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I went to a W123 this afternoon, so BEFORE I went and got the crosspiece from the van, I took the rear cover off and was confronted by ….. a plastic tub!
Thank God the computer had exploded!
Chris.
Re: A Vision of the Future?
Right, we’re all being distracted from the original point here. Brian’s post has acted as a diversion, albeit a very interesting one. To deal briefly with it I would probably ask for around £110 to replace the motor. Does beg the question though, why can’t I just buy an armature for an FHP motor? Seem to recall we could get them for years for a GEC motor… I even have a nifty little tool for taking FHP motors apart (Been building AEG motors for years out of Microprofile motors, but that is another story!).
Let’s try and make the scenario simpler. Merloni are a bit busy, and need some help. The Work Providers alert their network, and off we go. What my post originally suggested was that an Independant goes to job and opens his personal box of the top 25 spares (50 would be better…) for that manufacturer and DOES THE JOB! Happy customer, 2 day service perhaps, good reflection on the Company, fills in the form on-line, top up stock arrives day later. To me it is utterly irrelevant WHAT the part is – it’s yours – I’ll fit it and test it for you, but it is irrelevant because I’M BEING PAID PROPERLY.
Manufacturer benefits because they’re not billing parts out, having them billed back, possibly through two or three parties, all wanting their cut; all that has to be done is pay for the call. Preferably promptly and in full.
It isn’t a difficult concept to grasp.
Private work – well, the customer has already decided not to pay a Company call out, so cost is already an issue. I suspect that it’s a Gimme that in these circumstances part prices will be upped to compensate for the reluctance of the customer to pay labour/call out charges.
Either way, there is a psychological barrier at £100 with washers, which needs either a “sales job” on a decent machine, or the acceptance of a write off on something cheap and nasty.
As I said earlier, we need to rethink the whole way this is supposed to work. We could do a quick analysis of a market research core sample of one – my Mother. Had a Hotpoint twintub in the Sixties; complete disaster, never had a Hotpoint appliance in the house since. That’s 40+ YEARS! People DO hold grudges and WILL boycott what they perceive to be poor quality brands, and ESPECIALLY, poor service.
Regards,
Chris.Teddy,
Won’t be able help you much without the model reference or “E. no”. If you can take out the crisper bins you should find a rating plate, the numbers will be on that.Regards,
Penguin45.Hi TK,
6 flashes is a “management error” – fault on digital control board. The single flash relates to a motor speed control problem. SO – the clue is the motor blowing fuses – this will need to be replaced, as will the control board.This whole thing smacks of a misdiagnosis and you should contact your repairer immediately; your new board has failed because of the motor problem.
Was this Merloni Service or a private repair – we’d love to know.
Regards,
Penguin45.Yep – went to get a Hotpoint t/d from my local wholesalers yesterday and was told nothing ’til January. They were rather incensed that they now couldn’t fulfill outstanding orders.
Still, they did have a few White Knights, so the customer had to make do with one of them.
What’s going on?
Chris.
Thanks chaps, I took great pleasure in asking my local main agents to order it up for me…..
Cheers,
Chris.Thank God. Someone’s paid attention to the FIRST part of this little story.
Right, it may not (probably won’t) pan out that way, but there’s some food for thought here. BER’s are driving everybody potty, because of the price of spares. And you don’t get paid properly. And you don’t supply the replacement appliance. We all KNOW that component prices are a rip-off. If we can make the manufacturers realise that the parts are actually irrelevant to repairing the machine under guarantee or warranty, it’ll work so much better.
What should happen is that we get paid a proper rate to go and fit somebody’s “bit in a brown box” to their appliance. It doesn’t matter WHAT’s in the box (the wholesaler’s in any industry will tell you the same – it’s a unit of profit to them). If we are paid properly, we don’t need a mark up on the part and the whole balance changes.
A motor. £20 to a major manufacturer? Less? Probably. Retail – £100+
And …..VAT
Now then. £50 call charge for you, £20 part to company, plus the dreaded VAT = £82.25. Allowing for the WP charges this should still pan out at under £100.
OR……..
£120 motor + £35 charge + VAT = £182 + WP charges – we’ll write this one off shall we? Oh, and you just earned £17.50. Plus VAT.
THINK ABOUT IT!!!
For Heaven’s sake, the whole system needs changing. If we can point out something this obvious to a company like Hotpoint, whose BER rate can only be described as appalling (Equals falling sales due to loss of Public Confidence), we might get somewhere.
Until manufacturers can get it through their combined thick heads that repairs are not an expense but a customer service and that this might be a reasonable way of reducing their OWN expenses, as well as satisfying customer expectations we will all continue, lemming like, to ultimate self destruction.
Regards,
The Provisional Flipper of Penguin45,
Chris.You’re on the right track. It’s got a brush motor, so they may well be finished. These machines are also prone to burning out the tracks where the edge connectors join the board. Some also have a circuit protection fuse.
If you are not confident with using test equipment, you must get professional help.
Check the Directories section for a UKW engineer, or pop your postcode up in here and someone will pick up on it.
Whatever you do, pull the plug first.
Regards,
Penguin45.Re: Homark ceramic hob
Dave will certainly help you, but he won’t tell you nought without the model number and which switch (I presume you mean energy regulator) required.
Regards,
Penguin45.If the blown track on the controller is the front left one, it’s defo interlock blown it – solder it back in and you’ll probably be OK.
Chris.
Dave,
All programmes on these appliances EXCEPT quickwash heat to a predetermined temperature before allowing the programme to proceed. The quickwash programme runs against time as opposed to temperature, so it suggests a heater problem of some sort. One of the most regular problems with these is burnt out joints on the PCB. Others may be heater failure, safety stat failed, underfilling not allowing heater to activate…….So, a few possibilities then – time for a local engineer? Check the Directory on the left for a UKW engineer, or pop your postcode up in here and someone will pick up on it.
Regards,
Penguin45.The ring on the end of the two legs acts as the inlet orifice for the drain pump. The machine will NOT pump without it being fitted as the pump is effectively open sided, so no pressure will be generated.
If the filter is actually broken it can be replaced as a spare part (IIRC) rather than the entire pump assembly. DC should be able to advise on Monday.
Regards,
Penguin45.
