Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

[XoioX2000]

Hello to everyone! 😀

This problem is related to our home washing machine. Whirlpool AWM 820
Both hot and cold water are supplied to the machine.
This machine is front loading.

In short: The water is stone cold for the low temperature cycles. But the cycle finishes normally.
The clothes come out cold. For the same cycle, the clothes used to be warm when coming out.

I’ll try to explain below what I have done, in the order I have done it and what I concluded along the way.
Please be kind: I am new to this! 😳 (It’s the first time I take a washing machine apart! – but I have tried to do my homework).

1) Checked the wall hot water valve: Functions fine.

2) Turn knob to program No 5 (50°C Cycle) and switch machine on.
Put my hand in the drawer. Only cold water flows in.

3) Open the top of the washing machine.
Used a meter to test the continuity of the solenoid inlet valves. Both Ok.
Then I swapped the controls wire of the hot and cold inlet valves.
Turn to program No 5 and switched on.
=> Hot water flows in the machine.

I concluded that the hot water inlet valve is operational and put the wires back to their original and respective positions.
I also concluded that for 50°C wash cycles, the machine only uses cold water from the wall and must heat up the water internally.
(For a 95°C cycle, I can feel hot water coming in the drawer at the start)

4) Then proceeded to access to check the element…
(Although the cycle finishes, I thought there might have been a fail-safe in that part of the logic for the cycle, hence why the machine did not stop, waiting for the water to heat up forever)
Gain access to it by removing the front panel (which was great fun because of the door!)
Carefully noted the connections and slightly undoing the center bolt, eased the element out.
Apart from the fact that the element was surpringly clean
(I was expecting lots of white stuff on it), it was as expected: the continuity was fine.
I saw the fail safe mechanism in case of overheating (with the bar which much expands if the element overheats).
I was not sure about how to check that fail safe mechanism so i did not fiddle with it.

I repositioned the element back into place (without tightening too much the center nut) and reconected it.

Concluded that the element is ok (no surprise there then).

5) I checked the thermostats.
There are 2 of them on this machine, located just above the element.
They look the same but the have different markings:

The markings on the left thermostat is 55 – 80
The markings on the right thermostat is 45 – 95

When the machine is off:
– The left thermostat is open (no continuity with meter)
– The right thermostat is closed

I took the left thermostat out and tested in a bowl with ambient and boiling water (from the kettle).
It did close when I used the hot water, and open again when I put in the cold water.

Exactly the opposite happened with the right one.

Now I do not know what to do. 🙁

Could someone put me in the right direction?
Should the right thermostat be normally open, and close only when it reaches the right temperature?

I have put the machine back together and run a 95°C wash and it runs fine.
You can feel the heat through the glass of the door (Almost too hot, I mean the glass of the door is really hot!)
This hot wash cycle starts from “No 2” (on the knob). It stays hot until it reaches No 5, which is also part of that cycle. The door then seems
to become cold. At the end the washing comes out cold.

At this point I should say that we very very rarely use the hot water washing cycles (No 2) and that we almost always use program No 5 which is a 50°C cycle…

Sorry for the long post.
Thanks for all your help… 🙂 🙂

Oh! And if anybody has a tip to put the metallic ring back around the seal for the front door (Not common on all machines I know, but this machine has one), it would be greatly appreciated: It comes out easily enough with a flat screwdriver, but it took me 1/2 hour to put it back… 😕

David

[Martin]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Wow!

Bit of an elaborate analysis if I may say so. But put as simply as I can, your machine does not have a problem!

Clearly the thermostats are doing their job, so too the heater etc etc. And I guess the end result is your washing is getting washed OK. On a 50degree cycle it will take in cold water and even on a mixed fill, will take in 90{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} cold anyway.

If it didn’t come out cold after its final spin, then and only then would you have a problem!

To put the metal ring back on the front seal is an art in itself by the way, I use a wire hook and small screwdriver 😉

Martin

[admin]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi Martin! Thanks for your reply!

