Washing Machine Problems

TomsMom

Following on from what kwatt says, the Hotpoint I have is a WMA34, 1000 spin. It has a manual dial for setting the programme, marked A-L plus about 3 spin/rinse & spin programmes. There's red lights above the lettering to say where in the cycle the machine is at.

As mentioned in my post above, it occasionally has a little blip when it doesn't finish the cycle - leaves the clothes very wet as though final spin hasn't taken place, doesn't take in the conditioner, or sometimes leaving the three lights on (wash/rinse/spin) but the door locked light has gone off allowing the door to be opened. It doesn't happen often but when it does all I've ever done is set it to rinse/spin again and it goes through that and finishes off.

Does yours happen frequently or only occasionally? If only occasionally then it could just be having a wobbler (my washing machine is male, same as my computer ) try just using the rinse/spin option to finish it off. If it happens frequently then I'm afraid I can't offer any advice other than maybe call an engineer out.

kwatt

That sounds very much like an Out Of Balance (OOB) condition.

Most machines, especially larger capacity ones which are MUCH worse for this, will automatically detect if the load is imbalanced and abort the spin. Simply sorting the laundry may cure it, may not but in most spinning single items is not possible these days due to this.

The larger the drum, the less space for movement, the more severe the OOB detection has to be to avoid potential damage. This is why you don't see many high capacity and high spin speed machines, it is very difficult to achieve at a sensible price.

As I tell people often, it's all a compromise.

If the dispenser is clear then it could be a water valve fault but do also get a brush in there to the top of the dispenser housing as the jets can block and, often do, especially in hard water areas.

HTH

K.

pagledz

I know this an old thread but in case anyone would like to know the cause of this fault ie. wet clothes and cycles not completing with the three cycle position lights lit as mentioned in a previous reply I thought I'd reply with the cause.
We have a WMA34 that has just done exactly the same thing, but this could be the cause of this fault on most washing machines that are more than 7 or 8 years old, it was also making a loud rattling noise, this turned out to be the motor brushes sparking.
The brushes are only allowed to wear so much due to a braided wire inside the spring between the brush and the copper retaining plate, when they have worn to the limit the wire is taught and the brushes don't contact the commutator properly and spark when and if the motor runs.
The motor is a pretty robust piece of kit so it's unlikely to be nothing more than replacing the brushes that will cure the problem.
This is a simple job, remove the motor 2 x 8mm bolts an earth wire and a connecting plug you will see the brushes under any covers which just unclip, the plate at the end of the brush holder that the wire is plugged on to just tilts horizontally and the plate, spring and brush just pull out, refitting is a reversal of this procedure.
I have managed to keep the machine going for now until the new brushes arrive, which I have ordered from yourspares.co.uk, by bending the brush retaining plates in slightly, just use a small screw driver against the centre of the plate and carefully tap it lightly to bend the plate inwards 3mm or so to allow the brushes a little more movement, there is still a good 12mm left on the brushes when this happens so bending these plates in to allow another 3 or 4mm movement will not harm the motor at all.
Hope this helps anyone else whose washing machine has this problem.