starts making noise. Also what happens is either coins get in and plug up the inlet , or stuff like hairpins can work their way into the impeller . Though that was the older style pump that did not have that filter on it - those are nice and catch a lot of stuff that used to get into the impeller. And yes you aways have to pry hard to get that coil off - I used to just put them in the vice and whack them with a hammer cause they were already junk anyway and I just recycled the copper and metal . As you said there is no repairing those unless it is just plugged - otherwise you replace when they get worn out . The coil never fails . I always kept those magnets - they are useful for other things. Oh and the commercial washing machines had 5 year parts warranty so for five years when ever pump fails - free to put in a new one .

We used to have a front loader with this kind of pump in it. I had to replace it at one point because a coin got stuck in it and chewed up the impeller. The whole washer ended up only lasting about 8 years before the tub support fell apart. We now have a 30 year old top loader that was given to us. much more reliable lol

G'day, Clive! Wow! I really enjoyed seeing your hole process of taking, this washing machine pump to bits! Thank you so much for not simply giving up, or abandoning all hope, in disassembling this pump! Nice job! By the way, haha! [thats humorous] The inside of this pump smells like tea! Lol!! Well done! Cheers! :-)🛠😊❤️

Good description I am using the exact pump on my Fishtank as an emergency pump Nice one

Recently I replaced the very same pump on my 10-year-old washing machine. It's awesome when you can find replace parts for your machine after this long time.

Oh I loved this video! I am just as curious, and just can't stop 'taking it to bits'. I think it would have worked good enough if I were to have unclogged the eaten up terry,.. but NOO I had to see everything! Thank you for sharing! I really wish I video taped my ' I can use this for something' 2-ton printer dismantle. My mother in law still hates me every time she sees the stains on her garage floor,wall and, yes ceiling! Andi Stewart

Thanks mate, your video got me out of trouble

Now I know why my pump wont start up after gluing the impellor on!, Thanks Clive, great videos

The last one I took apart had a magnetically coupled impeller (i.e. the impeller on the pump side was just floating with no bearings / no direct coupling to the electrical side) It was actually a very clever idea. In my case, the impeller was completely jammed up by some string that got lodged in it, but you could heat that the motor on the rear side was still turning freely without damage, I imagine that would be a very long life pump, with no seals to go bad and no negative effects on the motor from the impeller stalling

It always amazes me how simple and low cost they can make things like these Maybe you could leave a link in the description that links to the Quick Test Clive??

This is so weird. I just got a new washing machine pump delivered for my machine today.

As someone who scraps from the ppl who toss good stuff I understand the concept of patience when it comes to breaking parts. I feel your struggle getting that coil out.

Service engineer here. That pump wasn't going to last long. Once you've got water through that seal (or smelly gunk) it's days are numbered. I usually give them a shake, if there's water sloshing around it's time for a new one

I liked the idea of the quick test, but when I looked it up online it was way too expensive, so I made my own out of wood. I even put the little neon indicator on it and everything. Not counting materials I already had on hand, it only cost me 50 cents.

Thank you so much for this!

I had to replace one recently. I saved the old one thinking I could make use of the motor... thanks for the info.

'Ullo, Clive, got a new motah?

Should rewrite this title "washing machine pump smelldown".... Tea, really? What do you normally drink Clive, Jasmine Tea? Cause undoubtedly that crust is probably hard water deposits w a smidge of scented soap thrown in. Here's hoping your next cup of tea doesn't smell like the inside of a washing machine!

Super Dooper Clive . luv watching your destructive bear dis- Assembly routines ...

the blanked off spout that looked like it had 2 holes in it was used in older Indesit machine to drain the water from the door seal. it was blanked off as it used to block with the usual crap in washing machines & needed cleaning often, so it was deleted i'd say about 15years ago when Indesit used metal outer drums. the rubber bit reduces the 'chug' when the pump is empty & helps eliminate airlocks. the version you have there is a watercooled pump hence the side bits eitherside the windings & the water inside.. interestingly I've found that they go noisy more that the nonwatercooled, more room for the crud to get into the 'clutch' of the impeller/magnet maybe?

Thought Clive was going to go into Electroboom territory for a moment there. But somehow he managed to avoid it.

9:50 - we passed "fixing the machine" at 5:40 we're now deep into "idle curiosity" I enjoy your videos

I imagine you could do a secondary test by spinning the rotor and inducing voltage across the coils.

