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So, our drain pump stopped working after washing some bloody disintegrating rug, and everything was cloaked with some kind of sand.

The drain pump was failing but we could still hear the motor running.

We took apart the machine, and the drain pump. Now, the drain pump-motor combination has the typical impeller, and the coils are well separated from the turning part.

When opening the motor housing, we noticed sand and water inside the housing. Is that normal, or a problem?

We watched another video where somebody is taking apart such housing, and in his case as well, there is water and residue inside the housing.

Thanks for insights!

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    Is the water in the machine motor or the pump motor?
    – JACK
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 1:52
  • In the pump motor
    – Andy
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 13:10
  • If the motor is self contained in the housing then you should be OK. If you disassembled the motor and there's water in there, that's not good. Clean and dry out everything.
    – JACK
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 14:43
  • No water in the windings area of a motor is not normal. Just in case my answer was not clear.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 15:06
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    Hopes "bloody" is used in the British sense, not the American sense!
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 16:43

1 Answer 1

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Motors that use cooling water normally Chanel the water through the motor without any water coming in contact with the windings.

The insulation on motor windings is very thin and a motor may run for a while when wet but water usually will Usually cause a failure . I bake motors out that have gotten wet and they are ok in many cases but if it fails on start up they are usually toast. So dry the motor out reassemble and good luck.

If you have a small electric heater put the motor windings in front of that for 6-8 hours I have saved large electric motors by doing this when they did not fit in my motor oven just the hot air blowing over the coils will dry it off and reduce the chances of the motor shorting out soon because of moisture.

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  • Even if dried out, the sand could be a real problem, getting into bearings and chewing them up in no time. Do everything to can to vacuum and blow and blow and vacuum the sand out of there, but expect that the motor will grind to a halt much sooner than expected even if you do manage to get it running again.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 16:46
  • Most motor bearings are sealed so sand is not usually a problem , you would be surprised how much rock dust gets in our motors on our crushers, the problem is usually on startup to much better rotor and stator, pull the bell blow out and good to go again.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 19:44
  • Thanks Ed. Given that the sand was in the housing for the turning part, I guess it's generally a good idea to clean it out. Are there water cooled motors for washing machines? Is it the windings (is the magnet coil the same?) that need cooling?
    – Andy
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 21:24
  • I have not seen a washing machine that has a water cooled motor but I work on several of our german made Grinders that have water cooled rotors. Yes wipe the sand out, when the motor spins up it throws the sand and dust to the end bells or gets trapped in the stator grooves above the windings. The center part the rotor is normally water cooled the outer part or stator is where the windings are those can usually be cooled with fins . I want to say most washing machines are open drip (air can flow from outside the motor cool it and flow out a leak probably flooded the area with water and sand.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jul 22, 2020 at 22:06

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