Inner And Outer Bowls - Fisher & Paykel SMARTDRIVE PHASE 7 Service Manual

517790D
2.10

Inner and Outer Bowls

The outer bowl is the assembly to which all the motor, pump system, suspension rods, etc are
mounted. Within the outer bowl are the inner bowl and the agitator. During spin, the agitator and
inner bowl have to be coupled together and turn as a single unit. In agitate, the agitator and inner
bowl are free to rotate independently.
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In SmartDrive the inner bowl is free to move in a vertical direction. The position of the inner bowl
is determined by the water level. At the base of the inner bowl is a flotation chamber consisting of
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a number of individual cells. When SmartDrive is filling with water, the pressure on the air in
these cells increases as the water level rises until eventually the inner bowl floats upwards and
disengages the driven spline from the drive spline. This action frees the agitator from the inner
bowl and allows it to move freely in both directions.
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When the water is draining from SmartDrive , the pressure on the air trapped in the cells of the
flotation chamber decreases allowing the inner bowl to settle back down onto the drive spline and
re-engage the driven spline, thus allowing the agitator and inner bowl to turn as one unit. The
floating bowl is also used to detect if the user has selected the correct water level for the size of the
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clothes load in SmartDrive .
The point at which the bowl starts to float is determined by the water level and the size of the load.
The greater the load, the more water is needed before the inner bowl will float. By detecting the
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point at which the bowl floats, SmartDrive can determine whether the correct water level for the
particular clothes load has been chosen by the operator. If the operator has chosen a level that is
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too low for the load, SmartDrive will override that choice and fill to the correct level. This is to
ensure optimum wash performance and minimal clothes wear. If the user has selected a level that
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is higher than necessary, SmartDrive will still fill to the users selected level.
2.10.1 Detection Of Inner Bowl Float Off Point – Bowl Check
During fill the inner bowl will rotate to ensure that the clothes are evenly saturated with water.
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When the chosen water level is reached, and before the agitate cycle is started, SmartDrive will
carry out inner bowl float checks (bowl check). The inner bowl will stop and commence a number
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of small agitate type actions. During this action SmartDrive
determines if the inner bowl has
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floated. If it has, SmartDrive will determine the required water level and check if the operator has
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selected the correct level. If the inner bowl has not floated, SmartDrive will continue filling and
check again later. The water level at which the inner bowl floats is not necessarily the same as the
final water level.
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