Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

[Chrisbo]

Hi,
Hope someone can help me. Wife did a hot 95 degree wash in machine(Hotpoint WM52P) and now when we go to do a wash, There’s a smell of melting plastic and smoke comes from the general front area of the machine 😯 also when took the washing out the machine it smelled of melted plastic as well as the inside of the machine. It seems to be happening when it’s heating the water so is it overheating because a stat has blown? If so where is it located and how much are they or is it something else?

Thanks in advance for your help
Cheers
Chris.

[iadom]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

No thermostat on these, temperature is controlled by a thermistor ( electronic sensor).
A very reliable component usually.

Even if the machine was set to a 95° wash you should not get smoke or burning smells.

The most common cause of overheating or boiling on these machines is control unit failure.

A physical examination to determine the source of the burning smell is required first of all.
Please remove the mains plug if you intend to have a look, I would strongly advise that you do not continue to use this machine until it has been examined properly.

Jim.

[Chrisbo]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

It’s O.K. I took the front off and discovered that at some point the drum had been rubbing on the heater element and now it had decided to short out and melt it’s way through the plastic front outer drum cover!

Cheers
Chris.

[iadom]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

What has actually happened is that the the drum support has snapped or the main bearings have failed badly.

If you tend to do only low temperature washes that will be the main reason the drum support has corroded. The machine will almost certainly have been rather noisy on spin. It will be the drum itself rubbing against the drum front, not the heater that caused the burning smell.

Jim.

[Chrisbo]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

Thanks Jim, The drum support broke and was replaced a while ago along with the bearings but like you say it must have been hitting off the element before it gave up. Now the element must have finally corroded through as it had melted all around the gasket and half way through the front housing.
Out of interest how do low temperature washes increase the corrosion of the aluminium drum support?

Thanks again
Chris.

[DDSDDS]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

not so much increase the corrosion as hot washes decrease it

[iadom]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

If you read this article. http://tinyurl.com/37wxzx and the four linked articles it will explain the pitfalls of constant, low temperature washes.

Jim.

[Chrisbo]

Re: Smoke coming from Hotpoint WM52P

Ahhh Interesting, Thanks for that.

Cheers
Chris.

[Author]

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