Hotpoint WDUD 9640 Power Cuts Out On Startup
Hello Folks.
I've got a WDUD9640, which trips the fusebox, when turned on.
The display will come on as normal.. A click is then heard..
Then the display goes off - along with the power.
This could be a common issue for a machine of this age..
I saw markings inside, dated 2014 - and the literiture is a 2011 copy.
We've had a few ideas thrown around, as to what it could be:
The Heating Element.. Or The Circuit Board..
But something is triggering a failsafe.
I've had a quote from Hotpoint, for something like £240.00 - where they will come out to attempt a repair.
If they can fix it, then that price stands. If they can't fix it, then they would refund something like £50.00 - and the remaining money, would stand as a call-out charge.
This of course, fixes the part(s) at fault, but won't account for anything that could quite possibly go wrong in the near future - due to (again) its age and idle status.
I've been looking at new models (with interesting new features, like built-in wifi), but I thought i'd post here to see if anyone has a solution, or a similar problem.
I'd imagine that stripping for parts, would consume a lot of time and space.
Let me know, what you think..
Many thanks,
Gods.
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.
Hotpoint WDUD9640 trips electrics shortly after startup
- The problem
- Hotpoint WDUD 9640 powers up normally, then a click is heard and the display goes off as the machine trips the fusebox shortly after being turned on.
- Likely cause
- An electrical insulation fault or short to earth was considered most likely. The discussion mentions the heating element, motor, wiring or another component as possibilities, but no exact failed part was identified.
- What fixed it
- No repair was confirmed. The accepted advice was that this type of fault cannot be reliably diagnosed without a specialist insulation test meter. Given the age of the machine and the quoted Hotpoint repair cost of about £240, the poster decided it was probably not worth pursuing. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
- Checks to try
- Display comes on normally before failure
- A click is heard before power cuts out
- Machine trips the fusebox
- Visual inspection was suggested for loose or damaged wiring
- Disconnecting items such as the motor or heating element was mentioned only as a possible diagnostic clue, not a confirmed test carried out
- Parts or tools mentioned
- specialist insulation test meter
- heating element
- motor
- circuit board
Safety: Do not attempt unsafe electrical diagnosis on a machine that is tripping the electrics. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
2 Answers
Those repair prices are unbelievable. I don't know how they have the gall to quote them. You can buy a Hotpoint 7kg 1400rpm washing machine for £254. They don't even have the decency to promise to repair anything that needs repairing. The strong implication is that if it wants a lot of time spending on it, or expensive parts, they will refuse to repair it.
When I first started working for myself the early 1980s I used to charge £10 labour plus parts. I distinctly remember it was exactly half the cost that one of the main manufacturers (Hoover) used to charge. Back then the average washing machine was around about £250 to £350.
So the manufacturers labour charges were roughly 7% of the cost of a £300 new washing machine. Here's where we've arrived in 2023, with the manufacturers quoting nearly 95% of the cost of a new one - and this is even if it turned out to just be a faulty wire that's broken away or it just needs anew heater. Appliance repairs are all but dead in the water.
The problem with an appliance that's fusing the electrics is that you can't really diagnose the fault without a specialist insulation test meter. You can have a poke around and you might be lucky to find a loose wire or a wire that's rubbed away part of the installation and is touching something metal. But other than that, unless you can see some visible signs you will have no clue.
Sometimes you can work around it by doing things like disconnecting the motor, disconnecting the heating element, and if this stops it from tripping it implies that it is the disconnected part that was causing the problem. However, it's not 100% reliable because sometimes if you disconnect something you could also be disconnecting the path of electricity somewhere else.
Have a look at my article here which explains the issues in more detail Washing machine is tripping the electrics
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
Hi Andy,
Thanks for your reply.
It (of course) sounds like a lot more trouble, than it is worth.
It's good to be able to confirm my suspcions.
A lot as obviously changed in your time.
Such is life, I guess.
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