Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

[nobeone]

My 10 year old (bought it in 2002, found the receipt and everything!) Hotpoint Aquarious Extra WMA44 bearing is on the way out – I am no washing machine expert but I know a growling bearing when I hear one. The spin is now too loud to stay in the room and if you spin the drum by hand it is not at all smooth. I have put up with this for a while but now …

… it has also taken to stopping part way through a cycle, no flashing LEDs or anything indicating a fault, just not continuing through the cycle. It lets in water, heats the water, the cycle starts the drum rotates, all seems OK then at some point it just seems to give up. We find it some time later when it should be finished with the door closed LED and e.g. the wash LED still on but doing nothing. I have been able to get clothes out by setting it to end, then setting it to rinse and spin but this is a bit of a pain and it has clearly gone wonky in some way.

How much might it cost to repair and is it worth saving?

I don’t like sending a machine to landfill unecesarily but is it worth the likely repare bill at this age?

We use the machine about 6 times a week, typical family with young kids I guess.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Allsorts]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Depends on where you live, but I would certainly say it is a machine worth having repaired if you can.

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Thanks for the prompt reply Allsorts.

I am in North Devon, near South Molton. Any suggestions for local repairers?

As a slight correction to my original post, when the machine stops part way through a cycle it has the “Door”, “Wash”, “Rinse & Spin” and “Final spin” LEDs on all at once. Odd. Does that indicate any particular fault?

[admin]

Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Hi

Try Andy Rickard in Barnstable +44 1271 858470 .

Bryan

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Thanks Bryan, will do.

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

I seem to be having some problems contacting Andy Rickard. I have been calling since Thursday and left a message Friday and sent an email through this web sites service engineer finding service all to no avail so far. I also found the phone number for Andy was different on the service engineer finding service from the number Bryan provided i.e. 01271 858780. Does anybody know the correct phone number for Andy? Is Andy still working does anybody know? Thanks

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Well, I have given up trying to contact Andy. I have contacted Integral Applicance Solutions in Exeter that were the only other close-ish people on your find and engineer search for my area. They were very helpful but begged to differ on whether it is viable to save my Hotpoint WMA44. They suggested replacing just the bearing on site results in a less reliable repair than replacing the rear section of the drum that comes with the bearing factory fitted, if I understood them correctly. They also were concerned that as the bearing had been noisy for sometime then it was possible the other fault was a result of water leaking into the electronics so that after the bearing replacement we would also require replacement boards/programming and then have a machine with other potentually water damaged components that might prove unreliable. They suggested, given the distance for the call out, that I would not see change from £250+ and advised that I either took the machine to a workshop for repair or bought a new one.

In the end I called Hotpoint service and have opted for their fixed fee repair or replace which they could do next day. I appreciate that this is not perhaps the outcome UK white goods would hope for but I have, I feel, done the best I could under the circumstances with washing now in absolute piles!

May I suggest that you contact Andy to check what his current contact details are and consider removing him from your find an engineer list as it would seem, from my experience at least, that he is no longer working or does not respond to calls, answer phone messages or emails.

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

You might also want to look at why the dates on all messages posted seem to be so out! This message is posted 7/3/2012 c. 20:38…

[iadom]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

nobeone wrote:You might also want to look at why the dates on all messages posted seem to be so out! This message is posted 7/3/2012 c. 20:38…

And that is exactly what is displayed on my screen, if the dates/times are not showing correctly on your PC then it is down to your settings which can be altered in the user control panel.

In ‘Board Preferences’ you need to set it to UTC-1 Azores standard time. 😉

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Thanks iadom, to be more precise:

You need to select User Control Panel from the User Menu on the right of these posts, then select the Board Preferences tab then, I would suggest, ensure that the Summer Time/DST is in effect is set to No then select UTC which is the same thing as GMT. I appreciate that UTC -1 may well work if you also set DST to yes but that is two wrongs that make a right no? What happens when the clocks “spring forward” or “fall back”? Do I have to mess with the settings gain?!!!

Anyway, all this talk about the weirdness of time on your forums (why default to the opposite side of the world on a UK (the clue is in the title!) White Good web site?) is a distraction from the fact that you seem to list a service engineer that is either no longer working or you have the wrong contact details or he does not return calls 🙁

[admin]

Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Hi

The number is for a engineer who is NOT on this site but an engineer that I know personally from Barnstable area,the number is the one that I have. The site cannot control engineers as they are all self employed and we give our time free.so there is no case to answer to.

Bryan

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Sorry Bryan, I appreciate your help in suggesting an engineer in the area, I assumed the one you suggested and the one listed on this site were one and the same as the share a name and a location in North Devon where engineers seem to be like hens teeth. If it helps, neither engineer answers calls because I call both the number you kindly provided and the one listed by this site. Please don’t get upset with me, I am just a punter that has spent a large part of my week trying to raise a local engineer and failing because he does not answer calls, return answer phone messages or respond by emails.

[Martin]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

nobeone wrote:I am just a punter that has spent a large part of my week trying to raise a local engineer and failing because he does not answer calls, return answer phone messages or respond by emails.

I admire your persistence and am saddened to learn the outcome of your endeavors in trying to get local service. 😥

Do please keep us informed though as to how Hotpoint fair in resolving your washing machine problems. 🙂

[rickard]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

There is always two sides to every story and as i dont get into silly claims and bickering i am going to leave it at that. Andy

[nobeone]

Re: Hotpoint WMA44 at the end of it’s life?

Hi Andy, I assume that you are the Andy Rickard I was trying unsucessfully to contact. I am sorry I was unable to reach you and glad to see you are still around. As I am sure anybody reading the above posts will see, I did no bickering and made no silly claims, I am saddened to see you feel that way. I take it from your reply that you are still working and that you refute any suggestion that you do not respond to answer phone messages / emails, so I assume I had your contact details wrong. Can I suggest you ensure you contact details on this site are correct so that others do not suffer the same problems I had?

The Hotpoint chap replaced the bearings and the motor. Presumably the motor was water damaged and that was the reason that the machine would not continue through a cycle. It now washes, is quiet, but leaks 🙁 and a second visit is booked in to resolve that little issue …

Also slightly miffed to find Hotpoint engineers are neither interested nor legally obliged to take with them the e.g. broken motor. It would seem I will have to make a trip to the local WEEE recycler. Ah, all part of the joy of trying to do the right thing rather than send a machine to the tip.

[Author]

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