Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

[GreyKnight]

Hi guys

I have a 4 year old Hoover Optima OPH616 washing machine which worked flawlessly up until December. Around this time I noticed that the washes were all cold and so after some research I decided to replace the heater element. I bought an element off eBay for £25, fitted it and everything was fine again, hot water, machine worked.

Last month the machine just stopped spinning the drum. I traced this successfully to worn brushes on the motor, again I bought some from a local parts centre, fitted them and the machine was fine. Curiously at exactly the same time the drain pump started making a grinding noise, so I replaced that too as a precaution. I had to cut the wires for this and affix some spade connectors to plug onto the terminals as the pump was slightly different, but again, all was fine. I must mention that I was slightly unsure which wire should go to which terminal as both wires were red. However the machine worked so I assume it didn’t matter.

This week the machine has started throwing the RCD breaker. It was initially doing it at the point where the machine finished filling with water. Now however it trips as soon as I turn the dial to anything other than off.

I have unplugged the heater element and the machine then works fine again – but the element is only 6 months old!

I measured the resistance on the element, it returns 30 ohms. This is where my understanding stops though. Is there anything else that could be causing this, or is it a duff heater? If so what would cause a heater to fail so quickly? We only run 40° washes so it’s not tasked too much.

Thanks in advance.

[electrofix]

Re: Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

you are measuring the heater from terminal to terminal whereas you should be measuring from terminal to earth and it has to be over 500,000 ohms if fact it has to be higher otherwise the electronics can get upset
from what you say you need another heater
try the site shop

Dave

[GreyKnight]

Re: Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

Thanks, I have measured as you said, when my multimeter is set to the 2000k ohm range the resistance from terminal to earth climbs from around 1700 and eventually maxes out the meter making it just go to 1.

[electrofix]

Re: Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

a multimeter uses a 9 volt battery but a proper insulation tester uses a min of 240 volt and normally 500 volts. so your meter is not an accurate test. I use a multimeter and also neon screwdrivers both are a useful tools but cannot be relied upon in some cases so you have to take this into account when using them
if you disconnect the element and the machine works there is a very high probability its the element. what I would do before you order another on is take the element out and look for mechanical damage that might indicate a drum failure

Dave

Dave

[GreyKnight]

Re: Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

Okay, when you say a “drum failure” what do you mean? The machine spins the drum fine with no unusual noises.

I’ll go to my local white goods parts centre today and get a new heater, they usually allow you to return things if they don’t work.

Just seems strange that so many different things have failed within 4 weeks.

[electrofix]

Re: Washing machine tripping RCD – chasing my tail!

drum may well be ok but if its dropped due to bearing problem or spider failure it his the heater
in your case it may well be ok but it cost nothing to look at the heater when you remove it

Dave

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