Hotpoint WDL5290

[Ancient Engineer]

Hello, I’m new to this forum, so if I make any blunders please bear with me!
I have a problem with the above machine, which is two years old, with fairly low use. The original fault was that it would not pump out. My wife, not wishing to bother me, had manually released the door interlock, in order to bale out the water from the drum.
I subsequently arrived, & unblocked the pump.
The machine now behaves oddly, in that the controller appears not to recognize that the door is shut & locked, even when it is. The “Door locked” LED does not illuminate, the controller pules the interlock solenoid a few times, them various random things happen. Sometimes, the door interlocked gets pulsed for too long, thus the internal thermistor goes high, then of course nothing happens until it has cooled down.
I have checked the door interlock, which appears o.k.
Any ideas out there. We are in a remote area, I do most repairs here as no one wants to bother to access our remote site!
I should mention that I am a semi-retired electronics engineer, with full workshop facilities.
Thanks,
Dave.

[Ancient Engineer]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Hello again,
It’s only me posting my own reply; or rather an addenda.
Have just fitted the door interlock back, after checking it electrically, but realize now that it may be mechanically defective.
Although energizing the solenoid causes the latch to close, re-energizing it does not allow it to open, i.e. even when when there is no power the door cannot be opened.

Do I take that it is the door interlock (DLS1)that is the problem?
Thanks again,
Dave.

[Ancient Engineer]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Well, it wasn’t the door interlock, I did suspect that it was not going to be that simple!
The error codes are different each time the machine is switched on, but the one thing common each time it is powered up is that the controller does not recognize that the door is actually shut.
The red “Lock” LED will sometimes momentarily flash on, then off again, whilst the controller continues to keep pulsing the lock solenoid, that is until( as described previously) the PTC heats up, & then there’s a wait whilst it cools down before a similar sequence starts up again.

Sometimes the interlock gets out of sequence, so that it is not possible to open the door when de-powered.

Has anyone got any thoughts please?
Thanks, Dave.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Ancient Engineer wrote:
The error codes are different each time the machine is switched on,

Error codes are given by flashing a combination of the bottom five, vertical leds on the right.

What error codes are you seeing?

A close look at the motor plug connections and wiring would be the first step, then an insulation test on the motor & heater.

There is however a strong possibility that the main pcb is at fault, they are not known for reliability, safe to say they are some of the worst on the current market. 😥

[Ancient Engineer]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Thanks for that,
Have just checked it out again, & now, consistently, there are no error codes at all, just the controller constantly pulsing the door lock solenoid.

I’m curious as to the insulation test etc on the motor. Is this a common problem i.e. leakage ? does that then give such illogical symptoms on power -up? It must be low leakage or it would probably trip the RCD on the supply.

I will go away & check, but from what you say regarding the main P.C.B. I did suspect that it is a possibility that it has failed.

Thanks again, I’ll let you know the result.
Dave.

[Ancient Engineer]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Back again!

Have checked insulation resistance on both the motor & heater;
clean bill of health there, no leakage at all.

I shall be very annoyed if it is the main P.C.B, the machine is only 2 years old, but has actually only been used for around a year, as we are re-building the house, & not always here, so very light use indeed.
Presumably (ha-ha) there’s no way to check the board, except by substitution?
In my former life before retirement, I was used to being able to repair anything down to component -level. No such luck now, even a cct diagram would be asking too much!

Dave.

Dave.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

The bottom line is that since the Indesit Company took over the Hotpoint brand they have rapidly gone downhill. There is often little or no logic to the faults. You do have a five year parts warranty, the Indesit Company will do whatever is needed, for a small fee of around £120. :rolls:

One other option is to send the board to EMW who will test and if required repair the pcb.

There is no way that you can check the board without the company software, apart from testing each component individually. 😥

[Ancient Engineer]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

Thanks,
I appreciate you taking time to reply.
A few years prior to my (retirement?) I was made redundant from the Broadcast & A/V industry. I took a local job with a white/brown goods retailer.

The same thing has happened to many of the well-known T.V. brands, it was not easy to obtain service information on much of the kit, because it was just ‘Badged’, & manufactured by huge companies in China.

I did occasionally repair white goods, but the flimsy poor quality of some items was all too clear, even four years ago.
As for plastic washing machine drums that get punctured by a bra-strap…!

Should have kept my Rolls Rapide! That dates me.
I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet & pay up for what will probably be an unreliable repair, in the long term.

Thanks again,
Dave.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WDL5290

EMW electronic repairs are your best bet TBH.

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