Hoover Vision VHD 9143 ZD

[IanCHC]

Shut door, pressed start - staccato injections of water then none. Fiddled, shook - more water.

But in general, door security light just flashes and nothing - I hear interlock engage and disengage

 

So I swapped interlock from another machine- result the same -occasionally some water goes in mostly the security light remain flashing. (the interlock works fine in the other machine).

Next I thought perhaps it's the catch/door. So I swapped door from other machine. First item I switched it on some water went in but then stopped and back to the same. Doro works fine on other machine.
It seems as though the inlets are working - I suppose they coudl be faulty but as they are just a mechanical solenoid arrangement is that symptom likely - and does the door light flashing care about the inlet valves?  

Is there a way to get more diagnostics out of it - I tried holdign the start button for a while which results in flashing lights on the display - but I don't know if that was jsut holding the button.

there is no error message - jsut the door light keeps flashing (but remember moving door and interlock to the other machine works fine).

So is there anything else that would cause the door to "think" it isn't shut. As it's intermittent i could be wiring but it doesn't feel like electronics.

 

You may wonder why if I have another identical washing machine I care - the other one is E09 mode once it wants to move its drum [which I think is worse] But I feel that with 2 machines that recently developed different faults (the E09 had much more use than the other) i should able to make one working one!

 

Thanks - any hints appreciated

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi, if it's related to a general power issue or door lock etc it should affect the whole washing machine. What does it do on a spin cycle? If it spins and pumps OK then it can't be anything to do with door lock, which would stop everything from working.

Also, do any of the valves work? What is it like on rinses verses initial wash fill?

[IanCHC]

It's the same on al cycles.

If I've waited a while (for interlock to opne) and press start on any cycle I will see the flashing light for door security, then I will hear the interlock fire and then the light will sometimes go solid, falter (brief flicker) and then return to flashing. Sometimes, on a wash cycle the fill valve will open for short while and occasionally a couple of times.
The inlet valves sometimes fired on and off fora bit (but not so much recently) - I thought initially that moving the door was doing this but I now wonder if I was just shaking the whole machine a bit (having swapped doors & interlocks and found all combinations work on the other machine I don't think it's the door or the lock)

But  If I take the lock (and/or door) and put it in the other machine everything works - pumps out, fills etc. -  up until any cycle wants to use the drum motor.(E09) Both interlocks and doors work on the other machine.

So if there's no other component that could cause door security to stay in flash mode - then perhaps there's poor connection or a electronic fault (although intermittent seems a buit odd for the latter).

I am going to look for a wring diagram - or juts try to trace where they go.

I am tempted to swap boards between the two machines to see if it either fixes the lock issues on one or the E09 on the other - btu am slightly concerned that if E09 is a triac failure (which is what I have read) might it be a motor fault that has blown it and I could end with two E09 faults.

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. When you say it's the same on all cycles, do you mean water valves are juddering at all points in the cycle, or that on spin the motor judders and therefore there is a power supply problem?

 

[IanCHC]

No
Mostly (now) the door lock light continues to flash and nothign happens.

When it first went wrong, I selected a cycled it start to fill for a second or two, stopped started again, stopped.
 

Since then on a few occasions on a wash cycle the inlet opened brifely (sometimes more than once - staccato- mostly nothing happens.

I haven't caught it trying to do anything on other cycles e.g. drain - but that might be because I haven't tried it much - and I think the starting working events are getting rarer (I got a couple yesterday but none this morning) so I am not sure that they wouldn't have started briefly 

- the water coming in (inlet valves opening briefly) only happen occasionally on wash cycles - mostly nothing happens. On other cycles nothing happens  (but I haven't;' tried other cycles as much so it's possible they may have a short-lived operation but I've not really tried enough. The oen have observed is occasionally water enters briefly

In all cycles most often  the security light continues to flash - but I have noticed that if the interlock needs to be engaged (i.e. the door has been released)  the security light goes solid for a short while, flickers and then goes back to flashing.

When the water inlets fired the light stayed solid longer...

