Washing Machine Plug Socket

[Cpugeni]

Hi all,

I live in a flat where my washing machine is installed (next to the boiler) into a purpose built cupboard in the hallway. Inside the cupboard there is an on/off switch labelled washing machine which has a fuse, and then a plug lower down the wall to plug into.

My washing machine recently stopped working - as in it was dead to the world like it had no electricity, so I changed both the plug fuse and the socket fuse and still nothing, so I got someone out to check it out... He suggested plugging the washing washing into another socket via extension cable - it worked. He then checked the washing machine socket on the wall and advised me that there was no electricity!

What could this be and how would I go about getting it fixed?

any help advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sm1thson]

There are a number of things possible but firstly i would check for a loose connection, the heating ond cooling of connections causes screws to become loose with time (hence why junction boxes etc must be accessible), this is worse on higher power appliances (hence loads of threads where people need their shower isolators replacing). This is why terminals should be tightened time to time. when I moved into my house i turned the power off and tightened it all up, most were ok but guess which was ridiculously loose (I dont have a shower) yep the washing machine! If theres signs of heating the cable will need cutting back as the heat will have effected the copper and insulation.

 

[rebuke]

An obvious one, but have you checked if any circuit breakers have tripped - if the appliance is on it's own circuit (perhaps one shared with an immersion heater or similar given the location you describe), then you may not have noticed anything else going off.

Another possibility is some numpty may have wired the socket off the supply to the boiler, which is probably controller by a programmer, so will only be live at certain times...

 

[Cpugeni]

@sm1thson - Thanks I will check the screws to the socket tonight...

@rebuke - The main electrical box for the flat is located in the same cupboard and none of them had tripped... It was the first thing I checked.

It's an unfortunate problem, its been working for the last 3yrs, which is the age of the property, so to suddenly stop working is strange. I'm hoping it will be the screws or something easy to sort out!

 

[ColJack]

before you discount the breakers, turn them off and on again.. sometime it's possible for the lever to stick in the on position, but the internals have still tripped..

 

[Cpugeni]

Hi thanks very much for all the replies, really appreciate it....

I switched off the power to the socket at the mains box and unscrewed the switch plate and plug socket plate it and tightened up the screws inside and that has done the trick so I'm happy... Though it cost me £170 for someone to tell me it was the socket that wasnt working and not the washing machine!! Argh.. Oh well... Thanks