Hotpoint WM51 First Edition800 washing machine

[Bob2016]

Hi

This old workhorse has served me well for years but is now tripping the house RCD. I've narrowed it down to the heater element by disconnecting the wires I can see running down to the bottom of the drum. I still haven't seen sight of the element terminals yet. I can now run the machine on spin cycle and drain the remaining water without it tripping anything.

Can anyone advise how to access the heating element on this model?

I understand from another thread I need to remove the front panel, it doesn't look straightforward, is there a guide anywhere on this, eg do I need to remove the door and door seal etc. before the panel will come away? Anything else I should be aware of?

thanks

Bob

 

[rocks1]

Undo the screws round the screws round the dispenser. Remove the top lid remove timer knob. Undo two screws on top panel remove kickstrip undo the two lower screws. Remove band round front of the door seal leave seal in situ. Peel seal off the front trim lift panel away. Ps is the machine noisy on spin cos the spider leg may have broke and put a ridge on the heater.

 

[Bob2016]

Undo the screws round the screws round the dispenser. Remove the top lid remove timer knob. Undo two screws on top panel remove kickstrip undo the two lower screws. Remove band round front of the door seal leave seal in situ. Peel seal off the front trim lift panel away. Ps is the machine noisy on spin cos the spider leg may have broke and put a ridge on the heater.

Thanks for the disassembly info, noisy? hmm it may well be, the last spin was louder than usual but then it was pretty much full with bedsheets and duvet cover and I thought at the time it was just unbalanced load in the drum. The sheets and duvet cover though had patches of dirt/grit on it (dirtier than when they went in). Was hoping it was just the element had disintegrated, its never been changed and the machine is years old. If it proves to be anything more than the element I may well just scrap it.

 

[rocks1]

Any play when you lift up the inner drum. Right by the 3 lifters inside the drum. Any play on one of them drum surport has snapped.

 

[Bob2016]

element measures 25 Ohm which from what I've read up on is about ok, however each leg to Earth is 600KOhm am I correct in thinking this should not even give a reading? it was the RCd being tripped so assume this is the Earth leakage its tripping to?

No way would that rubber seal come back out through the hole, I've had to remove the front of the drum and will have to cut the element in half, assuming this is still the cause of the problem.

 

[assuhors]

Has the heater any cuts in it where the drum has hit it,as Rocks suggested the drum support is possibly broken and the heater has been damaged.

 

[Bob2016]

thanks for your help and suggestions guys esp. rocks1 you saved me a lot of time.

New element in, gave it a thorough clean whilst waiting for part, reassembled this morning and running fine and no leaks

rgds

Bob

 

[Bob2016]

well that didn't last long

Same fault occurred today RCD tripping but ok if disconnect heater.

Removed new element and noticed two notches on it, grabbed the original out of the bin and sure enough it had the same and I hadn't noticed it before - doh!

Checked in the element slot while turning the drum and the outer rim of the drum is catching the heater once per revolution.

edit: just measured and its out of true by 24mm

Looking through where the heater goes to the back of the drum, it appears there to be running true, only the front is way out of shape.

Maybe its time to kiss it all goodbye and get a new one.

Any recommendations? I quite fancy the LG's with their direct drive motors, bit more than I wanted to pay tho', any opinions?

thanks

Bob

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[jj4091]

Zanussi every time for me