Hotpoint WMT03 failing to fill up properly.

[SirBodger]

I am looking into this for my mother in law (who rang me up this evening). I haven't managed to look at the machine myself yet (she is a bit of a drive away) but I was wondering if anybody had any ideas before I travel up there.

Apparently it seems to start to fill and then switch itself off before much water enters the machine (although it seems that a small amount does). This seems slightly unusual to me so I thought i'd add a post to see if anybody had come across this problem before. I have tinkered with machines a little bit but have not come across this (assuming she is describing the situation accurately). They do have low water pressure but the machine has been running with no issues for over 5 years.

Many Thanks,

Mark

 

[rocks1]

depends on what prog shes useing ,95 gives a little 40 a bit more 60 up to the inner drum below the door level ,rinse goes to the door up to about 2 inches ,reason is if door open when on, hot water will burn little pinkies , cold water ie rinse pinkies will just get wet . btw pinkies = toes.

 

[SirBodger]

Thanks Rocks. So it might not be indicitive of a filling issue then.

However she did say that normally it takes some time to fill and that it stopped filling much earlier than expected (from her experience sound wise). Looks like I will have to play it by ear when I get up there unless anybody has anymore ideas.

 

[cakeman]

just a thought !
is it hot & cold fill ?
might be a problem with the hot fill pipe or valve??

just trying to read between the lines !

 

[SirBodger]

Thanks Cakeman.

It is a good possibility as I know that the hotwater there gets rediculously hot. Hot enough to cause problems with valves I would think. Is there an easy way of testing the theory apart from replacing the valve?

Thanks again,

Mark

 

[cakeman]

check for continuity on the spade connectors.
but valve can be siezed
i have a flex off an old dishwasher with a fused plug on it that has spade connectors on it.
first switch off machine and unplug it.
leave the water pipe connected and on
then i remove the spades from the valve , slide my tester ones on , AND PLUG IN AFTER CONNECTING , switch on and listen for a slight hum, and water should enter machine
that eleiminates valve in almost all circumstances

 

[SirBodger]

Thanks a lot Cakeman. Appreciated.

Sounds like a good plan. I have some spade connectors I think. I will check continuity first though.

I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[cakeman]

forgot to mention
unplug the tester before disconnecting


take care

 

[SirBodger]

Yes, that wouldn't be a pleasant experience

Thanks Cakeman. I shall be careful.

 

[SirBodger]

I'm still alive cakeman

I made a tester up with a flex before I went over. When I gave it a run though it became obvious it was filling and emptying ok. So it looks like I had been given a bad description of the problem.

The problem seemed to be the drum not spinning. It would turn without a load in it when I was there but wouldn't start a fast spin. With a load I was then told that it looked like it was just sloshing the water around a bit (but not spinning). So that made me suspect the motor brushes. When I took them out they were fairly short and the com was black so I bought some new ones in town. £20 though which seemed steep.

Anyway it seems to be spinning now. Many thanks for your help and apologies for the red herring. At least I have learnt a method for testing the valves now

Cheers

 

[cakeman]

good work there 'SirBodger'

classic example of people telling you whats wrong with a machine turning out completely wrong.
i tend to ignore there diagnosis and just get on with seeing whats what

 

[SirBodger]

Thanks Cakeman.

I was suspicious about the description and quizzed it a bit on the phone. I should have know better. Just getting on with it is the best way I think