Washing machine has gone pear-shaped; clothes come out sopping wet, I sat and watched it tonight, the dial seems to get stuck after the first wash and then it goes quiet. Moving the dial on a bit first of all caused the sockets to fuse, then when that was back on it needed "help" all the way round. It pumped out water but then nothing on earth could make it spin, so sopping clothes again.

My guess is it's the control unit with the dial on. Are these easy to replace?

Any thoughts gratefully received! Cheers

(It's a Hotpoint)

May be your electronic program circuit is broken.
To replace, take off the lid and see what you need
to do to get the control panel out.

Does it have flashy lights? My model sounds different as it doesn't have a dial, but there is a guy on diynot forums that posts up what various combinations of blinking lights signify.

It didn't really help in my case as it said the drying unit relay was stuck on (which presumably was correct as I could hear it each time it tried to spin even though the program set wasn't meant to dry anything) but ended up being the pressure sensor tube was blocked. (clear tube running from bottom to top of machine, I blew down it and also blew into the sensor, could hear it clicking)

Spooky – nothing so fancy – just a single "on" light but thanks for the tip.

grantway – thanks. Easily obtained/replaced?

When my machine broke, I managed to find out quite a lot on google.

There is an online place that does an exchange service for reconditioned boards, for mine it would be around £100, same as the callout fee for an engineer, but then the parts would be free (5yr guarantee I think on mine?)

Switch it off at the mains and turn the dial gently a few times sometimes they get stuck.

Also take the top off and have a look for any burning signs on the box behind the dial, this is the control box, usually lots of wires coming out.

Will get the top off first thing tomorrow. Cheers

Thanks for the board tip, spooky.

Make sure you price up a new machine against a repair – when our machine's motor died (rotor not brushes) it was only £100 more for a new and better machine than for a replacement motor.

Also check ebay etc to see if someone is selling an identical broken machine that's broken in a different place to yours – cheap solution if you find one.

It's a Hotpoint

It was a Hotpoint
Buy a Bosch or AEG

Get a Miele.

I was going to say just double check the brushes on the motor – but if the dial isn't moving I guess it probably is the the program unit. Replaced one with my Dad once – machine never worked again, lesson learned!

I used this site for info recently: washer help

Is anything physically blocked on teh pump outlet/filter? Check that first as the machine may not want to go into spin cycle if it can't shift teh water out in the first place. Happened on mine a few years back.

Thank everyone.

Got the top off and could find nothing wrong, poked around inconsequentially. Finally capitulated and called a repair guy at random – luck was in, he was just near the end of the road! 15 mins later, it's running again – toby1 was right, motor brushes worn right through and shorting. Quite why the dial stopped I don't know, but I'm happy now!

Thanks everyone. And CG – when the day does come, Miele will be top of the list if we can find the cash!

Cheers

I use bosch in all my rental properties (after years of trying zanussi, hotpoint and others all crap) the bosch ones have all been very reliable.

Dales_rider – Member

It's a Hotpoint

It was a Hotpoint
Buy a Bosch or AEG

Sacrilidge! Hotpoint is the Austin Maestro of kitchen appliances! I've just fitted new drum bearings in my 20 year old Hotpoint and she's running fine! £27 parts and a whole load of 'I am cleverer than a dumb washing machine' satisfaction! Plus a big wodge of cash for shiny bike things. And other 'having done DIY' related benefits. 😉

I think 20 years ago they were probably good..