Using washing machine motors for workshop machines

[Tanglefoot20]

Hi all....
Wondering if anyone has progressed anything using washing machine motors...I’d like to maybe use one for a disc sander and maybe a polisher...I am no electrician but I understand the mechanics...is it possible to use them for these purposes?
If anyone has details regarding wiring etc...I’d be grateful...switching setup also..

Many thanks

 

[Spectric]

Totaly the wrong sort of motor, they are designed and produced for washing machines and often are interfaced via electronic control. I doubt you will want a sanding disc to oscillate like a washing machine or suddenly ramp up to drying speed.

 

[alan895]

I thought most washing machine motors would be the brush type, if so they wouldn't be worth bothering with even if you could connect it up.

Try looking out for cheap bandsaws, pillar drills, table saws etc. purely for their induction motors - the bonus is that they're already wired up to a NVR switch.

 

[Jelly]

Totaly the wrong sort of motor, they are designed and produced for washing machines and often are interfaced via electronic control. I doubt you will want a sanding disc to oscillate like a washing machine or suddenly ramp up to drying speed.

I've seen them used very successfully by several friends as a cheap, speed controllable alternative to paying for a Induction Motor and VFD, but it did involve a bit of surgery on the motor, or using an Arduino and some breakout boards to control the motor's original circuitry...

AC universal motors have most of the characteristics you'd want In a machine tool motor and for occasional use the brush wear is less of an issue, whilst the more modern DC brushless ones are widely used (in smaller sizes) for power tools, so not sure I'd agree they're entirely unsuitable.

But OP would have to be confident working with electrical items safely, and willing to do a fair bit of learning (esp. for a brushless be motor) to make a go of it.

 

[Inspector]

Forced air furnace fan motors can be used as long as you are diligent at blowing the dust out of them. You also need to get the rubber bushing frame they sit in to mount it with too. Older ones are better as they were only single speed and were easy to wire a switch to. They are induction motors, ours are at least so no more complicated than any other brushless motor.

 

[Cabinetman]

Fitted a washing machine motor to my Myford ML8 lathe in about 1976, didn’t know we had to do anything clever with the electrics, maybe things were simpler in those days, bolted down with a couple of hoops of threaded bar and it’s still going brilliantly today. Ian
Also did one as a sanding disc – worked ok, plywood construction was a bit iffy so superseded by a proper one.

 

[Cabinetman]

Forced air furnace fan motors can be used as long as you are diligent at blowing the dust out of them. You also need to get the rubber bushing frame they sit in to mount it with too. Older ones are better as they were only single speed and were easy to wire a switch to. They are induction motors, ours are at least so no more complicated than any other brushless motor.

Hi Inspector just translate for you for us Brits, a furnace over here is where you melt steel for casting, just so people know what you’re talking about – it’s a Home central heating system with forced air. Ian

 

[Doug B]

Fitted a washing machine motor to my Myford ML8 lathe in about 1976, didn’t know we had to do anything clever with the electrics, maybe things were simpler in those days, bolted down with a couple of hoops of threaded bar and it’s still going brilliantly today. Ian
Also did one as a sanding disc – worked ok, plywood construction was a bit iffy so superseded by a proper one.

Yep the older motors you could definitely use this is one I changed the bearings on a few weeks back

It had been used on a lathe but I’ve kept it as a back up, modern washing machine motors are a different kettle of fish, I wouldn’t know where to start on one of those.

 

[Inspector]

Hi Inspector just translate for you for us Brits, a furnace over here is where you melt steel for casting, just so people know what you’re talking about – it’s a Home central heating system with forced air. Ian

Well I was hoping you guys could figure out the different terminologies in the same language we both use.

Pete

 

[Cabinetman]

Haha, you say tomat..........

 

[Jelly]

Well I was hoping you guys could figure out the different terminologies in the same language we both use.

Pete

I'm assuming your furnace heats the air itself directly to be pushed through the house in ducts as opposed to heating a circulating volume of water for radiators? A concept which is somewhat alien here in the UK.

Otherwise I'm struggling to grasp how it would need forced air, given Hoval in the UK supply natural draught/Venturi central heating boilers up to a staggering 2.7MW (a little over 9,200,000 BTU/hr).

