Whirlpool Front Loader Washing Machine

Following on from the successful repair of the school mixer, Megan has directed my attention to the washing machine.  One Whirlpool WFS1285AW 8.5kg front loader.

Now let me decalare something here.  A small bias.  I absolutely hate front loading washing machines.
In my view....
a) Hard to get clothes in and out.
b) Can add that last sock.  (Becuase the door locks)
c) Again because the door locks, if you need to stop it early and get something out you simply can't without ivoking google and a crowbar.
d) I don't think the whites are white.
ah that feels better....

OK so the sequence of events is:-

1. Starting with the power off at the wall,
2. Switch power on at the wall.  -> LCD lights, Start LED flashes, 30min wash flashes.
3. Door closed.
4. Press start button.  LED goes on solid
5. Wait 30 sec maybe.  Start LED starts to flash.
6. Pressing any other key and they all work.
7. Press the child lock key combination and that brings up a little key symbol.

Check the user manual.  No mention of the LCD.  In the manual I can find reference to various symbols that I see on the LCD.  I note on the LCD a padlock symbol.  At first I thought this was the child lock but operating the child lock buttons brings up a key symbol.

Phoned whirlpool on 1300 363 344
Well that has to be one of the most dissatisfying conversations I have ever had as I was fobbed off to Alderly refrigeration (I think) on 3355 6855.  They were more polite and have taken on board asking a technician.

Back to google and I find a newer manual on line and discover that the padlock tells me the door is open or maybe closed.  Its not clear but hey when you use a pad lock symbol to represent a door why would you expect it to mean anything.

Anyway the padlock symbol stays on irrespective of whether the door is open or shut so lets assume the door switch is stuffed and investigate that.

And thats it for now.

5pm
Arrived home from work and Chris from next door was on his way over to have a look.  He had kindly let Megan was her clothes in his machine.

We pulled the top off and that gave access to the door switch.  It was removed and disassembled.  Thought I had hit pay dirt.  See the black mark on the white bit.  Problem niggling my mind was "is that all that is wrong?".  Or even "is anything wrong with the switch?"   Not really sure how it works because it can lock and unlock the door and also detect whether the door is closed or not.  All this with what looks like a number of pressed metal pieces although there may be some kind of semiconductor hidden away in there somewhere because when measuring continuity with the multimeter I got some 0.6 and 0.7 type readings.

It seems that the black piece is purely mechanical with a slide striker.  It interlocks with the little red pin at the right hand end of the white bit on the lower right of the photo.  But what makes it all move and how does it detect position.

 So I decided to see if I could trick it into thinking it had a closed door.  I measured the voltages on the three wires with respect to each other and it looked like about 6V although it was jumping around somewhat.  Perhaps the CPU scans the switch or perhaps it uses some kind of AC signal to detect or operate it.  I got a 330 ohm leaded resistor and tried shorting the various wires via the resistor.  The idea was that Not knowing which wire was which the resistor would limit the current.  (Remember ohms law I=V/R so for 6V we have less than 20mA).  I tried a couple of combinations and then saw the door switch indicator go off.  Pressed the go button and a little wift of smoke emanated from the controller board.  Blast!.

Set about dismantling the front panel.  All was revealed.  A big black pile of soot.  In the middle half a transistor.  The soot looks very spectacular.  It's possible I destroyed it but I would have though with a black patch this size that I would would have been greeted with a bang.

 Another feature of this washing machine is the orange high lights.  Seems a few people on the net complain about it.  It appears that the soap dispenser lets some water out.  There is a lip on the rear edge of the pressed metal chassis that stops the water running down inside.  The water basically sits on the top face and somehow corrodes the chassis.

In case I forget which wire went where.










21-5-2013 Update:
Alderly Refrigeration got back to me.  Gee I love it when someone actually does what they say they will do.

Apparently the spare part is called a timer and is available in 5 days (to 8 weeks if not in country) at ~$300.  The door switch is a much more reasonable $39.50.

I think we will go look at new machines and possibly see if a second hand timer is available.