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Our washing machine (Samsung ecobubble wf80f5e2w4x) has gone caputt.
Fills and drains but drum doesn't turn so no matter what cycle it just stays flashing at the start time. No error codes. Is there anything else that might be checkable? ( appreciate it's long shot). I'm not sure it will be economically repairable given its age (8/9 years) if its an electronic issue but I hate the thought of scrapping something that might be fixable.
Manufacturers should be forced to make these things more repairable.
Has it got a replaceable drive belt?
There's a belt, but it looks fine
When my somewhat older Bosch started doing that it was just the motor brushes gone. Easy to get to, check and change.
It's a brushless motor, sorry forgot to mention
There you go then, get some brushes. (-:
Sounds to me like maybe the motor's burnt out, but Internet diagnosing such things is basically guesswork.
Manufacturers should be forced to make these things more repairable.
How, exactly? Free maintenance course with every purchase? It's likely perfectly repairable, it's not Samsung's fault that you don't know how.
Based on information I've provided to an appliance repair company they've advised it's likely an electronics issue and unlikely to be economically repairable.
I'm just trying to eliminate any other causes before sending it for scrap.
Based on information I’ve provided to an appliance repair company they’ve advised it’s likely an electronics issue
It's probably that, then. Ring another one for a second opinion?
Short of playing parts darts you'd need some means of testing individual components. Unplugging the motor and dropping a meter across it for instance, if it's open circuit it's likely buggered. Electronics don't generally just "go" but I'd consider the inside of a washer to be a hostile environment, a visual inspection might reveal broken tracks or dry joints perhaps.
This sort of troubleshooting is often a case of "what can we rule out?"
There's a control board in this lot. Might be worth a "contact the seller"? (NB the listed delivery cost.)
Or it's £150 for a new OEM replacement. Assuming it's the PCB, which it might not be.
How, exactly?
Not having intergrated drum and bearings would be one - makes both repair more feasable and lowers costs for professional repair and opens the oportunity for more repair options (due to cost) sustaining more jobs and better for the environment.
I don't think my wife would be to happy to have an engine powered washing machine, no mater how repairable it is, 2 stroke spots on the linen is never a good look.
Even with the meat grinder attachment.
(8/9 years)
Not sure how much hammer it gets (i.e. how many kids you have) but I'd start again if I was you. It's modern enough to be in the 'uneconomical to repair yet easy to recycle' category and you can pick up a basic Bosch for less than £400.
Sure keep it in the garage as a repair project just to prove it is / isn't repairable but unless you do something quick you're gonna run out of clean pants.
If I was looking for a new washing machine and didn't want to spend Miele money, then I would probably go for one of these.
https://www.ebac.com/washing-machines/
Manufacturers should be forced to make these things more repairable.
Our old LG was repaired twice by myself, very easy to do, all nuts and bolts bar one set of plastic clips, parts easily available when we needed.
Unplug machine and start by carefuly un-picking the last 6 inches of wiring loom to motor, look for a broken wire.
Taps side of nose!
I tend to agree with a nearly 10 yr old machine being replaced. Ours is 7 years old and has been repaired by myself twice (a broken door release lever and the brushes) but if something else went I would think hard about getting new as newer ones are more economical and have larger drums than what was available when we got ours.
unless you do something quick you’re gonna run out of clean pants.
We're heading into lock down, pants are now optional 🙂
Just a thought...
But some Samsung (and LG) devices had (and still have) a 10 year warranty on the digital inverter motors. If that's the issue, you may be in luck for a warranty repair!
The Digital Inverter Motor features an innovative brushless design and uses magnets to drive the drum’s rotation. With the new motor, there’s less friction, which means there’s less noise and vibration. The reduced friction also cuts down on wear and tear of the machine’s working parts, so, its durability is guaranteed with a 10-year warranty.
It's actually younger than I thought - bought June 2015, but only had a 5 year warranty
The inverters have a longer warranty at 10 years though, even if the machine overall has five.
No digital inverter motor on this model, good call to check. Thanks
That's unlucky. Hope you get some joy. Maybe try Samsung warranty anyway? The worst case is they tell you to 'get lost!' But you never know, they might offer a fix or offer you a decent discount on a new one.
All the best!
You say there is no error code, does that mean you have done this bit?
Before you try and get something via warranty (unlikely), check out the wiring loom, between motor and where it is fixed to the chassis. The bit between the bouncy wiggly bit and the fixed bit.
Well, it's working again, for how long who knows?
The very technical fix involved taking the back and top off and squeezing all the connectors. Nothing obviously loose but it seems to have done something as managed a wash again. Although equally could have just been sorted from being unplugged for 24 hours...
How, exactly?
As mentioned, easily replaceable bearings. See also, belts, brushes, hoses, clips, filters, boards, motors being bolt on, standardised sizing, easily accessible / swappable parts, reasonable availability and cost of parts,
Had similar with an old machine once. Turns out, we'd fed too much of the drain hose down the waste pipe and the end was sat in the water trap. Don't know how the machine knew, or why it didn't like it, but pulling the hose out 6" fixed it.