5-Minute Repair 002 - Hotpoint Washing Machine Control Board
UPDATE 11/11/13 - A few folks who have no soldering or electronics knowledge have asked me about carrying out this repair on their own machines. All I can say is DON'T DO IT. Please seek the appropriate help from an experienced person. These machines contain 240VAC mains AC which is dangerous/deadly in the wrong hands.
Why document a washing machine repair?...........Well, to any husband who wants to earn invaluable brownie points from the wife then this short article should offer expert advice by example.
So, the other day the wife uttered the following words to me completely out of the blue "I need a new washing machine"........at which point I spluttered on my beer, the thoughts of needless & severe wallet surgery taking place. "Not a chance I said........where's the patient?". I was led to the location of the offending machine.....and got to work.
Hotpoint WF340 Washing Machine, barely 6 years old (a young pup!). On powering up ALL lights flash in sync, no buttons or knobs have any affect, and you can't switch it off except at the mains plug. Time to rip out the control board and have a look.
I located the control board tucked behind the rear panel:-
Removed and the cover pulled, a wee clean up with some electrical cleaner. Now lets have a closer look:-
The wife said the machine has been getting worse over the past few months so I immediately had my suspicions...........Ahhh!, look at that electrolytic (C17 = 680uF, 10v) on the power supply section of the board, the top is bulging, she's dried out.
New 1000uF 16v replacement fitted from stock.
Electrolytic capacitors should be completely flat and when domed are a sure sign they have failed or at the very least are on their way out. It's a combination of time & heat which dries out the seals within the capacitor and failure. Luckily though no electrolyte had escaped which could have corroded the control board.
So, a new capacitor fitted and the washing machine back together she powers up perfectly and seems to run cycles just fine.
Brownie points earned = Millions!
PS. I still don't know what the machine does, but I ain't worried as it's in her 'office', and not a place I visit often.
