Zanussi FLA1101W tripping mains circuit breaker

[OldIron]

Hi all,

We have one of these, but yesterday it tripped out the mains circuit breaker while on the wash part of the cycle. Resetting the breaker just trips again, but moving the control forward to drain/spin let it finish the cycle.

So, my first thought was that perhaps there is a heating element inside which is failing (presumably by leaking current to ground, given that the plug fuse was untroubled: I haven’t taken any measurements of power draw though). The motor seems to run happily at its various speeds, which makes me less suspicious of it. I can’t even rule that out though, as it could theoretically run happily and leak current to ground.

There aren’t any other sign of major issues with it; the inside of the drum looks fine (nothing obviously clanking around that might short something), no water leaks internally, everything looks in good condition, considering that its 8 years old.

There is a wiring adapter (a white disk of similar sort of size to loft junction boxes – not sure what it should be called) inside that takes 7 wires from the main control board (via 3 connectors, a white pair, single grey, and multi-block of 4 grey), apparently sheaths them in a rubber tube, and disappears into the drum assembly.

Experimentally removing the 4-wire connector allows programmed cycles to run, although it disables spin, so these wires certainly feed the motor. I can’t easily tell if they also feed a heating element, but I haven’t delved further. It might be they only feed the motor of course.

Anyone have any thoughts about cause? A better question perhaps might be whether its worthwhile to repair such an old machine. Its done 8 years without complaint so far, I’m not sure how much reliable life it still has in it.

[Phidom]

Re: Zanussi FLA1101W tripping mains circuit breaker

As you say, probably a faulty heater. The easy way to check this is to disconnect the heater wires and try the machine. You will need to remove the rear half of the cabinet to get at the heater wires. Mains plug out before any dismantling and take care when testing the machine with the back off.
The round device is the pressure switch for water level control.

[OldIron]

Re: Zanussi FLA1101W tripping mains circuit breaker

Phidom wrote:The round device is the pressure switch for water level control.

That was a terrible guess then 😳

Testing it seems to confirm the heating element .. shame its not the 10 quid one, but I guess its worth 30 for the repair.

Thanks for the advice

[Author]

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