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My Hotpoint BF32 “sticks” in the middle of a wash cycle and does not move on unless you manually advance the timer. This means it can be in the wash cycle for hours (all night, the first time I noticed it) On investigating, the water is not heating up so I changed the element – no difference. Although it seems to be filling ok and nothing appears to be blocked the water level only comes up to the bottom of the heating element and does not cover it – should it? I can’t see a level switch anywhere, it just seems to rely on 3 fills of the moulded side tank before going into pump mode, the float switch in the tank is fine. Is there a hidden level sensor tucked away somewhere. Or is it a timer or a thermostat problem? Any ideas
Re: Hotpoint BF32
The water does not cover the heating element, the fault could be stats, timer or wiring harness breaks. The fact that you changed the heater without ‘apparantly’ checking it for continuity first suggests to me that you would be advised to aquire the correct test equipment or, click on the link in my sig to see if we have someone who can help.
Please remove plug if you intend to investigate further.Re: Hotpoint BF32
Agreed I should have checked the element – especially as I had the gear to hand, but I thought it looked burnt at one place so I assumed. However further dismantling revealed the wiring as the culprit – as you suggested. Where the harness loops under the bottom of the door it was being pinched between the door frame and the appliance chassis everytime the door was opened. Over time this had cut through the overall insulation and into the cables themselves. Eventually the thicker (purple) heater element cable and been damaged to the point where there was not enough copper to carry the current and burnt out. Damage and burn mark visible in the picture. Have not machines been recalled in the past for faults such as this?
Re: Hotpoint BF32
Another go at sending the picture.
Here’s the link in case it doesn’t work again
Re: Hotpoint BF32
Hughie wrote: Have not machines been recalled in the past for faults such as this?
The door wiring harness is an inherent weak spot in any dishwasher, every time you open the door you bend the wiring. Some manufacturers cope better with this fault than others. As far as I am aware there was no recall on this possibly Bosch produced machine. Many years ago, Zanussi dishwasher door wiring did have a habit of setting on fire, even when not in use, with disastrous consequences. I have not seen any such combustion problems with your machine, but the fault you show in your picture is very common.
Re: Hotpoint BF32
At least one model of the faulty Zanussi range was the DW400 (circa. 1987). I can’t remember if BBC’s “Watchdog” highlighted the problem, but there was a newspaper recall in the late Eighties.
There might have been a combination of factors involved in the faulty machines: I seem to remember a comment (on “Watchdog” ?) about faulty rinse-aid dispensers, leaking on to door wiring.
As it turned out, my mum’s DW400 was OK (it apparently was the later version; the engineer said that the wiring entered the door at a different angle).
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