 

[Inspector]

The central heating is in most places natural gas fired with some places using oil or propane, both having to be trucked in. The air is heated (the furnace) and blown throughout the house through ductwork and the cool air returned through other ducts to be reheated. In summer months air conditioning uses the same ductwork. When a furnace gets old they get replaced. The motor that drives the fan may still have lots of life left in it. Most though get scrapped with the furnace. Replacement motors are not all that costly. They range from 1/4hp through to 1hp with most being 1/3hp or 1/2hp. Since you guys don’t heat with forced air my suggestion of using a furnace motor is a nonstarter. Sorry.

Pete

 

[pgrbff]

My grandfather, a carpenter in Venice made a router 50 or so years ago If i'm not mistaken.

 

[Doug B]

. Since you guys don’t heat with forced air my suggestion of using a furnace motor is a nonstarter. Sorry.

Pete

Don't apologise Pete there used to be a similar system here in the U.K. though clearly it wasn’t popular folks seem to prefer water based radiator systems.
The place I originate from had two housing estates with all the houses being built will ducted forced are heating, as an apprentice I worked on many converting the properties to wet systems as the forced air system never took off.

 

[Ollie78]

There is guy on YouTube who uses all sorts of reclaimed stuff to build workshop tools.
Can't remember the name now.
I saw him build a few things with treadmill motors from gyms. These are just a basic but quite large motors.
Modern washing machines are direct drive and will be difficult to use as half the motor is on the drum.

Ollie

 

[Concizat]

My house in France originally had warm air heating from an oil burning device in the basement. Great big lump it was, standing about 6 ft. tall, and weighed a ton.
When we eventually took it out and carted it off to the dechetterie, it broke one of the rear coil springs on the Renault Espace I had at the time.

 

[Jelly]

The central heating is in most places natural gas fired with some places using oil or propane, both having to be trucked in. The air is heated (the furnace) and blown throughout the house through ductwork and the cool air returned through other ducts to be reheated. In summer months air conditioning uses the same ductwork. When a furnace gets old they get replaced. The motor that drives the fan may still have lots of life left in it. Most though get scrapped with the furnace. Replacement motors are not all that costly. They range from 1/4hp through to 1hp with most being 1/3hp or 1/2hp. Since you guys don’t heat with forced air my suggestion of using a furnace motor is a nonstarter. Sorry.

Pete

No need to apologise, I've just learned something quite interesting about central heating round the world... And your suggestion would work perfectly, as a source of cheap used ⅓-¾ h.p. induction motors.

 

[Trextr7monkey]

As a child growing up in a mining village most families had a death saw involving a saw blade on an arbor running in a couple of bearings or a picador shaft. The whole thing was enclosed in a wooden box possibly with some of that new fangled Formica laminate on the table for smooth running. Naturally this interest has continued and I have had quite a few lathes needing improvement or fresh motors. I did pull one from a scrap washer machine but it is tiny and lacks the feet normally attached to more industrial motors. It looked like a lot of bodging would be needed to get it into safe and reliable use so I bought a bandsaw motor which was an unused spare from an Aldi bandsaw which was £30 well spent

 

[TobyT]

Yep the older motors you could definitely use this is one I changed the bearings on a few weeks back
View attachment 103995

It had been used on a lathe but I’ve kept it as a back up, modern washing machine motors are a different kettle of fish, I wouldn’t know where to start on one of those.

That looks almost exactly like the motor on my old Meddings Pillar drill - including the state of assembly! Colour and mount are the same, just mine is a little longer.
Is this an old washing maching motor? I had assumed the one on mine was original, but perhaps it isn't.

 

[Doug B]

That looks almost exactly like the motor on my old Meddings Pillar drill - including the state of assembly! Colour and mount are the same, just mine is a little longer.
Is this an old washing maching motor? I had assumed the one on mine was original, but perhaps it isn't.

I actually picked up this washing machine motor as a possible replacement for my Meddings 3phase motor when I was having problems with my inverter recently, it has the same diameter shaft & foot mounting holes as the original motor so I can well believe it’s what’s on you drill @TobyT
I managed to fix the inverter on my drill but have kept the washing machine motor just in case I have future problems.