Hotpoint Aquarius WM62 internal water leak?

[mrklinkerpants]

Could do with help / any suggestions relating to the above.

Water is leaking from the bottom of the machine, seems to be internally and from the front end of the machine. Taking the thin strip off of the back of the bottom of the machine and shining a light in shows a lot of water droplets up the inner side of the front panel of the machine down at the bottom.

I have checked the big water outlet pipes at the back of the drum at the bottom, the ones held on by the big metal circlips and these are dry. The water inlet pipes leading into the powder dispensing drawer are also dry and the big pipe leading from the drawer into the drum is also dry.

I can't get the door seal off in order to remove the front facia around the door which should enable me to check the front of the drum inside the machine.

Any ideas how to get the door seal off, or indeed, whether this is necessary and someone has a good idea as to what the problem may be?

Many thanks.

 

[mrklinkerpants]

I may have stumbled on a solution to this after posting earlier.

I managed to undo the clip holding the door seal in and removed the seal and front facia. On the right-hand-side of the drum I could see a track of water droplets starting about half-way up the front of the drum. On closer inspection, there was what looked like the end of a screw or drill-bit that had obviously been in a trouser pocket, ended up inside the drum and obviously driven itself through the side of the drum when the machine was working. The plastic had cracked around the end of it where it had forced itself through and water was dripping of the end of it and collecting around the break in the plastic.

I've smeared a hefty dose of silicon sealer around the end of the screw/bit and over the cracked plastic and rebuilt the machine. Hopefully when the sealer dries overnight I will give the machine a spin in the morning and have a dry floor at the end of it!

 

[mrklinkerpants]

A spin of the machine the following morning unfortunately disproved my theory and left me again with a wet floor!

However, upon removing the front of the machine again a further look around revealed another possible culprit. At the bottom-front of the plastic drum is a water outlet that is a moulded part of the drum and goes off to the right as you look at it. This ends in a flange that is shaped like a triangle with the corners rounded off and joins to a tapered plastic housing with a similar shaped flange that is held in by 3 screws, positioned at the 'points' of the triangle. This housing bends upwards and narrows to join some clear plastic tubing that runs up to the front control panel of the machine.

The 'triangular' flange of this housing had noticeably warped out-of-shape, preventing a good seal and exposing the thin rubber 'o' ring inside. I don't know what function this housing performs but it certainly carries water from out of the drum judging by the soap scum and gunge collected inside it. I replaced the thin 'o' ring with a larger, thicker seal from a waste-pipe connecting elbow that was virtually the same diameter, rebuilt the machine and fired it up again. 2 washes on, the floor remains bone dry and the breeze-block under the drum is no longer saturated with water! Result!

Just wanted to post this to let anyone else with the same machine know what to look for if theirs suddenly begins to leak internally. Does anyone know what this housing is/does? Is it a common problem?

Cheers

 

[rocks1]

Pressure chamber.

 

[mrklinkerpants]

Thanks rocks.

Are they prone to deforming in the way I've described on mine?

 

[rocks1]

No. Never replaced one in 20 years.

 

[mrklinkerpants]

Ah well, will keep an eye on it. It is well and truly warped on our machine but my bespoke seal seems to be doing the job at the moment.

Thanks again.