😆 😆 😆 😆 About the elaborate analysis: I re-read my post and I see what you mean… sorry: I got carried away: 😀 You probably can imagine: me with a set of screwdivers, the washing machine in the middle of the kitchen: that’s it I was off!!!! 😀 😀 😀

Ok more seriously now: As far as I can remember (and we bought this machine brand new at the time – nearly 7 or 8 years ago!), the clothes always used to come out warm (and we normally always use the 50degree cycle) … that until 2 weeks ago and now they are rather cold.
I believe I could also feel some warmth through the door, but not now.

Martin, I see that you answered another of today’s post, which is in fact similar to mine, about cold clothes… Any thoughts you may have on how I could investigate this further would be very welcome.

And thank you for the tip on putting the metal ring back!

Cheers,

David

[Penguin45]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

David,
The point Martin is making is that most people are washing at 40c these days (or less). Due to the extremely low wash water levels, it is rare for a 40c wash to be detectable on the door glass. Secondly, the only way that clothes will come out warm is for the fill hoses to fitted the wrong way round, ie hot through the cold valve, the cold valve only being used for the rinse cycles.

I note that you were concerned about the heater safety. With the machine unplugged, remove both leads from the heater terminals and meter across – you should get a reading of 20-30 ohms; this will include the safey device. At the same time, check for earth leakage – ideally there should be none.

Regards,
Penguin45.

[XoioX2000]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi Penguin45 and thank you for your reply and the tip for the heater.

I have not yet done it, but I will do that tonight (hopefully).

I know I’m stubborn, but as I was checking for leaks after putting the machine back together, I have done a few tests with different cycles:

With a 95°C cycle: glass door is REALLY hot, can just about touch it.
With a 60°C cycle: same as above: glass door is REALLY hot.
With a 50°C cycle: glass is cold.
With a 45°C cycle is cold.

But everytime, the cycle finishes normally.

I think the cycle is way too hot for the 60°C cycle, hence why I wonder if there is a fault with the thermostats after all. I would like to test both of them (there are 2 side by side on this machine): But I have a few questions:

– How can I find out if they should be normally closed or normally open?
(When I did a very crude test before, I found that one was closed and the other was open at ambient temp. and vice-versa when in contact with boiling water).
– There is 2 temperature marked on them:
the first one is: 55-80
On the other there is: 45-95
What does it mean in terms of normal operation for the thermostats?
When do they open and when to they close?

and last but not least, if I want to replace one of them, what information is required to make sure I find a match?
Any places/shops/Internet where you think I could find some?

Again many thanks for your time and your help.

Cheers,

David

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

The 45 and 50 washes are fine by the sound of it.

This machine takes in cold water only on the lower temperature washes but hot and cold on the higher, how hot is the water going in to the machine from your system ?

Dave.

[raider6723]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

The AWM 820 will only take in hot water on prog 2.
All the rest of the programs take in cold and heat to the temp. that is preset in the timer. If it is not heating at 40 or 50 deg then I suggest you check the heater element or fixed thermostat. The washing should come out cold at the end of the wash as it rinses in cold water only if it comes out warm at the end of the wash then the inlet hoses are on the wrong way round.

Whirpool Engineer.

[XoioX2000]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hello: Sorry for the late reply: I was away for the past few days.

Many many thanks for your inputs!

I’ll answer Dave’s question first: I’ve used cycle 3 (60°C) to make that test.

– Start of the cycle on No 3: Only cold water goes in (hand in drawer).
During the cycle the Glass door is a little more than hand warm (which sounds ok).
– 15 mins later: Cycle reaches No 4 (Cycle 4 should be a 50°C wash).
During that part of the cycle the Glass door is still boiling hot (Can’t touch it for very long).
– 15 mins later: Cycle reaches No 5 (Cycle 5 is a 40°C wash)
During that part of the Glass door becomes cold and stays as such until the completion of the cycle.
– Cycle goes normally through number 6 and so on until completion.

