Washing Machine death

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Discussion

Tyndall

Original Poster:

976 posts

142 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Thought I was being really sensible keeping our Bosch washing machine in the garage at the office for 2.5 years while we rented a place while looking to buy. Finally bought a place, put the washing machine in.

Fills fine, but as soon as the spin starts it trips the RCBO.

Is it even worth trying to fix? I don't want to go down the route of replacing every part before buying a new one having spent just as much on parts as a new machine! Is there anything obvious it's likely to be? I'd guessed perished seal somewhere from years of sitting around allowing a bit of water on to electrics somewhere.

Assuming we replace, Bosch again? LG? Samsung?

croyde

23,903 posts

237 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Have you tried running an extension from another outlet and plugging it into that.

Had this with a Tumble Dryer. Turned out that the socket was at fault.

craig1912

3,694 posts

119 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Ours filled fine and then as drum started to turn it tripped. Turned out it was just the heating element which was covered in limescale and other crap. £100 for a new element and fitting and back to working fine.

Tyndall

Original Poster:

976 posts

142 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
croyde said:
Have you tried running an extension from another outlet and plugging it into that.

Had this with a Tumble Dryer. Turned out that the socket was at fault.
I have. Same on all circuits, it's a brand new rewire.

craig1912 said:
Ours filled fine and then as drum started to turn it tripped. Turned out it was just the heating element which was covered in limescale and other crap. £100 for a new element and fitting and back to working fine.
This sounds exactly the issue we're having. Could be worth a go then!

Bob-iylho

724 posts

113 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
R.I.P

Probably a broken heart due to being abandoned and loneliness...............

Tyndall

Original Poster:

976 posts

142 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Bob-iylho said:
R.I.P

Probably a broken heart due to being abandoned and loneliness...............
I've been checking in on it before leaving work each evening, reading it bedtime stories most evenings etc - not sure what more I could have done? Could be the weekend abandonment though to be fair.

Mercdriver

2,618 posts

40 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
Take care if working inside the case there used to be a large capacitor strapped across the motor, don’t know if modern ones still have the same.

The capacitor if charged up could kill you, happened to a friend of mine

Peanut Gallery

2,519 posts

117 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
When you turn the drum by hand what does it feel like? - nice and smooth or grumbling..

I have replaced brushes twice on one machine, and replaced the bearings and polished the armature on another machine (along with making a set of brushes from a stripped out starter motor)

Desiderata

2,570 posts

61 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
We had similar with our electric range cooker which was in storage for two years while were building a new house. Wired it in, switched it on and it repeatedly tripped the rccb. A friend who is an electrician tested it and found it was showing half a dozen different faults. He "suggested" that we rewire it via an MCB ( he couldn't do it since it was against regs) on a temporary basis for a couple of hours then switch it back over.
We did this and it worked. 5 years on and it's still working fine. Electrical stuff doesn't like sitting in (damp) storage for any length of time.

Quhet

2,523 posts

153 months

Tuesday 8th October
quotequote all
When we had our kitchen and utility room done a couple of years ago we moved the washing machine into the garage. It needed a new fuse when we brought it back in but is otherwise fine. No idea why really!

Tyndall

Original Poster:

976 posts

142 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Right, heating element coming today. £15, that's as far as I'm going with it! Will report back

eliot

11,727 posts

261 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
mice chewed wires?

zedx19

2,897 posts

147 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Ours would trip when something was jammed in the drain pump, found a tiny kids dinosaur plastic toy stuck in there! Fixed that, wouldn't trip anymore but wouldn't spin, brushes had worn as well, replaced them myself for 7 quid and its been fine. This is on a NEFF machine but all the same really and they are quite simple when you take them apart, all fixable with parts off ebay.

tux850

1,860 posts

96 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Try a cold wash and see if that succeeds.

My money is also on it being the heating element, particularly moisture absorption by its insulation.

dhutch

15,246 posts

204 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Tyndall said:
Right, heating element coming today. .... Will report back
Good luck!

Skodillac

6,099 posts

37 months

Wednesday 9th October
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They're all right but they're not a patch on Lawnmower Deth.

spitfire-ian

3,892 posts

235 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
From the thread title I had assumed it was related to this picture from the "these pictures make my teeth itch thread" laugh


Sheepshanks

34,977 posts

126 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
Tyndall said:
croyde said:
Have you tried running an extension from another outlet and plugging it into that.

Had this with a Tumble Dryer. Turned out that the socket was at fault.
I have. Same on all circuits, it's a brand new rewire.

craig1912 said:
Ours filled fine and then as drum started to turn it tripped. Turned out it was just the heating element which was covered in limescale and other crap. £100 for a new element and fitting and back to working fine.
This sounds exactly the issue we're having. Could be worth a go then!
To be honest, it doesn't make any logical sense that it'll be the heater if it works fine until it gets to the spin. Especially as the heater won't be on when it's spinning.

We had same with a fridge freezer unused for months during our refurb - that worked fine for 5yrs and then tripbed the RCBO when it went into defrost and the heater came on. It was 20yrs old so bought a new one.

In your washing machine's case, it's the same motor that does wash and spin so it's hard to imagine there's anything fundamentally wrong. Could be just a bit damp or a spider's got somewhere it shouldn't have. Was it on an RCD before - it might have always been iffy?

Belle427

9,738 posts

240 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
I've seen the rcd trip with stuff stuck in the filter too, happened at the mother in laws a few months back.
Can't explain why, thought the machine was knackered but cleaned out the debris and it's been fine since.

Spare tyre

10,333 posts

137 months

Wednesday 9th October
quotequote all
craig1912 said:
Ours filled fine and then as drum started to turn it tripped. Turned out it was just the heating element which was covered in limescale and other crap. £100 for a new element and fitting and back to working fine.
Had exactly the same thing with my parents machine

Mum uses too much detergent/ slop

It caked the element and I reckon it corroded it for the outisde in

I diagnosed this before taking it apart by trying programmes that didn’t heat

So spin/ rinse etc

The second the programme needed heat it tripped the electrics

Consider rodent damage