The washing machine wash drum was jerking or not rotating at all, and a crackling sound, suggesting electrical arcing, was coming out from behind the programmer on the front, control, panel. The first things I decided to check were the drum motor's brushes. So, I took out the motor to check them.

This washing machine's motor is a type called a 'universal' motor, which has 'brushes'. The brushes supply electrical power to the rotating part of the motor, which is called the 'commutator', from the non-rotating part that surrounds it, called the 'stator' (an aide-mémoire is to associate 'stator' with the common word 'static', meaning 'stationary'). Because the the commutator rotates and keeps rotating, it cannot be connected to the stator with fixed wires as these would prevent the commutator from rotating at all, if they were short enough, or, if longer, get wound around the commutator as it turned, eventually causing it stop when all of the wire that could be wound had been. To solve that problem, springy, wirey metal pads (think of a Brillo, or other, metal scouring pad, used to scrub clean cooking pots and pans) were used to transfer the electrical power, held squashed up against the sides of the commutator, sometimes by a spring, ensuring it was powered and able to continuously rotate. However, these pads were not ideal as they wore down quickly, were wearing on the commutator, and created excessive sparking and a scraping noise. To solve that problem, blocks of carbon or graphite, ends held pushed against the commutator by a spring. However, there's no way to stop them eventually wearing down to nothing; that's why I needed to check the ones in my washing machine as it has been heavily used since I bought it, twenty-five years ago. My thought was that they'd become completely worn down, the result being that the sharp ends of their metal springs were now transfering power to the commutator, inevitably contact being poor, thus sparking (arcing) and its attendant crackling sound, so they'd need replacing.

Surprisingly, the brushes still had some way to go before wearing out. So, that wasn't, in fact, the problem.

I quickly discovered that the electrical terminal block fixed to the motor's top had had water dripping onto and into it from the wash drum.

This had corroded the terminals. The result was poor electrical conductivity, added resistance to the current leading to a rise in temperature; indeed, there was clear evidence of burning of the terminal block's plastic housing. It seemed a bit daft to me that any electrical component would be installed right under the back plate of the outer wash drum, meaning any leaking water would drip onto the terminal block. But there you go.

The mating counterpart to the terminal block was similarly damaged: corroded terminal crimp connectors, as well as burned plastic.

You can clearly see which areas of the outer drum's back plate the water was leaking from; partially-disolved washing powder marks it out.

I could not find an identical replacement terminal block, nor even a suitable generic one, the intention being to install and waterproof the item. So, I decided to dispense with any sort of terminal block and, instead, make use of an assorted set of terminal crimp connectors and a pair of crimpers I happened to have bought already, to connect up all the wires.

Be sure to test for good continuity and electrical resistance!

Before cutting the ends off the wires, I created pairs of printed labels, waterproofed with sticky tape, so I didn't end up connecting the wrong wires together, and stuck them round the wires.

I chose bullet-type terminal crimp connectors for the wires incoming to the motor as these are the only ones in my assorted set that intrinsically make for an completely insulated connection. For power-supplying wires, such as these, it's essential, when using mating connectors, that the conenctors are female (sockets) as those do not present an exposed, live connection when energised.

The wires from the motor therefore male bullet-type terminal crimp connectors (photograph shows the initial, temporary wire labelling).

The motor reinstalled and all wires, neatly and clearly labelled, connected up.

The view upwards from underneath the washing machine, showing that the connections are, unlike with the terminal block, well back from the outer drum's back plate, which is where the water was dripping from.

Next job was to clean off from the outer drum's back plate the washing powder residue from the water leaks.

Rather than trying to remove the well-rusted bolts, from which the water had been leaking, which would have been very difficult if not impossible, and fit replacements, instead, for a "quick 'n' dirty" solution, I decided to apply liberal quantities of silicone sealant on and around the bolt heads.

A neat trick to get the motor shaft's belt around the wash drum's drive pulley is to hold part of the belt on the pulley and tightly tie it with a cable tie, then simply turn the pulley before cutting off the tie.

Finally! All done and...