Servis Washing Machine Won't Drain Regularly

[gregspalding]

We have a Servis washing machine 6.5kg 1400 A+A. Recently, it's been failing to pump out the water. So i checked the usual things. Pump filter is clear, and the pump runs on an empty cycle. drainage pipe to sink is clear, as is sump from drum to pump filter. I've had to drain it manually a couple of times, but often it will drain if I put it on a different wash cycle and run it again it pumps out just fine. There doesn't appear to be any pattern to the failures either.

I don't know a lot about washing machines, but I feel like it might be something electronic. Perhaps there is a load sensor that's stopping it from draining before the spin cycle. If it's likely to be electrical, I'll get someone in to look at it. I'm not messing with that!

Thanks for any help!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

On the contrary, any sensor issue would cause the pump to run not stop it. Several "faults" detected will cause the washer to abort and drain the water out for safety or out of balance load sensor will prevent a fast spin but never prevent the pump from running. Check all the advice in my article here - Can’t find a blockage but washing machine still not draining

[edhorwood]

one thing not mentioned in the advice is excessive bubbles from soap. If you generate too much lather, there can be an air lock form in the pump. It can take a while for the bubbles to be pushed thru and get the water moving again. You can obviously test this by filling the drum a few times with no clothes or soap, then putting it onto drain. If it works every time, I would recalculate the soap volume.

[gregspalding]

Thanks for the replies. Nothing seems to work, it's just as intermittent as it was before. Sometimes it runs, sometimes it doesn't. It seems like there is either and issue with the power getting to pump all the time, or the signal from the PCB is not working every time. If it's a faulty PCB, I may as well just buy a new washer, because the replacements start at about £130. A new pump is £25, and while I'm ok tpo drop that amount on the chance that it will fix it, I might just be throwing money away. Have spoken to an engineer on the phone, he said it sounds like an interuption in the power. I at a loss, quite frankly!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

The only way to diagnose it is to find out when it stops draining - is the pump still running or not? If the pump is still running but no water comes out it's got to be a blockage. If the pump stops running then it has to be an electrical fault or the pump is cutting out. If it's an intermittent fault then it's usually very involved trying to fix it.