WF860P NOT SPINNING

[Soulman]

Hello all.

I’m hoping the good folk of UK Whitegoods can help me out as on previous occasions.
I will give you as much info as possible to help you help me.
I have a Hotpoint Ultima WF860P that won’t spin.

I replaced the drum bearings some Four months ago and the machine has/had been running perfectly up until the last couple of weeks when the machine would occasionally complete the wash cycle but leave the clothes soaking wet,this only happened intermittently and the machine would then go on to work normally.

On the odd occasions that the machine would leave the clothes wet through I would stick them in on a spin program and they would be ok.
However as of today it would seem that the machine does not spin irrespective of if the wash or spin program is selected.
As before the wash cycle completes(“END” showing on display)but the clothes are soaking wet, the only difference being that this now happens every time.

I have observed a wash cycle and what happens is as follows, the wash part of the cycle appears to go through no problem, however when it reaches the spin section of the cycle the drum gently turns backward and forward as if attempting to balance the load but never actually spins up as it would normally, all the time that this goes on the pump is running constantly and the timer continues to count down until “END” is displayed.

Out of curiosity I tried a spin only program without any clothes in the machine and exactly the same happens.
I have checked the operation of the pressure switch and have checked the dampers and springs and also the upper and lower drum weights for being secure and all appear ok.
There are no fault codes displayed whatsoever.
Your help and advice would be much appreciated.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Anybody ?

[iadom]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Lack of answers points to no one being sure, myself included, it’s an unusual description for sure.
It sounds like OOB but it should only do that when loaded.

If it was a tacho fault the motor would not run smoothly during wash action.

Points towards a pcb failure but the absence of any error codes makes everything guesswork.

The only known certainty is that the Indesit electronics are woefully unreliable and prone to all sorts of faults.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Thank you for the reply.

Other than having to replace the control module a couple of years ago due to the dreaded relay fault that causes repeated heater element failure and the aforementioned recent drum bearing replacement the machine has been very reliable considering I’ve had it some years now and it has been hammered in terms of usage.

With regard to present fault, would you think that the problem was somewhere within the main control module or are there other electronics that could be the cause. (Program / Display PCB)

Regards, Soulman.

[Martin]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Probably the out of balance (OOB) circuitry within the main module (PCB). If the motor is drawing too much current or the drum unusually stiff to turn, they too could cause the spin fault you describe.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Thanks for the reply Martin.

I am by no means an expert and anything that is not obvious I always ask about on here as usually someone has come across or have experience of the same problem before and can offer advice / a solution.
Unfortunately on this occasion that does not seem to be the case.
I did suspect that the Main controller PCB could be the problem, bearing in mind the fact that the fault was originally intermittent and now appears to have become permanent seems to me to point to something (Component / Relay) breaking down and eventually failing completely.
I have this afternoon spoken to EMW (Main module suppliers) with regard to the fault and was advised to first disconnect the heater element and run the spin cycle again to see if this cured the problem, it didn’t but apparently has been known to.

Consequently I have ordered a replacement main controller PCB and once fitted I will post back to inform if this solved the problem or not.

Regards, Soulman.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Ok UK Whitegooders, I fitted the new main controller module / PCB this afternoon and it has made no difference whatsoever, the machine behaves exactly as it did before 🙁

So could any of you good people suggest what area I could / should investigate next in my mission to discover what is causing this problem.

Thank you in advance, Soulman.

[Martin]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

It seems the connections to the motor are good otherwise it would come up with an error code. So I’m thinking the motor is drawing too much current. The effect of that would be that the PCB is thinking the load is unbalanced and continually tries to redistribute the clothes. Finger pointing at the motor is my guess.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Thank you for the reply Martin.

Once I had fitted the new main controller without it resolving the problem I was leaning towards investigating if the motor was somehow at fault.

I don’t have your experience and my thoughts were purely intuition / guesswork.
Your explanation is most welcome as although I might have thought the motor was somehow causing the problem I would not have had the knowledge as to why.

I will turn my attention to the motor at my earliest opportunity (Probably a couple of days)and post back to let you know how I’ve got on.

In the meantime Martin, please could you explain why the motor would be drawing too much current and would it be possible to repair the motor or better to simply replace it.

Thanks in advance, Soulman.

[timdowning]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

I would be checking the heater.

[Soulman]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

timdowning wrote:I would be checking the heater.

Thanks for the reply.

I have run the machine with the heater disconnected (On the advice of EMW before I bought the replacement main controller PCB from them) and it made no difference, the machine would still not spin.

Have fitted the replacement main controller PCB this afternoon and the problem persists.

All suggestions are gratefully received.

Regards, Soulman.

[timdowning]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

The heater being open circuit is a possible cause of a no spin. So disconnecting it doesn’t prove anything.

[Martin]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

What Tim is so eloquently trying to explain, is that if the heater has an insulation leak to earth, that could be the reason for the no spin fault. Disconnecting the heater would however interrupt the self checking electronics and therefore not “prove anything” as Tim puts it. So you need to check the electrical integrity of the heater using an insulation tester. Or, the more expensive option would be to throw in a new heater. And take a punt as it were.

😉

[timdowning]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Thanks for putting it so eloquently Martin.
I was in a bit of rush, I was having to keep my eye on Easy jet as they were releasing their Summer flights early this morning.

[Martin]

Re: WF860P NOT SPINNING

Ah yes, sun, sea, sandals……great! Before Xmas though, Tenerife? Miami? How about February in Hawaii? A world away from a troubling Hotpoint 😉

[Author]

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