Hotpoint WF541- Flashing Lights!!

[Reesy1980]

Help!!!!!
Right, I read about flashing lights on the hotpoint WF641 and the errors for all the buttons. All my buttons are flashing on the left and the on/off button light! Tried loads of time switching off at the mains. Have to leave it for about 20 minutes before it starts working again. Anyone know whats wrong?

 

[rocks1]

pcb gone i done 4 today like it . 2 choices call hotpoint all in 100.00 parts and labour or send to emw for recon cost 45 quid .choice is yours, easy to fit plug in and play .

 

[Reesy1980]

Its working at the mo. How long do you think it will last before it goes completley?

 

[rocks1]

about a week maybe 2 if your lucky .

 

[danpaylor]

Hi rocks1,

I have a Hotpoint WF541 1400 Spin that has lights 1,2,3 & 4 flashing. From what I can make out (from your great advice to other people in distress) this is an F15 fault, which is a problem with the dryer heater relay!?

I'm pretty sure my mc dosen't have a dryer or am I being stoopid!?

Any help you can give me would be much appreceated.

 

[adelleg1]

what causes this to happen? is it something i've done, like overloadimg or something?

 

[rocks1]

nope cheap electronics ,imported from china need i say more

 

[tillers]

Hi Rocks.

Hotpoint wf541 1400 spin, lights 1,2,3,4 flashing. Dryer heater relay. How to solve please - is it straightforward?

 

[rocks1]

pcb had it, new one from emw play and play.

 

[fridgemanuk]

my hotpoint wf321 washer has all lights flashing very rapidly, it used to reset after a while and ran ok, now it just flashes. PCB fault? is it easy to access and replace?

 

[rocks1]

yep pcb same as above

 

[OutlawPete1]

Thanks Rocks 1 - very helpful. For anyone else with the same problem, I called out the Hotpoint engineer, who fitted a new PCB in the back of the machine and then downloaded the Hotpoint software onto it (according to him the PCB comes 'blank' and is capable of working in a variety of machines). Whole thing took 18 minutes and cost £100. Machine now happily working again. He said this is a common problem, and it usually occurs with PCBs made in Romania, that tend to go wrong after about 3 years. When he took the panel off the back of the machine the PCB had a 'Made in Romania' label clearly visible.

 

[rocks1]

yep spot on, cheap and cheer full parts

 

[jacketman]

I had a similar problem as above.

I'm not saying this fix will definitely be applicable to everyone but I joined the site just to post this.

The problem on my control board was a blown capacitor, they cost £1 for 4 on eBay and with a little patience with a soldering iron you might be able to fix yours and save a lot of money like I did.

Take out the board, it's at the bottom right corner at the back of the machine. To do this remove the 4 screws retaining the plastic cover so you can access the insides. There is also 1 screw holding the control board housing to the washing machine frame so don't forget to remove this too, then slide up the plastic control board housing and it will come away from the frame.

I was able to get the whole housing out through the access panel before removing the 6 plugs that are attached to the board so it was easier to see and replace the plugs when replacing the board afterwards.

Take the board out of the plastic housing, it's only clipped in so easy to do. Be careful not to damage the board.

Look at the capacitors and check for any bulging on the tops of them.

Here's a picture of mine indicating the faulty cap:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb142/eeun_2007/fixedboard.jpg

It also shows a picture of the cap once removed showing the bulging at the bottom of it with an image of the one I replaced it with.

I think there are 2 different version boards for this washing machine so make sure you get the right rating for the replacement cap, the details are printed on the side of the caps.

Make sure your soldering is good, the first time I soldered mine on the drum failed to turn at all, I tidied up my soldering and all was fine after.

This worked a treat for me, hopefully you get the same results.

£1 fix

 

[viento]

I had a similar problem as above.

The problem on my control board was a blown capacitor, they cost £1 for 4 on eBay and with a little patience with a soldering iron you might be able to fix yours and save a lot of money like I did.

<BIG SNIP>

Look at the capacitors and check for any bulging on the tops of them.

Here's a picture of mine indicating the faulty cap:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb142/eeun_2007/fixedboard.jpg

It also shows a picture of the cap once removed showing the bulging at the bottom of it with an image of the one I replaced it with.

<BIG SNIP>

This worked a treat for me, hopefully you get the same results.

£1 fix

Many thanks to Jacketman.
I had ALL lights Flashing on my Hotpoint WF541.

Just to add a couple of points.
The tell-tale is the bulged end. That means the capacitor has expanded inside and is pushing against the case. Worst case is they explode with a loud pop!
The bulging end means change me quick!

As for this particular instance, I fitted a 680uF 25 Volt one. I could not get a 10 Volt one, and it will not matter if you fit a higher voltage rated one. Just make sure the value is the same, ie in this case 680uF (MicroFarad).
As for the Soldering, it looks to me that the board is soldered with the new lead free solder. It just needs a little more heating to get it to melt.
Just make sure its a good clean soldered joint before putting the board back in the machine.

The electronics is fairly robust, but electrolytic capacitors tend to dry out or expand, and then stop working altogether.

Mine is now fixed.

Again Thanks to JacketMan for pointing me in the right direction.

Viento..