Washing Machine turns off all electricity

[Sam Stoat]

A couple of months ago we bought a new washing machine (Hoover Easy Logic 1600). Everything works great, but when I switch off at the mains, it trips the switch on the mains box, knocking off all electricity in the house.

It doesn't blow any fuses, so it's just a matter of switching back on. And it doesn't do it always, only about half the time.

It's the only item that does this, so is it a faulty washing machine, or bad electrics? And how do I fix it?


BTW, this is a great forum.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I take it it's the main RCD that is tripping?

When you say "switch off at the mains", do you mean that this happens when you flick the switch on the socket where the machine is plugged in?

If so, have you tried plugging the machine in at other sockets (you could use an extension lead to temporarily try others), or plugging something else in to the WM socket? If the fault stays with the WM, it's time to call the engineer out - it's under guarantee. If the fault stays with the socket, check that out for dodgy wiring or just try replacing it.

 

[Engineer Lane]

Had this on my old WM. It would trip RCD on spin cycle with a "heavy" load.
Traced defect to a chaffed wire in the WM. With a "heavy" or out of balance load (like a load of towels) in the WM, when it started to spin, the machine jumped about a bit, allowing chaffed portion of cable to ground out to the WM chassis - tripping RCD.
Replaced wire and added additional clipping where wire passed sharp chassis.

Paul

 

[breezer]

if you brought the m/c a couple of months ago as brand new, why not call where you got it from and ask them to send an engineer to look at it, most manufacturers will cover their appliances for the first year free.