Hotpoint Washing Machine WM62P tripping RCD - Help!...

[Cat-Kicker]

Hi all,

As per the title, machine trips RCD within a few seconds of being turned on - any cycle selected. If door open it's ok, as soon as door closed it trips. So I'm trying to establish if this means it's the door lock? But I assume power is not supplied to the rest of the machine until the door is closed so probably does not prove anything?

I have tried:
Motor disconnected - still trips.
Pump disconnected - still trips.
No obvious shorts or worn insulation.

Heater seems to be around the front up underneath and almost impossible to access...

Help! Mrs getting antsy.

Thanks,
Gary C

 

[rocks1]

Remove the purple and grey wire off the pressure switch tape them up out of the way see if it still trips. That's a short cut to the heater. If it don't trip then heater is faulty

 

[Cat-Kicker]

Thanks rocks1 will try tonight

 

[fidom]

On these machines this is usually due to failure of the drum support spider. The spider legs crack and the crack opens up due to centrifugal force when on spin. The front edge of the drum then cuts a hole in the heater which then shorts out on the next wash.

 

[Cat-Kicker]

rock1 - This is a photo of the wiring going to the pressure switch. As you can see there is a purple/green, a red/green, and 3 white ones.... no grey. What ones do I need to unplug?

Pressure switch wiring

• Cat-Kicker
• 10 Jan 2012
• 1

fidom - Thanks will check that as a poss cause if the heater proves to be at fault.

Gary C

 

[rocks1]

Purple and green will do

 

[Cat-Kicker]

Great shout works1! No tripping with the wire off.
So pretty much safe to assume the heater?

So now for what looks like the hard part - how do I get access to change the thing? Looks like it's underneath the drum at the front...

 

[rocks1]

Ŵith the lid remove , remove soap dispenser then the 4 screws behind it. Then pull off knobs then consol panel comes off. Next 2 screws on the top of the panel and 2 at the bottom of panel. Then 2 screws by the door lock, then unclip the white plastic bit at the top of door seal remove the wire and then flick of the rim of door seal then front panel lifts off. Heater down the bottom.

 

[Cat-Kicker]

OK thankyou, sounds like a job for tomorrow, will let you know how it goes

 

[Cat-Kicker]

OK ended pulling the thing apart last night - very easy thanks to your clear instructions works1 (apart from a slight disagreement with my knuckles).
Having looked at the element, there appear to be two score marks which I would not think are there by design, about 2" or so in from the plate - see pic:

Untitled

• Cat-Kicker
• 11 Jan 2012
• 1

Would this indicate a problem with the spider? Just trying to see if something has actually caused the heater to go - not much point just replacing it if that's the case...

 

[fidom]

Yes, it is almost certainly the spider but now you have dismantled it that far it won't take much more work to get the drum out. To do this you need to remove the belt and undo the large locknut from the drum spindle then unscrew the threaded drum pulley from the spindle. Unclip the front of the tub and pull it off then tap the drum spindle with a mallet to release it from the bearings. You can then take out the drum and inspect the spider.

 

[Cat-Kicker]

If I go down the route of taking the drum apart - and do have to replace the drum spider, how likely is it that I'll need to replace the bearing as well? Am I likely to get the assembly apart undamaged?

Need to make a call really - cost of element say £20, spider £30, my time (and knuckles) plus any other parts? When I get the drum apart do I need to replace a seal/gasket or anything?

We got the machine free as it was left in the house when we moved in six years ago so have had a good free run out of it...

Hmm, thoughts?

 

[Cat-Kicker]

OK final update on this - dismantled as per fidom's instructions, no issues in doing it, drum spider cracked as suspected.
Costed it all up to around £70 (element, spider, tub gasket), and have decided to put it toward a new machine on the basis that the Hotpoint is about 8 years old and we've had 5-6 years lucky trouble free use from it.

Gone for a mid-high end Bosch so should be reasonable.

Thanks very much to rocks1 and fidom for their great help which has helped us make the decision