Washing Up

[pmcray]

My biggest problem at the moment is my washing machine, or, to ne precise, my washing machine door. My new flat came with built-in Whirlpool white goods. So far so good, but the washing machine is not exactly state of the art. It's possible to get the door open after a wash cycle, but after a tumble cycle, the door just won't budge. The site plumber (I guess it was him) came round yesterday and opened it when I was at work, claiming that he hadn't touched any of the buttons. So, why could I open the day before? The manual is little or no help. There are complicated and confusing instructions about exactly which buttons and dials must be in which positions to get the door open. Doesn't seem to help much. The manual certainly wasn't written in English initially. If only I had my old Hotpoint. Reliable British technology.

This is all very irritating.

Comments

Let's go through the blindingly obvious

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Is there an actual on/off switch? Try switching it to off.

Important (again Granny sucking eggs thing) ... many washing machines have a timer which keeps the door locked for a certain number of minutes after a load is complete (it's a safety thing to stop people reaching in and grabbing towels and sheets that are still at 60-95 centigrade). Maybe you are trying to open the door too soon, maybe the timer isn't working properly (don't think it's ever done with a thermostat so it probably doesn't matter if you do a cool wash)

Which Whirlpool model is it? (Could see if the manual is on the web and see if it makes more sense to me, just because my mind is usually twisted in the same direction as manual writers, being (at the moment) a technical writer)

Re: Let's go through the blindingly obvious

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

There are two on-off switches, the actual on-off switch and the temperature dial, which must be set to zero to turn off the machine. When I did a wash yesterday, I forgot to set the temperature dial so the wash would have occurred with cold water. This might well explain why the door opened straight away. After the tumble, the machine was very hot and the door would not open. My guess is that there is something wrong with the thermostat/timer/door release mechanism. It wouldn't open this morning. I'll see if it's coool enough this evening. I'll also look up ythe model number.