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Our Hotpoint washer/dryer has been almost faultless for the 6 years of its life, apart from a split door seal a couple of years ago which was fixed under warranty. However, today it now ceases to work at all and of course, the warranty expired last year.
The first sign something was wrong was when the RCD tripped which ruined my son’s 85th viewing of Monsters Inc as the whole house lost its power. After resetting the fuse box, I noticed the washing machine (which had been in use) wasn’t lighting back up again. I use the LCD display as my indicator that all is well and it was just blank. I slid the machine out of the recess and noticed the belt was on the floor – horror! 😯
I took the back and top off and replaced the belt, which wasn’t too difficult. The drum turns ok and there doesn’t appear to be any bearing wear as it’s relatively silent when manually turned. I checked the fuse in the plug and sure enough it had blown, so I replaced it. The fuse in the wall socket was fine.
After plugging it back in, it still wouldn’t fire up and just in case I was going crazy, I plugged it in to other wall sockets as well – there’s seemingly no electrical power reaching the machine now. Worse still, there is a wash still inside the machine and the door won’t release. 😡 I have disconnected the waste hose and released as much of the water that was inside the machine as possible, in the hope that a lower water level might trigger the door release, but to no avail. There was very little water in it anyway, which means it was probably on a spin cycle when the belt came off.
Something has gone bang, possibly the main circuit board or perhaps something more sinister. Equally, perhaps there is some onboard fuse that I could replace. Unfortunately, I am not particularly technical or a DIY specialist, so am reluctant to get too involved incase I do more damage than good. If I could get it to spark into life just to open the door, this would be a start.
Due to the likely costs of repair as we are out of warranty, it seems likely we should just write it off and buy a new one. However, if there was a possible “quick fix” we would love to try it, it would save us £400!
I have taken some pictures of the inside of the machine, the circuit board at the front and so on, in the unlikely event these may help someone diagnose the problem better – let me know if so, I can post a link. That said, all the wires appear to be connected fine and apart from some standard build up of black around the coil on the board, it all seems fine. There’s certainly no charring where something has gone bang anyway.
Any help appreciated and thanks very much indeed in advance.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Just as an aside, I have registered on the site, but for some reason my username won’t allow me access to the forums, hence the temporary guest slot.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Given that this machine is fitted with a “delay” type door lock, I would suspect that that is where the problem lies – they are known to go off with a bang.
If the water has gone, a sharp rap on the casing next to the door button may shock it free, if not engineer time.
Power off if you are going into the machine further.
Regards,
Penguin45.Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Thanks for the quick reply, I kind of thought “erm…ok” when reading your suggestion, but my goodness,it just shows what giving something a smack can achieve! Many thanks, the wash is out!
On the issue of the belt coming off and the RCD tripping and subsequently a dead machine, is there anything you can suggest that may be obvious in terms of instant repair, or from your professional experience, is the machine likely to be beyond cost effective repair?
Thanks again, what a great resource this site is.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Well, the lock is cheap enough –
http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.p … ucts_id=86
is what you want. Curious that the belt should have run off – was there good tension when you refitted it? They can stretch with age, or the tracks become worn.
If you are electrically and mechanically confident, I’d get the lock and see what happens next……..
Regards,
Penguin45.Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Well, the belt went on very easily and I didn’t have to stretch it much to get it on. I was quite surprised, so perhaps it is loose? The belt actually looked almost new, no real wear and all the grooves appear intact.
My thought process was that the belt running off was the cause of the whole episode. But, correct me if I am wrong, you think it could be that the door mechanism blew (tripping the RCD), the machine ran down under power-off and the belt came off as an unfortunate by-product?
If so, my basic Mrs Marples skills are clearly poor, I was convinced the belt coming off was the almost certain cause of the process – then again, I’m an IFA and not a Domestic Appliance engineer. 😉
Thanks for the door lock link. But, even if I replace this, will the machine power back up once replaced? There is absolutely no sign of life in it at all, the LCD display is blank etc. Is the door lock integral to the electrical loop, in that if blown, the whole machine is rendered completely inoperative? I have this image of me slaving away to replace the lock and then still nada….
Sorry for all the questions, I’m just so eager to understand it all and get it right in my head. I’m a little thick, it may take time. 😆
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
The door lock “shorting” can also cause the main PCb to fail on these as there is no protection 🙁
The belt coming off could well have been caused by the above as spikes can cause the motor to jerk in to a semi-spin, with a heavy load of wet washing in the drum the belt can quite easily fly off.
Dave.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Thanks for the additional thoughts Dave. I now better understand why the belt coming off could have been because of the lock now but the news on the PCB isn’t good – as there is no sign of life at all, this looks likely. I guess a new PCB renders the machine financially unviable. 😥
A trip to Comet beckons in the morning. /shudders
I really appreciate all the help, thanks so much again.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
The PCB’s aren’t actually too expensive for these models 😀
If it has “blown” a visual inspection is enough normally as it’s quite evident 😉
Power off though :zap:
Dave.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Advice taken on board! 🙂
Dave, my apologies, but here is a picture of the board. Other than the charcoal spattering, it seems ok to me. Any chance you could just have a quick glance?
Apologies for the size of the image, it’s 2.5mb and high resolution.
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Cracking piccie. Unfortunately, the damage Dave is describing is likely to blown tracks – other side of the board………
Sorry,
Penguin45.Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
Ahh…typical.
I have taken the front off (screws everywhere now) and again, all seems ok from my unprofessional visual examination – pic below.
If you concur that all seems well, is there anything else that could be causing the total loss of power?
Re: Hotpoint Ultima WD71P – Ceased To Operate
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