Almost certainly a blocked outlet/drain. Such an obstacle does not present an undue load to the pump as it only has to rotate a core of water inside the pump body and so will not make any more noise or consume more power or overheat. Hence it is fail safe Bob
Hi all Just wanted to pick a few brains before taking the next step with washing machine repair.
Machine is Zanussi FR1450W, around 6 years old, heavily used. I've fixed a few minor problems before.
Now it's refusing to drain. At the end of a wash cycle it sits there humming merrily. I've succeeded in moving it through the cycles using the small bore drain pipe at the bottom. In the course of this I also unscrewed the filter (dirty but not excessively so) and saw the pump impeller blades turning.
To me this sort-of points to the outlet pipe being blocked, but Ii do also wonder about the water pump. I think the point at which it 'sits there quietly humming' is when the impellor is going round but no water is being pumped; however it's not as noisy as I'd expect if the pump was trying to pump past a blockage. So I'm wondering if the pump is faulty to the extent that the impeller is turning but with little/no power.
Thoughts? I'm inclined to order a pump pattern replacement and then I have it to hand when looking at the outlet pipe. But I'm happy to learn of options which might save me the time/hassle/expense...
Thanks J^n
tep with washing
Blocked pipe. Note sometimes there's a valve where the hose attaches to the waste trap on the wall, I've found this blocked before now.
Disconnect hose at wall end and place in bucket sat on top of machine. See if machine empties, then you'll know what's blocked..
NT
Hi Guys thanks for the replies, very helpful. I'll be taking a look this weekend and will let you know what I find.
Cheers J^n
Errant coins and/or buttons can also be a problem. They act as butterfly valves in the pipe, only closing when there is suffcient flow and allowing bits of wire past without a hint of their existance.
OK, I got around to it tonight rather than the weekend ... took the outlet pipe off the drain pump and sure enough, an attempt at rodding it revealed a blockage about 18 inches along. To cut a long story short, a combined application of hosepipe & water, and further rodding, finally yielded an enormous and satisfying 'ooze' of congealed washing fibres etc.
Got it back together after ensuring the water was running clear through the pipe and it's currently doing an empty 95 degree wash with washing soda crystals. I am fully expecting it to be cured and have given instructions about regular cleaning cycles along similar lines.
So, thanks for the advice & suggestions. I hadn't realised that the pumps were so weedy .. it helped to know that.
Cheers Jon N
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