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Hello Andy Many thanks for the analysis. I really appreciate it. Even to me, as a non-professional, it feels as if it’s just catching a stray wire every now and again. So far when it has tripped, it trips only once during the program. Every time I have reset the RCD, it continues where it left off from and completes the program. Just yesterday I did another laundry load and both programs (Cottons-60 followed by an 800-Spin cycle) completed successfully on the supposedly faulty socket. I once again spent 30 minutes trying to video it tripping during the rinse cycles or final spin, but nothing happened. When he said there would be scratches on the back panel, I said to myself that there wouldn’t be any marks if the drum were bouncing side to side. Perhaps I should have mentioned it. He probably would have taken offence to that, too. Regarding the power socket, he told me the exact same thing two years ago. He said the primary mains socket I use for the machine is likely faulty and that I should use another socket. I took his advice on that occasion and plugged my previous machine into the other wall socket. It continued to trip the mains. That’s why I was frustrated by his suggestion to run a long wash program on the other socket. I’ve done it several before with the previous Bosch and it still tripped the mains. My contention was that how could a power socket which he deemed faulty two years ago be able to power my current bigger 8kg machine for just over two years without any trips. Surely a faulty wall socket would have not been able to last that long with the demands of a high-power appliance. As mentioned my previous machine also tripped several times on the other socket. I doubt both sockets are faulty. Even if I went to trouble of running my current machine on the other socket, there is no guarantee that it would trip, so on each occasion I would have to drag the machine out from its original position to plug it into the other socket, all in the hope that it would trip. I just think he is fobbing me off with the same diagnosis he used two years ago and personally I don’t believe that the socket is at fault. As you say if it genuinely was the socket, it should trip during the power intensive wash cycle. It has never done this. It has only tripped when the drum is coming to a halt, or about to start ramping up. It also tripped when the entire cycle came to an end and the machine was about to start beeping to signal the end of the program. Again these are all low power moments in the machine’s operating cycle. The machine’s wall socket is located underneath my sink at the far end. The machine is located in front of the sink under the worktop (think of an L shape with the machine being under the short side of the L and the sink top running across the long side. The socket is located where the two lines meet). There is a wooden panel separating the socket and machine. In other words, there is a clear physical separation between the machine and the socket, so there’s no chance of the machine or the drain hose coming into contact with the power socket. Owing to the awkward location of the socket that the machine is plugged into, I rarely touch it. I’ve only had to touch it when there has been an issue with the machine. The socket is solely dedicated to the washer. Nothing else ever gets plugged into it. I inspected the plug and it looked fine, no black burn marks or damage. I don’t understand why he had such a problem with taking the lid off. It’s not really a big thing for him to do. It seems like the most obvious thing to during the initial fault finding investigation. He didn’t even try to move the drum around nor did he look underneath the machine. He just kept telling me that he could inspect all the wires through the hole at the back. It felt as if he wanted to attribute it all to the socket, again. Yep, the fact that it is intermittent is incredibly frustrating. It’s also less frequent too, compared to the previous Bosch, which makes it harder to capture. Full laundry load done yesterday and it was all fine. I’m going to try again tomorrow and see what happens. My main aim is just to try to capture it tripping at least once and have the evidence on video. Switching to the other socket is going to be a big inconvenience as I will have to bring the machine out into the main kitchen area on each occasion. There’s also balancing issues I am concerned about as the tiling on my floor is uneven. The machine is rock solid in its original location. I can’t be sure that will stay like that once it is moved. I think my best bet is to try to capture it tripping on video and work from there. I still haven’t paid for the call out, but if I am forced to then I will cough up. But I will raise my concerns with Bosch about the way the engineer decided to do things. From my point of view, he deliberately skipped an important part of the fault finding process for no good reason. I am also going to bring up the previous machine and how he also told me to use the other socket which did not stop the machine from tripping. I’ll keep you posted. Thank you again.

Thanks for your quick response, Andy. I have taken the machine apart and split the outer tub to find a melted lump of rubber/plastic jamming between the inner drum and the outer tub. Also there are serious rub/melted plastic/burn marks inside the bottom of the rear outer tub. Looks like the inner steel drum has been rubbing around on it for quite a while. Not sure what the initial cause was but I too suspect overloading - she who must be obeyed disagrees as it is she who does the laundry (no, I'm not a chauvinist, we just split the chores!). The cost of replacement parts is between 3 and 4 hundred so we won't be pursuing that avenue - time for a new machine (and smaller loads!).

