"John Stumbles" wrote in message
news:hn60c.920$qP4.685@newsfe1-win...
(I think D3000WG is the model - it's the only likely-looking ID I
could find, on the bar-code label).

A few seconds into the wash cycle (our usual cycle 3) after the
machine has let in some water and the motor has started up (I
assume - sound
of water swishing about inside) the fuse in the mains plug pops
quite
audibly. After replacing the fuse and trying again I measured the
resistance
between live and neutral at about 15 ohms - about half the
resistance of the
heater element (30 ohms) and corresponding to about 16 Amps or a bit
under
4kW, which I wouldn't have thought would blow the fuse very
enthusiastically. A day or two later (when I had more time to have a
better
look at it) I couldn't measure any resistance between L + N, though
I'd left
the programme selector switch in the same place.

The circuit is protected by an RCD so if the heater element or
anything else
had been leaking to earth that would have tripped. What else could
it be -
any ideas? Someone in this parish (IIRC) suggested the motor
capacitor: does
that sound possible? I had a look at it and it didn't look as if it
had been
trying to dissipate kilowatts - it was nice and off-white or grey
colour.
Nothing else visibly cooked underneath, or in the controls
compartment in
the door, either.


Two things are probably happening at this point, the heater will have
come on, and the soap dispenser will operate, (usually with an audible
click), to let in the powder. If you have tested the heater and this
seems OK, it might be the soap dispenser faulty, or the wiring to it,
possibly where it passes under the bottom of the door, and gets bent
backwards and forwards.