I see that the wires from the interlock head off towards the back and bottom so I might try to find out where they go and check the connection .

I 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Unfortunately, this sort of thing is very difficult to fix DIY. Strange things can happen if some washing machines aren't earthed, and to be sure, you need to make sure there is no insulation fault on the motor or heater etc. using an expensive insulation test meter. If there's a fault on the PCB there's no way to diagnose it properly unless you are knowledgable about electronics, and no spare parts or diagrams are available because white goods engineers are expected to just replace the whole PCB.

[IanCHC]

Yes - my job is in IT so I far happier with binary not working/working - intermittent sounds mechanical

 

I am going to swap boards from one machine to another and see what happens - one working let's me wash!

 

My bigconcern is that the E)9 on machine 1 (that doesn't do the lock thing) is a TRIAC but that it was damaged by a fault - I may end up frying a 2nd board.

 

Edited November 1 by IanCHC

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Ian. Yes E9 on my old error code book implicates a faulty motor triac on one or two Hoover washing machines. However, those error codes are probably twenty years old. There is no guarantee that they never change their meanings for different or newer models, although it would really be quite silly though not surprising.

If you know what a triac is then I would expect that if another component had blown it then it would physically have damaged it. So if it looks perfectly okay then it may well be "faulty"as opposed to have been blown. However, I know very little about the macro electronics.

 

[MelS]

From googling that model number, it appears to be an inverter drive, so that error might be indicating some fault in the three phase inverter, which is likely a separate board.

 

Be careful when messing with the inverter board, they have a large electrolytic capacitor/s which can retain a potentially lethal charge for at least a couple of hours afters after the appliance is unplugged from the mains, unless the design includes a discharge resistor for safety, which I believe only became mandatory recently, and still can't be 100% relied on if the board is faulty. 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks Mel. I've reminded people about this danger on the forum description.

[IanCHC]

Hi All

Well by swapping the main boards from one machine to the other I successfully moved the door security problem between machine sand the E09 error from one to the other - just my luck! So that's two faulty boards i guess.

I.e. with board 1 in, both machines show a permanent security lock error (with either latch or do fitted!) so it looks like that board is the problem (just occasionally it works for a while so a bad connection/cracked corroded track?). Having two machines I suppose does ease this kind of troubleshooting (bring one with you is presumably a bit a of a fag) but in a more sympathetic world, my original idea that I had a large utility room, sometimes washing two loads is useful and that I would be able to use one to cannibalise to keep the other running has failed. (I was so pleased with myself when I swapped the catch, then the door and thought i was going to win!)

So with board 1n, both flash Secuity and do nothing, with board two in place both run until they want to move the drum and then give E09.

I had hoped for E09 it might be the motor (some people say that worn brushes can give the code - wrong detection in one sense) - as I have two motors swapping was my next step if the E09 had persisted with board 1 in machine 2.
 

So now i guess I need two baords - or at least one if i want to wash.

(In IT i would suspect that bother failing after approximately the same amount of time was some kind of suicide chip [c.f. HP printer cartridges] but they are both old I suppose).

Anyway, I am now it awe of real washing machien engineers and their incredibly flexible and presumably long thin fingers. (I am not quite ready to attempt a strip down blindfolded but I reckon I am close).

So I wonder what chance I have of finding a baord - I have seen a few people advertising their pictures look like the board type that goes behind the controller - this model as a double board down at the bottom with a ventilated metal cover ?perhaps a heat sink?.

 PS thanks for heads up
I spotted the very large capacitor and wondered if it should carry a danger of death warning - i decided to keep well away rand not even try to discharge it. In my days in the lab anything that held charge was to be treated with caution

 

[MelS]

Does the motor have brushes, if it does it is not an inverter driven motor and the specs I found for the machine are wrong.  A motor triac for a brushed motor would be attached to a heatsink, probably close to the motor relays and the motor connector on the PCB,  so shouldn't be too difficult to locate on the PCB, desolder and replace.   

 

 

 

Edited November 5 by MelS