Total cycle time (from start at number 3): 90 mins.

Raider6723: The heater element seems to be operating correctly (I mean it heats up the water, right?). The temperature though is way too hot for the 50°C cycle. So it must be one of the thermostats?

Can you give me any hints on how to identify which one? (as they are 2 thermostats).

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

David

[SparkyP]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi XoioX200,
The test you did on cycle 3 which is a 60 degree cycle will only wash at 60 degree. When it reaches cycle 4 it will not revert to 50 degrees. This machine will only take in hot water on cycle 2 which is a 90 degree wash. Once you set it at cycle 3 it will only do cycle 3 and the rotation of the the timer is for timing processes only not to tell you that it is on cycle 4 and doing a 50 degree wash. If in fact it did this it would take a long time to do a cycle. I use a wash 5 when i had one of these machines and it took 65-70 mins. So a wash 3 sounds about right for a wash of 90 mins.

Sparkyp

[XoioX2000]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi SparkyP…

Well I’m totally confused now… because the temperature (as measured with my hand on the door of course) is definetly very different depending on where the cycle is.

(ie start at 3: between 3&4 – warm, then between 4&5 boiling hot, after 5 until end: stone cold).

❓

Cheers,

David

[Martin]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

XoioX2000 wrote:(ie start at 3: between 3&4 – warm, then between 4&5 boiling hot, after 5 until end: stone cold).

Well I’m not confused at all by your last statement David, as that is exactly what I would expect your machine to do. It appears that your machine is working normally as I thought all the while 🙂

Specifically though lest you have any doubts, if you set it on say Prog 3 or 4 it will fill (mostly with cold I know) then wash and heat (a 2kw heating element heats the water at a rate of around 1 degree celsius per minute by the way), but the time it progresses to positions 4 & 5 the glass be getting warm to the touch for sure. That’s toward the final part of the wash/heat cycle after all! Then it progresses through a series of very cold rinses/spins until the final spin, end, job done 😀

Martin

[XoioX2000]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi Martin,

Does that mean that you disagree with SparkyP who says (correct me if i’m wrong): When you select the temperature at the start (Let’s say 60°C), the whole cycle should be at 60°C? (Or at least not going to a very hot cycle in the middle?)

Just to clarify what I mean by “Hand Warm”: I can put my hand on it, feel that it’s warm, but can leave my hand on it no matter how long.
What I mean by boiling hot is: I really cannot leave my hand on it for more than a few seconds, so the water inside must be VERY hot.

So if I start a 60°C cycle (on number 3), I guess I would expect the door to be hand warm, but at no time boiling hot during any part of the cycle.

But it does: It starts on 3, looks all ok, but as soon as it passes number 4 the control of the heater must be wrong: the water gets way too hot.

Now what I was thinking is that one of the thermostats is not doing its job, properly but I can’t figure out which one…

Could it be that one of the thermostats has failed, let’s say the one which controls the lower temperature cycle, (the one marked 55 – 80) and what actually allows the cycle to carry on is the signal comming from the second thermostat (the one marked 45-95) as a sort of fail safe mechanism, but obviously, it means that the water has then been heated up enough to trip that second thermostat, ie 95°… which would explain the boiling hot water in the middle of that cycle?

Cheers,

David

[SparkyP]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

Hi XoioX2000,
I think Martin agrees with me. It will fill up with cold water and heat to 60 degrees which will be very hot to the touch of the back of your hand on the glass. It then washes for say 20-30 mins then fills up with a little cold water before it empties the wash water. Then you have 3 rinses which are all cold fill before the final spin. Believe me (or us) when we say there is nothing wrong with your machine

Sparkyp

[Martin]

Re: Problem with Whirlpool AWM 820

SparkyP wrote:I think Martin agrees with me.

:tup:

Martin

[Author]

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