Washing machine won't spin if it has something in the drum.

[Silvan]

I have a Beko WTL72051W which is about 18 months old.

It goes into spin if there is nothing in the drum. But with a single cotton t-shirt in the drum it does not go into the spin cycle after completing the wash and rinse cycles. It does slowly turn the drum one way then the other, but it does not accelerate up to spin speed.

Here is what I have done:

• I used the little rubber hose with the cap on the end to drain the machine. Some of the water that came out had black grit in it (a bit like iron fillings).
• I unscrewed the debris filter, but I could not remove it completely because two items (see attached images) were protruding from the feed pipe.
• I inserted a pair of long-nosed pliers down the side of the debris filter and pulled out the offending items
• I took out the debris filter and there wasn’t anything stuck in the pump chamber.

One of the items is the same colour and type of plastic that the machine is made of. Could it be a part of the machine that has broken loose somehow?

Even when new this machine had problems going in to a 1200 spin cycle.

Is there anything I can do?

 

[Wayners]

Sounds like the pump to me. Maybe...
Washing fine then not pumping out water so not spinning.
Bit young to be worn out though so go look...
Check filter is clear.
Shine torch in and check it's clear.
Nothing wrapped around impeller.
Use finger or pencil to turn the impeller. It will move but you will notice magnets make it jump a bit.

How's that looking?

 

[Wayners]

Another thing to try...

Remove the two lid screws at the back.
Take the top off.
There is very little inside a washing machine and you will see a pressure sensor at the top somewhere with a rubber pipe going down out of sight.
Sometimes that gets blocked at the drum especially if you use liquid soap.
Pull off the rubber pipe from the pressure sensor. Blow down it gently. That will clear the end Push it back on.
While you are there check rubber pipe has not rubbed against anything creating a hole in the pipe.
Just never blow in the pressure sensor. Don't know why anyone would but i guess it could happen if enthusiastic.

Pressure sensor knows if there is water in drum and that can throw things out if not working.

 

[Alec_t]

But with a single cotton t-shirt in the drum it does not go into the spin cycle

The drum may not be balanced if there is only a small load. If your machine detects imbalance it may well refuse to spin, to prevent excess/damaging vibration.

 

[Silvan]

Yes from what I can see it is a case of it being too sensitive to imbalance when thinking about doing a final spin. It does the spins required during the wash and all the pumps appear to be working. And it goes into a spin without anything in the drum.

I did a drum clean cycle and have loaded a medium sized wash without anything too heavy and with a few socks and smalls to help balance. Fingers crossed I am hoping it will spin.

TBH it has always been temperamental with a bathmat or the like in it.

 

[Wayners]

Run cleaning cycle to test empty machine. You will need to read manual to see how

 

[opps]

I had something similar with a Miele machine years ago.

Someone here recommended checking the motor brushes.

One brush had pretty much worn away completely, the other looked new. I swapped out the short brush and it worked perfectly.

Worth a butchers.

If it does a full wash when empty, I don't see how it could be the pump.

 

[Silvan]

It has completed a cycle and spun properly at 800. The load in it was mixed stuff with nothing too heavy. Good, I will load it thoughtfully in future. If the heavy stuff stops it spinning it can go out on the line to drip dry.

I read that the way some machines decide if the load is properly balanced is by detecting fluctuating loads on the motor. That might explain why a changes of brushes helped opps (see above)?

Thanks all