I love these videos

good explanation👍👍👍👍👍

At least I know what our washing machine pump looks like now if it ever breaks! Thanks :)

I've repaired white goods for years and they're not made how they used to be! The modular parts allows the prices to be very low - £200 for a half decent new washing machine is unreal. They were once far more than that and add inflation etc.. What I will say about machine failures now is it's mostly the plastic components - your vid showed a lug failure. I know for sure that plastic should outlive the machine itself but for some reason the plastics they use in them fails early. It's as if they've engineered in failure rates. Surely a manufacturer wouldn't stoop as low as to engineer their goods to fail when they shouldn't? Yes the coil - can be swapped for various world voltages.

Hi Clive, the small aux. pipe out is for a drain pipe. Used on our Samsung machine.

Straight from a hotpoint/indesit machine, spent many years changing them !

2:44 That smaller hole would be connected to a small straw and it will be used to drain the water sitting in the pump, rather than it flooding out when you remove the large filter cover (usually on higher end washing machines). Also the washing machine drum exit will have a small ball in it. It will drop to let water out but if water enters the drain hose the ball will float, stopping the water from entering the drum for the drain hose.

Funny thing. I replaced the waste-water-pump in my washing-machine last week. It looks very similar. I got the replacement from ebay. :-) I disassembled mine together with yours. The only significant difference is a thermo-fuse in my motor. Also it's very interesting how the windigs are made. You can pull of the windig-pack and "flip" them together. this way a spooling-machine can simply wind up all the wire in one go. There are special tabs for the transition between both windings. Interesting example of highly optimized production. Everything is reduced to the bare minimum. No skews and no glue. Every thing is held together with two clips.

Timely video. Our front load washer is fairly new so have not had the fun of replacing the pump. Ours has a drain hose so you can drain trapped water before removing the filter access port. A few months ago the drain pump on our 10 year old Bosch dishwasher failed. The replacement pump was $72 US. Same type of permanent magnet motor as in your video. Water had gotten into the bearings and the thermo overload tripped. I'm surprised you did not find a thermo overload in the washing machine pump you took apart. The dishwasher was interesting as the pump mount was a simple rotate and clip, no fasteners involved. Bearing leaks are a pretty common failure mode that is what killed the pump on our previous washing machine so I'd be leery about buying used parts.

Thanks for sharing 😀👍

Thank you so much

Just wondering about those holes in that flap. Would they be necessary to keep the pump primed on a front end loading machine? All the washing machines that I've taken apart are top loaders and the pump is totally different, with most driven by a belt or a direct drive off the main motor. Interesting that this design has a separate moter for the pump.

they have refined that over the years, the wonky pump i bodged a repair on an old washer relied on seals to keep the motor dry, and did not have that starting loose spinner design or a filter at all

I removed and rinsed my GE washer water pump few times and removed sand that blocked spining, put it back on, and is working now just fine (it was not spinning nor draining), so I saved some money.

Thank you so much for making this video! Our washing machine has been clogged for 2 months now, and after opening that cleaning slide there was an entire sock, along with some change and a nail file in there. No wonder it wasn't working! That fixed it right up though.

those extra ports i would say are for water level indicator or door interlocks. most washing machines have a vacuum operated diaphragm switch for the door locks

Good video

Hey Big C, interested in a Hardi 14412 fuel pump? It has a little circuit board in it and works with up/down motion. It doesnt work, but i think its an easy fix. Grtz

I think that flapper on the flow out port might be to help the pump take initial prime. Once primed and at full efficiency the flapper is simply pushed aside. Those impellers can act funny at startup, I used to have to prime them on old turret lathes to get the coolant system flowing (yes, impeller system pumps).

Have you ever thought about putting your multimeter on the terminals ? And spin the impeller just to see how much voltage is created ? After all it's laid out like a antique telephone magneto , only in reverse. I'd be interested in seeing just how much energy that pump could produce. Thanks

LG front load washer (in US) have a tube to drain the filter before opening.

Pond water pumps are similar interesting because that completely isolate the electrics from the water using sealed coils and an induction driven disk impeller. Such pumps are designed to handle dirty water with lots of solids in it. The pumps also deal well with a stalled impeller.

Could you use the motor windings as a magnetiser / de magnetiser as seen on other KZfaq videos with bigger motors?

I would guess that the little flappy rubber valve in the pump is there to just provide enough resistance to back flow when it switches off to prevent any loud gurgling noises. It would also make the speed that water drains out a bit more manageable if you need to open it up to clear a blockage.

Thanks for explaining so well why the impeller is not fixed to the rotor (at 10:59), but has some slack! That helped me realize that glueing the impeller to the rotor is not a viable fix really, as it would cause the pump to occasionally stall.

