Hotpoint FDW20P Dishwasher problem

[mrchivs]

Hi there,

I have a Hotpoint FDW20P dishwasher, about 2 1/2 years old, and it has just stopped working. After a reset and powering on, the cycle begins with the drain for a few seconds, then the wash cycle initialises. After maybe 1 or 2 seconds after that, the Wash and Drying lights (2 & 4) flash repeatedly. Sometimes it sounds like a small amount of water is pumped through to the rotating arms, but then its stops (its wet inside). The motor is still humming, but no water is pumping or draining (its actually drained dry by this point).

I've been through the usual checks - checked the filter, topped up with dsihwasher salt, water is on and not blocked. There is nothing in the manual that says what flashing lights 2 & 4 refer to (only code is for 1 & 3, Prewash and Rinse flashing which means a blocked filter). I've tried every type of wash (Intensive, Normal, Economyt, Fast and Prewash, but none get any further than the cycle mentioned above.

Does anyone know how I can find out what these error diagnostics refer to? I would at least like to try and fix this first myself before resorting to calling out a hotpoint engineer at an exorbarant rate. Also if anyone knows what a possible cause is, I would at least know where to start looking, i.e. is it the pump, the motor, water heater?

Thanks

:confused:

[theripster]

[QUOTE=mrchivs]Hi there,

I have a Hotpoint FDW20P dishwasher, about 2 1/2 years old, and it has just stopped working. After a reset and powering on, the cycle begins with the drain for a few seconds, then the wash cycle initialises. After maybe 1 or 2 seconds after that, the Wash and Drying lights (2 & 4) flash repeatedly. Sometimes it sounds like a small amount of water is pumped through to the rotating arms, but then its stops (its wet inside). The motor is still humming, but no water is pumping or draining (its actually drained dry by this point).

I've been through the usual checks - checked the filter, topped up with dsihwasher salt, water is on and not blocked. There is nothing in the manual that says what flashing lights 2 & 4 refer to (only code is for 1 & 3, Prewash and Rinse flashing which means a blocked filter). I've tried every type of wash (Intensive, Normal, Economyt, Fast and Prewash, but none get any further than the cycle mentioned above.

Does anyone know how I can find out what these error diagnostics refer to? I would at least like to try and fix this first myself before resorting to calling out a hotpoint engineer at an exorbarant rate. Also if anyone knows what a possible cause is, I would at least know where to start looking, i.e. is it the pump, the motor, water heater?

Thanks

:confused:[/QUOTE]
I would venture a guess that the water control valve is not initializing or at least not opening. If it doesn't sense any water coming in after it should have started, that is probably what is causing your flashing lights. My poor sense of logic would say if you get power to the valve and it doesn't function then the valve is most likely the culprit. If you don't get power to the valve then perhaps the timer is the culprit. That should at least give you a starting point. :cool:

[mrchivs]

[QUOTE=theripster]I would venture a guess that the water control valve is not initializing or at least not opening. If it doesn't sense any water coming in after it should have started, that is probably what is causing your flashing lights. My poor sense of logic would say if you get power to the valve and it doesn't function then the valve is most likely the culprit. If you don't get power to the valve then perhaps the timer is the culprit. That should at least give you a starting point. :cool:[/QUOTE]

Cool, thanks for you diagnosis. I had a look at this website that sells spares - I was wondering if this is the valve I need to replace:

http://www.4hotpoint.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.pl?PID=1078303&brand=&model=FDW20P&part=valve

I will have a look at the existing component tonight and see if it looks shot. Could be limescale build up in the valve - we do live in a hard water area, so its quite plausible that this is the culprit.

Failing that, its a call to the hotpoint engineer. They will put it right for £90 all in - the parts are free for machines less than 5 years old. Or I could wing it and get this part for £7.99 and have a go myself. Might be worth a try.

Thanks again.