Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning smell!

[Miss_Marmite]

Hello,

In summary – machine still having problems even after pump & hoses have been cleared..

My Indesit WIL103 washing machine stopped mid-cycle, with a load of clothes & half full of water. Three out of the four green LED’s were rapidly flashing – I think it was 1,2&4 (although didn’t write it down at the time so it could have been 1,3&4). The red LED (door lock on/off) was flashing in synchronisation with the 3 green LED’s.

I followed the instruction in my Indesit manual under “cleaning the pump”. I sucessfully drained the water out through the pre-chamber, which allowed the door lock to be released & me to rescue the wet clothes. There was no debris in the pre-chamber so after some internet research, I went on to lay the machine on it’s side before disconnecting the sump hose and the drain hose.

From the sump hose I retrieved coins, safety pins, a button, hair grips and also (worryingly) the wire from an underwired bra, which had been snapped in two somehow and made it’s way down to the sump. Everything that I retrieved from the sump was rusty – which made me suspect it had been there a while.

I undid the 3 screws that hold the plastic pump body to the pump motor. This enabled me to check that the impeller was clear (it was). I slowly turned the drum by hand, listening for noises (but nothing unusual).

I carefully put everything back together & tried a wash cycle (no load) as a test. I stopped it after 20 secs after a loud “pop”, faint grinding noises & an unpleasant smell like burning electrics.

So I drained & unplugged the machine again, before putting it on it’s side and dismantling for another check of the hoses etc. This time I also flushed the grey drain hose through into a bucket and was rewarded with lots of small pieces of soap scum/mould, but not enough to have caused a serious blockage.

I carefully put everything back together again, except for the end of the drain hose, which I put into a bucket (in case it was my under-the sink drain pipe that was causing problems).

I decided to just test the pump-out facility on the machine this time, by putting 2 litres of cold water into the drum, closing the door &
selecting the “drain” cycle.

Initially all was fine – the pump started working and the machine made normal-sounding sloshing water noises. There was a rush of water out of the machine & into the bucket. But then another loud pop and the electrical burning smell again, so I turned off the power.

Having been sniffing about round the back of the machine (!), I now think the burning smell is stronger near the big motor on the drum (not the pump unit). I checked the belt and that is fine.

Do any of you experts have any futher thoughts on what this might be please? Any advice gratefully recieved!
😀
Thanks,
Lisa

[iadom]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

You may have killed it, lying the machine down is not advisable, you may have spilt water into the motor or the control PCB.

The PCB would be my guess as to the pop and burning smell.

Due to the poor overall quality of these machines your best course of action may be to invest in a far better machine and make sure that when you use it you CHECK ALL POCKETS. 😉

PS. I wash all underwired bras inside an old pillow case.

[Miss_Marmite]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

Thanks Jim for the quick response.

Lisa

[gandh1]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

iadom wrote:PS. I wash all my underwired bras inside an old pillow case.

jim wears bras?

[iadom]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

Very funny 😀 , I think you will find there is no my in the answer I gave. 😛

Jim.

[Martin]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

iadom wrote:PS. I wash all underwired bras inside an old pillow case.

But Jim, a pillow case won’t stop the big ‘uns popping out.!….. 38 DD’s now ain’t no pillow case gonna stop them shifting and wrigglin’ out….. 😈

[LJDomestics]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

use saddle bags then! 😯

[iadom]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

Martin wrote:

But Jim, a pillow case won’t stop the big ‘uns popping out.!….. 38 DD’s now ain’t no pillow case gonna stop them shifting and wrigglin’ out….. 😈

I didn’t know you were aquainted with my missus and her cup size Martin. 😯

I can assure you that we have used the pillow case method for many years and never once had one of the blighters loose in the drum. 8)

Jim.

[Martin]

Re: Indesit WIL103 – pump debris cleared -but now burning sm

Firstly, apologies to Lisa in hijacking her thread and the sad fact that she’s let water get into her electrics……….. 😥

But if a pillow case works for you Jim and that it keeps them blighters from breaking loose then that’s good news indeed. 😀

(Though you may like to know that there’s been extensive scientific research done on the very subject but hey, I’ll leave that for another thread) 😉

Cheers!

[Author]

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