AC Meter Voltage Readings with Different Frequencies

"The motor turns during other cycles. Works like it should."

You probably are on the wrong track. If the motor spins in other modes I would cross that off my list as far as possible faults.

You can always call your appliance parts store and ask if this is a common symptom and what to replace.

I've narrowed it down to three causes:

1. Motor Control Board - I'm thinking this may be the problem due to the low voltage, but the low readings could be due to meter error.

2. Main Board - Could be sending a bad signal to the Motor Control Board???

3. Door switch - Most likely cause. Sending a bad signal to the control board, which sends a bad signal to the Motor Control Board. My only concern about this is the odd voltage I read on my meter. Why would the Motor Control Board be putting out around 16V? I'm thinking it should be zero if there's an error at the door switch = do not spin drum.

Deleted because it could be either one of them.

Maybe the door safety switch is not right.

Sure...

Something doesn't work, blame it on the door.

Sorry, I should have said "access hatch".

I don't understand why washing machines (at least the old ones) had a switch that only effected the spin cycle. After all, no one would toss a bowling ball in there.....or Would they?

The spin cycle is controlled be the "Access Hatch Safety Release Device" or "Switch" as I would call it because people have been known to reach in to grab something out of the drum at high speed and lose an arm.

That's crazy, all they would have to do is wait until it coasted to a stop and retrieve the arm. (no avatar for "don't know it's a joke")

Yep! And I have it from a good source that certain activities executed on top of the

washer during the spin cycle especially if the load is unevenly balanced can be most exciting.

I typically play a rousing game of Chess on the washer during it's spin cycle. I don't have to move the pieces, the move themselves.

I suggest you try Electronics Forums, Electronic Circuits or All About Circuits. There are also a couple of "askxxx DIY" forums. Some of the latter have factory techs who can walk you through troubleshooting procedures. These usually require a payment upon successful completion. Some also offer aftermarket and OEM parts as needed. I have used them with great success on AC's, dishwashers and an up right freezer. (The customer never realized I had never taken the cover off a dishwasher prior to the visit.)

Couldn't be the door:

• Frigidaire 131763202 Washer Door Lock Assembly
  
• Amazon.com: Frigidaire 131763310 Striker: Home ...
  
• Washer Won't Spin or Agitate? Washer Door Latch ...
• Replacing Lid Lock Switch on Frigidaire Front Load Washer ...
• Frigidaire Washer Door | eBay
  
• Frigidaire Washing Machine Parts - RepairClinic.com.
• Frigidaire 131763310 - Door Strike | PartSelect
• Parts for FRIGIDAIRE AFFINITY WASHER DOOR LATCH ...
• But maybe the latch?

The appliance parts store told me it's most likely the door lock assembly. I'm just puzzled why I'm getting 16V at the motor (all three phases). You'd think that it would be 0V if the machine thought the latch was open.

Also, the latch does lock. You hear it click and you can't open the door until I power the machine down.

A digital VOM can easily pick up the induced AC noise in the wires which in most cases would be less than 20V.

As far as the latch goes; The mechanical part of the access latch can be functioning just fine while/when the electrical switch has failed.

In most cases the small actuator arm on the limit switch bends or breaks which prevents the mechanical engagement from occurring properly.

You should be able to view the limit switch actuator arm with the access open to see if it is bent or missing by looking into the receiver hole where the latch enters the cabinet.

If you cannot see it, then most likely the switch has come loose or has broken.

Most machine are fairly easy to disassemble to check and maintain the components such as this.

I think you're right about this. In fact, I hope you are, because I don't want to buy a Motor Control Board or the main board.

You need a scope to see what is really happening. A DVM really won't tell you much of anything.

I had a scope, but I hadn't used it in years, so it went to the Salvation Army. I wonder if they knew what it was.

A good tip for anyone, never, ever give away a scope......Mine (2) get used several times a year......Really useful!

Only give one away AFTER you bought anew one maybe.....

I did this a few years ago, when I was on one of my cleaning sprees. About once a year, I go through the garage and our house and pack up stuff for the Salvation Army. Sometimes I miss the things I got rid of, but on the other hand, it frees up space to buy things I can use right now.

A friend of mine is out of control with his cleaning sprees. He doesn't donate his stuff, he just throws it in the trash. He doesn't work on anything, so there are no tools. It's mostly clothes and I've seen him throw out some really nice clothes (Armani, Zegna, Prada, etc) with the tags still on - right in the trash!

