Hotpoint WM742 - lights flashing / won't drain

[Samsamsamsam]

Hello,

Would appreciate any help. It's just out of its 2 year guarantee and I want to make sure I've tried everything reasonably possible before splurging my wages.

 

During its spin cycle the machine has stopped running and all horizontal lights are flashing fast.

 

Manual says turn it off, wait a minute, turn it back on again, no joy. it just makes a gurgling sound.

 

I have checked the commons faults page: the filter is clear and water won't drain out if I take out the waste pipe and lower it to the floor. Only thing I'm not sure about is whether or not the pump is working. Is there a simple way to check? When you turn the machine back on it just gurgles, either sounds like its trying and failing to pump the water out or trying to spin and can't. Though if I run it on another wash setting it spins fine during the wash phase but stops again when it comes to the drain down.

 

Thanks

 

Sam

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

When you turned it off did you disconnect it from the mains? if the filter is clear it must have pumped all the water away OK. Otherwise water would have flooded out when you removed the filter.

[Samsamsamsam]

Hi Andy,

It's now fixed!!

To answer your question: I did disconnect it from the mains. When I took the filter it was dribbling out whilst there were still a few litres in the drum. 

In case anyone experiences the same problem (and gets told by Hotpoint it's going to be £129 to replace the board), here's what I did:

Scooped out the bulk of the water. Let the rest drip out of the filter (took hours - I chocked the machine up with wood blocks so I could get a decent sized tray underneath). Tipped the machine onto its side and when I squoze the girthy black rubber tube running from the waste hole of the drum to the pump and filter could feel something inside. Screw off the retaining clamp around the rubber tube and get your fingers mucky.

Thanks anyway Andy 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks for the update Sam. Yes if you had mentioned that when you took out the filter before, water was only dribbling out whilst there was still a few litres in the drum, I would have instantly told you had something substantial blocking the water - most probably inside the sump hose, most probably a sock or similar :-)

[Aidan]

I've just had the same problem - fails during rinse/drain cycles and flashes the horizontal lights (extra rinse, easy iron, etc.), but my machine drains just fine. I've checked all hoses, the filter, and when I put it in a rinse/drain cycle it fills up with water and drains, but will randomly stop and flash those lights, so there's no blockage.

Can't even get hold of Hotpoint - their phones just say they're too busy and hang up. It's a Hotpoint FML 842 and only 18 months old, its. Time for a new non-Hotpoint machine?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Aidan. It is possible that the pressure system is blocked so the washing machine refuses to spin because it thinks there is still water in the drum when there isn't. However that's just one possibility out of many. It might be worth having a look at this article here though Pressure system how it works and what can go wrong