Ariston A1535 UK Washing Machine - Keeps Failing?

Hi,

We have an Ariston A1535 UK washing machine that we purchased about five and a half years ago. During that time we have had no problems, except for about twice having to open the pump filter at the front to clear a blockage.

However, recently it had been getting quite noisy. I tried the pump filter again. There was a small hard object (looked like a bean?!?) in there. I thought that could have been rattling about in there, so removed it and tried another wash.

It was STILL noisy, so removed the back to see if maybe the belt had started to slip off and was hitting against something. However, the belt was fine. I tried putting it on a spin with the back still off. By this time it appeared to be struggling with the spin cycle. I could also see that the noise seemed to be due to the motor arcing out. It wass arcing quite a lot.

After a bit of searching, it sounded like I needed to replace the brushes. So ordered some, and put them in. Sure enough the old ones were well & truly worn down.

After replacing the brushes all seemed ok. I did three washes that night with no problems.

The next evening I tried to put another load on (washing had really built up while it was out of action). The door locked, I heard the noise of water entering the machine, then it stopped. The dial started clicking around and the power light was repeating a cycle of two flashes.

Again, searching the internet I was unable to find specific details of this error code. But, after a bit of reading, I decided to completely remove the drainage/waste pipe. This was blocked. Probably had five years build up of sludge & gunk, as well as numerous stickers from the kids' clothes. I gave the pipe a thorough clean, and once replaced the machine was again working fine & I was able to finish the washing.

When my wife next went to do some washing a couple of days ago the machine, again, would not start the wash. There had been an initial intake of water then it stopped. She said that the dial HAD been clicking round & the power light HAD been flashing before she turned it off. When I asked her to count the flashes, it would no longer flash or turn the dial. Now, when trying to start a wash the door would lock & the power light would remain static.

Upon returning from work, I had another look. I removed the drainage/waste pipe again. This seemed ok, but cleaned it through again. I removed the pipe & u bend from the wall (into which the drainage pipe goes), and cleaned that out. Despite a huge amount of smelly "gunk", it wasn't actually blocked. I then also checked the pump filter again, but that was clear. I removed a large(ish) rubber hose that goes from the bottom of the drum to the pump/filter housing. This actually had a small object inside it (a charm from a perfume bottle I believe?!?). I also cleaned this out thoroughly. I then removed just one end of another smaller hose from the drum to the pump/filter housing. As far as I could tell it looked ok, but I had to clean out the opening to the pump/filter housing because this was gunked up.

I then put everything back together again, fingers crossed & put on a load of washing. Again, all was working perfectly. Completed a further two washes after that.

My wife has phoned AGAIN this morning to say that once more the machine isn't working. She heard the initial intake of water which then stopped. The power light is static, as is the dial, and the door is locked. She has tried resetting it, which it does, but then it does exactly the same (except without further water intake) if she tries to restart the program.

Sorry for the "essay", but I thought it best to cover everything.

I will obviously repeat the same full procedure when I get home tonight, and hopefully will get it working. Although I did stress how important it is to check pockets, etc.

Any ideas why this should keep happening & how I could rectify it? Is it possible that some seal has gone on the drum allowing items to get through?

FYI: Each time I tip the machine on its side, I first put in all the transportation bolts. So I should NOT have caused any damage while carrying out any of this work.

I would appreciate any feedback / suggestions, as this has been a really good machine up until now, and I really can't afford to be buying a new one right now.

Thanks,
Simon