Darn it, why didn't I think of that.

Because you're not a

Makes a lot of sense. We own two older Frigidaire front load washers (one at our place and one at the condo) and I've noticed that it does start to spin slower at first. I'll check the parts list.

I just checked for a microswitch and there is none.

Motor is good - I'm very sure it is or it wouldn't run in other modes.

Door lock does lock - I've tested it. The feedback part of the switch may be broken, but I'm wondering why the drum turns in other modes. Maybe the switch is only needed in spin cycle?

Main control board may be bad - telling the Motor Control Board not to spin the motor.

Finally, Motor Control Board may be bad. Putting out 16VAC on spin cycle, but again, my meter is set up to read 60Hz, so it could be 120V at a lower frequency and my meter reads 16V.

Motor runs OK in other modes. Wash part of cycle is OK. My diagnosis: control board's f**ked.

From your previous post about the 3 phase motor: "I think you're right. When the washer wouldn't drain, I thought it might be the transmission, but there isn't one on this washing machine."

Key phrase here is "washer wouldn't drain". Part 35 on the manual that S.E. posted is the drain pump. Someone mentioned that there might be a microswitch that sensed when the water had been drained out to the point where the drum could be spun. It might be that the drain pump is clogged, and the switch in question is actually a type of flow switch. Check the drain pump. If you take the front off, it is pretty easy to access. You might have something jammed in the inlet of the pump. This has happened to my Kenmore front loader twice. Same symptoms, and both times it was a quarter that just perfectly fits the inlet. Don't ask me how they slip past the seal - probably the same worm-hole that makes socks disappear from the dryer!

I never saw the bit about not draining when I made the comment about the switch.

If it is indeed not draining then it will not spin. If there is no suspension switch then it is likely to be a pressure switch - normally an air capture chamber mounted low down with a thin tube connecting to the pressure switch which is normally up near the top of the machine.

Can you hear the pump running, does it have a time out indicator, and does it go to that?

If the pump runs, then first thing to look for is a blockage in the drain system, if it has a coin trap, make sure it's clean, check there is no lint caught in the hose, at any joints, or where it connects to the P-trap (assuming that's what it does).

Another option is to drain the unit manually and then see if it spins, this will tell you if the spin control is working at that point.

The pump turns on when I put it in spin cycle. Water comes out the drain pipe, so I've eliminated the possibility of a bad or clogged pump.

The more I think about it, I believe it's the door lock mechanism. I read that the door lock mechanism must detect a locked position only in the spin cycle (the motor will turn in all other cycles even if the door lock mechanism is bad.

"I read that the door lock mechanism must detect a locked position only in the spin cycle"

I'm surprised at that. With front loaders, opening the door during a wash cycle generally results in a lot of water on the floor, so they normally have the door locked until the machine has drained.

The door does lock when the washer is on. It just won't let the drum spin (spin cycle) if it doesn't detect a locked door.

By the way, the door does lock when in spin cycle. My guess is that it's not being detected by the lock mechanism.

So.. If you keep the door open, will the machine start at all?

The answer to that would normally be no, and that is because the detector has decided the door is not closed and locked.

Building on the above statement, it would be reasonable to determine that if the machine won't start when the door is open, but will when it is closed...Then the detector is working.

I have the same sort of issue going on right now with my Ford Flex (station wagon / crossover), and I read that this is an issue for Ford in general. The door switch is no longer the little easily replaceable rubber booted plunger switch that worked so well for 100 years, now is is a sensor of some sort. Mine has gone bad after only 2 years...

So what happens now is that I will be driving along and the sensor suddenly thinks my door is open, which starts setting off alarms and a display keep insisting I shift into Park and closed the door. The FRICKIN DOOR IS CLOSED!!! The alarms continue to increase in intensity and frequency until I cant take it any more, so I have to stop, shift into park, and open and close the door maybe 20-30 times before it satisfies the sensor.

Ford claims there is nothing wrong, but the preponderance of evidence on the internet disagrees. However, they are sticking by their guns about charging me $600 to replace their F-ING SENSOR on a 2 year old car! The door and latch must be removed to get at it, lots of labor. Freaking riDICKulous...

Except that in the case of the washing machine, if the sensor "thinks" the door is open, then nothing will work, it won't even fill.

It would seem unreasonable to assume that the sensor only "thinks" that the door is open when it comes to the spin cycle. This is not after the spin cycle starts, when excess vibration may be considered to cause the door sensor to malfunction, it doesn't even get started.

