An interesting dishwasher mechanism sent by George for our exploration.
It's door opening mechanism for a dishwasher. It doesn't open it right up, it simply pushes it out of the catch and lets steam escape during the drying cycle.
The machine had stopped popping the door open and the service engineer replaced both the mech and the control module.
I gave the wax motor another test outside its case and it had effectively bottomed out when in situ. The spring plate at the back is purely to prevent damage if it can't open the door. It's possible that a touch of plastic-safe lubricant on the part of the door catch that gets gripped, would help fix sluggish opening issues. (By making it easier to push the catch out to open the door.)
I started reverse engineering the control module, but had to give up due to the mass of very fine tracks repeatedly jumping back and forth on each side of a PCB absolutely covered in through hole vias. I'd have to print it out on a much larger scale and trace each connection individually.
It looks a very straightforward unit with a small number of connections dealing with inputs and controlling a separate power supply and switching module elsewhere in the machine (probably in the base.) The cluster of 9 pads in a 3X3 configuration are exposed externally to allow testing and programming of the PCB in situ.
The main things of note are the high level of protection on all inputs to avoid rogue voltage spikes from reaching the processor.
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#ElectronicsCreators
It's door opening mechanism for a dishwasher. It doesn't open it right up, it simply pushes it out of the catch and lets steam escape during the drying cycle.
The machine had stopped popping the door open and the service engineer replaced both the mech and the control module.
I gave the wax motor another test outside its case and it had effectively bottomed out when in situ. The spring plate at the back is purely to prevent damage if it can't open the door. It's possible that a touch of plastic-safe lubricant on the part of the door catch that gets gripped, would help fix sluggish opening issues. (By making it easier to push the catch out to open the door.)
I started reverse engineering the control module, but had to give up due to the mass of very fine tracks repeatedly jumping back and forth on each side of a PCB absolutely covered in through hole vias. I'd have to print it out on a much larger scale and trace each connection individually.
It looks a very straightforward unit with a small number of connections dealing with inputs and controlling a separate power supply and switching module elsewhere in the machine (probably in the base.) The cluster of 9 pads in a 3X3 configuration are exposed externally to allow testing and programming of the PCB in situ.
The main things of note are the high level of protection on all inputs to avoid rogue voltage spikes from reaching the processor.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
https://www.patreon.com/bigclive (extra streams and channel interaction)
Or alternatively:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators
I learned there is something called wax motor
12 Beeps means that's it's been removed from the appliance, and is sitting on BigClive's bench.
interesting to see a freescale / nxp processor in there. i was not aware they have any all too cheap. i was expecting a low end renesas one (yes i have taken apart a washing machine lately thats how i know what i would expect)
Hey Clive. I too enjoy investigating various PCB's, most of which I find whilst roaming around my local recycle centre. This board looks like it uses a common microcontroller ( like an Atmel or maybe even a Pic ). I remove the Microcontroller and any Eeprom's I find and I pop them over to a local senior school Tech sciences Dept where the kids build various projects ( or blow them up trying ). It's a great way to hold the kids interest, they do seem to love researching a new microcontroller or eeprom and then trying to get it to respond or run software..
I mean at least those who are technically minded that would want to get into the washing machine to replace it can also if they wanted to be an asshole around Halloween can program it using J-Flash; the only road block is figuring out how to use the rows of pads to program it at home with out the factory tools.
When I saw the title I was expecting some sort of chivalrous kitchen droid.
"parts cannon" 😂
Using an actual name brand MCU (Freescale). I was expecting something like a sonix or some weird architecture.
Regarding things being made to a price; I find that if I buy something that's just a bit above the cheapest option, but still has only basic functions, that thing usually lasts much longer than something far more expensive and complicated. …with the added bonus of being easier for me to actually use. Yes it's more reliable because there's less to go wrong, but I also suspect that there's an element of more basic parts being cheaper because they've been making them for longer, so have perfected the manufacturing process but still kept the same quality, whereas more complicated or newer parts are rushed out to a time scale of meeting demand and orders that doesn't allow for more careful manufacture or learning process.
Some automatic transmissions have an 800lb spring which apparently has the purpose to kill any amateurs trying to repair their own transmissions. See Precision Transmissions.
Mhmm, four Pins on the JFLASH, two of these being – and +5V… It could be anything like I2C or whatever serial connection of course but I wonder if it could just happen to be USB…
Most likely not though, most of the components likely just happen to run on 5 V.
Lovely Jubbly Clive old boy!!!
Bob
England
Drying the dishes – a friend of mine said that the drying mechanism was basically that the inside of the dishwasher cooled quicker than the dishes – so the water evporate off the dishes and condenses inside the walls of the machine. Opening the door is going to interfere with this process by letting hot moisture out – so you have a damper kitchen – which is probably not good !
I have a Neff dishwasher with the door opening feature, but it doesn't use a wax motor – you can clearly hear a normal DC electric motor spinning as the mechanism operates, and it will happily operate several times in a row without any cool-down time. Mine has an additional feature that this Zanussi one might share – when the door is closed and you want to open it, you can do so by simply pressing the door in slightly. The door detects this and cycles the door opening mechanism to open the door. It's an integrated dishwasher so the door front is a standard cupboard door matching all the others in the kitchen, and I suspect this feature is useful when the chosen door style in handle-less.
Watching this video reminded me of the innovative feature that our new dishwasher has. It doesn't have a piezo sounder, so no beeps.
It always struck me as pointless when the old one got to the end of a cycle – the dishes still needed to dry/cool down, so why play a crappy tune reminiscent of a Nokia from the 90s?