Beko WMI 71641

[benni8]

Hello, 

I currently have a 4 year old Beko WMI 71641 washing machine.

Last week, during the drain cycle - water was spraying into the machine via the detergent drawer - which is obviously not what it should be doing while on drain.

I was advised that it is more than likely the main front board.. so I found a company online who harvest parts from machines and they managed to find me a new front facia with board included and posted it out to me.

This weekend we fitted the new facia and board and the immediately put the washing machine onto spin/drain setting and it worked! - no more water coming in. 

Problem solved.. or so i thought..

Last night during multiple different cycles, the wash would start fine, be happily washing away and then it just stops. 

It goes to turn the drum, it turns a quarter turn, and then just stops (as if the clothes are too heavy to spin over).

To resolve, I longpress the cancel button and drain (which it does fine) and then spin (which it does fine).

So I am stumped as to what the problem is, (i.e. wont complete a wash cycle) as it takes water in fine, it drains fine and it spins for 30 mins before it stops - so it doesn't seem to be a belt or motor issue.

I have spoken to a Beko engineer this morning who suggests changing the control module when changing the front board and see what happens - so I am picking up a new control module tonight.

Bar that i would appreciate any help or advise.

Thank you in advance

 

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello there. If this is a totally different fault then the first suspect always has to be what happened during the repair. The possibilities are that there is a fault on the replacement part (which should be quite unlikely but not impossible), or something happened during the repair such as something disturbed, or maybe the connections to the control board have a problem. Other possibilities that spring to mind are that the original fault was more involved than you thought and the new board hasn't actually cured the fault or that it is a complete coincidence that a totally different fault has occurred.

The logical thing to me after fitting apart and still having problems is to doublecheck all the connections to the part to make sure they are tight and in the correct place. After that I would refit the original part. If the original fault returns in the new one disappears then it should be safe to assume that there is a fault on the new board. If the original fault does not return but the new fault persists then it at least shows that it is not board itself at fault because two boards have the same fault.

[benni8]

19 hours ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Hello there. If this is a totally different fault then the first suspect always has to be what happened during the repair. The possibilities are that there is a fault on the replacement part (which should be quite unlikely but not impossible), or something happened during the repair such as something disturbed, or maybe the connections to the control board have a problem. Other possibilities that spring to mind are that the original fault was more involved than you thought and the new board hasn't actually cured the fault or that it is a complete coincidence that a totally different fault has occurred.

The logical thing to me after fitting apart and still having problems is to doublecheck all the connections to the part to make sure they are tight and in the correct place. After that I would refit the original part. If the original fault returns in the new one disappears then it should be safe to assume that there is a fault on the new board. If the original fault does not return but the new fault persists then it at least shows that it is not board itself at fault because two boards have the same fault.

Morning Andy, 

See below update.

I replaced the control module.

Last night the machine was run without clothes in.. It was a 59 minute wash and I watched it all the way through and it ran flawlessly. No problems,

I then ran the same wash with a couple of items in. It ran fine up until the slow tossing around of clothes around 5 mins left and as the drum turned to spin, it started and then "gave up" trying and drum fell back to its natural position. It sat still for a few minutes and tried again - this time it managed to spin and then completed the wash fine. 

Finally, I placed a dressing gown, towel, jeans and a tshirt in there and ran it again. It got 25 mins in, and the same above happened. i.e. sat in water, clothes soaking, with the drum starting to turn, struggling (no noises just visually) then it falls back to its natural position. I left it alone for 30 mins, and nothing changed - it just tried to move the load but failed each time. I then cancelled the wash and took the jeans and t shirt out (which were heavy and sopping wet) and left the other bits in. started the cycle again and off it went and it completed it fine.

So it is obviously something to do with the weight and the motor.

But it is confusing because when it spins, it spins very fast, so I just wonder how it can spin so fast, but then struggle to throw over some clothes when wet.

N.B. - During the wash were it was struggling to turn the drum, because I have access to the belt driving the drum, I pushed the belt along to give it a helping hand when it did get stuck and it carried on - so as above it is definatley something to do with the weight or motor.

 

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Try testing it with a full load in case it's this Washing machine won’t spin just one item or very small load

[benni8]

Hi Andy, 

 

The last wash I did last night was a decent amount and with 20mins left it started to struggle throwing the load over when it slowly spins and it did stop. It only started again when we manually moved the belt along with it to give it a helping hand when i next tried to move.