I have serious doubts that the door switch is the culprit here, but enough input from me, time will tell.

I'm hoping that it's the switch assembly, because a circuit board is a whole lot more $$. I'm going to work on it this weekend and I'll let you know what I come up with.

I had a 2004 Honda CR-V trade in that had a bad switch in the door. When the drivers door opened, the light didn't turn on, but it worked fine for all other doors.

At first, I thought it was a pin switch. There are no pin switches on these cars. I later found out that there's a mechanism in the door, which tells the car if the door is open.

One of my clients has a Mercedes S class that had a huge problem with the door closer (the system that sucks the door closed as soon as it latches). I recall the repair being in the $5K range, but I could be wrong.

Mercedes had a not dissimilar problem in the 90s, it may still be there for all I know.

The sensors for the ABS were not replaceable, you had to have the whole rear axle replaced.....within the first 80,000 miles.....

My mechanic told me that the newer S Class requires a scan tool to do a brake job. The scan tool releases the brake caliper pistons, so the pads can be removed.

Not sure, but I'll try it this weekend.

The question about the multimeter is simple to answer.

Provided that it's not approaching DC situation, or extremely high frequency, then the VAC will be reasonably correct. (For the AC component of the voltage.)

What happens when you check the voltage at DC?

The 15.8 to 16.2 VAC seems to me to be close to what you would see as the AC ripple from a rectified 120VAC source.

I don't think the Motor Control Board is putting out rectified DC to the three phases - at least I hope it isn't. I didn't check VDC, because the Board shouldn't output DC voltage to a three phase AC induction motor.

I do find it odd that I got the reading of 16VAC at each of the phases.

Actually, rectified DC is "switched" around the 3 fields to make a pseudo 3 phase supply.

Hall effect sensors and magnets are sometimes used to tell the electronics "where" the "Brush-less" rotor is.....

Some do this in pseudo "Analog" way, simulating AC, and some do it "digitally".....with a square wave. Less heat is then generated in the switching electronics to damage reliability in the long run.

AC "leaks" quite easily, or is induced in other parts, some high current components are very leaky. Snubbing components sometimes make it worse. I would not expect that to be a problem, but I could be wrong.....been wrong before!!

Andy, I think you're correct.

Many thanks.

I was working with 3 phase 48V DC motors sfrom 1986, till about 2000....great, reliable and powerful for their size....we never spoke about VFDs then.....it was simply "Control electronics"....

Really excellent speed control.....

I'd be looking for a vibration switch or sensor that would typically stop the spin if the washing load was out-of-balance.

That 16V your measuring...you have no way of knowing the phase angle regardless of "RMS" voltage reading errors with non sinusoidal and other than mains frequency measurements that you get using a regular DVM.

That 16VAC your measuring maybe braking...

regardless, without a CRO you're blind really and that control board is either stuffed or not getting a go signal to spin the motor.

I haven't seen any references to the drive clutch.

I think you need to check the interlock switch on the door. Most washers won't spin if the interlock switch is open.

Great explanation! I think you're absolutely correct. A GA vote!

What is strange to me is, customers request three phase pumps for operation on a single phase supply using a de-rated vfd to manufacture the third phase. Doe this effect the wire-to-water (or dirty-to-clean clothes) efficiency compared to true single (actually two)phase?

You can bet it's cheaper or they wouldn't do it.

To manufacture 2 extra phases, not 1!!

As you point out, a single phase supply is used.....

But actually, the single phase is rectified and the DC voltage used to supply all 3 field coils....well proven technique nowadays.....AC from the mains is NOT directly used as you seem to think.....

"AC from the mains is NOT directly used as you seem to think....."

What in the wide wide world of sports would make me think that? Looks like we got a case of misconstrued interjection.

Read response 32. I think his explanation is 100% correct.

Your post is the problem, maybe you meant something different to what I am understanding:-

"What is strange to me is, customers request three phase pumps for operation on a single phase supply using a de-rated vfd to manufacture the third phase."

No mention of "manufacturing" phase 1 or 2!!!! What did you mean?

Also, what did you mean by a "de-rated vfd"?

Why don't they simply buy the correct VFD for the job, why does it have to be de-rated?

Thats another mystery......

