Washing Machine Help Forum

[stuart_faust]

Hi i have a Hotpoint Aquarius WF541.
Its causing some some pain as when we plug it in sometimes it trips the electric for the whole house , sometimes just the downstairs sockets sometimes it allows you to have it plugged in and turn it on without tripping then after a few seconds of it starting on any form of wash it trips again.

Please can anyone help or advise on where to start?

[nigegt]

Start at the heater. Test if insulation reading is poor and if so replace.

Nige

[stuart_faust]

ok thanks , when you say test if insulation reading is poor , how do i do that? i have a multimeter but no clue where to start if thats what you mean?

[clivejameson]

Time to get a meter out and look for an earth fault, heater is the usual culprit but could be a number of other things.

Plug out at all times while working on it

[stuart_faust]

hi , i tried disconnecting the brown cable to the heater and it still trips. how do i test the heater with the multimeter?
there is brown , green yellow and blue terminals.

[iadom]

Please don't take offence but if you don't know how to use a multimeter or megger to do an insulation test then you REALLY should get someone who does know to have a look at it.

[stuart_faust]

im after some basic help as im skint and cant afford to buy a new machine. or pay for an engineer. Thought that this place was for help.

[iadom]

Thought that this place was for help.

It is within the rules laid down HEREa
Better skint then electrocuted.

[stuart_faust]

please could you tell me how to test the heater. i have a multimeter but am not sure what terminals to test and how. should i be testing shorts across the heater?

[stuart_faust]

i get approx 30ohms from brown to blue. can i disconnect the heater completly and turn the electrics on and see if it trips. and if it trips its not the element?

[stuart_faust]

Ive disconnected the heater element and the electrics in the house dont trip. the washing machine does not turn on at all , does this mean it should be the heater element that's at fault?
Any help would be great?

[stuart_faust]

I have replaced the heating element and the washer still trips the electrics.
Any ideas?

[Martin]

Any ideas?

There is an issue with the moulded 13amp plugs on these machines going faulty. I would suggest you cut off and discard the plug and replace it with a decent quality 13amp plug.




Please ignore the 3amp (red) fuse in the illustration, you'll need a 13amp (brown) fuse

[stuart_faust]

Ok thanks ill try that.

[stuart_faust]

Tried a new plug , trips the second i plug it in.
Any other ideas anyone?
Does anyone know if the washing machine should turn on with the heating element disconnected?