Any further thoughts?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

If the motor was struggling to turn and it is sparking excessively or making crackling noise it is usually carbon brushes. Note not all washing machine motors have carbon brushes though these days. Other problems can be drive belt in loose so the belt is slipping. But it would have to be quite loose. After that it could be a fault on the motor such as on one of the windings or the armature, or it could even be a fault on the main PCB. It's probably not going to be possible to fix it without taking big gambles on spending money on very expensive parts with no guarantee of a fix. If you can't see a problem with the carbon brushes (if fitted) or any poor connections in the motor plug or a very slight drive belt I would recommend calling it a day or calling an engineer. The latter of course being potentially quite expensive.

[benni8]

42 minutes ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

If the motor was struggling to turn and it is sparking excessively or making crackling noise it is usually carbon brushes. Note not all washing machine motors have carbon brushes though these days. Other problems can be drive belt in loose so the belt is slipping. But it would have to be quite loose. After that it could be a fault on the motor such as on one of the windings or the armature, or it could even be a fault on the main PCB. It's probably not going to be possible to fix it without taking big gambles on spending money on very expensive parts with no guarantee of a fix. If you can't see a problem with the carbon brushes (if fitted) or any poor connections in the motor plug or a very slight drive belt I would recommend calling it a day or calling an engineer. The latter of course being potentially quite expensive.

Thanks Andy, 

FYI - The motor is fine i.e. no sparking or crackling etc.. it is as quiet as you would expect a normal one to function.

It does have brushes, which I think are the next logical step to investigate?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

It wouldn't hurt to check, though I would definitely expect sparking if there was a problem. This article describes how to check them carbon brushes diagnostic help

[benni8]

10 hours ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

It wouldn't hurt to check, though I would definitely expect sparking if there was a problem. This article describes how to check them carbon brushes diagnostic help

Hi Andy, 

Update:

I ordered 2 new brushes and when I got home tonight and when I opened up and looked in the machine I realised they are very similar but the incorrect part.

I did however notice that out of the 2 brushes only one of them were connecting with the armature. I removed the one that was not touching and the carbon popped out futher which then allowed me to reseat and have both brushes now touching the armature.

I can a wash with a few shirts in an it run perfect.

I then ran with more of a half load and it run for 30 mins untill it came to a stop after struggling to turn the drum on one occasion. However, when I paused the machine and then pressed again to unpause - the machine turned over and carried on and completed the cycle.

I ran again with low load and it completed with no issues.

I ran for a 4th cycle half full and this time it stopped on 3 occasions over the 52mins, each time starting again fine after I paused and then unpaused the cycle.

Thoughts?

I am still going to get the correct bushes and fit BTW.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

The brush could have stuck again. After fitting brushes I would run the machine on full spin a few times to help bed them in. Make sure the brush doesn't stick inside the holder when it is pressed fully in. It should instantly spring in and out smoothly.

[benni8]

16 hours ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

The brush could have stuck again. After fitting brushes I would run the machine on full spin a few times to help bed them in. Make sure the brush doesn't stick inside the holder when it is pressed fully in. It should instantly spring in and out smoothly.

Morning, 

I purchased a motor for the machine from a local seller to kill 2 birds with one stone i.e. motor and  brushes.

Washed my trainers and it went through an hour cycle fine.

Put some bed clothes in this morning and it stopped twice again were it trys to throw the clothes over and then gives up if it cant make the full turn.

I pause, then unpause and it throws the clothes over and completes the cycle.

 

What are you thoughts?

The only thing now is a new front board.. the one i bought was a taken from a machine on eBay so I might have been unlucky and that have a fault as well - but do you believe with the symptoms I have mentioned it would be the front unit?

 

So frustrating as I feel I am so close

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. You need to refit the old board if you (hopefully) still have it. Then you will know if this new fault is the replacement board or not. Troubleshooting is all about process of elimination. 

[benni8]

On 28/02/2020 at 10:25, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Hi. You need to refit the old board if you (hopefully) still have it. Then you will know if this new fault is the replacement board or not. Troubleshooting is all about process of elimination. 

Hi, 

I dont have the old board unfortunately.

Ran two decent loads last night (below) and all went through 50 min washes (each) without fail.

 

This morning I ran another one and it stopped.

I pressed pause/unpause and it tried to turn but just failed to run it all over.

Paused/Unpaused again and this time it just about threw it over and then carried on to the finish.

So random