That was a super impression of a pump! Brings back memories of when I was an appliance repair bloke.

Nice one mate ive 'liked ' and 'subscribed' the thing i want to know is is the pump bidirectional. I mean does it matter what wires go on what connection. It does seem to matter when pump isnt in place/position?

Our front loader has a small drain tube which yoj empty before opening the filter trap. I suppose they go on one of those extra outlets at the front you were talking about.

Thanks! I was about to buy a new one because I was worry that the loose axel within the magnet meant it was broken!

I once repaired one of these pump motors many years ago. First time I used it, it set on fire and filled the kitchen with thick black smoke. Showing super human strength I pick the washer up and chucked the bugger still burning out the door. I have since stopped interfering with white goods.

Hi Big Clive, Would you mind doing a tear-down/explanation of the main washing machine motor e.g.Welling HXGK1I 240V 50Hz 300W Universal motor? Thanks

I changed a similar pump a few years ago (Hotpoint make machine), the windings had shorted causing it to overheat and melt the grey plastic housing so that it leaked water.

The smaller drain port on the bottom (under the filter housing), at least on my washer (by LG), goes to a tube in the front panel, so you can drain the excess water into a tray before opening the filter.

My Miele WT945 has the pump which slots into the back of the outlet/filter housing without any hose connections to the actual pump mechanism. All the pipes are to the Filter housing making the pump just a twist and release part with the water seals being part of the electric pump mechanise.

The holes in the bubber flap is to allow air out. These pumps dont work when air is inside.

You need a green mat for when you do your AVE'ish releasing of the schmoo ;)

Just replaced my washer pump so this was kind of nice to see

Hello, my front door washing machine drain pump run without laod (makes griding noise) however, when i want to drain water through it, it won't run at all. Do you think the pump is faulty ?

These really are the same for many machines. Had 3 different brands and they all have a very similar pump and impeller at least

This was a really useful article as my washing started leaking again. Last time it was the drain pump. Sadly, this time the door seal has perished - not bad for a 19 year old machine to last this long.

Nice, I didn't know that the impeller could rotate a little on the axle. But know I wonder how the impeller is attached to the axle?

I've worked on this stuff and that is a very common design used on almost all washers and dishwashers now at least in the US. What usually happens is the seal between the rotor and housing wears out. Water (and lovely essences) migrate back into the magnet compartment. Also the impeller breaks off form the shaft, usually from an item getting caught in it. Result it runs but doesn't pump,

You can buy the Cliff quick test unit from Rapid Electronics in the UK, about £35.

It’s hooked on by those little gray hooked post that go over the white plastic bumps on the back of the pump.

"but then again.... *I REGRET NOTHING* " 👌😂👌😂👌

I think the flap is perhaps just to help prevent the waste water flowing back into the drum between pump-outs? The water is allowed to flow back in more slowly, so the bulk of water in the outlet pipe doesn't just flow straight back through the pump again when the motor stops. (since the loose end of the waste pipe is often positioned higher than the pump end, and sometimes higher than the entire drum.) I don't think the flappy valve would help keep the pump primed, but maybe?

I just autopsied (sp) our washing machine. I wish I had seen this video before I started. Our pump came " to bits" easily. What I found was, a tremendous amount of brackish water in the impeller shaft housing and a broken impeller shaft magnet. The magnet was fractured lengthwise the full length of the shaft. I assume that that was the failure that lead to the error code. Now I need ideas for what to doe with the old motor.

wow, good explanation of impeller pumps, good to know that funny noise when my dishwasher starts to pump isn't a dying pump! (shouldn't be, since it's new)

Fancy as hell compared to a Kenmore direct drive washer pump.

The one way resrictor is there to stop you flooding the floor when the drain hose is lowered below the drum level. It drains slowly

That rubber flap doesn't drained water to slush back when pump stops suddenly. So that dirty water doesn't enter the drum. But holes allow water level equalization.

i made a windmill from one of them, the motors are very good generators and will give a very high pulsed voltage even at low rpm

Can you explain more how the electro-magnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet. A drawing of the field would be appreciated.

Isn't one of the small 'pipes' on the side of the pump used for the water level gauge. Connected by a fairly long rubbe tube.

still wondering how to remove that gray propeller-like element from the metal axis without destroying it - no matter how much force I use and how I try to pull it out it won't budge is it fused or something?

The extra hose conection is for air. Its connected to the hose going from the soap drawer to the drum. This it how it works on a Miele washer.