Brand New Zanussi Zwf5140P Possibly Damaged And Not Starting Spin Cycle.
We had a brand new zanussi delivered two days ago. I hooked it up without removing the transport bolts. It went into the spin cycle and began lurching. We turned it off, and now instead of starting the spin cycle, it just has a soft hum. The machine also stops randomly. We contacted the online store we bought it from and they are going to charge us for the visit and repair, so I'm going to try to fix this myself. Does anyone have any tips on what the problem might be or where I should focus my attention?
Solution Summary
AI-generated from this discussion
This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.
Zanussi ZWF5140P would not start spin after being run with transit bolts fitted
- The problem
- A brand new Zanussi ZWF5140P was installed and first run without the transport bolts being removed. During spin it lurched violently, was switched off, and afterwards would only make a soft hum instead of starting spin. The machine also reportedly stopped randomly.
- Likely cause
- The strongest supported explanation is that running the machine with the transit packing/transport bolts fitted caused severe side-to-side movement and may have shaken something loose. However, the accepted reply only specifically suggested checking whether the drive belt had come off. No definite fault was confirmed.
- What fixed it
- The accepted advice was to check whether the drive belt had come off the drum pulley, and to look for anything obvious such as a loose motor plug, with the machine disconnected from the mains. The original poster inspected inside the machine, found the belt and visible connections intact, reassembled it, emptied the drum, and then ran a 30-minute empty cycle, which completed including spin. No further repair was confirmed. If the fault returns, further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
- Checks to try
- Checked inside the machine for disconnected wires
- Checked for broken pieces
- Checked whether the drive belt was off
- Ran a 30-minute empty cycle
- Confirmed the empty cycle completed including spin
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Drive belt
Safety: Disconnect the machine from the mains before removing panels or inspecting inside.
3 Answers
The only thing I can recommend you check is that the drive belt hasn't come off. That should be easy enough if you just take off the back panel. If the back panel doesn't come off, make absolutely sure the machine is disconnected from the mains and take off the lid. You should be ale to see if the drive belt is still on the drum pully or not.
However, you should really be able to tell if the belt is on or not without even pulling the machine out. Just open the door and turn the drum by hand. Anyone who is used to turning the drum to check if items of laundry are stuck to the drum after washing should be able to tell if it feels different. The sound should be different too, especially on a brand-new washing machine which tends to make a high pitch noise as the drum turns the motor because of new carbon brushes in the motor (although there is a possibility that the motor is an induction motor with no brushes fitted). If the drive belt has come off the whole drum should turn freer.
If the belt hasn't come off, then unless you can see something obvious like the motor plug has come out I would recommend you bite the bullet and get them out to look at it. Otherwise, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money. Troubleshooting a brand-new washing machine is difficult because nothing should be worn. It seems unfortunate that something seems to have gone wrong.
If a washing machine is run with full transit packing connected the suspension is completely disengaged and all motion is translated into side to side movement. The washing machine has obviously had a big shakeup which in theory shouldn't really damage any components, but maybe something has been shaken loose.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Thank you for taking the time to give me some advice. I went ahead and took the top and back off. I was very careful not to disconnect any wires. It was my first time looking inside the machine, so I was looking for disconnected wires, broken pieces, if the belt was off, etc. Everything looks intact and connected. I went ahead and put it back together, and emptied the drum of all the wash. I put it on a 30 minute cycle with nothing in it, and it completed an entire cycle (spin cycle included).
I've gone ahead and put the load of clothes in again, and started a new cycle. So far so good. Just waiting to see what happens now.
If the spin cycle doesn't start this time, any ideas what the next step is? After looking inside, I'm confident we haven't broken anything. Now I'm just concerned it's something simple, and I'm not doing something right.
Hopefully there's been no damage done. If the washing machine does not spin at the end of the cycle but it appears to have worked and washed okay just check this article out, as modern washing machines have more sensitive out of balance systems. In fact it should have offered some protection when it spun with the transit packing in. I would have expected that when it went into a violent spin it should have turned itself off relatively quickly.
Anyway read this article just in case Washing machine won’t spin just one item or very small load
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Your Answer
Sign in to share your expertise and post an answer.
Related Questions
Zanussi ZWX 1605 W won't start - 'End' LED flashing
1 answer • 1 reply
Zanussi FLS1183W will not spin
1 answer • 12 replies
Zanussi washing machine Won't start
1 answer • 2 replies
EU Zanussi F1232 NOT SPINNING
1 answer • 1 reply
Zanussi Fj1296 Won't Start Cycle.
1 answer • 1 reply
Zanussi 1217W Not Spinning
0 answers • 3 replies
Zanussi Fla1002W Aquacycle 1000 -Drum Stopped Spinning
1 answer • 5 replies
Zanussi Fls1383W Will Not Spin
1 answer • 4 replies
Zanussi Door Opens Whilst In Full Spin
1 answer • 2 replies
Zanussi Iz141S Won't Start Cycle
1 answer • 1 reply