why is my indesit W103 not heating up the water?

Power off, remove back cover. Heater is located at bottom of drum. If testing with a multimeter, disconnect the wiring and take a resistance reading across the terminals - should be around 20 ohms. If heater is blown (broken internal heater wire) it will give an infinite resistance. There should be no continuity between the either terminal and the metal sheath of the heater - if there is, there's an internal short circuit. When removing heater, disconnect wiring, undo central mounting nut and prise it out of its rubber seal - may require some effort. Replace heater, use sealant when refitting rubber seal and ensure it is fully pushed into the recess in the backplate. Could also be a thermistor, thermostat or thermal cutout problem. All can be tested with a multimeter.
Repair and service your own washing machine. Check out www.2ndwave.co.uk/manual.html

dannyboy
October 2008