Hotpoint Aquarius FDL570 Heating Fault

[aidanhd]

Hi All,

My Hotpoint Aquarius FDL570 has stopped completing a full cycle. It stops shortly after it begins the main wash (after the pre wash rinse), pumps out all the water and has 3 flashing lights: salt, rinse aid and end/9hr. My research so far (as well as the water being cold when it stops) pointed towards the heating element, which I have now replaced but the issue prevails. I’ve also seen mention of a thermistor but I haven’t found such component thus far. Please can someone explain where the thermistor is and advise as to what to investigate next? I’ve just checked continuity through the blue wires running from the control panel to the motherboard and all seems ok.

Thanks in advance!

[electrofix]

to be able to check anything i need a complete model number, commercial code and serial number

when i look up your model at the moment i get over 10 variations

also the one i did look up the thermistor is part of the main control board.. If yours is like this. then there is a wire coming off the board that cant be disconnected, this leads to a small sensor that clips into a slot on the sump of the machine to measure temp

dave

[aidanhd]

One thing I forgot to mention is that during the last full cycle the machine completed, it did make a series of loud buzzing/humming noises, which in my mind, also suggested the heating element (or some other higher powered component) to have failed

[electrofix]

thats interesting as one of the main reaons for noise is excess foam. since this can alter the flow of water through the heater it may be partly to blame for its demise

Dave

[aidanhd]

That’s strange, I don’t recall seeing any excess foam. Also, I’ve replaced the heater but the fault remains, suggesting something else is to blame.

Is it worth trying to replace the temperature sensor? I know it’s hard wired to the board but I’m quite capable of soldering a new one in if I know where to get one

[electrofix]

sensor not available as a spare and Hotpoint dont list a spec for it so dont even know what reading to expect off it

cant see pic of sensor as pic is too small. to add larger pics you need to host externally and add a public link

you could check the relay. All high power devices use a relay on the board and being a mechanical device they fail

the only other tech info re noise is motor mounting problem.

Dave

[aidanhd]

I see, I suppose my best option may be to source a second hand control board. I have seen them for sale on eBay and they seem to include the temperature sensor.

Ah ok thanks, yes I will check the relays later. I must admit I assumed they used triacs or some other solid state switching device, but I guess these can also fail. I haven’t had the board out fully to have a proper look.

The noise sounded more like an electrical noise, like a typical 50Hz hum/buzz, as if the motor had stalled or something had shorted out. When I replaced the heater, there were no blockages or anything to suggest this being the case and it seemed to spin freely. Also the flashing light sequence suggests a heating issue as far as I can tell, rather than a motor fault.

Thanks for the help so far, I will report back later when I’ve checked the relays 🙂

[electrofix]

no point buying a seconhand board as the board look the same but software changes. unless the board has the same model and commercial code and poss serial number sequence it may not work

new boards are blank and have to be programmed

Dave

[aidanhd]

Ah right, is that something worth doing do you think? Do you know what that’s likely to cost?

I suppose an option may be to salvage the temperature sensor from a second hand board and swap it over, keeping fingers crossed that the ‘new’ one is ok!

Thanks

[electrofix]

and thats assuming its a temp sensor fault and not the board

i would take the board out first and look at the relay solder joints. have had loads of these over the years go bad on lots of machines

Dave

[aidanhd]

Ok so I’ve taken the board out and straight away spotted soot on the inside of the plastic cover. The board itself has a couple of burnt out diodes & resistors. It looks like the smaller of the two perpendicularly mounted boards/cards, some kind of power supply board I assume, has the most damage.

If I were to replace these components, how likely do you think it is that it will solve the problem? I’m assuming something else must be wrong to have caused them to burn out in the first place

Thanks

[electrofix]

soot by itself is not a problem but if you have burnt out components you would need to see if the values are still visible so you can replace them
but i would check if they are actually faulty first with a meter

Dave

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