Name:Mahmoud Maged ID:4791

Operation of Washing Machines

Introduction

Figure 1: Parts of a typical washing machine

A washing machine is a machine used to wash laundry, such as clothing and sheets. The
basic idea of a washing machine is simple: it sloshes your clothes about in soap suds for a
while and then spins fast to remove the water afterward.

The most important component of washing machine is a mechanical or electronic control

mechanism called a programmer, which makes the various parts of the clothes washer go
through a series of steps to wash, rinse, and spin your clothes. [1]

The washing machine's operation includes the following steps: [2]

1. You put your clothes in the machine and detergent either in the machine itself or in
a tray up above.
2. You set the program you want and switch on the power.

3. The programmer opens the water valves so hot and cold water enter the
machine and fill up the outer and inner drums. The water usually enters at
the top and trickles down through the detergent tray, washing any soap there into
the machine.

4. The programmer switches off the water valves.

5. The thermostat measures the temperature of the incoming water. If it's too cold, the
programmer switches on the heating element. This works just like an electric kettle
or water boiler.

6. When the water is hot enough, the programmer makes the inner drum rotate back
and forth, sloshing the clothes through the soapy water.

7. The detergent pulls the dirt from your clothes and traps it in the water.

8. The programmer opens a valve so the water drains from both drums. Then it
switches on the pump to help empty the water away.

9. The programmer opens the water valves again so clean water enters the drums.

10. The programmer makes the inner drum rotate back and forth so the clean water
rinses the clothes. It empties both drums and repeats this process several times to
get rid of all the soap.

11. When the clothes are rinsed, the programmer makes the inner drum rotate at really
high speed—around 80 mph (130 km/h). The clothes are flung against the outside
edge of the inner drum, but the water they contain is small enough to pass through
the drum's tiny holes into the outer drum. Spinning gets your clothes dry using the
same idea as a centrifuge.

12. The pump removes any remaining water from the outer drum and the wash cycle
comes to an end.

13. You take your clothes out!

Let us see the important parts of the washing machine; this will also help us understand the
working of the washing machine. Please refer to the image below.

Figure 2: Commercial washing machines in a self-service laundromat (Toronto,

Canada)
1) Water inlet control valve: Near the water inlet point of the washing there is water inlet
control valve. When you load the clothes in washing machine, this valve gets opened
automatically and it closes automatically depending on the total quantity of the water
required. The water control valve is actually the solenoid valve.
2) Water pump: The water pump circulates water through the washing machine. It works
in two directions, re-circulating the water during wash cycle and draining the water during
the spin cycle.
3) Tub: There are two types of tubs in the washing machine: inner and outer. The clothes
are loaded in the inner tube, where the clothes are washed, rinsed and dried. The inner
tube has small holes for draining the water. The external tub covers thinner tub and
supports it during various cycles of clothes washing.
4)Agitator or rotating disc: The agitator is located inside the tub of the washing machine. It
is the important part of the washing machine that actually performs the cleaning operation
of the clothes. During the wash cycle the agitator rotates continuously and produces strong
rotating currents within the water due to which the clothes also rotate inside the tub. The
rotation of the clothes within water containing the detergent enables the removal of the dirt
particles from the fabric of the clothes. Thus, the agitator produces most important
function of rubbing the clothes with each other as well as with water. In some washing
machines, instead of the long agitator, there is a disc that contains blades on its upper side.
The rotation of the disc and the blades produce strong currents within the water and the
rubbing of clothes that helps in removing the dirt from clothes.

5) Motor of the washing machine: The motor is coupled to the agitator or the disc and
produces it rotator motion. These are multispeed motors, whose speed can be changed as
per the requirement. In the fully automatic washing machine the speed of the motor.

6) Timer: The timer helps setting the wash time for the clothes manually. In the automatic
mode the time is set automatically depending upon the number of clothes inside the
washing machine. [3]

References
1, 2. http://www.explainthatstuff.com/washingmachine.html

3 & Supplementary resources:

http://www.brighthubengineering.com/consumer-appliances-electronics/38895-working-
parts-of-a-washing-machine/