Hotpoint dishwasher help please - lights flashing
Discussion
Inherited a Hotpoint Smart Tech slimline dishwasher which I've researched is a Currys special by the looks of it, model SISML 21011 P. It's worked just fine up until recently and is now playing up part way through the cycle.
It starts the initial rinsing OK and runs for half an hour or so, but then appears to drain itself and stop altogether. When it stops the red 'low salt' and 'low rinse aid' lights are both flashing, and the yellow 'start/pause' and 'drying' lights are both on solid. We use tablets in the detergent drawer, and these remain in the machine unused when it stops.
Any ideas how/where to start investigating please. I've had a nosey around online but none of the LED flashing lights on my washer control panel seem to match up with those illustrated.
Thanks in advance!
It starts the initial rinsing OK and runs for half an hour or so, but then appears to drain itself and stop altogether. When it stops the red 'low salt' and 'low rinse aid' lights are both flashing, and the yellow 'start/pause' and 'drying' lights are both on solid. We use tablets in the detergent drawer, and these remain in the machine unused when it stops.
Any ideas how/where to start investigating please. I've had a nosey around online but none of the LED flashing lights on my washer control panel seem to match up with those illustrated.
Thanks in advance!
Well reminded Jon, forgot to mention yes filters all fairly clean and it seems to drain happily enough. Otherwise the manual isn't much help beyond normal operation :-(
We were also dishwasherless up until a few months ago when we picked this one up. It was doing so well up until late last week... But a spot of washing up in warm water was welcome relief earlier on after being outside in the garden all afternoon.
Checking it out again, the yellow 'tablet' light is on at the start of the wash but off when it gives up part way through.
We were also dishwasherless up until a few months ago when we picked this one up. It was doing so well up until late last week... But a spot of washing up in warm water was welcome relief earlier on after being outside in the garden all afternoon.
Checking it out again, the yellow 'tablet' light is on at the start of the wash but off when it gives up part way through.
Fixed! It is currently washing away as I type 
It turns out the flashy light combination referred to a timeout because of excessive time taken to heat water, hence abandoning the cycle, draining and displaying the fault code.
After checking for heater element woes - continuity and appropriate resistance etc. with everything in situ and no obvious faults presenting themselves I set about pulling things apart to investigate further. Piecing things together, the initial cause I believe was a tissue accidentally put in with the dirty plates, which fell apart to pulp during the rinse and was caught by the filter in the sump. This affected the water flow rate to the extent that the water in the pump got excessively hot and the thermal 'fuse' on the pump housing went pop cutting the power supply to the heater element.
The fix involved removing said combined pump/heater assembly and stripping it down to get to the failed thermal link fuse. The thermal link comprises of a couple of sprung contacts held together by a push rod with a blob of solder on the opposite end, the theory being that the assembly is held together in compression providing continuity when all is functioning correctly. In case of excessive temperature the solder melts and the push rod releases the tension on the contacts and they pop apart thus cutting the power.
Luckily the solder blob had melted out into a little ball beside the push rod, so I stripped the link apart, folded the little ball back under the end of the push rod and reassembled everything back together which restored all back to working order.
All fully functional and fixed for nothing bar a couple of hours of fault finding and fixing
It turns out the flashy light combination referred to a timeout because of excessive time taken to heat water, hence abandoning the cycle, draining and displaying the fault code.
After checking for heater element woes - continuity and appropriate resistance etc. with everything in situ and no obvious faults presenting themselves I set about pulling things apart to investigate further. Piecing things together, the initial cause I believe was a tissue accidentally put in with the dirty plates, which fell apart to pulp during the rinse and was caught by the filter in the sump. This affected the water flow rate to the extent that the water in the pump got excessively hot and the thermal 'fuse' on the pump housing went pop cutting the power supply to the heater element.
The fix involved removing said combined pump/heater assembly and stripping it down to get to the failed thermal link fuse. The thermal link comprises of a couple of sprung contacts held together by a push rod with a blob of solder on the opposite end, the theory being that the assembly is held together in compression providing continuity when all is functioning correctly. In case of excessive temperature the solder melts and the push rod releases the tension on the contacts and they pop apart thus cutting the power.
Luckily the solder blob had melted out into a little ball beside the push rod, so I stripped the link apart, folded the little ball back under the end of the push rod and reassembled everything back together which restored all back to working order.
All fully functional and fixed for nothing bar a couple of hours of fault finding and fixing
Me neither, it was one of these little jobbies http://www.intercontrol.de/en/control-technology/p...
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