Washing machine electrical fault?

Ivyleaf_2

My washing machine has developed a fault where as soon as I plug it in it knocks out the power to the whole house (flips the main switch in the fuse box). I don't have it covered- has anyone else had anything like this- how much did it cost to fix?

notsorichandnotsofamous

Yes I had this problem a couple of years ago,hopefully yours won't be the same as the problem I had with mine.
It was a Servis washing machine and I had had it about 10 months.Because it was still under warranty, Servis sent someone to have a look at it.He found a 5 pence piece inside it,He said as the machine was spinning the coin most probably hit the electrical circuit inside the washer and killed it ??? He said that this voided the warranty because you are not mean't to wash coins !

notsorichandnotsofamous

Forgot to say
I didn't bother to get it fixed as it would have mean't paying for a call out, waiting for the part and he was quoting about £80.00
I just bought a new cheap one (£169.00) and its still going over 2 years later !

macman

Ivyleaf wrote: »

My washing machine has developed a fault where as soon as I plug it in it knocks out the power to the whole house (flips the main switch in the fuse box). I don't have it covered- has anyone else had anything like this- how much did it cost to fix?

Is it tripping an MCB on that power circuit alone, or is it tripping an RCD covering part of the CU? First thing to do is to plug it into another socket on the same ring main, and then into another socket on a different ring main (use an extension lead). If it still trips out on both, then you can be pretty sure that you have a fault (possibly a potentialy dangerous earth leakage) on the machine itself.
If not, look for a socket or circuit fault on the original ring main.

Ivyleaf_2

Thanks for the replies :-) the fault actually started to happen when I switched the cooker on too so it might not be the machine. Crossed fingers, as I have home cover for the wiring!

macman

Cooker will (or should) be on an entirely different circuit. You need to determine which circuit is tripping to isolate the fault.

mandragora_2

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums

These guys are great for all washing m/c related problems if that's what it turns out to be.

macman

But if the cooker is tripping out on a different circuit, it's not a problem with the washing machine itself.

Ivyleaf_2

Thanks to all that replied. Finally, hopefully figured out what the problem is- it's not the washing machine. It's a fault on one of the cooker rings coupled with a nearly worn out RCD switch which was flipping off whenever something with a heavy load was being used.

So I got the RCD replaced which fortunately was insured and can now use the washing machine and the cooker apart from the faulty ring. Hurrah!