That's a very sensible attitude, I hate the thought of anyone messing about with things they aren't sure about. As I predicted, of course they will test OK. The fault causing tripping only happens on spin - and only then for a fraction of a second. The fact that when it trips, the washing machine subsequently works perfectly well shows that the cause is not only intermittent but very fleeting. So even after it has tripped the engineer is unlikely to detect anything. This is exactly what would happen if the drum was catching something or a chaffed wire somewhere in the harness is touching something as the drum moves around. It's not the only possibility but definitely the first suspect to investigate. You could say if a washing machine is tripping that the most common causes are the heater and motor - but not that they are the only causes by any stretch. Not necessarily. If it is bouncing side to side it should never touch the back panel. If it is bouncing very violently then you would expect marks or dints in the sides, but it isn't necessarily bouncing that violently. You would hear it thumping if it was. But on spin the drum may still be moving about enough to cause a chafed wire to short out. I've had lots of them, sometimes underneath the washing machine around the motor wiring harness for example. Remember though, I'm not saying it can only be cause by a wire - only that it's the most likely explanation considering the symptoms. Those small testers can't test a wall socket properly. They are useful. I use them myself because they can detect if the live and neutral are the wrong way around, or if there is no earth at all. But they can't tell if the earth it detects is good enough, it could just be one strand of copper or a proper good earth but the tester wouldn't know. Wall sockets are tested by electricians using a proper insulation test meter. Testing it in a different wall socket would only be helpful if it also tripped in the different socket. It would show that it wasn't just the wall socket you normally use. If on the other hand it did not trip in a different socket then that wouldn't prove anything. It often completes cycle without tripping in the normal socket. The fault only ever occurs on exactly the same point of the spin cycle. So I can't imagine how a wall socket could possibly only ever trip at that point. If it only ever tripped on the wash cycle, when the washing machine is drawing the most power, then I could see some sense in suspecting that, but on spin the washing machine is using very little power. It only trips when the drum is ramping up or down from spin with certain loads in. I genuinely can't imagine how a wall socket could cause that. However, I have had cases where the washing machine turned off the switch on a wall socket. It was caused because when the washing machine was pushed back into position the hoses pressed against the socket right at the back of the machine. Then when it went into a spin and the washing machine moved around a little it actually switched the socket off. If by any chance your wall socket is right behind the washing machine make sure the washer and hoses aren't pressing on it. If it has a switch it could potentially be knocking it and theoretically if it half pressed the switch of you could get arcing inside the switch that could trip a sensitive RCD. I would say wiring in walls and sockets can't wear out. It doesn't move, it's not subject to any stresses or strains. But wires connected to wall sockets can become loose if the brass screws they use to wire them in work loose. That's quite common. This would normally cause overheating of the wall socket and the plug during heating when it draws most power. That usually causes burn marks around where the plug plugs in. It would also normally only cause problems on the wash cycle. It is 100% necessary to take off the lid and back panel, and also to inspect underneath the washing machine to properly investigate an intermittent fusing or tripping fault during wind down from spin. There are plenty of wires under the lid you need to inspect. Oh dear. As you know there is definitely a fault, and it only ever happens intermittently and at one specific point then if any engineer does not find a fault how can that mean there is no fault? If they don't find the fault it is only because they haven't the time to test and check it properly. Intermittent faults can be a nightmare, and unfortunately engineers don't have the time to spend on them if the cause doesn't show up straight away. This is why I suggested you try to catch it doing it on video but of course it might take several attempts to do it. If an engineer can't find a fault then there are only two possible explanations, either they haven't been able to find it due to lack of time, lack of experience or just the difficult nature of it - or the customer is completely imagining the whole thing. The latter of course is ludicrous for any engineer to imply. No engineer can say with any certainty that if they can't find a fault then there is nothing wrong. I have an article about that here Repair company want to charge if engineer can’t find fault I can only advise that you only use the washing machine in a different socket and film it every time it comes to the spin section until you film it doing it. You can then say 2 things for certain, that it is not the socket you normally use and there is without doubt a fault that they cannot deny.

Just to let anyone else know that my machine required 35mm bearings - although in the drum bearing kit there are two bearings (one 35mm and one approx 30mm) with the seal. Fitted successfully and machine is running very well - and quiet!! !!

Thanks for the update. Make sure they don't fob you off with an, "I can't see anything wrong" report. Make sure you have a wash load already in the machine that you know has caused it to trip and make sure he fills it with water to make them properly heavy before testing on spin. Otherwise some engineers are likely to just test the machine with an insulation test meter where they are unlikely to find anything because it only trips at the end of spin. Then they may put it on spin (usually without asking for a test load) and of course it won't trip. Then they'll say they can't find anything (unless they can actually see something).

Just thought I’d provide an update on this 3 months on from the Consumer Rights side. John Lewis accepted the claim for a partial refund of the Samsung and offered some money back. They took off the equivalent of 1 year’s use. The refund would be processed once they took the washing machine back Unfortunately by that time, we had lockdown so they couldn’t come and collect it and install a new washing machine. I was left stuck with the Samsung for two and a half months more. Thankfully, the machine lasted that time despite the terrible noises Two weeks ago, John Lewis started offering installation services for those classed by the government as vulnerable to Coronavirus (which I am) and so they were able to come and collect the Samsung and install the new one After all the problems I had with the Samsung, I decided I would switch to a completely different, higher quality brand, so I am now the proud owner of a Miele with a 10 year guarantee. Here’s hoping for many, many years of trouble free laundry! Thanks for your help and suggestions with this, Andy.

Yes they push all these really big drum capacities but most people would struggle to fill the drum for most washes. If you don't fill the drum with a great big load you can under-load it and are wasting all the economical advantage of having a large drum capacity. If you buy a large capacity drum it should mean you wash half as often or otherwise there's little advantage other than you have the extra capacity for something that wouldn't normally fit in.

Hi. Yes I would initially be suspecting exactly what you suggest. With an unbalanced load, which is often a small load with something heavy like towels or sheets mixed with lighter items, the drum can bang about when ramping up to spin and when ramping down. At this point something can catch an short out, usually a chaffed wire somewhere. The large drum capacity washing machines can be very easy to under load. An engineer would disconnect the washer from the mains and remove the lid and back panel then search for a possible cause. Move and simulate the drum banging about and see if it catches anything. Check all the wiring harnesses and wires running through the machine.

Thanks for your reply - unfortunately I did contact Ransom spares first who were at a loss as to what size was needed and it was they who advised me to get in touch with Hotpoint. Luckily my husband has already replaced bearings on other machines - successfully so instead of a new machine it's worth laying out around £20 to give it a try!! When I do find out the bearing sizes I shall post on here to let other people know.