Samsung Q1044 Hits Maximum Rpm When Plugged In And Never Stops

[Noviceguy]

Hello to all. This has been a bit of a desperation for me, trying to fix this washing machine.

First of all, I have been searching for help on other webplaces but so far none has provided with any help so I am trying it here now hoping that maybe this time something new can be discovered or even fixed.

My washing machine is a Samsung Q1044 and one day it simply started hitting max RPM for no reason, just plug it into the wall and there it goes. Pressing any of the buttons has no effect. It won't sping if the door is open but it does as soon as it closes. The display shows only hyphens, no codes.

The following is a video showing what happens when it is plugged into the wall until I unplug it for a better understanding:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=A7A774340EBDCCAA!1780&authkey=!AEWvVyl4Opwf-hU&ithint=video%2C.mp4

This is what it was doing before and after I sent the pcb tracks to be repaired, I suspected that a cockroach caused a short circuit and the following is a picture showing the blown tracks before the repair:

http://i.imgur.com/RolEdYX.jpg

The 3 solder triangle there is a M10LZ47 5-J (or 5-i, not sure now) which is screwed to the heatsink, as show in the following picture:

http://i.imgur.com/gETfuKX.jpg

Even after the pcb tracks have been repaired the machine sitll displays the same result as seen on the video and I can't find any replacement for it so I am still trying to find out what is still causing this problem and I have come up with a few possibilities, however I do not have any way to test them (no multimeter or even knowledge):

- Busted power relay :: Although it didn't display any sign of fault, as far as I could see

- EEPROM or CHIP problem :: Maybe the program got wiped out with the short circuit and is now runing in "dumb" mode

- Busted M10LZ47 5-J :: Think it's also called transistor or triac, this one also didn't display any sign of damage

- Bad display :: Although it does work I do not know wether it is working normally or not

So this is where I am stuck now and for someone like me with little to no electronics know-how, it feels like the power is going directly to the motor without stopping. I can post more details or more pictures of the PCB if anyone requests.

Hope someone here can lend a hand and figure out what might be going on because I have exausted all my google fu searching for a replacement and even someone with the same problem and nothing was to be found.

This was a very expensive machine and there's no money to spend on a new one so if it can be fixed it would be really great.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Check to see if the motor tacho magnet is still on the machine (information on motor tacho magnet and how washing machine controls the motor speed - http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/hoover-nextra-error-code-7/) However, if the printed circuit has blown it must have been caused by something shorting out somewhere.

[Noviceguy]

Hi, Andy, the motor tacho has not been affected and it was as I said: The printed circuit had 2 tracks blown by which I believe to be a short caused by a cockroach (I found one burned near the problem).

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I missed the cockroach bit. If the motor is spinning all the time and the tacho magnet and coil is ok it's usually the pcb at fault. Repairmen seldom repair pcbs they fit new ones. There's no information for engineers on the pcbs, we are expected to fit new ones if they develop faults.

[Noviceguy]

Yeah, that's what I already expect from the techs, if pcb is at fault they just replace with a new one without even checking for a simple burned resistor giving no cheaper fix choice to the client. Kinda the reason why I don't resort to them anymore and why I am here trying to see if someone might know something more about the problem or the fix.

I have conducted a small diagnostic by disconnecting cables one by one and see when the problem stops/changes and I ended up with just 2 cables connected that light up the display (like the video shows) when it shouldn't. This is the heater relay (and it's the one connected directly to the noise filter) and the ground connector (which is also connected to the noise filter).

Either way, if that's all the help you could give I really appreciate it and the time you spent with this.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Trying to fix a pcb in a world where engineers don't fix them is going to be difficult because engineers don't know anything about them past the basics. There's a company called QER repairs who recondition and repair them.

[Noviceguy]

Thanks, Andy, and sorry if I sounded a bit ungrateful before, it's just I've had my share of techs that asked me for lots of money for doing nothing at all, sometimes it was just a simple fix as a busted capacitor that would cost $3 and not $94, and it becomes very frustrating and forces a person to not trust them again.

I have emailed the company that you suggested to see if they are able to repair it and will be waiting for their reply.

Once again, thanks for your help, Andy!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

No worries, the only worry is they are UK based and you clearly aren't but they may be able to help. At least these guys specialise in fixing these things.

[Noviceguy]

Just wanted to leave an update, I replace the PCB with another from a completely different model that had AG+.

I thought it wouldn't work at first because I didn't have the Silver Nano extra pcb and for my surprise it did work so if anyone is having the same problems of finding a replacement for their model then find one that is the equivalent of yours and it will work.
I don't know if the same is possible with the dryer versions so only try with those if you have absolutely no other choice.

My washing machine is a Q1044, portugal model - original PCB model is MFS-Q1044-00 - and the PCB that I used for replacement is from the Polish (or russian, I am not quite sure now) model F1245AV - PCB model MFS-1245A-00.

All connections fit perfectly and everything works well, except for the Silver Nano technology which I wouldn't want either way.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks for the feedback, glad it worked.