Hoover New Wave 1100 Electronic Fails To Spin

[Curious]

My Hoover washing machine seems to do everything it should, except ramp up to spin speed on spin. When it reaches the spinning part of the cycle the drum rotates slowly for a few seconds as usual, but at the point when it should get faster it stops and remains stopped for the normal duration of the spin cycle.

The pump runs normally while this happens. I'm guessing the motor is ok or it couldn't turn slowly, it rotates in both directions during the wash cycle. Without a schematic of the machine/controller I'm not sure where to look for the fault, any suggestions please?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Make sure the washing machine is unplugged. Locate the small (round) pressure switch at the top right of the machine under the lid (looking from the front) Carefully pull the plastic tube off at the bottom. Run on spin. If it makes no difference we've at least eliminated one possible cause. If it does spin with the pressure switch disconnected let me know and I'll advise further.

NOTE: Do not put the washing machine on a fill programme with this pipe disconnected as the machine will overfill and flood and make sure you watch the machine after for the first few washes as anything but an airtight connection on this small hose can cause overfilling.

Further advice on my white goods blog - troubleshooting washing machine not spinning or drum not turning round

[Curious]

Thanks for the very quick reply Andy. I disconnected the tube, blowing gently into the pressure switch gives three clicks. The behaviour on spin is the same as before ie. no fast spin

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

The behaviour you describe is that of the washing machine not spinning because it thinks there is still water in the drum. This can be caused by a blocked pressure system or a faulty pressure switch, but you appear to have discounted them now.

The other possibility is that there IS actually water left in the machine (caused by a partial pump blockage). Disconnecting the pressure tube totally bypasses the pressure system and would allow a spin even if the washer was full of water.

Unfortunately this means all the usual causes for this fault appear to be not relevant here. If the carbon brushes were worn, the machine may also refuse to spin and in some cases they can still manage to turn slowly. However, you would expect to hear a gratering noise as the motor turned (which is the brushes sparking) You should also be able to observe sparks and flashes from the motor. (Minute little sparks when a motor turns is usually quite normal though as long as they are very small)

If you still can't trace the fault, it's not looking like a straight forward DIY job I'm afraid, although the fault you described, with the drum stopping dead but leaving the pump still running is the classic symptom of a blocked pressure system or faulty pressure switch on this model.

[Curious]

Many thanks for another rapid reply and thanks for the tip that the problem was likely due to the machine thinking it still has water in it.

With this in mind I had a close look at the pressure switch, it seems to have several circuits but I guessed the ones of interest are those sending signals to the controller. There are two wires running from the switch to the controller so I pulled them off the switch and gave it another try. Selecting a spin cycle the machine went through its usual routine and started up a fast spin with no problems.

By elimination I found that the wire stopping it from spinning was an orange/black wire. Checking the switch with the DMM while blowing into the tube showed the switch operating, but with the DMM on a high range it was showing around 60k ohms when it was supposed to be open circuit. I suppose 60k is low enough to convince the microcontroller on the main PCB that the switch is closed.

Assuming it was a drop of moisture in the switch, I left the meter connected and warmed the switch with a hair dryer, after a few seconds the resistance went above 10M ohms, the limit of my meter.

So all the bits back on and it works fine, wife happy and a nice stash of brownie points earned just in time for Christmas.

Once again, many thanks for the timely help and compliments on a very useful and well maintained web site

This reply was added by another user.

Hi guyz......my problem is the same as above, except mine will spin fine if I remove the pipe from the pressure switch.......does this mean that the pressure switch is faulty? If so how can I test it? I am coversent in electronics so using a DMM is no problem. The washing machine is a Hoover 1100 Soft Wave washer dryer. At the moment the pipe is off so the missus can use the spin and the dryer part, but I have told her not to use a wash cycle as the fill cycle will overflow the drum because of the pressure switch not being present.

Also I have read that the problem could be a small bottle on the end of the pressure switch pipe being clogged ???...any help advice Greatlly appreciated.

Edited May 15, 2006 by Curious

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

If the pressure switch itself was faulty then taking the tubing off wouldn't make any difference. If it won't spin with the pressure tubing connected to the pressure switch, but it does empty the water out properly AND it does spin with the pipe disconnected from the pressure switch, then there is a blockage in the pressure chamber bottle which is at the other end of the tube that connects to the pressure switch.

On this model you have to take the front off to get to the pressure chamber bottle.

[Curious]

I cannot believe the speed of that reply ....totally amazing, awesome even!!!..........anyway, just in case I did not explain it all properly here goes again.....Starting the machne on a wash cycle the machine will fill wash and empty, but then just as the spin cycle is about to operate the machine shuts down as if its the end of its cycle. Also the door will not open.

I proceeded to check for blockage in the drainage pipe below the drum, the pump and outlet.....all were clear, no water in the drum!!! but the door would still not open, so I removed the pipe from the pressure switch and bingo, the door opened and also the machine would now spin and complete its cycle, also the dryer will work, so is the above answer still the same ?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Have a look at the pressure chamber bottle as described in my last post. It's most probably blocked with gunge.