Zanussi ZWD 14581 washing machine

[rachelm]

I recently went on holiday and, before I went, switched off the water supply. The washer dryer was left plugged in and with the door open but not in use and with no water supply (afaik, turning off the stopcock would stop the water supply to the washing machine too?). When I got home, there was water all over the kitchen floor (this is before I had switched the water back on). I presumed it was from the freezer and went and switched the water supply back on.

A day later, I have gone to use the washing machine and found that the drum has water in it (up to the level of the door) so presumably this is where all the water came from. What could have caused this and how could it have happened when the water supply was switched off and the machine wasn't in use?

I've got cover for the washer/dryer and also separate cover for any plumbing problems (ie problems with the pipes rather than with appliances). However, I don't know which it is - or if it's just a routine maintenance issue that I should know how to fix myself (as I won't be covered if it's just a routine issue that I should have fixed myself).

 

[Leccy758]

Not uncommon for taps to fail and allow water to pass through, same with washing machine fill valves.

From your description it sounds like you have both, the only other way water gets into a machine is if it is coming back up the waste pipe, is it clean or grotty water.

 

[rachelm]

Not uncommon for taps to fail and allow water to pass through, same with washing machine fill valves.

From your description it sounds like you have both, the only other way water gets into a machine is if it is coming back up the waste pipe, is it clean or grotty water.

The water seems clean - possibly with a slightly soapy smell but that might just be because it was in the washing machine. I'm in a top floor flat in a converted Victorian-era house (so presumably the plumbing dates back that far) and a previous tenant on one of the lower floors (2 or 3 years ago) claimed that she had had sewage in her washing machine but I was told by someone else that that wasn't possible - and I've never had any such problems or heard of any other tenants having problems.

When I switched the water off, I checked the taps in the kitchen sink and bathroom basin (to make sure I'd turned off the water supply to the right flat as the stopcocks for all flats are located together) and the water supply was definitely off (there may have been a very slight drip when the tap was turned on). If the water supply was definitely off when I tried the taps, could it still be coming through at the washing machine?

 

[Leccy758]

If you isolated the flat before going away but not the washing machine itself from the water supply then you could have a faulty fill valve.

Turn off the water supply to the machine alone and see if it still fills.