Washing machine - repair or replace?

Chris842

Hi,

We have a problem with our washing machine, a Servis M6705W.

Our electric was on a pre-pay meter. One day, we ran out of money on the meter, the electricity went off, and since then we have had our problem - the washing machine will just not switch on.

We have tried replacing the fuse, to no avail. One of our friend's has said it might be the PCB and says they are really expensive to replace.

So...
1) Does anyone here know anything about washing machines, what the problem is likely to be and how much it would cost to resolve the problem?
2) As the title says, would it be cheaper to repair or to just get a second hand one from somewhere?

Thanks,

Chris

Myser

Have you firstly checked that the fuse for the washing machine mains circuit in the consumer unit (fuse box) hasn't tripped?

Try plugging something else into that socket.

Do any lights display on the front panel?

Alter_ego

If it involves calling out a repair person, I'd replace it.

Chris842

Myser...

We've actually moved house since it happened, and it still doesn't work in the new house. So that's two power sockets we've tried it in, so I don't think its a problem with the socket.

Same goes for the fusebox. I checked that in the old house, all of the switches in the fuse box were on.

No lights are displayed on the front panel at all.

Alter Ego...

Cheapest repairman I've found so far would be £45, plus the cost of new parts. I may look into replacing the PCB myself. Not sure that that's the problem though!

Chris

macman

£45 is of course a lot less than the cost of even the cheapest new washing machine-so surely worth getting it checked.

matelodave

How old is the machine?. Does the £45 call out include VAT, spare parts are likely to be quite expensive (check up how much a PCB will cost on something like partsdirect etc) so you are unlikely to get away with much less than £100 and you'd still have an old machine

Curry's have basic machines for less than £170 and you get 12 months warranty

Myser

Chris842 wrote: »

No lights are displayed on the front panel at all.

The sudden loss in power may have caused a surge and the internal fuse/PCB to get damaged.

Without knowing where to look for the internal fuse on the PCB, you would probably end up replacing the whole PCB.

Depending on the age and specification of the machine, this might not be worth doing.

Alter_ego

macman wrote: »

£45 is of course a lot less than the cost of even the cheapest new washing machine-so surely worth getting it checked.

Would you want the cheapest repairman? His callout fee will soon escalate when he starts to fix the fault. Even if successfully repaired you still have your old machine and £100+ lighter in the pocket.

peachyprice

It's £106 just for the PCB, that might or might not fix it.

Not really worth it IMO.

lstar337

You could post a photo of the PCB here, we can show you where the internal fuse is and you can check it with a multimeter yourself.

macman

Alter_ego wrote: »

Would you want the cheapest repairman? His callout fee will soon escalate when he starts to fix the fault. Even if successfully repaired you still have your old machine and £100+ lighter in the pocket.

The white goods repairer I use charges just £25 for a diagnosis, £25 for the repair, plus any parts required. He's never let me down yet. There's no conclusive evidence that it's the PCB.