As in pretty well all white goods and tv's these days, they are driven by "computer boards", and that is just because they are cheaper for the manufacturer to have made than mechanical timers and switches.
I had a customer ring today re her 18 month old washing machine, that would not start when the start button was pressed. She new there was a supply at the wall socket as she had tried a table lamp in it. and also checked the fuse in the washing machine plug was ok.
She rang the manufacturers first, and was told to leave the machine disconnected from the socket for about half an hour
then try it again, needless to say it made no difference.
The on/off switch on the machine is just a very small switch surface mounted on the circuit board with extremely small legs soldered to the copper tracks on the board. The switches have been known to drop off.
or some of the legs become unsoldered. The big on/off button you press on the outside of the machine, presses on this small switch.
I went to one some weeks ago, if the customer pressed hard enough on the on/off switch it would start.
I tried to resolder the legs of the switch with a very fine soldering iron and magnifying glass. After I had done that, the machine wouldn't work at all.
so it really needed a new circuit board. Easy you may think, but some of these boards you need to programme them with a laptop and special software, or a special dongle adaptor.
It was left with the customer to decide if she wanted the manufacturer to do this at £100 for a visit plus parts. I drove home pennyless.
One reason why I want to pack up at 65 years old. By then I doubt any of the white goods will be repairable anyway.
Unless the government steps in and forces manufacturers to produce better made machines, just think how un green the waste of chucking a machine away after two years is.
Malcolm
