Samsung Ecobuble Washing Machine stops mid cycle

[DerekH]

Hoping I can find someone far more knowledgable than I am here!

I've been asked by my sister to look at her pride and joy Samsung WW80j5555FX washing machine as it's started to stop mid cycle during the wash cycle.

Have googled this problem and have found a lot of references to this and other Ecobuble machines suffering from failure of the main pcb, likley as a result of frcatured solder joints due to the new lower melting point solder being used now in manufacturing.

My initial advise to her was to give the  machine several long hot washes with no laundry and only white vinegar added to the wash. This worked for me on my own machine, a lot older Zanussi machine, which kept leaving lots of black and white grit like bits on clothes after the wash. I live in a hard water area.

Using the vinegar seems to have helped to some extent but the machine still stops occasionally mid cycle though it can be restarted and finish pressing the pause button twice.

I enquired about a PCB, DC41 00252a, that was for sale on eBay for the WW80j5555FX and was advised by the seller that his problem was eventually idenified as a blocked rubber hose that runs from the top righthand side of the tube that disappears down to the discharge pump. He was more helpful than I expected in offering that advise so I decided to take a look at the machine, check the hose and also check on the PCB model number, had seen several different PCB's listed for this particular machine.

I found that there was a lot of restance to blowing air down that hose, having disconnected the top. I used a length of curtain wire and ran this down the hose as far as it would go several times and found that suddenly something moved lower down and i could blow down the hose as I expected given its diameter. So believe that hose was indeed partially blocked. I removed the PCB panel and noted the board was actually a DC41 00203b not the 00252a I was expecting/hoping to find.

Went on to give the machine more hot washes with vinegar and lots of sludge appeared in the bucket we used to check on what was being discharged. Matters seem to have improved a little but I'm told the machine still stops mid cycle but not always.

Now my reason for writting is:-

Will any PCB from any WW80j5555FX work properly in my sisters machine. Her machine was purchased in 2018 and the PCB dated likewise, looking at the board for sale on eBay that board was manufactured around 2014 I believe. Seems that the 00203b boards are much harder to find than the 00252a ones. Would be happy to purchase the one I enquired about but have read that the replacement PCB must match exactly on the board model number and I don't won't to spend good money and find that things don't work.

My initial thoughts are that Samsung modified the PCB's during the time they made these machines and that any should work so long as it came from a WW80j5555FX. Would anyone here know if PCB part numbers have to match the original to actually work? I notice on some sites the 00252a, 00203b and several other versions are all listed under the same heading and price.

Derek

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Derek. Was the hose very thin and connected to a pressure switch? I'm thinking of the pressure system getting blocked, which is a common cause of this sort of problem.

You can't guarantee that some parts from another appliance with the exact same model number will be the same. Manufacturers often modify or change parts during production. I've seen washing machines with the exact same model number that had 4 different control knobs for example.

Also I would never replace the PCB because of a fault that you suspect could be caused by problems with the PCB. Not unless you can get a really cheap one. They are usually very expensive, and you would be amazed how many program or wash cycle faults are caused by other things. The PCB is usually the last thing to suspect after you have eliminated all other causes.

[andyr12345]

the pipe you blew down more than likely was the pipe from the sump to the water pressure switch , and the 'blockage' you came across could have been the one way valve (that stops the water travelling up to the pressure switch) and again when blowing down the tube the one way valve could have been the resistance you felt as you were blowing, doing its thing and working as it should.

[DerekH]

6 minutes ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Hello Derek. Was the hose very thin and connected to a pressure switch? I'm thinking of the pressure system getting blocked, which is a common cause of this sort of problem.

You can't guarantee that some parts from another appliance with the exact same model number will be the same. Manufacturers often modify or change parts during production. I've seen washing machines with the exact same model number that had 4 different control knobs for example.

Also I would never replace the PCB because of a fault that you suspect could be caused by problems with the PCB. Not unless you can get a really cheap one. They are usually very expensive, and you would be amazed how many program or wash cycle faults are caused by other things. The PCB is usually the last thing to suspect after you have eliminated all other causes.

Thanks for the quick reply Andy.

I've attached the photograph I was sent by the chap on eBay of the hose as I'm not sure we're talking about the same item. Its the  hose thats been ticked in several places.

I removed the spring clip and got the hose off the top of the tub at which point I found it seemed to be restricted inside so  I used that trusty old curtain wire after which the hose cleared out. We found debris/sludge had appeared inside the filter housing at the bottom of the machine and that when blowing down the hose afterwards it could be heard when listening to the filter opening.

I didn't up end the machine to check the hose cannection to the drain pump housing as her cold water supply can't be fully shut off, another job for big brother to sort out for her!

