Intermittent door fault from ZWH7122J
Hi, have been through the forum / FAQ and can't find much that matches this issue. hope you can help.
Have a very frustrating fault with my washer - it's c. 7 years old, which seems young to me. Bearings recently failed and I replaced these with (I thought) no issues. Machine ran OK for a week or so, and then had door fail to lock which resulted in a cycle stopping half way full of water.
Replaced the door lock. It then worked fine for another week or so, before failing in the same way - it only seems to fail on larger load (eg sheets or nappies) which suggests its an overload issue? Happens during the wash part of the cycle, but has no issues with a fast spin. The interlock fail can be reset by turning everything off and leaving for a few hours, or disconnecting and reconnecting the interlock module. It doesn't display any error codes, just stops running (but also continues to count down).
Dilemma is that if I have to replace the PCB, it's probably not cost effective, as other parts are going to be getting towards end of life and PCB is over £100.
Question is - is anything else causing this? Does the door interlock contact carry the full running current? Or just a logic signal? Could I have inadvertently overloaded the PCB/door interlock circuitry by not seating the new bearings properly? I've compared the old door interlock with the new one on a meter and they're similar on continuity tests, just a slight difference in Ohms on the coil / bimetallic strip, so I'm not even sure if the old one had failed or not.
Is there anything else that could cause the washer to shut down part way through, and the door lock to then not engage for a few hrs?
Very keen not to write off a machine that (normally) works absolutely fine. but equally having to dig soaking laundry out of murky water every few days isnt fun.
thank you for your help!
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.
ZWH7122J intermittent door lock fault after bearing replacement
- The problem
- A Zanussi ZWH7122J washing machine, about 7 years old, intermittently stops mid-cycle full of water because the door fails to lock. The fault appeared about a week after a bearing replacement, and then recurred about a week after fitting a new door lock. It happens mainly on larger loads during the wash stage, with no error code shown; the timer continues to count down. The fault can be temporarily cleared by switching off for a few hours or disconnecting and reconnecting the interlock module.
- Likely cause
- The accepted advice was that this is more likely to be an intermittent poor connection or something disturbed/damaged during the earlier repair, rather than a definite PCB fault. Larger loads may cause more machine movement, which could aggravate a loose connection.
- What fixed it
- Recommended action was to check all connectors and ensure they make good contact with the boards and related wiring. The accepted reply advised against buying a replacement PCB because it may not solve the problem and was not considered worthwhile on this machine. The exact repair was not confirmed.
- Checks to try
- Compared old and new door interlocks with a meter for continuity and coil resistance
- Observed fault occurs mainly on larger loads during the wash stage
- Observed machine can still perform a fast spin
- Checked that no error code is displayed
- Advised to check all connectors and ensure good contact with the boards
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Door lock/interlock
- Bearings
- PCB
- Meter
Safety: Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
1 Answer
Unfortunately seven years is the average lifespan of a modern washing machine. I can't see how this could be related to the bearings unless by any chance something got caught or damaged during the repair. On a larger load washing machine shakes about a lot more especially during spin so a poor connection somewhere could be the issue. But apart from checking all of the connectors and making sure that they are all making good contact with the boards etc is nothing much else you can do.
This second fault isn't necessarily caused by the previous repair, it could be but it could just be coincidence. Don't buy a PCB it's not worth it and may not make any difference anyway.
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