My washing machine fault finding list
I am going to give you some tips before you call a service mechanic and you can call me, if you live in or around Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Some of these questions maybe obvious, but you would surprized how simple things happen some times. The last thing you would want is to do is pay for a service call when it was something you could have fixed yourself.
- If it is dead all together, check that the power point is turned on. Plug a small portable appliance eg: a hair dryer into the power point to make sure there is power there.
- If it has no digital display or lights on it, turn the knob around to different positions fill, drain or spin to see if there is any life in other parts of the cycle. If the machine won’t fill with water but it will drain, then you know the problem is in the filling of the machine. The reverse maybe the case.
- If you do have a digital display or lights and they are on, on most machine you can advance or put the machine on a drain or spin cycle and try it there.
- If the machine will not fill, check to see if the tap is turned on. Turn off the tap, take the hose off the tap and with a bucket under the tap – turn it on. If the water supply is not the problem then it will be in the machines filling valves or filling program.
- If the machine won’t drain, check your drain hose for kinks and blockages. Start the machine on a drain cycle and see if you can hear the drain pump working. If you can not hear the drain pump or only a slight hum the pump will be jammed or faulty.
- If your machine drains but won’t spin, check to see if the lid switch and out of balance switches are operating. If those two switches are Ok, check inside the bowl for obstructions. Don’t try to turn the bowl by hand because the brake will be engaged. If you put the machine on a spin cycle can you hear any noise. Depending on the machine the fault for this could range from a belt to gearbox, bearings, motor, or timers and electronics.
- If your machine has a digital display, it maybe displaying a fault code or sequence of lights record these for when you report your fault to a serviceamn.
From these tips, if you haven’t fixed the machine yourself you will be able to give the service mechanic a better idea of what is wrong with the machine before he or she arrives. Some other information that will be helpful to the repairer is listed below. Apart from the obvious Name and Address and telephone numbers.
- Type of washer, eg Top loader or Front Loader.
- Brand and if possible the model number.
- The size of the machine.
- Age of machine.
With this information and fault detail from the list above the mechanic will probably have a good idea of what the problem is on arrival, helping him or her with bringing parts and saving time therefore saving you money. Now you are ready to call your sevice person. If you live in or around Mackay, you can call me Rod Swan on 0408776405
