Washing machine repairs

[Stephen]

Hello,

The spring on our washing machine door handle is worn out. I can't seem to buy the spring separately and have to buy it as part of a complete handle.

They have told me that if the spring is worn out, perhaps the door interlock is similarly old and worn too and that I should replace that at the same time. It's £10. They say that if the interlock fails due to age, it will blow the pcb and the pcb costs more to replace than buying a new machine.

I don't know how true any of that is but if there is a microswitch that senses whether the door is closed, I guess it could fail eventually and I guess I bought the machine in 2001-2. Do you think it is worth changing the interlock?

I was told the same story again: that the pcbs used to be protected by fused inputs but the manufacturers removed the fuses to save money. I was told that if the brushes wear out on the motor, this will blow the pcb too. The brushes are about £12/pair.

It looks like I will have to remove the belt and the motor to get a look at the brushes. I don't want to do this once to have a look and then a second time a week later to replace them, so I wonder whether to just buy a pair and do it all in one go.

Do you think it is worth doing this, or do you think they are just trying to find extra sales of parts?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Andrew Gabriel]

That sounds to me much more likely to be bullshit than true.

That is often is true.

If you said the make/model, someone might have some specific knowledge.

Yes, I had the brushes blow one of the triacs on the PCB, although I don't know that this is particularly common. A new triac was less than a quid (actually I think I got two for less than a quid), although the manufacturer wouldn't regard the PCB as a repairable item, because they almost certainly buy them in as complete tested units. Depends if you're up to diagnosing and repairing the PCB yourself.

How much are they charging? What's the model?

Genuine Hotpoint bearings are under 5 quid from CPC, but you can pay up to 10 times that price at some places. Likewise motor brushes.

[NT]

horse output. Those switches go sc and oc as part of normal use.

Bad brushes reduces current draw. Loads of machines have had their brushes replaced when needed without the pcb dying.

Sounds like the usual games to me.

NT

[Stephen]

Thanks for all the advice. It is a Hotpoint WMA63. I think Hotpoint washing machines are about £300-400. I wouldn't have thought a new pcb would cost that much? If there was a burnt out triac, I think I would be able to remove and replace it but the problem is knowing what it was when the numbers have evaporated from the front ;)

Taking the motor off to check the brushes should be straightforward but I'm not looking forward to trying to put the belt back on it afterward. I think I will go with the "if it's not broke don't fix it" approach for now. I hadn't thought of cpc as a source of parts, I'll take a closer look.

Thanks, Stephen.

[OG]

You shouldn't have to remove the motor to check the brushes. If you slide the top off the washer you should be get to the brushes with no problem.

That's been my experience with 2 other Hotpoint washers, anyway.

[Dave Liquorice]

Shouldn't be a problem the motor normally has pivot mount that enables the belt to be tensioned correctly, just slacken that off and the belt will drop off/on....

They have a huge range of white goods spares but unless it has changed an awful lot of them are not in the catalogue or online. You have to ring 'em up with make/model etc.

[tony sayer]

In article , Stephen scribeth thus

I've come to the conclusion for our rented properties that a washing machine thats seen Three years service or more is hardly worth repairing unless its something cheap and obvious, as most every time the repair bloke who we know.. its going the cost you at least 100 quid plus for parts and labour, or more likely these days in his opinion its not worth bothering with so thats what we do, just buy a new one....

We've used e-spares sometime now, decent range and quick service..

[Andrew Gabriel]

Hotpoint spares are actually one of the most reasonably priced.

Pretty much any 8A 800V triac will do. However, there was no visible damage to mine.

Belt comes on and off easily. There's an access panel on the rear to ease wrapping it round the drum pully. Don't try to run the motor without the belt. The off-load speed for some washing machine motors is well above their max speed (so they'll fly to pieces). My hotpoint

9561 had speed feedback from the motor to the microprocessor, but the software didn't cope with no load either, and crashed (followed by me rapidly hitting the poweroff button as the motor took off).

They don't do a white goods spares catalogue anymore and you can't order them online even if you know the part number, so you have to call them. (There are a few things in the main catalogue which you can order online, but most of their white goods spares aren't.)

[fred]

In article , Stephen writes

This outfit were pointed out to me when I was looking for exchange boards for Hotpoint, they seem to be a trusted trade source:

only have one board mentioned for your machine: known faults include "1 Blown tracks as a result of a shorting interlock (door light flashes

- change door interlock and board)" so maybe the door interlock change recommendation wasn't entirely BS.

In the end, the machine I repaired was fixed by changing a duff cap in the 5V switch mode power supply circuit that showed the typical bulging end. Worth checking before replacing a board in modern machine. This was a 4-5yr old model and had 2 boards, each with a single chip comp and a bunch of relays on the main control board, no triacs that I could see (maybe they have learned from previous mistakes).

[Stephen]

The motor is on the bottom of this model. Any reason why I can't lie it on its back and work from underneath? I know you shouldn't do this with dishwashers; does the same apply to washing machines?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen]

Thanks. That explains why I have never seen any online or in print.

Thanks, Stephen.

[<me9]

You can't take the top off my Hotpoint. However the control panel comes off easily giving access to the brushes from the front.

[NT]

If you've got m,ultiple properties/machines, keeping a dead one for spares may be worthwhile. That eliminates a lot of spares costs. I'd expect more than 3 yrs from a Bosch, but not from hotpoints. And yes, yuo can mix/match some parts over different models & makes.

NT

[Andy Burns]

Three Hotpoint washer/dryers have lasted me ~23 years.

[NT]

They used to be a lot better. Todays ones I just avoid. And obviously 50% will last longer, and 50% less than average.

NT

[Bob Eager]

Yebbut I bet they are old ones. Our last one lasted 14 years; a replacement Hotpoint went 15 months before the bearings failed.

They are not the same machines these days.

[Andy Burns]

The last two managed ~9 years apiece, the current one has been in place for 5 years so far.

Current one has the bloody annoying thermal door interlock that makes you wait minutes rather than seconds after the drum has stopped before being able to open the door. It also had to have a call-out when it was just a few weeks old (water dripping onto a circuit board, they upgraded its firmware, replaced the board and stuck an angled plastic shield above it to prevent it happening again).

[OG]

Just thinking of replacing our #2 hotpoint after 22 years. Current one has had replacement brushes and that's about it in 10 years.

Occasionally I've had to tweak the door lock/release mechanism.

Thinking of replacing it because the final spin isn't doing what it ought.

[dennis]

One Hotpoint and one indisit lasted me 23 years. The Hotpoint contributed 20 years.

[Bob Eager]

But don't Indesit make Hotpoints now?