Hi - I have a Hotpoint WMA52 and it's just flooded the cellar. The
water it's filling with is backing up into the soap drawer and
spilling out. I had the top off and squeezed the hose between the
soap drawer and the drum, this seems to have made some difference but
when I turn the pressure up it still overflows. It drains the water
quite happily (pump OK). The prewash light is flashing when it has
filled up anyway.

Should there be a float switch and is that knackered?

Should I be able to see water in the drum to a depth of up to the door
bottom when it's filled - cos I can.

What next, I usually fix stuff myself but know little of washing
machines!

Thanks

wrote in message
...
Hi - I have a Hotpoint WMA52 and it's just flooded the cellar. The
water it's filling with is backing up into the soap drawer and
spilling out. I had the top off and squeezed the hose between the
soap drawer and the drum, this seems to have made some difference but
when I turn the pressure up it still overflows. It drains the water
quite happily (pump OK). The prewash light is flashing when it has
filled up anyway.

Should there be a float switch and is that knackered?

If it spilling out of the soap drawer before the whole machine is full to
the same height then simple logic tells you it isn't a float switch at
fault. It's a (partial) blockage in the pipe between the soap drawer and
drum.


Should I be able to see water in the drum to a depth of up to the door
bottom when it's filled - cos I can.

Yes, or there wouldn't be anything for Mrs Bartolozzi's clothes to go
"slooshy sloshy slooshy sloshy" in and get all those dirty shirties clean.
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines

"It's a (partial) blockage in the pipe between the soap drawer and
drum."

that's what I thought but I can't feel one, and can feel right to
where it joins the drum. The pipe is very flexible, I can make it
meet in the middle. I've never had a washing machine to bits and can
imagine all sorts of bizarre syphonic madness that would confuse
common sense.

I can't see how to get at the pipe further - would I have to take the
door off and seals, or take the soap wotsit right out?

I'm sure there's a good reason for it but it would be nice if the
sides came off!

wrote in message
...

"It's a (partial) blockage in the pipe between the soap drawer and
drum."

that's what I thought but I can't feel one, and can feel right to
where it joins the drum. The pipe is very flexible, I can make it
meet in the middle. I've never had a washing machine to bits and can
imagine all sorts of bizarre syphonic madness that would confuse
common sense.

I can't see how to get at the pipe further - would I have to take the
door off and seals, or take the soap wotsit right out?

I'm sure there's a good reason for it but it would be nice if the
sides came off!

I think something similar happened to us once. The pipe between the soap
drawer and the drum had become completely clogged with soap powder. It was
a devil of a job to get it shifted - I think the pipe was almost impossible
to remove and clean out. Since then we have either put the powder directly
in the drum or used liquid detergent.

Keith

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:01:52 -0800 (PST), wrote:


"It's a (partial) blockage in the pipe between the soap drawer and
drum."

that's what I thought but I can't feel one, and can feel right to
where it joins the drum. The pipe is very flexible, I can make it
meet in the middle.

Have you tried pushing something long and flexible down through the
pipe Sam? (if the hose between the soap tray and the drum is large
enough, maybe a bit of garden hose?)

I've never had a washing machine to bits and can
imagine all sorts of bizarre syphonic madness that would confuse
common sense.

Nope, it's all pretty logical, well all apart from any logic that is.
;-)

I can't see how to get at the pipe further - would I have to take the
door off and seals, or take the soap wotsit right out?

Yes, and in fact exactly what I did this very afternoon on a new_to_us
machine. In this case the soap draw swung out as a quadrant and then
unclipped to gain access to underneath it. It was 'packed' to up under
the bottom of the 'draw' with a solid wodge of fairly hard soap
powder. I lifted most of it up as a chunk and carefully (wooden
spatula) scraped up any of the remaining bits, followed with a wet rag
to mop up the rest. I then turned the machine on and ensured the water
flowed through the area, washing away any remaining debris.

All the best ..

T i m

On 2008-01-23 18:15:49 +0000, said:

Hi - I have a Hotpoint WMA52 and it's just flooded the cellar. The
water it's filling with is backing up into the soap drawer and
spilling out. I had the top off and squeezed the hose between the
soap drawer and the drum, this seems to have made some difference but
when I turn the pressure up it still overflows. It drains the water
quite happily (pump OK). The prewash light is flashing when it has
filled up anyway.

Should there be a float switch and is that knackered?

Should I be able to see water in the drum to a depth of up to the door
bottom when it's filled - cos I can.

What next, I usually fix stuff myself but know little of washing
machines!

Thanks

Does it fill eventually to the correct level and then stop filling?