Hello Andy, To clarify, Single phase in U.S. Is actually two phases. VFD's, at least the ones I work with, have the capacity to produce a third phase, approximately 120 degrees apart from the other phases, at a sacrifice of effeciancy, from a single phase (2 phase) source, thus the derating. These are commercial VFD's. There are phase converters available that can do this without derating and the capacitor banks that can be problematic with high PF. My efforts to help were perhaps lost in the miriads of my own dichotomies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have been taught by an electrician who did not know what he was talking about!! It happens a lot!!

The two phases you are talking about are actually one 240 VAC 60 Hz phase, split with a neutral/earth middle point.

Giving 120VAC on both live legs!!!

That is why there is no phase difference or 180°, depending upon how you measure it and with what!!!

Most say 180° as they put the scope ground on the neutral (safest!) and put channel 1 on one 120 VAC side and channel 2 on the other. Then they are shown as being antiphase to each other.

I had a feeling that was going to be the answer!! which was why I asked!!!!

You are not an EE!!!

You need the phases (or DC pulses!) to a 3 phase motor to be staggered at 120° to each other......

You did give me a laugh though, thanks for that.....you are not the first with that misunderstanding, and not the last I bet!!!

....?.....

To help you further to better understand, I found this website that explains it with words and diagrams very simply:-

AC Current flow in 120/240 V AC 60 Hz single phase three or four wire systems i

The first few sentences are this:-

AC Current flow in 120/240 V AC single phase three or four wire systems is frequently misunderstood. This technical brief goes through a step by step process of adding one load at a time to a 120/240 V AC system and looking at the resulting current flows.

There is an assumed understanding of basic DC theory, Ohms Law (V=IR), the Power Law (P=VI) and Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws.

So you may, or may not understand it anyway......best of luck!!!

By the way, the 240 VAC shown is from one phase of a single 3 phase transformer, a transformer that say supplies a whole street. In the USA (and the UK) generally, domestic housing only receive one phase in one house, or better said, only one of the three available phases. which one is up to the local power company...

Here in Germany, we receive all three phases in a house, I like it much better as one can have 3 phase equipment running easily.....as a DIYer thats far better I find....

Furthermore, not shown on the diagram, the neutral is connected in each house to the local "Ground" (citation needed as to exactly "where" that is physically!), as well as to the "middle" of the local power company transformer phase.

(To run 120VAC equipment, it is not technically necessary for the neutral to be grounded, but for safety reasons it must be, to allow a fault to draw a high(-er) current and trip safety devices to remove power completely from "single" insulated devices like say a washing machine (3 wire connection, not 2 wire)

You will see this better here:-

The power companies supply to a house in the USA

Now if you can link up the two in your head, you have learnt a great deal today!!!!

I cannot make it any simpler I feel......

Have a great day even if its still not understood anyway!!

........??....... ........O........

I suspect that ......O...... was an "Oh!" of enlightenment. You really shouldn't be so caustic, Andy.

O !

It does not convey much intelligence does it?

Light Guru eats Dark Guru

Its too small for my eyes and not in focus....

Its also a block diagram, not a proper circuit....

I can make block diagrams, but with no guarantee that it has anything to do with reality!

Can you find the circuit and post it in a clear condition?

Although I lack the finesse afforded those who's superior breeding allow them freedom to ridicule, I can assure you the block diagram is sufficient to illustrate the principle of converting L1 and L2 input to L1-L2 and L3 output. You will notice that L1 and L2 inputs continue on to the 3 phase motor while the 3rd phase is a product of digital processing. We have been using these converters for a few years now without problems, so I can testify that it has everything to do with reality. The block diagram I posted was converted from pdf to jpg by Acrobat as I do not know how to attach pdf's. A circuit diagram would be proprietary.

All this supports the fact that the 230v single phase input has two phases that are passed to the three phase motor.

You can go here for further clarification: http://www.phaseperfect.com/

The principle is used daily all over the world to make 3 phase power.

They do it from a single phase even.....

They are generally called VFDs nowadays.....the output 3 phase can be varied in frequency, which will control the motor speed.

Read up here, its fairly easy:-

Variable frequency drive

Thank you, but I have a 30gb file on VFDs. Amongst them, are consistent mentions of the fact that the VFD has to be de rated to provide single phase to three phase power conversion. This was to do with my original post.

By the way, I maintained 30 aircraft auto pilot, gyrocompass, ac and dc distribution systems and more, for aircraft that flew over the north Atlantic at night. I graduated 97th in a class of 100 and the instructors did not appear to be stupid. We could easily track German submarines because of the oompa bands

I have moved on, now I maintain machines that don't have my friends in them.

