Hotpoint washing machine problems

[Merlin5]

Think I'm going to put money down on a Samsung Ecobubble tomorrow.

But here's a video I made today. Interested in thoughts from any experts here on what they think the problem is. I've shortened lots of bits that just go on for several minutes but feel free to skip through it, I only wanted to give an idea of what's happening. Starts with me rotating the commutator, don't know if that shows you if it looks clean or not. Then the machine during a rinse cycle, the buzzing and no drum turning, stopping and manually moving the dial, water being drained out and opening the door. Then I turn just the drier on and you'll hear the louder noise and no rotation.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If it is a 3kW drier, which is usual, it will cost around 45p per hour, depending on your tariff

It will not be the 3Kw on constantly, but they are very expensive to run.

 

[JohnD]

Ours does. It winds down towards the end, as the sensor detects the washing is nearly dry. A full cotton wash with towels and other items takes the longest to dry.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

And in fact, I often hang clothes to dry on the radiators in the colder months, so could be less than £10 drier bills.

Drying clothes indoors especially on radiators is a really bad idea, it can be the cause of lots of condensation in the house.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

What's happening is that I start a wash cycle or rinse cycle, it fills with water, then goes silent for ages with nothing happening, and it gets stuck. I have to turn the dial for something else to happen.
I also hear some clicks, and often a loud buzzing noise. The drum never turns. It does eventually drain the water so I can open the door. Also, the dryer is just making a loud buzzing and nothing happening.

I'm lost. It could be a capacitor, maybe circuit board, maybe a blockage, who knows. I think I'll have to bin it.

Your original problem appears to have been a high resistance connection between the cable and the brush holder, hence the generation of heat and blackening which will have weaked the brush spring too. Some machines can detect poor brushes and will shut down with a fault indicated, but I don't think yours will be that sophisticated -which suggests there is some other issue too.

Really, you should have remade the cable lug off with new, fitted a new brush holder and new brushes and maybe checked the motor for damage.

At 20 years old, it really owes you nothing..

 

[Merlin5]

Harry, yes, definitely some other issue I think. You're correct, it certainly owes me nothing, it's done very well over the years.
I posted a video above if you fancy seeing it. I didn't really know how to rewire the connector plugs but I fitted new brush holders and brushes and it didn't fix it. I couldn't access the motor well enough to clean up the commutator and it looked a bit tricky to remove, but in the video I filmed myself rotating the commutator which might or might not help someone to see if it looks clean or damaged.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I posted a video above if you fancy seeing it.

Thanks, I missed that first time.

Difficult to be sure, but from what little I could see that commutator looked badly blackened a pitted in places, so at the very least would need to be skimmed and undercut. The buzzing suggests a motor fault. Really not worth messing with more.

 

[Merlin5]

Agreed. I'm going to order this Samsung.



I think I can get John Lewis to price match, then use a £50 gift voucher I have with them, and hopefully get it for £299!

As my Hotpoint fills with hot and cold water and the Samsung only fills with cold, I've been advised to cap the hot water inlet. Can you possibly tell me where I would get a cap to cap it off and do they come in different sizes? I don't want to pay £25 for them to connect me, I'm guessing it should be easy enough for me to do?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I think I can get John Lewis to price match, then use a £50 gift voucher I have with them, and hopefully get it for £299!

As my Hotpoint fills with hot and cold water and the Samsung only fills with cold, I've been advised to cap the hot water inlet. Can you possibly tell me where I would get a cap to cap it off and do they come in different sizes? I don't want to pay £25 for them to connect me, I'm guessing it should be easy enough for me to do?

They are all cold fill these days, it was a pointless idea. Almost by the time the hot got through, they had drawn all the water they needed, so just a waste of hot water - especially with a combi boiler.

Most any decent hardware shop should have a suitable cap, they are a standard size.

Nothing to it, connect the drain, the cold and plug it in.

 

[jj4091]

cap for washing machine tap

 

[Merlin5]

Thank you jj4091. Looks like it's a 3/4" cap thread I need then.

I've disconnected the drain hose from under the sink no problem. But I can't turn the red wheel to disconnect the hot water pipe.

Also, I just found out that turning the longer red lever to off stops all hot water to my sink, so I just needed to turn the smaller red valve next to the wheel. Thing is, I can't undo the red wheel by hand as it's too tight, and I don't have pliers wide enough. I'll need to buy some when I get a cap, probably from toolstation. Can you recommend me a pair of pliers or a tool I'll need to undo that wheel?



Scratch that, I just found my old pair of adjustable large pliers that I forgot I had!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Scratch that, I just found my old pair of adjustable large pliers that I forgot I had!

View attachment 175223

Those are called 'stillsons'

 

[Merlin5]

Those are called 'stillsons'

Ah, thank you.

Well I managed to get the wheel off, and the one for the cold water. I took the whole valve attachment off to get a better grip and torque on it. So I'm all ready now to connect the new Samsung machine which I've just bought from Currys and it's coming Tuesday.

I bought a 3/4" brass cap for £1.12 from toolstation and it seems to fit the valve perfectly. That said, the red valve lever can still be moved a few millimetres and that allows water to come out, albeit not shooting out like a jet of water as it does without the cap. So it's an improvement but not totally foolproof. Not sure if that's normal or not.