Patent ID: 8918937

Claim:
A method for preventing overload of a washing machine motor driving a wash basket during a spin extraction cycle, the method comprising: rotating the wash basket during the spin extraction cycle; detecting a voltage of a mains power supply to the motor; determining a maximum motor advance angle based on the detected voltage of the mains power supply to the motor; setting a maximum advance angle for the motor to the determined maximum advance angle based on the detected voltage; and operating the motor to continue to rotate the wash basket for the spin extraction cycle with the motor advance angle not exceeding the set maximum advance angle, whereby potential overload of the motor due to rotation of the wash basket containing an unbalanced clothes load at a setpoint maximum spin speed is prevented by the wash basket with the unbalanced clothes load only being able to rotate at speeds achievable with the set maximum advance angle for the motor, which may be less than the setpoint maximum spin speed.