10+ year old Hotpoint (so it's really an Indesit, I think?) controls are not mechanical.
It's not been any trouble, though over last couple of years it's developed a slight tendency between washes for the staus LEDs to end up in weird blinking patterns (that don't correspond to any of the defined error patterns) TIOAOA fixes that, but today it's got stuck in the middle of a cycle twice.
First it was filling and pumping out at same time, second time I think it was trying to boil itself dry, steam coming out the soap drawer.
My fault finding doesn't extend much past if it's not a blown fuse look for bulging capacitors, I'm thinking it *could* be the latter, dodgy cap on PSU section giving flaky voltages that crashing the CPU?
But beyond that, not much else worth bothering looking for?
One of the problems with a control board like that, is a lack of silk screened markings. It is SO helpful when a legend marks +5V rail, +3.3V rail, as for a home hobbyist, those might be the only things they can check easily.
The other part of disassembly, would be getting a part number off the top of the SOC, but if the part number is long, like 123456789 instead of ST352, then that marks a part with a ROM on the top layer of the silicon and the part number is a declaration of being "custom". That also makes getting a datasheet impossible (for a hobbyist to map the part number to actual silicon).
If the part has a "regular" number like ST352 sort of thing, it could be EEPROM based and programmable on the factory line. Flash storage is usually "assured" for ten years. Whereas a ROM design is good forever, as it is not based on floating gates like an EEPROM is.
EEPROMs on ATX motherboards, occasionally have bitrot, but then, the device itself can be "constantly written to", so it is not like the device rests undisturbed. The washer has no reason to be a read/write device, and should be read only while in service.
A good design on a SOC, the SOC will do a CRC check over the entire flash load. If the CRC is wrong, the unit would "stop and light a LED", indicating in-service failure and no washing for you.
Your "unstable supply" theory then, is a strong contender for root cause. Because the stupid machine thinks it is sane.
I had an ATX motherboard crash here, due to unstable +5V.
It could be, for example, that when actuating the relays or triacs, something is overloading the rails. You would also look for burn marks on any power-driving components, indicating they've been tortured.
Also examine the PCB. Check for corrosion. Bare copper does not last very long. Nickel plating or "something over nickel", will last a lot longer. If electrolyte has leaked from the main caps, that can corrode the conductors nearby.
three boards 180 to 245 quid each, not worth it compared to 400 ish for a new machine, the bearings sound a bit graunchy too, so replace the whole thing (if I can't see any caps worth replacing) would make sense.
As it was an integrated W/D, I went for essentially a drop in model from Indesit to save hassle, arrived today and installed ok (drain hose a few inches shorter so minor rejig of plumbing required) other comments...
Cold-fill only, I think I struggled to find a hot/cold fill one back in
2008, never sure if the argument that modern detergents work better cold is just a convenient excuse or not, apparently 20°C is the new 30°C.
On the whole, noticeable quieter than the old one ever was, this one brags about "invertermotor" on the front panel, I assume the old one was too since it did have a 3-ph motor, but the new one feels very smoothly computer-controlled.
[Having said it is quiet, it's actually just hit spin, and that's actually pretty loud and goes on for ages]
[Now it's on tumble dry, obviously it drips a bit of water to condense the steam, and that's sending an annoying "tick" of water hammer around all my pipes every few seconds, and I do have an arrestor fitted]
The manual (two sheets of A4) insists you have to run an "auto-clean" cycle before doing a real wash, shame it doesn't actually mention the secret key combination to trigger that, fortunately youtube knew, presumably that saves them the hassle of having to de-grease it before leaving the factory?
Compared to the old one, it contains much cheapness; old one had stainless drum and tub, metal motor casing/bracket/pulleys. New one does have stainless (or at least shiny looking) drum, but the tub is brittle plastic glued from several pieces, motor housing/bracket/pulleys also plastic.
It reccomends you turn the water tap off between washes, I mean, honestly who is going to do that? Makes me suspicious that they've fitted crappy solenoid valves that can't take continuous pressure.
Best point for last ... it has an EU compliant "Eco 40-60" mode, for efficient water and energy use ... shame it takes 9 f****ng hours and 20 minutes to run!
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