If so, then the level switch is OK. These are usually a diaphragm
pressure switch which looks like a flat, normally metal object quite
high up in the machine and connected using normally a transparent
plastic tube to the drum or a hose low down etc. The principle
is that water goes up the transparent tube, compresses air in it and
operates the switch to turn off the water filling. Some switches have
more than one switch and hence level.
The clear tube can become blocked with detergent at the bottom and the
switch will work erratically or not at all resulting in too much water
or too little.
Sometimes the switches themselves fail.

More likely with what you describe is that the tube from the detergent
dispenser has become clogged with congealed detergent. This happens
because most washes are warm these days and some gets left behind.
There is often a smell from it in the machine. You can remove it
mechanically by inserting a soft tube down the inside of said tube -
don't use anything hard or you may puncture it. If there is a hot
water supply, then try to introduce hot water down there as well.
You can soften and remove more by running the machine at its 90 degree
setting once every couple of weeks for a while.

wrote:
Hi - I have a Hotpoint WMA52 and it's just flooded the cellar. The
water it's filling with is backing up into the soap drawer and
spilling out. I had the top off and squeezed the hose between the
soap drawer and the drum, this seems to have made some difference but
when I turn the pressure up it still overflows. It drains the water
quite happily (pump OK). The prewash light is flashing when it has
filled up anyway.

Should there be a float switch and is that knackered?

Should I be able to see water in the drum to a depth of up to the door
bottom when it's filled - cos I can.

What next, I usually fix stuff myself but know little of washing
machines!

Thanks

If you have the top off, take out the pipe 'twixt drawer and drum completely
and clear it manually - it's likely to be encrusted with powder.
If possible, feed a length of wire through it, then tie a small rag to one
end of the wire and pull it through.
Failing that, make a new pipe using hosepipe or similar

I poured a kettle of boiling water down the soap drawer and then ran a
boil wash program. This seems to have done the trick, fingers
crossed.

We never wash above 40 and often at 30 but in future will run a hot
wash every now and then, and do the kettle trick when necc, as I don't
think a boil wash would get hot water through the inlet hose.

Thanks everyone.

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:28:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I poured a kettle of boiling water down the soap drawer and then ran a
boil wash program. This seems to have done the trick, fingers
crossed.

Have you not managed to pull the draw right out then Sam?

I did it yesterday on the AEG (just to check), the draw slides out to
it's stops then an extra tug pulls it right out. Same with the Ariston
even though it's a completely different format.

I think this is generally the way they work so you can clean them (and
under them) out once in a while.

Not to say they ALL pull out of course! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:37:15 GMT, T i m wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:28:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I poured a kettle of boiling water down the soap drawer and then ran a
boil wash program. This seems to have done the trick, fingers
crossed.

Have you not managed to pull the draw right out then Sam?

I did it yesterday on the AEG (just to check), the draw slides out to
it's stops then an extra tug pulls it right out. Same with the Ariston
even though it's a completely different format.

I think this is generally the way they work so you can clean them (and
under them) out once in a while.

Not to say they ALL pull out of course! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Surprising the gunge you find under the soap tray .Try pulling it out
until it will go no further then tug or lift and tug .

T i m wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:28:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I poured a kettle of boiling water down the soap drawer and then ran a
boil wash program. This seems to have done the trick, fingers
crossed.

Have you not managed to pull the draw right out then Sam?

I did it yesterday on the AEG (just to check), the draw slides out to
it's stops then an extra tug pulls it right out. Same with the Ariston
even though it's a completely different format.

I think this is generally the way they work so you can clean them (and
under them) out once in a while.

Not to say they ALL pull out of course! ;-)


Ours has a little button thing you press. RTFM.

Andy

wrote in message
...
Hi - I have a Hotpoint WMA52 and it's just flooded the cellar. The
water it's filling with is backing up into the soap drawer and
spilling out. I had the top off and squeezed the hose between the
soap drawer and the drum, this seems to have made some difference but
when I turn the pressure up it still overflows.

If the drawer to drum pipe is definately clear, then the flow into the
machine may be to great.

Try running some hot water into the soap drawer to disolve and flush any
congealed soap. If the flow is too great, you can get restrictor washers to
fit on the CW feed pipe.


Should there be a float switch and is that knackered?

No!

It turns the water on until it senses the correct level in the drum, then
turns it off. The over flowing is a separate matter entirely - either not
draing to the drum fast enough, or water going in too fast.

Should I be able to see water in the drum to a depth of up to the door
bottom when it's filled - cos I can.

If you want to wash things, it needs to fill with water to a level. The
correct level is usually around the bottom of the window.