Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

[brightspark]

Hi all,

I have a 4 year old (about) Bosch washer which is reluctant to spin. It briefly starts to spin, stops after a couple of seconds, and then starts again a couple of times. It shows “spinning” on the display. After about 2 minutes it then gives up spinning and shows “fluffing up” for a minute or so and then finishes normally, or at least it doesn’t show any errors on the display and you get the “remove washing” display.
The previous parts of the wash cycles seem to work fine (according to wife).
It was having a problem draining, but I removed the hair clips, bits of necklace etc from the filter area, and all the machines drain pipework last night and flushed through thoroughly with descaler. It now seems to drain OK, but won’t spin up properly 😥 . The external drain is shared with a dishwasher – but I checked that and it is clear (including vent).
I replaced the motor about 6 months ago and it has been fine since.
Is this a sign of terminal main board failure? Could there be something else clogged up that could be causing this spinning problem (please say yes 😕 )?

Cheers

[nomadPaul]

what was being washed at the time ? if it was a large item or even a single item , it may have been just the out of balance system operating. What happens if you try a spin cycle with the appliance empty ?

[brightspark]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

Same story when empty. I’ve made sure it’s drained properly before the spin as well, but still no joy…

[brightspark]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

Looking at the schematics on the BSH site, I noticed that there is a rinse sensor associated with the pump.
When removing the drain pipe, I had to “manhandle” the pump a bit – is it possible that this has upset the rinse sensor – could this be related to the spin problem? ❓

[brightspark]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

OK, I took the back off again and checked around underneath (and yes, I did unplug/switch off first) just make sure I hadn’t dislodged any wiring/plugs, as on the machine diagrams it looks like there is a rinse sensor under the drum. Well I couldn’t find anything unplugged, but I just pushed everything in a bit and had another go.

Well things seem better now, though I’m not sure if that was down to me. What I hadn’t tried was running a normal programme right through. I did this twice today and all seemed to run OK, with a correctly working full speed / length spin at the end of the programme.

I haven’t tried the stand alone spin programme again, as this wasn’t working, and I’ll have to check with wife to see just what programme she was using that wasn’t spinning out correctly – is it possible for one programme to be duff and the rest OK?

What I did notice when the back was off is that there is what looks like a bit of grease at the base of one of the shock absorbers. The machine does bang a bit and vibrate sometimes when spinning up/spinning, even when there is a good mixed load. I’ve made sure that it is completely leveled, and the floor is concrete. How long should the shocks last (the machine gets at least three loads a day)? Is it likely that new shocks would reduce the vibration – are they pricey?

[brightspark]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

Tonight wife has used the machine on a different program and it’s showing the spin problem again. Something else that is happening is that there is occasionally a massive band as the machine spins up – though it stops again almost straight away.
I took the top off to see the drum suspension movement (switched off machine first) and there’s almost no resistance to movement when you puch the drum down (with a wet load still inside though).
Is it possible that the springs/shocks are knackered, and that there is a sensor detecting the massive drum movement (so much that it seems to hit the side of the machine)?
If it is the shocks springs I’m up for replacing these, but if the problem is really with the main board then I won’t bother replacing the parts, as the shocks are dead pricey (unless UKWG does some good cheaper pattern parts)..

[Penguin45]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

OK………. Consider:

The machine will bang about on spin if it is struggling to drain quickly and easily. Check the pump filter and the drain coupling (if appropriate) as the first step.

The machine is actually 7 years old. The drive motor carbon brushes are likely to be well worn by now. Worn brushes may be struggling to make a clean contact in the motor, which can cause jolting, juddering and general banging about as the PCB tries to make it run.

A faulty shock absorber will fail to stabilise the drum. If it’s failed, this is rather more likely to be related to the points made above. In a way, its a car job. Shove the drum down, one bounce and it should stop. If it has really failed, you will have dents in the side of the casing where the drum has struck it.

As far as the support springs are concerned, if the drum is central and square in the casing, you don’t have a problem.

Regrds,
Penguin45.

[brightspark]

Re: Bosch WFR2860GB / 01 FD 8105 7 00144 – Spin problem

Thanks penguin,
It’s definitely draining well – nice strong sound of a healthy flow, the filter is clear and the drain coupling too. and I can’t see water in the drum when it’s finished, and am getting the usual sound when the pump is scavenging out the last drops. Mind you I’ve not checked the manual drain pipe to see how much left in the bottom of the drum at the end of the drain process. And maybe I’ve done something to the rinse/drain sensor so it’s not working correctly (as according to wife the spin / drum turning problem only appeared after I had been fiddling with the drain pump/pipe work).
The motor is almost new, as I replaced it only about 6 months ago, so the brushes should be OK and there’s no sign of any sparking.
I just don’t understand how the machine ran OK yesterday for 3 full cycles when I tested it, but last night when wife used it all the same old symptoms appeared, and the “banging”. When I tried on several different programs last night, I found the same story, drum was rotating a couple of times and then pausing, instead of the continuous turn through the programs like it should when washing.
Looking at the drum, there definitely seemed to be some bounce after pushing it down and letting go, and more than I’d expected. It’s not a problem I’ve noticed before on other machines, maybe that’s only because they’ve always died of some other problem before the shocks went.
When it bangs, it’s a real big “thump”, and the whole machine jumps sideways. It happens immediately the machine drum goes into a spin from standing. It’s almost like there is something up with the motor control and it’s spinning up too quickly – and the shocks are just aggravating the problem. Maybe it’s the dodgy shock causing the motor to react in that way, and also the other “not-rotating properly” problem is something to do with the effect the dodgy shock is having on the sensors in the motor maybe, if that’s how it detects out of balance loads?
I’m worried that the new motor is knackered already, if that contains any of the speed control functions.
What I might try today is

– again checking all the connections I can under the drum to make sure they’re seated properly (that seemed to do the trick yesterday, and maybe a dodgy connection has just worked loose again).
– removing each shock to try and see which one (if any) is really knackered.

Is removing a shock a big job – can I do it leaving the drum in place?

[Author]

Posts