washing machine taking long time to finish

jackieb

I first noticed a few weeks ago but didn't time the cycles. I have a Hotpoint Aquarius which is about 4/5 years old. Normally I do quick loads on a 40 degree wash. Today, I put a load on a fast wash before 8am. It's now 2.40pm and it's still going! The drum is full of bubbles (I only put one capful of liquid in) and it hasn't even begun to rinse yet.

Is there a timer in the machine that could have went? The machine has been washing/rinsing/spinning everything fine. It's just been taking far too long.

GavB79

I have been told that some washing machines keep going if they don't reach the desired temperature, i.e. it may be waiting to hit 40deg but have a broken thermostat or heating element so it never gets there or doesn't know it's got there.
I don't know if there is any truth in this however.

macman

Is it cold fill only or hot and cold? Even if heating its own water on cold fill, that is far too long, which indicates a fault in the programmer.

jackieb

I'd put this load on at 60C because there had been a dirty boilersuit in the previous wash, and I wanted to make sure all the pipes and everything were clean. As I said, normally everything is at 40C. I cancelled the wash and put it onto rinse and spin, which it's now done. I put in another quick wash at 40C and that's just finished now. That's still taken about 2 hours though.

I'll keep an eye on the cycle times from now on. Thanks for your suggestion.

jackieb

macman wrote: »

Is it cold fill only or hot and cold? Even if heating its own water on cold fill, that is far too long, which indicates a fault in the programmer.

I think it's hot and cold. There are 2 pipes in the back of it anyhow - one red, one blue. I did wonder if had anything to do with the heating not being on lately, and it was having to heat it's own water because I had noticed washes were taking longer. Never had one this long though. And as you say, it's far to long, especially for a fast wash.

macman

If there are two feeds, it's taking hot water from your domestic system. Nothing to do with having your central heating on, it takes hot water from your hot water tank or combi.

jackieb

What if there's not enough hot water in the tank though? Does the washer have to heat up the water then?

macman

Yes, if the incoming water from the hot feed is not warm enough, the heating element in the w/m brings it up to the correct temp.
However this does not add hours to the cycle as you are experiencing.
However it might be worth running another cycle after ensuring you have sufficient hot water available beforehand-see if this shortens the cycle.
Also clean the filters in the two feeds to make sure nothing is blocking them.

TomsMom

I've got an oldish Hotpoint Aquarius, hot and cold fill, and I did a Quick Wash this afternoon, took about 30 minutes. My hot water comes from a combi boiler and the water's set at 55 degrees C.

jackieb

TomsMom, that would be more like it. I did a quick wash at 40C last night and after 2 hours I stopped the machine to put it onto rinse and spin. I just noticed last night that the 'door locked' light kept going off and back on again, and the machine stopped when the light was off. Maybe a sensor's gone.

macman

If it thinks the door is open it would stop the cycle.
Is it actually running all the time during the extended cycle, if so it can't be the door open sensor? But if the sensor is cutting in and out intermittently then that might be extending the cycle time.