Based on the link you provided, I copied this excerpt from it.

It's easy to believe that our 240V service is two phase out of three, but if it were true, then it wouldn't make sense. Remember that the three phases are 120 degrees out of phase from each other.

Take the 240V service and break it down into a 120V (Neutral to AC1 source) and 120V (neutral to AC2, where AC 1 and AC2 are 180 degrees out of phase). Add a VFD where the input is AC1 and AC2 and the output is AC3. AC1 goes to phase 1 of the motor, AC2 goes to phase 2 of the motor and AC3 goes to phase 3 of the motor. How well with this motor run if AC1 and AC2 are both 180 degrees out of phase and AC3 is an unknown that can't be 120 degrees out of phase from both AC1 and AC2? I think this will give you the answer to your confusion.

"Phase Perfect Digital Phase Converters represent the ultimate technology for converting single-phase electrical power to three-phase electrical power. In fact, the three-phase power produced by Phase Perfect is often superior in power quality to utility supplied three-phase."

This may help. If you have three phases, each phase will be shifted by 1/3 of a full cycle. A full cycle is 360 degrees, so 1/3 of 360 is 120. Each phase will be 120 degrees out of phase from each other.

If there was a 2 phase current (2 out of the 3 phases present), each would be 120 degrees out of phase and the third leg would be missing. Since our 240V power is 180 degrees out of phase, then it can't be two legs of a three phase system.

Correct!

I think you're correct. I believe that the 120V is rectified and 1/3 of the motor speed off phase from the other two phases.

The way I see it is that the control board sends a pulsed signal that is 120 degrees ahead of the last signal (or that it's chasing the signal from the last phase). This signal is 120 degrees ahead of the signal for the next phase.

I don't think the AC from the home is used directly and phase shifted, though I could be wrong.

I think I am going to back out of this now, It looks like my correspondence courses on flashlight repair were a complete waste of time.

It's been a very long time since I thought about power electronics (I graduated in 1987).

I am amazed at how many good answers I received and how you guys have such a good grasp on how my sister's washing machine works and how my handheld meter works.

I think I understand this pretty well now and I thank all of you for your help. I guess, this is what these forums truly are meant to do.

Thank you.

Greg

I actually have no clue on what may be wrong with your machine... but let me tell a story about mine: About two years ago it started doing weird things: at the beginning it did not spin the clothes... some time later I had to unplug it because there was a "solenoid" noise, when it was supposed the be off. Then it worked well again for a time... to start "washing" in the middle of the night. This weird behaviour was completely random alternating periods in which it worked normally with others during which is was completely crazy. I called the repair guy who wanted to change the electronic board saying it was beyond repair. He quoted a 50% of the price of a new washer for the repair. When the guy left (now that I knew what and where to search, I removed the board again. Under a close inspection, there were some tiny green stains, meaning copper corrosion. As I had nothing to loose, I cleaned it thoroughly with a toothbrush and lots of 90% alcohol. Left it dry for a couple of days, assembled it again... and guess what: it has been working damn well for months now

Years ago, I worked on a missile program with the government. Someone changed the type of screw in the waveguide and there was no problem for years. Then all of a sudden the missiles were failing - these are defensive missiles, so a failure means that the threat is allowed to come closer to the ship and the only defense is a spray or large caliber shells from a computer controlled gatlin gun.

When they disassembled the missiles for inspection, they couldn't find anything wrong. All sections were tested and they found out the problem was in the Guidance Section. They broke it down to the board level and each board passed. They reassembled it and the missile failed the simulation test. Again it came apart and again all parts passed. Some very bright engineer ran the waveguide through some sort of test and lo and behold, the screw had grown tiny hairs. Come to find out, the old screws were made of a different material, hence no problems, but the new ones were cadmium plated. The new cadmium plated screws were thought to be okay for use in the wave guide, however due to the salt air conditions, the screws grew microscopic hairs.

When I hear about environmental problems like green stuff on a circuit board and how it wreaks havoc, I understand.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Washing machine is running fine now.

Here's what the problem was. The locking mechanism on the door has a switch to tell if it's closed. When the machine is on the spin cycle, it needs to make sure the door is closed, before allowing the drum to spin. The switch went bad, causing the machine to think that the door wasn't closed.

