The odds of getting your washing machine repaired right the first time aren’t great. Only 61 percent of all repairs were done correctly on the first attempt, according to a Consumer Reports’ survey.

A washer that isn’t spinning may be overloaded, unbalanced, or sitting unevenly on the floor. Common issues include broken parts like the lid switch, belt, or drain pump—all easy to replace. If fixes ...

There’s great potential in salvaging a motor from a broken appliance, but so often the part in question is very specific to its application, presenting a puzzle of wires to the experimenter. This was ...

Higher motor efficiency is a Good Thing – It’s unlikely that any design engineer ever said, “Gee, if only I could find a really inefficient motor for my next design.” When I was working on an article ...