washing machine fix?

[Oxymel of Squill]

I know what's wrong with the washing machine, it gets a bit damp because it lives in an outhouse since its home in the kitchen got taken by a dishwasher, and the damp causes a short occasionally. I learned that last time I called out the repairman.

It's on a timeswitch to use cheap rate electricity, it clicks on at 2am and trips the fuse.

Before calling said £85 repairman out again to remove a drip of water, any thoughts on how I might do it myself? I can get the top off. Waggle a hairdryer round for a while? Splash WD40 everywhere?

Any sensible suggestions appreciated. It's a Candy btw

cheers

Jon

[Palindr☻me]

Is it blowing a fuse or tripping an RCD? There is a lot of difference between the two.

You could consider putting a very small heater under/in/behind the machine. Just a few watts may make all the difference. I am thinking of the sort used for keeping the damp out of pianos. A blanket over the top would keep things cosy. Actually, almost anything that gives out a few watts of heat will do, lol, even an old defunct Sky box..

If it is blowing fuses, it won't be long before it will need more drastic repairs. If it is just tripping an mcb, you could possibly put it on a fused supply or replacing the mcb with a wired fuse. I wouldn't recommend it but it may work.

[Oxymel of Squill]

it trips the rcd I'll try the heater thanks

[ARWadsworth]

If you could run the machine on a non RCD supply for a while you may dry out the heating elements if that is the cause of the problem.

If it was tripping an MCB then changing to a fuse will not help in this case.

Adam

[Palindr☻me]

I had a washing machine that would trip an MCB on startup but not blow an "equally rated" fuse. Hence the suggestion to try a fuse.

IIRC, MCBs use a magnetic "instantaneous" fault current trip and a thermal "time-delay" trip. They are far more precise than an odd bit of fuse wire so may trip, quite correctly, whilst fusewire may take an overcurrent for longer than it "should" - if it is, say, in a very cold and draughty fuse holder...

Long time ago, but i2t graphs spring to mind.

Never did work out whether my machine was tripping on thermal or magnetic - I got a replacement instead. It was *very* elderly..

[ARWadsworth]

The discrimination rule

Which will react first? A 20 amp MCB or a 13 amp BS1363 fuse (the one in the washing wachine plug)?

They are still there.

The reason I suggested that a MCB/fuse swap is irrelevant in this case is that water and or damp will not pass enought current to trip either of them instantly. It had to be an RCD trip or a short circuit in the machine.

Adam