Fix Washing Machine Noise

Sooner or later your washing machine will fail. So either you she’ll out another $700 to replace it or read this blog and spend $50 to replace bearings.

So my washing machine was making a horribly loud noise for several months. I knew there was a problem, but heck, it still cleaned my clothes, so I ignored it.

Problems that are ignored always get worse. So this blog is how to replace my bearings which were the cause of my washing machine noise.

This is my washing machine. The model number is Kenmore 402.49032011. Don’t get too weirded out. Most front loaders irregardless of the brand are build the same. Not identical, but very similar. So changing the bearings will be a similar process no matter what model you have.

This is it. You have to remove the tub from the unit. No if and or buts. If you have no mechanical intelligence I probably would stop reading this and Google a technician.

These are the steps:

– Remove covers

-look at your tub, remove hoses and electrical connectors that prevent it from being removed from unit. Take pics, if needed of every hose clamp and electrical connector.

Next step is to remove the bottom struts. Don’t worry your tub won’t drop. Be sure to leave one end connected to tub. Just remove end connected to cabinet.

Ok. This next step is important. Be sure your tub is free from all hoses, connectors and struts. Your tub should be held by two springs. You will probably need a hand for this. As you lift the weight off of the tub, have someone detach the spring from the cabinet. Now the tub can be removed from the cabinet.

Now that the tub is removed locate the bolts that are around the circumference of the tub. Remove all of them.

Separate the upper half from the lower half. Locate the bearings. They are probably visibly destroyed, maybe the balls are exposed.

Remove seal, with hammer and punch, remove the bearings. Be sure to remove both of them. Clean up dirt and grim as needed.

Critical step…After you order new bearings, they need to be properly installed. Never ever ever hit them on the inner race. They should be hit in on the outer race or find some sort of plate to hit the entire bearing in.

So you have done it. You installed the bearings. To reassemble, just perform the disassembly steps in reverse. Hopefully this blog set you in the right mindset. Of course you should look at YouTube videos of others who have performed the job. I just want to give you the confidence, so you know anyone can do this. Cheers……

How Electric Scooter HUB Motors work

Electric scooters have become very popular, it is a convent way to commute and get around in congested urban areas. The driving force behind the electric scooter is the Hub motor. The hub motor is exactly that, a motor in a hub of a wheel. Hub motors can be placed in the front and/or rear of the scooter.

Outrunner Motor

The type of motor that is used in this hub is called a Brushless DC outrunner motor. Outrunner means the outer part (wheel) rotates, opposed to inrunners, which have a rotating inner part. The part that moves is called the rotor and the part that is stationary is called the stator. In Brushless motors, DC voltage is applied to coils without the aid of brushes. Brushes have long been used as a method to provide power to the rotor.

Operation

In a nutshell, the hub motor has two types of magnets, permanent and electromagnet. The electromagnet functions like a permanent magnet, with the added feature that it can be switched on and off electronically. The coils are switched on and off in a sequential manner causing the adjacent permanent magnets to attract or repel, resulting in rotor (wheel) rotation.

The electronic switching is generated by the scooter’s controller.

Parts

coil with reed switches to detect movement

See wheel rotation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SbJcb1yXrRnc6mkg8XEFBIze4MRrNlw7/view?usp=sharing

Displaying text on LCD

It is quick and easy to connect a liquid crystal display to the Arduino to display text. This setup uses the I2C communication protocol, allowing user to connect two data wires instead of eight. Within your program, make sure you include a Liquid crystal library as well as an I2C library.

See my code:

//YWROBOT
//Compatible with the Arduino IDE 1.0
//Library version:1.1
#include <Wire.h> 
#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>

LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x27,20,4);  // set the LCD address to 0x27 for a 16 chars and 2 line display

void setup()
{
  lcd.init();                      // initialize the lcd 
  lcd.init();
  // Print a message to the LCD.
  lcd.backlight();
  lcd.setCursor(1,0);
  lcd.print("2022 is a good year");
  lcd.setCursor(5,1);
  lcd.print("to code");
   lcd.setCursor(5,2);
  lcd.print("in the snow");
   lcd.setCursor(0,3);
  lcd.print("Powered by s.b.smith");
}


void loop()
{
}

For more info: https://learn.adafruit.com/i2c-spi-lcd-backpack/arduino-i2c-use