Washing machine PCB broken

fuzBear

I got my Samsumg ecobubble in January 2019. In September 2022, mid cycle the machine threw the error mesage UC, and failed to ever turn on again. It's out of the 2 year warranty period, I called a repair company. Call out was £84, for a 5 minute check and I was told I need a new PCB board costing £230. Both costs combined is what I paid for the machine. 

What are my options? It's seems ridiculous the PCB on what should be a reputable brand failed under so quickly. Its only me in my house. Is there anything I say to Samsung to have them replace the PCB?

😥

grumbler

Generally, your rights aren't limited by the warranty - Consumer rights

Also, £230 is a day time robbery - post the exact model. However, if you can't replace it yourself, you'll have to pay another £90 on the top of the cost of the PCB itself.

ThisIsWeird

Your 'case' for 'unsatisfactory goods' (or whatever it is called) would, I understand, be against the retailer.

If you have Leg Prot on your house insurance, call them up and they'll tell you how to act - the correct wording, etc. If you don't have LP, then look up the CAB website for ditto.

macman

Try these guys: a few years back I used them for a PCB repair on both a washing machine and a dishwasher. Both were fixed a in a couple of days and worked perfectly.
https://www.qualityelectronicrepairs.co.uk/
 If it's not repairable, they just charge you a £10 diagnostic fee.
It shouldn't be too tricky to remove the PCB yourself.
You could try a polite enquiry to Samsung UK, but as it's now 4 years from purchase, I doubt you'll get any goodwill. But asking will cost you nothing.
A claim under CRA2015 is not likely to succeed after 4 years, and would require you to pay out for an independent engineer's report first, with no guarantee of success.

mi-key

Have a look on ebay, there are companies who sell refurbished PCBs for all sorts of machines, or even new ones half the price of other places. If you are reasonably practical they are pretty easy to change as well ( all the connections are just clip types ).

I  had to get one for my Hoover washing machine, and it was about a third of the price of buying from the official dealer, and took about an hour to fit in total

SuzeQStan

Sounds about right for a new sammy WMC PCB - especially nowadays - spares have increased approx 30-40% in last year alone.  

Not sure about refurb pcbs - personally I’d sell it spares repairs cut my losses and get a new WMC.

agree w @macman re chancing your arm with Samsung direct along the lines of ‘would you expect one of your washing machines that’s had nothing more than reasonable domestic use (that is the case right?) to last longer than 4 years?  Is there anything you can do at all for me as the cost quoted me to replace PCB is more than the original purchase price.’ 

You never know - you might get a nice rep.

edit - are you sure diagnosis is correct from your engineer - they did do the power down/on?

do you get the error message still as your original message sounds like it’s not powering on at all? If
no power is there a chance this could be a fuse?!?

grumbler

SuzeQStan said:

...reasonable domestic use (that is the case right?) ...

For a PCB, unlike for bearings/motor etc., it doesn't matter.  It's just poor or faulty components.

SuzeQStan

@grumbler - I see your point - but if it’s getting hammered then would be lucky to get a domestic beyond 4 years anyway. Just a shame it’s the most expensive component in the wmc - but I’d still check the 10p fuse 1st

grumbler

Do you mean a fuse on the PCB?

The machine shows some error - the plug fuse is obviously fine.

EssexExile

grumbler said:

SuzeQStan said:

...reasonable domestic use (that is the case right?) ...

For a PCB, unlike for bearings/motor etc., it doesn't matter.  It's just poor or faulty components.

You'd be amazed what customers can do to washing machines.

SuzeQStan

grumbler said:

Do you mean a fuse on the PCB?

The machine shows some error - the plug fuse is obviously fine.

Sorry I thought OP said that the error message had not replicated?