Weird circuit board fault

[biffa]

Got a SMEG DWF66SS. After about 9 months the it went wrong – strange and random combination of lights showing up, buttons not responding, reset not working etc. Engineer came and replaced circuit board behind the control panel, and it all worked fine. But now its happened again, about 9 months on again! Anyone know what causes this? Could it be water penetration? Or is it dodgy electrics in the unit itself?

cheers
Biffa

[kwatt]

Call Smeg and complain. When the engineer calls back, if it’s the PCB again, ask that he replaces the soap dispencer at the same time. 😉

K.

[biffa]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

I will call Smeg. Is the failure linked to the soap dispenser?

[kwatt]

There’s been the odd one or two that have thrown even a very experienced Smeg engineer let’s say. 😉

Much head scratching was involved in the resolution of a couple of calls due to this. But yes, they are linked as the PCB controls the machine, full stop.

K.

[biffa]

Cheers

Smeg have been less than helpful. Although the new circuit board has failed after only 8 months they say tough – parts are guaranteed for 6 months only. I’m considering fitting a new pcb myself. Is it:
a) worth it as two have already failed. maybe there’s a deeper fault.
b)an easy job. I’m relatively competent!!

Any idea how much a pcb would be, and where I can get my hands on one?

many thanks

Biffa

thanks

Biffa

[kwatt]

Eh, they have a legal obligation to warranty parts for 12 months and they should know that. Unless it was changed FOC or under warranty, then it’s different.

The PCB timers are all in excess of £100, some round the £150 mark. 😕

K.

[Dave_Conway]

biffa wrote:Although the new circuit board has failed after only 8 months they say tough – parts are guaranteed for 6 months only.

Don’t do anything without taking them to task on that as the parts carry a 12 month warranty if fitted by one of their agents or employed engineers. We are an agent and have to offer that as part of the agreement.

It may just require a new dispenser though as this can cause some odd software errors on these dishwashers.

The PCB is circa £150 so don’t go buying one just yet 😉

Dave.

[biffa]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

Thanks for the advice. The part was fitted by one of their appointed engineers under the warranty, so i’ll get back to them about replacing it. I did get the feeling they were just trying to fob me off.

When I spoke to them they implied that I should expect a 19month old Smeg dishwasher to be broken. How silly of me to expect it to be a reliable piece of kit 😯

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

To be fair, Smeg on the whole are generally reliable and are certainly one of the better companies to work for.

I think you’ve had a bit of bad luck combined with mis-information on this and I’m hopefull it will be resolved amicably.

Please let us know how you get on 😀

Dave.

[biffa]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

Engineer sent by Smeg, and replaced circuit board. Bearing in mind this is the 3rd one in the machine now, the first engineers assesment that it ‘happened all the time’ wasn’t much help. The second guy who came to fit the part said that we were just unlucky, and that nothing else on the machine would blow the circuit board, so it was just down to that part failing.

Fair play to Smeg, who replaced it FOC when we were out of warranty. But I’m not confident this repair will last for longer than the others. Everything seems to point to fault somewhere which is repeatedly causing this problem.

Fingers crossed, and we’ll wait and see

Thanks for all the advice guys

[biffa]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

….and the new circuit board lasted precisely 7 days before malfunctioning. Has anyone got any ideas why this happens? Are the circuit boards connected to any other components? Could it be water penetration? A faulty voltage regulator (do d/w even have these)?

I’d like to try and persuade the engineer to do something more than just slot a new circuit board in – there’s obviously something wrong somewhere else.

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

Was the dispenser checked and/or replaced as suggested previously ?

If not, then I would ask that it be done, there may actually be nothing wrong with the PCB at all.

Dave.

[biffa]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

Dave – I suggested to the engineers that the dispenser should be changed, but their response was no, it wouldn’t be the cause of the fault. If poss can you give me a brief outline of how the dispenser could be responsible? It might help persuade them.

Cheers

Biffa

[kwatt]

Apparently a fault in the solenoid for the SD can give a faulty board. Had one or two do that now.

K.

[clivejameson]

Re: Weird circuit board fault

I’ve had several…I took a closer look at a ‘faulty’ one…visually it appeared mint, and on the meter it was perfect. Until, that is, I gently flexed the connection tags whereupon the circuit through the solenoid became intermittant.
As any engineer will tell you, a magnetic coil which has its pwer interrupted produces a very nasty voltage spike in the opposite direction when its magnetic field collapses (how sparks used to be produced for a car engine to run).
If the coil is open circuit when the appliance is switched on, the pcb’s diagnostics will pick it up, but if it goes open cicuit when its powered then the spike produced can easily damage delicate electronics

[Author]

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