Washing Machine problem

[aggy]

Hi all, our washing machine was making an odd noise which was assumed to be a coin or screw or something but then there was a burning smell and the circuit breaker tripped. I've taken the rear panel off and it looks like the live, neutral and earth wires have burnt out. If there was a bad connection on the live that could cause the burning but would that cause the neutral and earth to break as well? The red live wire looks more burnt; the others look like theyve been snipped.

 

[dishman]

Just from the picture, without any other testing, it looks like those wires are going to the heating element at the bottom of the drum.

So, one would suspect the element is toast and has gone open circuit. Although usually you tend to get more warning before it gets that bad, like...it starts tripping well in advance of anything worse happening.

But, like I said, that is just a guess.

One way to check is to remove the element and check it with a multimeter.

It somewhere to start at least.

 

[aggy]

Thanks for your reply. The wires are at the bottom of the drum so yes it could the heating element. There are two other smaller wires coming from it as well. What should I be looking for then? No continuity at all? What would a normal resistance be?

 

[BlueLoo]

Odd.

Perhaps the neutral fell off and shorted out somewhere causing the live to melt?

I'd remove the heater regardless and check for physical damage as well.

Test resistance on the bench.

 

[jurassic sparkk]

Low ohms between L and N at the element.

Then from L to the casing - should not display anything.

Multimeter test very limited though. Won't rule out if the element has shorted to the body.

 

[aggy]

Thanks for the replies, I will test the element in the morning