Fisher & Paykel 603 – Slow Fill on Final Rinse

[pluto]

This machine is about 10 years old and works well until it gets to the Final Rinse whereupon the water only dribbles in while the tub slowly spins. Eventually the machine alarms with 3-4 beeps every 20secs or so and the HOT & COLD leds flash. Seems to be the same thing that happens if the water taps were turned off during the cycle.

So it makes sense to me that the machine is starved of water and eventually goes into alarm mode.

If while the water is dribbling out, I fill manually with bucket, the dribbles stop when the level is nice and high and the machine proceeds to rinse then spin and finish OK.

I thought it was a blockage, but when you start a new wash cycle there is a really healthy flow of water, so why does it reduce to a trickle during the final rinse?

Both solenoid valves measure around 15ohms. The OOB switch tests OK and does not appear to be activated when the fault appears. The pump is free to turn. There does not appear to be any corrosion around anywhere.

I note that I can now observe all the washing activity with the lid up yet I was sure that when the machine was new most activities stopped whenever the lid was raised. (A safety feature no doubt) I was wondering whether or not the machine had got itself into maintenance mode (if there is such a thing)

With the machine off, I hold the water temp button down then press Power to go to fault mode. I then operate up and down spin buttons and observe the following binary codes.
Hold & Slow 0000 0000
Fast 0001 0110
Fast & Hold 1101 0101
Fast & Slow 0000 1110
F/M/S 0010 1010
F/M/S/H 0011 0111

I would appreciate some help on this if anyone knows about this situation.
Thanks

[pluto]

Re: Fisher & Paykel 603 – Slow Fill on Final Rinse

Well that was quick.
While I was contemplating life without a washing machine I did read a few more posts and found out a bit more about the way F&P manage their Hot & Cold. That was a real help but the final piece fell into place when I read something about another final filter inside the valves. I pulled these filters out from the back of the machine with a pair of needle nose pliers and guess what the cold was blocked. As the machine was trying to rinse with cold only that explains why it was slow. Silly me didn’t realise that the wash cycle filled with hot and cold so it gave the appearance of filling OK but there was not much cold going in. I guess that also explains why I don’t fix washing machines for a living.

So thanks to myself for this reply, but really it was reading everyone else’s woes that put me on the right track so I am most gratefull to all those who have contributed.
I hope my experience helps others a bit too.

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