This isn’t a ham radio post, per se, but this kind of problem could crop up in an amateur radio station, so I’m posting it here. About a week ago, my washing machine started quitting mid-cycle. I’d go downstairs expecting to find clean clothes (yes, I do my own laundry!), but instead, there’d be a tub full of water and wet clothes.
At first, I thought it was the AC outlet. One of the sockets had gotten flakey, and sometimes moving the washer’s plug from one socket to another got it running again. So, Saturday, I replaced the AC sockets. Unfortunately, that failed to correct the problem.
On Sunday, I went over to the hardware store and bought a new right-angle AC plug (which cost nearly $7!). I chopped off the old plug and put that on, but no joy.
With a sigh, I popped open the washing machine’s control panel and found the two nylon connectors that you see in the photo below. Ever since my experience with the nylon power connector on the Omni VII that we had at WA2HOM, I’ve hated the things. The AC comes in from the left and connects to the main wiring harness via the horizontal nylon connector. The connector mounted vertically connects to the motor and gearbox below.
I jiggled the AC connector, and voilá, the machine started working again. I unplugged the machine, disconnected the cable, sprayed some contact cleaner into both the male and female sides, and plugged it back together. I’d like to say that did the trick, but the connection is still flakey. Not as flakey as before, but still not 100%, either.
I asked about this on Twitter and got the following advice:
- The stock ARES answer is: Convert it to Powerpole!
- Have you got the contact removal tool? If so, slide contacts out and tighten up the sockets with pliers.
- Corrossion? Open shut open shut open shut open shut. That was the 6-month fix on a 2001 Ford Escape airbag connector (!). Friction cleaned the contacts.
- Chop it off and install a new plug maybe?
- Bypass it with a slice and be willing to cut, if removal needed.
Replacing the connector would probably be the best approach, but the cables aren’t long enough to cut off the existing terminals and put new ones on. I’m not sure that PowerPoles are the best answer, either. They seem to like to be connected and disconnected regularly to avoid contact resistance buildup, and I don’t really want to have to open up the control panel regularly.
I think that leaves me with solution #2. I don’t have a contact removal tool, but maybe the hardware store will have one. Or, now that I’m thinking about it, maybe one of our ham radio club members has one.
What do you think? Am I on the right track?