Indesit 6105S problem when draining?

[Justin Culp]

I got this washing machine used yesterday, it was one of those “I can’t figure out why it doesn’t work but if you can it’s yours” deals. The drawer was pretty clogged up and there was power soap in slot 1 where the manual says don’t put anything. I cleaned that all out and all of the soap buildup behind the drawer and checked the pump filter but found it clean. There is a bit of soap residue that comes out on my finger when I feel up in the hole on the left side of the pump filter but I haven’t taken anything apart yet.

The first load of laundry I put in, I came back later and noticed that the machine was off and all of the horizontal lights were flashing, even the start/stop light, but none of the vertical lights. I smelled the clothes and it seemed like they had been rinsed so I started a spin cycle, heard it spinning, but came back later and it was again stopped with all of the lights flashing.

Today I did the same thing except I couldn’t open the locked door to get my clothes out! I started a spin cycle to see if I could get it to end and unlock the door and I sat and watched it. The spin cycle worked swimmingly until the very end and then the drain pump started pulsing and I noticed the hose on the back of the machine bouncing up and down. I couldn’t stop the machine with any of the buttons so I switched the power off and back on, but the door stayed locked. I turned the dial to “drain” and pushed start, and as soon as the pump engaged it faulted again. I removed the filter/cap from the pump and started the drain cycle again and it engaged the pump for about 1 second and then ended the cycle.

All of the water is draining out, it’s not in the drum and the clothes are spun dry, but something is causing a fault of some kind when the water is empty but the drain pump is still going. I live in Uganda so finding a reliable repairman is hard…but I can usually take stuff apart and put it back together, I just have no idea where to look! Do I need a new drain pump? Having one brought is an option.

Thanks for the help!

[electrofix]

well there’s a coincidence 7 days ago i was in Uganda

whenever these machines fault then all the light will flash

you say the pump is pulsing but thats normal when the pump is empty. you will find the pump is still running but the water is cgoing up and down the pipe

you need to run the programme and keep a close eye on it to see when it faults

knowing the Ugandan electrics as i do, make sure the machine is properly earthed and there no problems with the supply

Dave

[Justin Culp]

Thanks Dave,

I watched it go through 2 full cycles, a rinse, a spin and a drain cycle. The fault always happens at the very end when the water has all drained out…it’s like right now the “End” light should be coming on but instead it faults. The reason I talked about the pump pulsing is because it was actually pulsing while the lights were flashing and pushing the power/stop buttons did nothing to make it stop, I had to kill the power.

[electrofix]

may just be a coincidence but if its exactly in time it could be a board issue

i doubt it only for the fact that it makes it to the end before it faults/ If the board was faulty i would have expected it to give up in the middle of the programme

you could try looking for blockages. if you look in the machine you will find a small switch at the top with a thin hose coming of it. trace this tube to the bottom of the machine and you will find the pressure bell. make sure its not full of gunk

do not blow into the switch as it can damage it

Dave

[Justin Culp]

Thanks again. Before I got your reply I took the drain pump off, disassembled it and cleaned a fair amount of brown junk and soap residue out of it. In the process I found that one of the red wires going to the drain pump (there’s a small white plug with 2 red wires going to it) had been rat chewed and was being held together by 2 strands. I cut off the bad wire and put it back together with a heat shrink connector and put it all back together. I turned on the machine to test it, and now, when it first starts it engages the drain pump for a second, the water starts to fill…and then it faults!

The machine was a bit wobbly so I reached down to unscrew the foot and the machine shocked me, so I guess now I have to trace every wire and look for another short…but would that be causing this fault?

[Justin Culp]

I see a blue thing that looks like a switch right under the top cover in the front right corner, there’s a black rubber hose coming out and going down, that’s the one you’re telling me to trace?

[electrofix]

well if the machine gave you a shock it proves you socket or electrical sytem has no earth

with what i have seen of Ugandan electricians that really is no suprise for me. repaired 2 socket while i was there, both were fed with cable that was too small and one had no earth connected because there was no earth screw in the socket. Both faults could be deadly

Dave

[Justin Culp]

I’m in a 3rd floor apartment. Is there a good way for me to check if the building is earthed?

[electrofix]

not sure if you can get them over there but over here i use

https://www.toolstation.com/kewtech-kewcheck-103-socket-tester/p50257?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5u3S1t6I6AIVTbTtCh3I1gBREAQYAyABEgJUSfD_BwE

this will check any socket for polarity and earth

Dave

[Justin Culp]

Wow that’s cool, almost definitely not available here. Can I do it with a multimeter? I have one of those. I looked in my unit’s breaker box and can see where it’s earthed.

[electrofix]

check the volltage from live to earth and see what you get
also check voltage from neutral to earth

liveto earth should be 240v or so
neutral to earth should be zero but more likely 3 volts or so

Dave

[Justin Culp]

Thanks again, I’ll have my multimeter tomorrow and can check it…It occurred to me that you were talking about earth, and the plug on my machine was the 2-prong receeded German style plug (Type F) and it was plugged into a Ugandan plug (Type G) which means it didn’t get an earth. I cut the old plug and installed a Type G plug and the shocking me issue went away but I am still getting faults….always when it is draining…do I need a new board?

I am running a load of clothes just for testing sake. It got to rinse and then faulted, so I reset it to run on rinse cycle, and it starts out by draining and then it faults, so I set it to spin and it spun for a while and then faulted when the drain engaged…

[electrofix]

well thats why you were getting shocks but its only the supressor leakage cuurent making it live so it no fault with the machine probably

its odd that its not coming up woth a fault code. since it seems to fault on drain i would check the pressure chamber
i would also try running a rinse and spin programme after disconeecting and insulating both heater wires

As for a board change then you have the wrong machine for that. unless you can get an identical machine that had a board in and purchase a used part, then all new boards are blank and have to be programmed which means buying the programmer and software

Dave

[Justin Culp]

Are the heater wires the 2 reds going to the drain pump? Since we’re in the land of no hot water, and this unit doesn’t have a dryer, I can disconnect anything that has to do with heat. I’ll check the pressure chamber and revert

[Justin Culp]

I took the black hose pipe off and it was clear. I used a piece of binding wire in the port on the side of the drum where that hose attaches and it felt blocked at first…I also noticed a break in one of the wires going to the harness that plugs into that pressure switch so I fixed it with a heat shrink connector…

Then I started a cycle and it engaged the drain pump, then faulted. The pump continues running while the fault lights are blinking and the only way to reset is to unplug the machine. It did that about six times, then started a cycle. It doesn’t like something that happens whenever that drain pump is running and there is no water.

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