Zanussi Washing machine not draining

[Robin Spark]

Next door neighbour knocked on the door today, " can you do me a favour please and rinse & spin these few clothes as my washing machine has stopped working, it wont drain the water out!"

"Yes, no problem" said I, "And I will come round and have a look at your washer as well" suspecting a faulty water pump.

So on checking the pump with power suppy isolated, checking for continuity across the pump windings I would get an ohmic reading which disappeared and went open cct very quickly each time I tested. This is with the pump in place but with the electrical connectors removed from it.

Can i assume the pump is faulty as the resistance reading goes open cct on testing or is there something else incorporated into the pump windings that would cause this strange variance in resistance readings?

thanks

 

[Sidewinder]

Would not have thought so but that depends on the pump design, if it has a built in variable speed drive then an ohmic reading may not be accurate.

 

[spinlondon]

Is there a capacitor connected? That could give fluctuating readings.

Sometimes the fault is a preasure switch. As water fills up the drum, it travels up a tube causing pressure to activate a switch. If this switch is activated too soon, the drum may not fill enough, and if it isn't activated, the machine won't drain, as it thinks the drum is empty. If you can find the switch you should be able to link it out, and then see if the pump works.

 

[Robin Spark]

The pump looked like this

http://www.espares.co.uk/part/washing-machines/zanussi/p/1085/332/0/0/101548/washing-machine-pump-asse.html?utm_source=google+base&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=google+base

so now thinking after Sidewinders post is this some sort of speed controller attached to the pump:|

Next door neighbour is going to find receipt as it might have extended warranty on it but she isnt sure, i was just curious as to intermittent resistance readings when testing the pump.

If she cant find receipt i will go back and have another look.

 

[NozSpark]

From the looks of it that's just a standard induction motor.. no speed control

The white bit is simply a coil.

 

[Robin Spark]

So if its a standard motor then why the strange readings?

 

[Sidewinder]

Dodgy motor?

BTW, I'm probably wrong & Spin is probably right.

 

[Apache]

It's not a frozen outlet pipe?

 

[Robin Spark]

Did think about a frozen pipe, and next door lady did say the sink wasnt draining too well???

 

[Apache]

Make sure you rule out the obvious things first!

[says he who had to thaw out my overflow pipe this evening due to a slightly soggy bit of carpet!]

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Do the neighbors have children...

are there any small bits of toy debris stick in the outlet pipe jamming the pump impeller?

We had a problem many years ago a Playmobile fish had gone through the washing machine till it jammed up the outlet pump motor..

So I have to remove a few bits free up the motor and then all was good again.!

 

[Evans Electric]

As an aside , and I don't know if this still applies but Zanussi parts used to be the same as Hotpoint.

 

[spinlondon]

Do Zanusi have a 5 year guarantee on parts?

 

[Riggy]

Can't explain the resistance readings you're getting, but here's what I would do:

Connect a length of flex direct to the pump motor, 13A plug on, see what happens. This will quickly tell you whether:

a. Pump is shot

b. Blockage in pipework

c. Pump jammed

d. Problem with control circuit

 

[Badger]

Can't explain the resistance readings you're getting, but here's what I would do:Connect a length of flex direct to the pump motor, 13A plug on, see what happens. This will quickly tell you whether:

a. Pump is shot

b. Blockage in pipework

c. Pump jammed

d. Problem with control circuit

dont you mean and fuse down the approproate rating :^O :^O :run

 

[septiclecky]

Can't explain the resistance readings you're getting, but here's what I would do:Connect a length of flex direct to the pump motor, 13A plug on, see what happens. This will quickly tell you whether:

a. Pump is shot

b. Blockage in pipework

c. Pump jammed

d. Problem with control circuit

Have you checked the filter on the pump?

 

[kme]

The intermittent reading is prob. from the meter - I`ve had this previously.

The induction motor has a small cap fitted, which is causing the problem.

Usually, either there is a blockage in the turbine housing, or associated pipework (as trailer boyo said) ; or the pump is duff - 60-70% of the time, a blockage is the problem.

The point about the water level is moot - if you put wet clothes in an empty machine, and select spin, the pump runs anyway - there is no sensing unit for the drain pump.

KME

 

[Robin Spark]

It's not a frozen outlet pipe?

Correct it surely was, and all is now fine and the neighbours are nice and clean again!

 

[Apache]

Correct it surely was, and all is now fine and the neighbours are nice and clean again!

Wet Fish

Victory for the vet