There are a lot of misconceptions that people have about repairing washing machines and, a lot of mistakes are made so we want to walk you through the basics and general way of approaching and thinking about repairs.
This is because it’s quite amazing how many people jump straight to a conclusion about a broken washing machine without proper investigation and, they’re often wrong.
Assume Nothing
Probably the most important thing is, don’t assume that a fault means X or Y before you even look.
It is astonishing how many people do this and, that includes some professional repairers but in their case it’s usually all about time, they don’t have enough to investigate things properly as they’re loaded up with work. Not an excuse, just an explanation.
The most common thing people think and, it goes back decades, is that the main module or in the past, timer, are faulty whenever anything doesn’t work.
This is the wrong way to think.
For sure modules etc can fail but, it’s not the most common thing on most machines and certainly shouldn’t be the first thing that you presume has broken as, all too often it won’t be that.
The point being, don’t assume, check.
And, in any case, why immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion that will invariably be the most expensive repair as well?
Methodical Approach
When you look to repair a machine you need to take a more methodical path in that, you see what doesn’t work, when.
In the past with mechanical timers it was easier but these days most machines have test cycles that you can run. The problem for pro-repairers doing many calls a day is that these test cycles can take an inordinate amount of time to run through.
For non-pro’s though that’s not so much of a problem, the bigger problem is getting the information on how to access the test cycle to check things.
But doing this allows you to test each main stage of the wash program and to work out what is or, most likely is, the problem. Which beats guessing at it.
What you see by doing this (if a fault code hasn’t already told you) is the general area where the problem lies.
As an example, say the machine just stops on the program and doesn’t advance. The fault code or test program indicates there’s a problem with water heating and, that’s normally as good as it gets, a general steer on where the problem is but you now know it’s heater, thermostats etc that are the most probable reason.
You then check those for problems.
In this instance the chances are it’s just a faulty heater, the most likely issue or possibly a temperature sensor or thermostat, replacements for which often cost less than £30 at most, many well under £20.
Many people may assume that, because the machine stopped and just sits there flashing lights at them that the main module is faulty so they need that, only to replace it and find they still have the same problem.
If they don’t scrap the machine and fork out for a new one.
And that’s the thing about taking a methodical approach to fault diagnosis, you take the time to diagnose the problem, identify the component/s at issue and repair or replace those which saves a heap or money and heartache most often.
Getting Test Cycle Information
This bugs us.
A lot of times it’s nigh impossible to get the instructions for these from manufacturers, some are way better than others it must be said but we think that they should be freely available to *ALL*, owners and trade so as to save people tossing out machines that are perfectly serviceable.
But, that’s not how it is.
We can find a lot of these for you or rather, the guys in the forums can so please if you need help with any of those, just ask in there.
We put them there or in articles so they are then made available to all, think on UKW being a big free to use knowledge base, that’s how we look at it.
Not Guessing
Good repairers will always adopt this methodology when approaching a repair, they go through things and diagnose the problem.
Sure, they have a lot of experience and can sometimes jump steps, sometimes even “just know” what the issue will be just from their experience but whilst they will be correct most of the time, they’ll still get caught out on the odd occasion. Then they fall back to the basics of fault diagnosis and go through it step by step, methodically. They do that because it works.
This is probably one of the biggest secrets that’s not a secret at all about repairs. It’s not about what you know really, it’s about figuring out what you don’t.