Washing machine leaking from around powder drawer

elljay · 10 December 2009 at 4:38PM

Have just mopped up masses of water from around my machine and discovered that the leak is actually coming out at the front underneath the powder drawer. I've pulled out the drawer and can see that it's completely clogged up. I've managed to get much of the water out and tried pouring hot water and soda down but it hasn't shifted it. I'm assuming there are probably drainage holes or something there but can't see them nor get at them. Can anyone describe the anatomy of this bit of a washing machine to me so I can work out how to clear it out?

One odd thing is that when I scooped out the water there was masses of black gunge and a few other bits of grot such as dog biscuits in there -very soggy ones! How could that have happened assuming that particular section is just to take powder etc from the drawer into the drum? Strangely enough I never put dog biscuits into the washing machine powder drawer! I usually blame mice for odd things like this happening in my house but can't see how even they could've achieved this!

Thanks for any advice.

Elizabeth

Ebe_Scrooge · 10 December 2009 at 4:51PM

There's a useful guide here :

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=5

Bear in mind that the drawer comes out completely for cleaning - there's usually a little catch you need to press down - and remember to clean the hole where the drawer fits into as well.

If that doesn't cure the problem, then I'd suggest getting the top off the machine and have a little look around to see if you can spot anything obvious. It's usually fairly easy to remove the top - usually just a couple of screws at the back, and the manual probably tells you how to remove it anyway. Hopefully it goes without saying, but please remember to unplug the machine from the mains before you do this :-)

elljay · 10 December 2009 at 5:02PM

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

There's a useful guide here :

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=5

Bear in mind that the drawer comes out completely for cleaning - there's usually a little catch you need to press down - and remember to clean the hole where the drawer fits into as well.

If that doesn't cure the problem, then I'd suggest getting the top off the machine and have a little look around to see if you can spot anything obvious. It's usually fairly easy to remove the top - usually just a couple of screws at the back, and the manual probably tells you how to remove it anyway. Hopefully it goes without saying, but please remember to unplug the machine from the mains before you do this :-)

Thanks very much. The drawer itself is fine and I clean it regularly. It's the bit it fits into which I see from the website you've given is called the soap box. I see it recommends cleaning the water jets but doesn't say how to clean down the pipe or whatever which takes the powder/softener etc away to the drum. However thanks to you I'm several steps further to understanding it all so will keep looking round.

E

Ebe_Scrooge · 10 December 2009 at 5:13PM

Hmmm - I've never heard of the pipes themselves becoming blocked, but it's certainly a possibility.

Take this next piece of advice at your own risk - you may well find, when you get the lid off the machine, that the pipes are just clipped into place, and it's obvious and easy to remove them. If so, remove them and give them a good clean. Hopefully you should be able to do this without disturbing anything else. As I say, you need to make a judgement based on how easy it looks, and your own DIY competence, but personally I'm all for saving an expensive call-out to an engineer if I possibly can :-)

Tucker · 10 December 2009 at 6:46PM

I had a very similar leak on my hotpoint.

At what point is the water coming out of the drawer?

Is it when the machine drains and starts the spin cycle by any chance?

elljay · 10 December 2009 at 6:51PM

Tucker wrote: »

I had a very similar leak on my hotpoint.

At what point is the water coming out of the drawer?

Is it when the machine drains and starts the spin cycle by any chance?

No it's when it fills initially. I noticed within a couple of seconds of switching on that water was flowing out from under the soap drawer and when I removed the soap drawer it obviously wasn't draining down into the drum, taking the washing powder with it. Sounds like something else from yours.

Thanks

irishesman · 29 December 2009 at 2:56PM

elljay wrote: »

No it's when it fills initially. I noticed within a couple of seconds of switching on that water was flowing out from under the soap drawer and when I removed the soap drawer it obviously wasn't draining down into the drum, taking the washing powder with it. Sounds like something else from yours.

Thanks

Try this, found it on another forum, I am going to try it tonight

Had exactly the same problem with a WD640, which I've just fixed.

I also initially went through lowering the water pressure to the point that it was taking ages to initially fill up; however, still ended up flooding the kitchen out of the detergent dispenser. The problem is not the water pressure, it's that the washer can't pump the water out fast enough - it my case this was due to a couple of my daughters little socks!

If your Hotpoint washer is a similar design to mine, you'll not have a user-accessible pump filter, so - presuming you're happy doing it and the machine is unplugged from the electricity of course - I rectified by the following:

1. Switched the machine to 'pump-out' and got rid of as much water as possible.
2. Unplugged and disconnected the pump-out pipe from the house drainage and drained off as much additional water as possible into a bowl by gravity.
3. Removed the panel at the bottom of the back of the washer to expose the pump, the bottom of the drum and the main washer motor.
4. On the right-hand side, you'll see the pump with the grey (in my case) drain pipe and a wide black rubber pipe connected directly to the bottom of the drum by an adjustable metal clip
5. The wide black pipe attached to the drum contains a ball-filter and is probably the source of your problems - undo the clip (watching for water of course; though none was spilt when I did it) - and lower it slightly to reveal the filter and - hopefully - the odd sock or so!
6. Clear the filter of the obstructions (the plastic ball can be lifted out by the way to aid doing this)
7. Make sure the ball is back in place and connect the wide black pipe back up to the bottom of the drum - ensure the clip is secure
8. Replace the machines back panel
9. Connect the drain pipe back up to the house drainage
10. Do a test wash !

Hope that helps - in practice it took about 10 minutes all together and is pretty easy.

irishesman · 30 December 2009 at 9:50AM

Yes - it worked, you should have seen the junk I pulled out. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: We'ed better start emptying our pockets now

Washing machine leaking from around powder drawer

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