Hoover Performa 1100 (WA110 001) stuck w/ 40deg wash

[kittgs]

I have a Hoover Washer/Dryer which has an issue where it gets stuck mid cycle on one of the washes. Unfortunately it is the cycle we use the most which is labelled as 4 (40deg non-fast colour wash). It gets stuck almost exactly half way between the 4 and the 5 on the dial. The only way to progress is to click the dial around.

The point where it is stuck seems to be where it 'agitates' (for want of a better word) the wash back and forwards. It makes various whirring and clicking noises and seems to function fine but just never progresses. This is whether it is on 'economy' setting or not. It always stops at the same point on the dial (which I have now marked).

If I click it to the next 'notch' it starts draining (as expected), I felt the temperature of the water coming out of the machine and it is stone cold. So my first guess was that the element was gone.

However, if we set it to a 2 or a 3 wash (90 deg or 60 deg) it progresses past the same point on the dial with no problem and the water is nice and hot.

The machine has both hot and cold inputs so I imagine the heat on the 60 or 90 wash could be just from the hot tap? (although I wouldn't imagine our hot water is at 90 degrees!)

I have ordered a new heater element as that is cheap enough even if it doesn't fix it. I am also planning to clean the thermostat with a little descaler (the thermostat had a bit of calcium build up on it but not much).

My second guess would be the (snap disc) thermostat which seems to have two inputs and two outputs (4 terminals) so I'm guessing there is one thermostat that operates at a certain temperature (40? )and another one that operates at a some cut-off temperature (90?). However, the thermostat is a bit more pricey so I don't want to replace that unless I'm more sure it has gone.

Once I manually click it on one notch the rest of the cycle always runs through fine and it spins OK etc. so no problem with the motor as far as I can tell.

Any suggestions for further tests, etc? I have pictures of the dial and the thermostat if that is any help!

Thanks in advance for any help

Kitt

 

[kittgs]

(topic should have read 'stuck' not 'suck' ... although either seems appropriate )

 

[kittgs]

Realise I am talking to myself here but hopefully this will help someone in future...

Just an update to say that the new element seemed to fix the issue. Old one was very furred up.

Anyone replacing the heater element, make sure it is slotted into the mount underneath the drum properly. First time I fitted the new element I'd accidentally pushed it in above the mount and it made a very nasty scraping noise when the machine got onto a full spin !

Machine still takes an age to get past a certain notch on the cycle (around 2 hours on that notch) but it does eventually get there now which it didn't before. Water is also now coming out warm-ish whereas it was cold before.

I also tested the thermostat whilst I had the back off and that was fine. In case anyone else has one of these and wants to know what the terminals are, the two top terminals (away from the machine) seem to be a high temperature thermo that are normally on but switch off at about 90 degs. The bottom two terminals are normally off but switch on above (guessing) around 40 degs. I tested with a multimeter and three cups of water - one cold, one warm and one boiling.

Thanks for all the posts/info on this site as I wouldn't have been able to fix this myself without it.

I may post again if the problem recurs but fingers crossed it won't...

Kitt.

 

[krazaq]

Could you please help me, I have the same washing machine, Hoover Performa 1100, and it stops between 5 and 6 and when i click up a notch its fine. Could you tell me where this element is and where i can get it?

 

[kittgs2]

Could you please help me, I have the same washing machine, Hoover Performa 1100, and it stops between 5 and 6 and when i click up a notch its fine. Could you tell me where this element is and where i can get it?

Hi,

(I've had to create a new account because my old one expired)

I'm afraid the news wasn't good. I replaced the element and I tested the thermostat and couldn't find any problems with it. Having done all that I thought I'd fixed it but it started going wrong and so I decided it was beyond my means to find out what was wrong with it.

I took the back off the washing machine to find the element but really I'd recommend that unless you are absolutely sure what you are doing you get a qualified engineer. Whatever you do, if you don't want to die, you absolutely _must_ unplug the machine from the mains first but from what I remember there were some capacitors in there and so they may give you a serious shock even after the machine is unplugged.

I can't remember specifically where the element was but I think it was near the bottom of the drum. It should have a watertight seal around it.

Also, if you replace the element then make sure you click it in properly. It is easy to get it wrong and if you do it can scrape against the bottom of the drum and make a really bad noise and damage the machine further.

I tested the thermostat with an amp-meter (or whatever its called) and three cups of water: one cold, one at around 40degs and one just boiled.

I ended up getting a Bosch and its been a great replacement and dries stuff much quicker than the Hoover one ever did.

Good Luck!

Kitt.