Washing Machine in trouble!

Filmer Paradise

Hi All!

I have a Whirlpoool AWM 5104 washing machine & it's stopped working.

It stopped mid cycle (before spin, I think).

Anyway, I cleaned the filter. Still no go.

I then pulled it out, checked the drain pump & all the pipes leading to it for blockages. All okay.

Put the whole thing together & put it on the normal cycle. The machine makes a buzzing sound for a few seconds & then nothing else.

I dont think its taking in any water. I checked the inlet hoses for kinks/blockages & all seems okay.

I'm now running out of ideas.

So is there anything else fairly obvious I could have missed?

Thanks in advance for any help.:)

The Red Ace

start by setting it for drain/empty, if it fails to start I would suspect a faulty door interlock especially if you can open the door, next check it for spin, if ok next check it for fill on the rinses if ok there it has a faulty main wash solenoid valve coil. if you have no motor action I would suspect worn brushes

Filmer Paradise

Thanks for that.

I checked the inlet valves & theres continuity there, so they should be ok.

Next I whipped out the pressure switch & pipe. I blew thru the pipe & the switch checked okay on the meter.

I'll do all the stuff you said & let you know how I get on.

Thanks again!

Filmer Paradise

The Red Ace wrote: »

start by setting it for drain/empty, if it fails to start I would suspect a faulty door interlock especially if you can open the door, next check it for spin, if ok next check it for fill on the rinses if ok there it has a faulty main wash solenoid valve coil. if you have no motor action I would suspect worn brushes

Okay. Drain cycle working fine. Door interlock appears to be working too.

Spin. Nothing but the buzzing sound I mentioned earlier. I have since discovered this to be the drain pump spinning.

Rinse. Machine fills with water. Drum not turning, but appears to 'want to' at times when the drum changes direction.

Looking like a motor issue, right?

What would this entail on these machines?

Ill be unhooking the machine (again!) & see if there's a way to change the brushes.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Filmer Paradise

So. Had a look at the motor & the bushes look okay to me but Im no expert & dont really know how to check for sure.

Anyway the shaft they rub on (the commutator?). This was very black, so I cleaned it up a bit with some WD40, Q-tips & some fine grade sandpaper.

Hooked it up again & guess what? Still no joy.:o

SWIMBO is putting on the pressure for a new machine, but I'm not letting go without a fight.:D

The upshot is that I've got a very limited timeframe to get this fixed or else!

Any ideas on how to check that the motor's a dud or anything else?

Please help me save my Veteran machine!

handlemaster

if the machine is out if guarantee. get a new one. mine recently started to burn and spin over the limiter. no point in getting someone killed over a washing machine. it will cost a third if the value to get anything done with it and it might still not work for long after

Filmer Paradise

handlemaster wrote: »

if the machine is out if guarantee. get a new one. mine recently started to burn and spin over the limiter. no point in getting someone killed over a washing machine. it will cost a third if the value to get anything done with it and it might still not work for long after

I get what you're saying. We've gotten nearly 15 years out of this one already.

Still, unless you buy a Miele, the next machine will most likley be of lower quality than the one we have. They really don't make them like they used to.

It would be a pity to throw this one out if the fix is fairly simple.

The Red Ace

did you remove the brushes and look at them, if they are down to approx. a 1/4 inch in length and one of them burned they need replacing. ideally you need a meter to check the coils for continuity. handlemaster with regards to your machine spinning out of control this can be a common enough fault and a cheap fix if told how to check by someone like me.

Filmer Paradise

The Red Ace wrote: »

did you remove the brushes and look at them, if they are down to approx. a 1/4 inch in length and one of them burned they need replacing. ideally you need a meter to check the coils for continuity. handlemaster with regards to your machine spinning out of control this can be a common enough fault and a cheap fix if told how to check by someone like me.

Hi. Well, I whipped out the motor today & learned how to check the brushes with my multimeter. The motor itself seems okay. The bearings run free, no burning smell etc..

I've checked pretty much everything within my limited range of knowlage.

I'd say it's something in the PCB/Module. This looks difficult to take out.

As a last throw of the dice, I took off all the leads leading to it & sprayed the connectors with WD40.

It didn't work though.

I looked at the price of the PCB module & it's £80, but I'm not sure that's the problem & it looks difficult to take out of the machine.

Unless there's something else obvious to look at, I'm at the end of the road with this.

Yesterday morning I had to ring the Missus to learn how to operate this machine. It's been a very steep learning curve this last 2 days!

The Red Ace

OK, I wouldn't advise you to spend any money buying a part when you don't even know if the existing part is faulty or not. I am not sure if you removed the brushes to physically check them and even check that they move freely. If you have done the aforementioned checks its probably time to buy the missus a new w/m

Filmer Paradise

The Red Ace wrote: »

OK, I wouldn't advise you to spend any money buying a part when you don't even know if the existing part is faulty or not. I am not sure if you removed the brushes to physically check them and even check that they move freely. If you have done the aforementioned checks its probably time to buy the missus a new w/m

Yes I did take out the brushes, gave them a clean. No pitting or arcing present. I put them back in & checked on the outer sides for continuity. So deffo not the brushes. Pretty remarkable for a machine fast approaching it's 15th birthday!

My main dread was throwing out a machine with very little wrong with it. Something like a leaky pipe, bearings or brushes. I'd have happily have spent up to 50 euro or so to fix it up & chance it for a while.

Most likeky I'll be shopping for a new one next weekend. Budget would be 300-350ish. Thinking of a Bosch or maybe another Whirlpool.

Still though, if anybody has any more suggestions or can show me how to remove the module from this machine without breaking something, it would be very welcome.

Thanks again.

Filmer Paradise

Just a quick postscript to this story.

Bought a new Bosch Series 4 today. The shop took in the old Whirlpool for recycling.

I plumbed in the Bosch without much effort & wrote today's date (27/1/18) on the side. Just to keep record.

Just then I remembered the build date of the Whirpool. I saw it stamped inside whilst I was operating on it.

It was 27/1/03!

It went for recycling 15 years to the day, from the day it was made.