Washing machine tripping fuse

movilogo

I ran a vacuum cleaner from same plug which worked fine. Only washing machine trips it.

MikeJXE

Could be the washing machine then 

FreeBear

movilogo said:

I ran a vacuum cleaner from same plug which worked fine. Only washing machine trips it.

Had a washing machine that developed a fault that would cause an RCD to trip out. Tracked it down to a noise suppression device across the main motor - These little devices are wired across the live terminals of the motor and to earth. When they go faulty, there is often a leakage current to earth which trips an RCD, or in your case, the vintage RCBO.

The part is relatively inexpensive, but labour costs could be quite high. Have a look for a local appliance repair outfit and see what they have to say. Depending on the age of the machine, it may be easier to replace with a new one.

grumbler

FreeBear said:

movilogo said:

I ran a vacuum cleaner from same plug which worked fine. Only washing machine trips it.

Had a washing machine that developed a fault that would cause an RCD to trip out. Tracked it down to a noise suppression device across the main motor - These little devices are wired across the live terminals of the motor and to earth.

IIRC, with my dishwasher it was a noise suppression capacitor where the power lead is wired to the machine.

Risteard

movilogo said:

Don't know what that means. I see that a fuse in main fuse box down position after it trips and I just put it back to up position.

It is an old house, some sockets seems older than me. 1960s house with original electricals mostly, don't know if that helps. 

The point being made is that a fuse will rupture, and would need to be replaced. A fuse cannot be "reset". As such the suspicion is that the protective device to which you refer is not actually a fuse, but perhaps a circuit breaker etc.

FreeBear

Risteard said:

movilogo said:

Don't know what that means. I see that a fuse in main fuse box down position after it trips and I just put it back to up position.

It is an old house, some sockets seems older than me. 1960s house with original electricals mostly, don't know if that helps. 

The point being made is that a fuse will rupture, and would need to be replaced. A fuse cannot be "reset". As such the suspicion is that the protective device to which you refer is not actually a fuse, but perhaps a circuit breaker etc.

Matters not what the OP calls the device. Grumbler has identified the breaker as an early type of RCBO (specifically, a System D from the 70/80s). And the point is pretty irrelevant as they were asking what the likely cause of the tripping is.

And yes, there are devices known as "resettable fuses" - Often found inside sealed power supplies and in aerospace applications. One would not normally find such a device in a consumer unit.

ThisIsWeird

movilogo said:

Moved house with my own washing machine which ran fine for years.

The movers connected the machine before they left. 2 days later when I tried to run it, initially it refused to spin. I read the manual and cleared the water from drain pipe. Then turned on cold water supply. It then started spinning fine. After 5 minutes, it tripped the fuse!

I reset the fuse and tried running it again but every time I do that I hear a click sound as soon washing machine kicks in and trips the fuse.

Before I call an electrician, is there anything easy I can DIY? 

I am not looking to de-assemble the internals of washing machine. 

A spin cycle will only draw, what?, 200-odd watts? So if setting it to spin-only trips that breaker when a vacuum cleaner (~1200+W?) doesn't, then I think that leaves open the options for both 'short' and 'leak' (but presumably NOT a leaking element, perhaps the most common cause - shame).
Has Grumb fully ID'd the breaker as being both? If so, I guess the two options remain.

Movilogo, make and model of W/M please. And this 'click' that you hear when you press 'start', is it the normal door locking mechanism engaging - something you must have heard many times before - or a completely different sound? 

When you manually turn the drum, does it make any noises? When you grab the drum's front edge and give it a back-and-forth shake, how does it respond and move? Smoothly? Noiselessly? Well-damped? Returns right away to it's starting position? Or is it 'floppy' - far too easy to move, and makes a few 'rebounds' before resting again? Creaks and groans if you rotate it by hand?

Does the drum even start to move? What is the exact sequence: you select 'spin', press 'start', there's a short pause as the door lock engages? Then a 'click'? WHAT click? Does the breaker trip in that same instant? A half second later? What sort of door lock does it have - 'heat' (takes a few seconds to engage, and quite a few seconds to release), or electronic - 'clicks' right away after 'start', and unclicks quickly after prog ends, or if you stop the machine to add more stuff?

ThisIsWeird

In any event, I can't see anything the OP can do. I'd suggest the person you need is an appliance service fellow, and not a sparky. Try your local Fb sites for recommendations.

How old is the machine? This could be a cheap or expensive repair. Also factor in the diagnosis charge.

movilogo

make and model of W/M please. And this 'click' that you hear when you press 'start', is it the normal door locking mechanism engaging - something you must have heard many times before - or a completely different sound? 

When you manually turn the drum, does it make any noises? 

Does the drum even start to move? What is the exact sequence: you select 'spin', press 'start', there's a short pause as the door lock engages? Then a 'click'? WHAT click? Does the breaker trip in that same instant? A half second later? What sort of door lock does it have - 'heat' (takes a few seconds to engage, and quite a few seconds to release), or electronic - 'clicks' right away after 'start', and unclicks quickly after prog ends, or if you stop the machine to add more stuff?

The model is Bosch Classixx 1400 Express. It is over 12 years old. 

When I first connected, I could hear water filling up and the drum started to rotate. I thought all good. Then after few minutes it tripped the circuit breaker. After that whenever I tried to start it, it trips even before drum rotates. I can't explain the tick or click sound because I never heard this before. In fact for an entire decade I never really paid any attention to this washing machine as it always just worked. 

victor2

Sounds like you need a man to look at it - or just bite the bullet and buy a new one.

This is the Bosch repair service - https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/customer-service/repair-service - going to cost over £100 plus parts, assuming it isn't "beyond repair".

If you can get a local repair guy to look at it, it might be worth it.