Two odd things:

1. The machine worked fine during the wash cycle. One would think that the machine would check the door switch before allowing the machine to fill with water and start agitating the clothes. It sure would be a mess if the door wasn't closed fully and the machine started to wash the clothes.

2. Since the switch on the door was bad, the machine should not have attempted to spin the drum. I did get a voltage on each of the phases when I turned on the spin cycle. I would think that the machine would not send any power to the motor if it sensed a door open condition.

These two things made diagnosing the problem somewhat difficult.

I did have my sister buy a new door switch and a motor control board. She was able to return the unused board.

Thanks for all the help. You guys are really good and I enjoy reading your posts.

See post #2 of this forum thread. Most likely disregarded, due to poster's lack of formal education.

FYI, I gave you a GA for this days ago.

For all those who are wondering what your wise crack about a formal education is referring to, here's what the argument is about.

Unredundant made quite a few posts regarding three phase power. Much of what he wrote was incorrect and I made the remark that a formal education (in engineering) gives you the math skills to understand what three phase electricity is and help you visualize what's happening. Maybe I stated it too harshly, but it started an argument about three phase power and I still believe that many of the posts he made were incorrect

In college, I took a couple of power engineering courses and I do understand the principles behind three phase power. In my first power engineering course (EE331), we derived equations for each phase of power, drew diagrams of each signal (sine waves) and their relationship to one another. Yes, each phase is 120 degrees out of phase from the other. And there's no way to efficiently operate a three phase motor, by taking a split phase 240VAC signal (both phases are 180 degrees out of phase to each other) and directly hook it up to two phases of a three phase motor, then create a third phase from the first two and connect it to the third phase of the motor.

We have been discussing the split system before.

In international agreements we do not talk about 2 phases, but about two legs (L1 and L2), because most of the time this system has been derived from only 1 phase of a 3 phase system.

This is the electric convention generally used as norm.

The way electronic engineers see the split system, is that there are 2 phases. Only with the neutral (zero) as reference, and that indeed there is 180 degrees difference in phase only in reference to that neutral (mid tap conductor)

However between L1 and L2 is no phase difference. Otherwise you should measure 0 = zero volts between L1 and L2. (if 180 degrees difference)

There are several ways to make 3 phase motors run on a mono phase (2 wire) system, whether you feed it from the power between L1 and L2 (240 volts) or between N and 1 leg (120 volts) or between N, L1 and L2.

You are right to say "there's no way to efficiently operate a three phase motor.........etc..." only when EFFICIENTLY is explained in terms of what you find acceptable.

Millions of others, manufacturers and users do find it enough efficient to let their motors spin around.

The trick is to dimension one or more capacitor(s) that makes an "artificial" phase to create a rotating field to make the rotor spin.

The capacitor value is function (related to) speed (rpm), Hp or kW and working voltage and frequency.

These motors, once they spin tend to run pretty good.

The starting couple however is not as high as applied in a real 3 phase system.

dvmdc, Thank you for your clarification. In addition, with digital sampling and capacitance on the DC buss, it is possible to introduce a manufactured third phase at precisely the right time and level to make a three phase motor operate as efficiently as with true three phase power. One would have to look at a triangle to have concept. I do not "dabble" in these concepts, I use them every day, to make it possible for customers without the option for tri phase power (for example water features such as a waterfall in Branson Mo. Or for a certain race driver named Petty), to operate three phase pumps at unity on the single phase line side.

To add, the products I am involved with come from Europe, where 3 phase power is common and single phase is not. This is reflected in the support I get for single phase product where it is evident that there has been a falloff of comprehension at the engineering level for the concept of phasor vectoring and other formulas that provide visual concept of what is happening during a rotation. An example: changing of the value of a run capacitor, who's value was determined by experimental lab work, to a capacitor of a different value and thus a critical time constant, in order to fit said capacitor into a space that would not accomidate the correct value (physical size). Another example having to do with conflict between Engineering/design and marketing: The company decided to market a single phase version of a product in the U.S. But had neglected to include the equipment required to operate on single phase, so customers recieved a pump fitted with a cable. The first few complaints raised a red flag for me, and required a crash course by me to come up a single phase start/run system from scratch. I apologize for over-reaction to certain issues, it is aggravating to be up against what sometimes appears to be a certain amount of arrogance, which is frustrating in light of the fact that my goal is to support and improve the product, which is to me, the bottom line.

I knew it was the door switch. It only comes into to play during the spin cycle. Upright machines are the same way.