Fisher & Paykel Smart Drive 608 – a couple of problems

[The Witzl]

Hi,

i’ve got a few problems that have cropped up with my F&P GW608….

# over the past couple of weeks, the water mixing valves have been a bit funny. Water would come out really slowly unless you selected COLD wash temp.

# Just the other night, I was running a load of washing, and in the last stage before spinning (final rinse) the water was coming out really slowly even though it was on COLD wash.

# After a bit of annoyance i decided to just skip the rinse and set the machine to spin – at which point the drain pump started operating erratically, cutting in and out and only spurting out short bursts of water.

# After a few moments the machine started beeping and flashing up what i now know is error code 00001011.

Now being the kind of person I am, the first thing i did was pull the thing apart to see if i could work something out. I couldnt see anything wrong upon inspection and so I went and spoke to a local “backyard” repair/2nd hand whitegoods shop for a bit of advice. From what i could understand from him (not the best english) he suggested that the triac for the pump is a common reason for failure as well as some of the other FETs mounted to the water mixing body.

I took it upon myself to replace the pump triac (BT136) with a higher rated BT137 and reassembled the machine.

Unfortunately, the problem still exists with the pump, and the error code 00001011 still flashes up, and when entering diagnosis mode it gives me this same error code.

Reading some other posts suggests this is the pressure sensor that looks after water levels…..
…. of course i was an idiot and disconnected the vacuum line to the pressure sensor, and there is still some water remaining in the drum. I’m guessing that because of this, when the pump kicks in to drain out the water this pressure sensor then gets a cavitation vacuum signal and cuts out the drain pump – is that right?

So – what do I do from here?

Oh yeah, and the water still comes out at a trickle pace (iu’ve checked all the lines for scum buildup and they are fine)

Replacing electronic components is NO hassle for me, im not afraid of ripping up a few parts and replacing them off the main PCB.

All help is VERY appreciated.

P.S. This is a fantastic forum! Wish i’d found it sooner!

[Penguin45]

Re: Fisher & Paykel Smart Drive 608 – a couple of proble

Cold water valve is a 12v proportional type – you are describing a classic failure. P/no is 425320.

Pressure sensor problem – drain the machine completely (see if you can get it to syphon into a bucket). Remove air hose again, blow through to clear any remaining water and refit. Should clear it………

Pump cutting in and out. Possibly the error situation switching it off as part of the fault, also possible that the TOC is tripping and shutting the pump down. Set it off and see if the pump gets hot quickly – warm is acceptable, hot is not. Cut the power before having a feel. Possible that the pump is partially restricted, causing it to run slowly and get hot. It’s a twist fit from underneath if you are inspecting. P/no is 425940P if required.

Let us know how you get on,
Regards,
Penguin45.

[The Witzl]

Re: Fisher & Paykel Smart Drive 608 – a couple of proble

Thanks!

I had a quick go playing around with it last night, and had a bit of a think about why the pump would go on and off like it was, and thought i might just disconnect the vacuum line to the pressure sensor to see what happens……
…. and HEY PRESTO! The pump started working!

So i allowed the machine to pump out all the water and go into a spin cycle to make sure all the water came out. Then powered down the unit, reconnected the vacuum line, put some water in, then tried to pump it again (to make sure it wasnt a fluke) and it still worked perfectly.

So problem no.1 solved 😀
I’ll still check that the pump to see if it gets hot during operation.

I’m dropping back into the repair shop today to pick up the proportional water valve, and will let you know what eventuates from that 🙂

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