Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

[martin036]

I have a 6 year old Hotpoint Ultima 1400 WM 76N washing machine, serial no.71107380. It stopped halfway through its cycle with the Error Code 15 ” Check outlet pipes” bleeping. I have read the various topics regarding this on the forums and followed the various advice profferred, however on reassembling the machine and doing a test load, with all fingers and everything else crossed, it inevitably went off again!.
The outlet hose is correctly positioned in the waste pipe which is installed at the correct height. The waste pipe is not blocked. The outlet hose has been detatched from the pump, and is not blocked or kinked. The cover of the pump has been taken off and there is no blockage inside. ( the pump must work because when the machine is on, it does empty on the first drain cycle, before stopping). The big black rubber pipe from the drum to the pump has been taken off and cleaned out, there was about a cubic inch of fluff/hair/penny in the trap, and I was hoping this was what was causing the error code, but it was not to be. The thinner pipe to the trap was also taken off and cleaned out, although there did not seem to be any blockage there. In addition to this error 15 the main bearings I do know to need replacing, but this should not cause the stoppage?. When the machine is set on a non fast coloured 40 degree wash on time saver, the program runs for about 15mins before stopping with the error code.In this time the water from the cold fill into the prewash detergent dispenser is activated, the water heats up, the drum turns back and forth, and water is drained off once before stopping. In this time the hot fill is not activated into the main detergent compartment, is this usual? I would have thought that detergent should be introduced first thing on that cycle, or is the activating solenoid on the inlet valve faulty?
Once the error code bleeps I cannot get the machine to do any kind of spinning on a different setting, the drum does turn freely even though as I mentioned the bearings do need replacing.
All advice would be greatfully recieved and welcome, I am reasonably DIY competant, but too poor to afford the luxury of calling out a technician.[/u]

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

martin036 wrote:The thinner pipe to the trap was also taken off and cleaned out, although there did not seem to be any blockage there.

I’m assuming you refer to the pressure switch hose ?

Check the “chamber” it attaches to for blockages as well, apart from that I would suspect an intermittent pump.

Power off when checking :zap:

Dave.

[martin036]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

Thankyou for your reply Dave.

Yes the “chamber” where the pressure switch hose attaches was checked and cleaned when the filter housing trap was emptied, although there was not any blockage.
Is there anyway of checking the operation of the pump? It does work but only on the first drain of the cycle.

[Martin]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

Martin,

The drum bearings you say are going? If that’s the case no doubt the inner drum is loose on its shaft and likely to have clobbered the heating element?

Duff heating element will give you E15

New drum spigot/bearing kit (part no 1611166) and a new heater (part no 1602026) are required I reckon 🙁

[martin036]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

Martin,

The machine does go into “heating” mode and heat the water before it turns itself off after about 15mins with the E15 error, so would that rule out the heater element being the cause of the E15?

I need to sort out what is causing this E15 before deciding whether it is economically viable to replace the bearings in the first instance. What makes this even more infuriating for me is that I have a matching (“Linen” coloured) Hotpoint tumble drier on a stacking kit over the washing machine, so if the cost of repairing this is too much I am going to be stuffed in obtaining a matching new or secondhand replacement.

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

Have a look at the search results, if you go here:

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.p … ile=search

and type E15 in then pick all the hotpoint one’s there’s quite a few with various suggestions on the problems, including the pressure switch and possible PCB errors 😉

Dave.

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

martin036 wrote:Martin,

The machine does go into “heating” mode and heat the water before it turns itself off after about 15mins with the E15 error, so would that rule out the heater element being the cause of the E15?

I need to sort out what is causing this E15 before deciding whether it is economically viable to replace the bearings in the first instance. What makes this even more infuriating for me is that I have a matching (“Linen” coloured) Hotpoint tumble drier on a stacking kit over the washing machine, so if the cost of repairing this is too much I am going to be stuffed in obtaining a matching new or secondhand replacement.

The heater can still function even if only slightly damaged by the drum as a consequence of bearing/spider failure. however the very small current leakage can give an E15 code just as Martin says. If your choice is between having your machine repaired or buying recon/secondhand then have yours repaired every time. your machine will almost certainly have an FHP motor, a good reliable piece of kit, a recon may have the older less reliable GDA motor in it. As a word of advice, you should never run a machine that is leaking or making a noise, you should stop it at once and get it seen to. It is far cheaper in the long run. 🙂

[martin036]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

The heater has definately not been damaged by the rotation of the drum despite the bearings being noisy, so that would rule out it being responsible for the E15 code.
Looks like a call out is going to be inevitable.
Any recommendations for coverage in SW Wales ( SA32) ?

[martin036]

Re: Hotpoint WM76 Error 15

Latest on this story. Had an engineer out who stripped machine down. Yes the heater ( although working ) was damaged by the drum and was responsible ( most likely ) for tripping out on the E15 error. The bearings were removed from the drum and of course the disintegrated bearings had damaged the bearing housing of the drum! . The estimated cost of repair – circa £270 to include replacement drum, heater element, drum spider and bearings, fitting VAT etc etc. In his opinion the engineer recommended a new machine rather than repair. So after a weekend of shopping around managed to get a new Hoover HPE236 for £187 from Co-Op take away, installed with a DIY stacking kit for the tumble drier, and now catching up with the backlog of washing.
So if anyone is in need of some spares for a Natural Linen WM76N Hotpoint Ultima 1400 let me know : pump, motor, inlet valves, soap dispenser tray, door, front panel, plastic trim, top, control panel etc etc ( everything except the drum and heater !!) in excellent unmarked condition, let me know.
Thankyou to iadom, Dave and Martin for offering help and advice.

[Author]

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