davehills

Have been doing some reading about this and one of the suggestions is that the material gets forced through the holes by the centrifugal force. Whilst the inside of the drum is smooth, the holes are produced by punching, thus the outside of the drum is like a cheesegrater! Higher speeds and bigger drum holes can mean that more fabric gets pulled through. Whilst you have checked the holes in the drum, check the welds for sharp parts. Also check the rolled edge where the drum meets the rubber seal. Try eliminating a few things. Check the filter for foreign objects and also check round the seal. Next, I'd by some £2 white t-shirts and run them through the machine a few times by themselves, without any detergent, to see if any damage occurs.

Have had the motor out. The tacho coil on this model is build into the actual motor and looks like it's only possible to remove it by taking the motor apart! Have traced the wires back to the connector and I get a steady resistance across these, no matter how much I wiggle the wiring. Also, if I put a voltmeter across the terminals and spin the armature by hand I get a fluctuating voltage. Obviously, I don't know if the voltage is correct, but it proves that the coil isn't open circuit and that the magnet hasn't fallen off! I have done a continuity check on the wiring between the tacho and the control PCB and this appears OK. I have removed the PCB and inspected it and can't see anything wrong, no burnt components, no dry joints. I have cleaned the terminals on the PCB and the motor, for good measure. Still the problem persists. No error codes or flashing lights. Obviously, it'd be nice to confirm the fault by substituting parts but a new control board is ~£75 and a secondhand motor is about £50, neither of which I can really justify on such a cheap machine! (I have video'd the machine misbehaving and might upload it later) I suspect I'll have to end up breaking the machine and selling the bits to recoup my outlay; shame as it's in A1 condition and hasn't seem much use. Edit: It doesn't exhibit the issue during 'tumble dry' mode, nor does it do it on 'spin', although it doesn't spin if heavily loaded. Control module= Minisel 546052300-002 Motor= 512011603 (The newer square version, not the old round type)

I didn't let it run long enough to see if it automatically shut down! No error codes I'm aware of; I woudn't have any way of decyphering them even if there were. I'll check everything you mention and post back when (If?) I resolve it.

I have a fairly modern Servis M9310. (yeah, I know, but it was cheap and I needed something quick to replace our old machine). All was fine until about a month ago when it developed a problem. During the wash cycle the drum would 'stutter' slightly, almost like a slight 'misfire' on a car. I took the back off and the belt was in a bad way and rotating the drum by hand you could feel it wasn't running right. After a quick inspection of the brushes and a new belt the machine was put back together and ran OK. However, the fault has come back, worse than before! I have inspected the belt-still good as new. I have checked the brushes again (Tons left) and cleaned/inspected the commutator. Still the problem persists. The fault is almost as if the motor is not receiving power on an intermittent basis. Occasionally today the motor has attempted to intermittently run at high speed during the wash cycle, ie much faster than is normal during a wash cycle. I think this might be a clue. This has led me to conclude that the motor is essentially OK but there's an intermittent fault with the speed control mechanism. Is this a fair assumption? How does the speed control on these machines work? I know there's PCB which controls the motor-does this actually sense the speed of the motor? If so, how does it do it? Is there a speed sensor on the motor itself? If there's no speed sensor then I'll check the PCB for dry joints/damage. (The machine has always been very sensitive to poor loading and often won't go into a full spin when washing towels etc. How does the machine sense when it's out of balance?)

So...another silly question. Why do so many modern machines feature cold fill only when gas is cheaper per unit of energy? Surely, it makes sense to fill the machine with water that's atready hot, then maybe heat it a few more degrees to reach the desired temp, than fill with cold water and have to heat it from scratch?

A bigger diameter drum would develop higher centrifugal forces for a given spin speed. Also, I'd be interested whether the offending machines have bigger holes in the drum, thus allowing clothing to get through?

So the manufacturer *could* tune the 60 degree wash to be ultra efficient just to get the A+ rating, but not bother with the other cycles? I suppose modern must soak the clothes for longer?

I doubt a washer dryer will ever be as good as seperate appliances, but sometimes if space is limited you have no option. The latest Daewoo Washer dryer has been recommended by our local independent shop. I personally haven't investigated this machine yet, but the guy said it was the best build quality for the money. Do your own research first, though!

A bar of ordinary hand soap will kill bubbles/foam. Haven't tried it on a washing machine specifically but it's worth a go. Personally, I'd cut a cheap bar of soap into small chunks, then mix with some boiling water in a bucket until dissolved. I'd then run some of this liquid (Strained if necessary) this through the machine on a hot cycle. Not too much or you might end up blocking things. Alternatively, try a bit of liquid soap, but make sure it is actually soap and not a foaming handwash! Failing this, most Janitorial suppliers should be able to sell you 'defoamer' for use in carpet cleaning machines (Most carpet cleaners use hand soap though, believe it or not)

Hi All, How are the energy ratings of washing machines calculated? Are readings taken across a whole cycle? Are they based on consumption of energy per minute? It struck me that A rated appliances just might not be as efficient as people believe. Yes, they use less electricity at any particular point in time but if they take longer to wash the clothes....

I must admit I hadn't thought of that! D'Oh! Of course, the hot fill would make the water warm.... The wife managed to get the machine to work OK today, briefly, which caused some scratching of heads. How could it 'fix' itself before failing again? Last night I switched the central heating boiler over to the winter setting, which increases the temperature of the hot water. What's the betting the incoming hot water is over 40C, which fools the machine into thinking the element is OK?

Well, on a 40C wash, if you open the door you can feel that the water is warm. On a 90C wash the water certainly doesn't boil so something is presumably limiting the temperature... Is there perhaps a secondary 'safety' thermostat in series with the heater which stops the thing overheating if the primary thermostat fails? PS: I have no plans to replace the timer if it has failed - far to scary a prospect!

Problem is, 'Bush' is well known and a few years back were a proper manufacturer making quality goods. Most punters won't realise that it's just a name nowadays and will remember the 'Bush' of old. Some might even be fooled into thinking they are buying British!

Yes, I'm pretty sure you are right. There appear to be a lot of 'branded' machines which appear to be haier in origin.

My beloved Ariston AV1048CUK isn't working! It's quite an old machine but has proved reliable over the years so I'd like to repair it if I can. The problem is that the timer sticks part way through the wash cycle. I'm pretty sure it's not the timer itself but the timer is waiting for a response from something else, which never comes. On a wash cycle the machine fills to the correct level. It then heats the water, as I can feel the door getting warm. The machine then spins the drum correctly, as it would to to agitate the clothes. It's at this point the timer stops; the machine just sits there agitating the clothes. I'm thinking the water level sensor works OK and that the heating element is OK too. What else would cause the timer to stop at this point in the cycle? Would a thermostat stuck in the 'on' position cause this problem without boiling the water? What other sensors are involved at this point in the cyle? Any ideas?