About 2 years ago, when after nearly 10 years of uninterrupted service our trusty Fisher and Paykel GW609 washing machine failed to start I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I buy a new one? Or should I try to repair it and in the process, save the environment of more plastic, lead, and who knows what else?
I felt that at least I should give the repair a go. But I didn’t have much time, I was under pressure by ‘management’ to get it going or get a new one…but soon!
And so I began searching the Net for schematics, technical info and anything helpful I could find. But very little was forthcoming. Only a few posts here and there but nothing substantial, the general consensus were that most of the faults are to do with the Control Module. The most useful information found was a copy of the service manual (attached) with a listing of the fault codes, but no reference to the Control Module or its schematic. It seems no one had been able to repair the Module and that this part is considered a throwaway by the manufacturer when faulty, to be replaced with a new one when it fails. This seemed like a waste of natural resources and money and so I decided to take a good look at it and check it, to see if it was really faulty and if so, could be repaired.
I felt that at least I should give the repair a go. But I didn’t have much time, I was under pressure by ‘management’ to get it going or get a new one…but soon!
And so I began searching the Net for schematics, technical info and anything helpful I could find. But very little was forthcoming. Only a few posts here and there but nothing substantial, the general consensus were that most of the faults are to do with the Control Module. The most useful information found was a copy of the service manual (attached) with a listing of the fault codes, but no reference to the Control Module or its schematic. It seems no one had been able to repair the Module and that this part is considered a throwaway by the manufacturer when faulty, to be replaced with a new one when it fails. This seemed like a waste of natural resources and money and so I decided to take a good look at it and check it, to see if it was really faulty and if so, could be repaired.
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UNPLUG THE MACHINE BEFORE OPENING THE CONTROL PANEL !
During the repair, always double check and take a look at that plug to make sure it is off the wall before doing anything inside the machine.
Yes, here we are going to deal with possible electrocution if you are careless because the control board and peripherals are all connected to mains. So remove that plug before touching anything…and don’t forget there is water everywhere too!
During the repair, always double check and take a look at that plug to make sure it is off the wall before doing anything inside the machine.
Yes, here we are going to deal with possible electrocution if you are careless because the control board and peripherals are all connected to mains. So remove that plug before touching anything…and don’t forget there is water everywhere too!
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It was still had soggy washing and some water in the outer bowl so I tipped it up and removed the drain hose to drain the water, dried it out and checked for pump block. No power. Checked for power from the mains input, no problem with the mains.
So I stripped it apart and removed the inner bowl to reveal the outer bowl and upside of the pump. The inner bowl drain holes were encrusted with a thick coat of hardened mud and lime sediment which was blocking the little pin holes of the inner bowl. Water blasted the outer bowl. Cleaned 14 years of hardened conditioner scum from the rest of the plastic parts, scraping and blasting it clean. I tested the pump which showed 34 ohms resistance, cleaned it all inside and out. Plugged it in and it was still dead as.
So I got back to check the motor controller PCB and found the 1.6v slow blow fuse blown. A transistor with cover partly blown off close to one of the ones in your photos in the post, half the components codes missing. I checked it over with a DMM and found another transistor component was open circuit, I suspect it to be one going to the pump but I am not au fait with PCBs.
Your photo shows a 1A30AC FCD 4N60.
My PCB has a short circuit on:
G4RC10U
I*R 9908
4C 2K
The one with partly missing code has code: LL33
I R and the other part of code has blown off, but I am not sure how to test it and it is not open circuit. This is where you put a WO3 A 918010 me thinks.
I have looked online and cannot match any of my codes to any parts, and I can't yet find the original replacement parts (farnell etc.) here in Thailand.
I wish I could understand the components codes but need a little help.
Then I could get the parts here and get Thai electronics guy to do the soldering and maybe in my dreams I could practice a little on some old circuit boards and then try an do it myself.
I will try and put a photo of the circuit board up a little later.
Thanks.
We've been having a problem with ours failing to pump out - it repeatedly attempts to pump (fires up the water pump for a few seconds, pauses and tries again). It has given a 111110 error (Pump over current) error.
I've just replaced the pump so we'll see if that solves the problem but I am still noticing another symptom which I find odd - when the machine is "off" but powered on at the GPO the main motor seems to be making chattering noises. If you open the lid and move the drum slightly it makes a "winding down" noise but then the chattering returns. Is this indicative of a pending failure, perhaps one or more of the mosfets partially on due to gate leakage or something?
I had a theory that the original pumps problem was that it was warm/hot most of the time (perhaps due to above possible leakage to the main motor, since the pump is part of the PSU), and the pump problems were worse when using hot water. Perhaps my real problem is related to the main drive... any ideas?
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http://www.urgentappliancerepair.com
But I have a F&P GW601 (Phase 2) with no 15V on M/C Bd No shorts and has worked randomly, I checked caps around IC U503 &U504 all seem OK, I have Isolation Transformer & cro but no operation of 15V supply.
Can you Help Please
5.5kg Fisher and Paykel Top-loader. Your instructions were spot on.
I had 2 blown power FETs, 1 Medium control FET, 2 Fuses and 2 Diodes.
I replaced the FET's and diodes and managed to drill some holes in the PCB and mount a M205 PCB mounted fuse holders, for these I had to cut out a small section of the plastic casing near the 240v input to allow the PCB to seat back in the casing.
I also installed a 1.5A slow blow fuse inline for the pump motor as the FETs which had blown on my board were for the pump.
In regards to why they blow, I work in a electronics retails store and have a lot
of customers who have used these fisher and paykel motors to make wind generators. I have learned a lot from them over the years so here is my theory.
The pump FET's may blow due to a blockage in the pump/ worn bears or just a worn motor which will all cause excessive current draw and damage the FET's which will take out the components before the FET's.
In regards to the motor controller, The tolerance between the fixed stators and the rotating magnets on the motor a quite close, I have actually
pulled one of these motors out before and the bearing and shaft had a small amount of pitting and corrosion. That unit was around 6 years old.
My guest is either a damaged motor winding or the bearing may start to wear and cause the motor to go slightly off balance, this could cause the rotating magnet to rub or temporally get caught against the outside of the stator. If this happen during an off balance spin cycle it may not be enough to trigger the off balance micro-switch but enough the cause the magnet to get caught on the stator and cause a high current surge which spikes the FET and BAM!!!!.
My solution is to install a fuse on each of the 3 stator wires and one on the pump.
Thanks Again Buddy.