So is the hose pictured part of the pressure system you speak of or should I be looking for a small diameter pipe/hose? Also would the pressure switch be located somewhere along the length of this hose?

hose

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi Derek. No that's not the pressure system. That looks more like it's connected to the recirculation pump and is the hose that is used to pump water back to the top of the drum. I'm not aware of any faults that a blockage there would cause as it would just stop water being recirculated.

The  smaller dimensional hose at the bottom right that goes into a white plastic tool looks more like the pressure tubing. Check out these 2 articles which will help you understand how it all works Common faults on washing machine pressure system - How does a washing machine control the water levels?

[andyr12345]

48 minutes ago, DerekH said:

Thanks for the quick reply Andy.

I've attached the photograph I was sent by the chap on eBay of the hose as I'm not sure we're talking about the same item. Its the  hose thats been ticked in several places.

I removed the spring clip and got the hose off the top of the tub at which point I found it seemed to be restricted inside so  I used that trusty old curtain wire after which the hose cleared out. We found debris/sludge had appeared inside the filter housing at the bottom of the machine and that when blowing down the hose afterwards it could be heard when listening to the filter opening.

I didn't up end the machine to check the hose cannection to the drain pump housing as her cold water supply can't be fully shut off, another job for big brother to sort out for her!

So is the hose pictured part of the pressure system you speak of or should I be looking for a small diameter pipe/hose? Also would the pressure switch be located somewhere along the length of this hose?

hose

yep thats the recirculating pump hose , however only comes into action if you have selected 'Bubble Soak' in the wash cycle as an option on the samsung washing machines (not to be confused with eco-bubble that recirculates from the bottom of the drum on nearly every wash cycle)  

If you do select Bubble soak, for about 30 mins extra at some time in the wash cycle the circulation pump from the bottom of the drum wiill drag soapy water up that pipe and make the water really frothy and bubbly and it will all fall back into the drum and occasionally turn the drum in the 30mins making sure the clothes get a good soak in frothy bubbles. 

Hope this helps

[DerekH]

5 hours ago, andyr12345 said:

yep thats the recirculating pump hose , however only comes into action if you have selected 'Bubble Soak' in the wash cycle as an option on the samsung washing machines (not to be confused with eco-bubble that recirculates from the bottom of the drum on nearly every wash cycle)  

If you do select Bubble soak, for about 30 mins extra at some time in the wash cycle the circulation pump from the bottom of the drum wiill drag soapy water up that pipe and make the water really frothy and bubbly and it will all fall back into the drum and occasionally turn the drum in the 30mins making sure the clothes get a good soak in frothy bubbles. 

Hope this helps

Thanks for the links you posted Andy.

I'm more knowledgable now on which hose/pipe is which and where to look for the pressure system.

Will have to wait for a few days now as my sisters away until nearer the middle of the month but will take a better look at things and report back.

Thanks for the good advise.

[DerekH]

So an update on this.

Since my sister returned from her break she's been in touch with Samsung and their advice was that the machine needed to be recalibrated as this cleared most problems of this type!

So Samsung talked her through the process, no idea what was done or how, and she says the machine has been working fine since she did it.

Hopefully it's worked and saved her further expense and me rolling my sleeves up again. Thanks all the advice from both Andy's"! 👍

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks for the update Derek. It does seem strange and vague for the Samsung engineer to just say it wants recalibrating. I've never heard of a washing machine needing recalibrating, nor have I ever heard of lack of recalibrating causing actual physical faults. Maybe it was some sort of software update to fix a bug, and possibly the phrase recalibrating has been used to prevent them having to admit they are fixing a software error?

 

[andyr12345]

9 minutes ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Thanks for the update Derek. It does seem strange and vague for the Samsung engineer to just say it wants recalibrating. I've never heard of a washing machine needing recalibrating, nor have I ever heard of lack of recalibrating causing actual physical faults. Maybe it was some sort of software update to fix a bug, and possibly the phrase recalibrating has been used to prevent them having to admit they are fixing a software error?

 

I was surprised of calibration as well to fix that fault of it stopping mid way Andy. 
Samsung machines do calibrate though and have a calibrate setting in the menu - I have 2 Samsung ecobubble washing machines and they have the calibration feature. 

Its more to do with that some cycles on the Samsung washers have a weight sensor kind of feature (a bit like the hoover / candy kg mode) and on certain cycle it will weigh the clothes for about a minute at the start of the wash (mainly on cotton cycle really) and adjust the 'time to end' on the display accordingly to the amount of clothes that are in the drum for that particular wash cycle. 

Strange that Samsung would give this advice of initiating the calibration process as normally you would only need to perform calibration on a samsung machine only very rarely, once when the machine is bought new or after transporting after it has been installed in the house , and only from then on if you have actually moved the washing machine or have re-levelled the washing machine - thats the only time I have ever heard of the person having to go into the installation menu and re-calibrate the machine . So strange the advice was given in this scenario to sort out the problem  - if it worked though it worked I suppose.