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smeg wmf16ax1 washing machine keeps tripping fuse box?

Hi,
Around the 8 minute mark the washine machine trips the fuse box and the whole house loses power.
This is bugging me as the 'load' is never washed completely.
Do you know what is causing this and how to fix the problem?
The machine is a little over a year old.
Thanks you,
Adam
Adam, August 2009
Mine has just started doing the same!

Did you get yours fixed and what was the problem?

Paul, June 2010
Hi from Australia,
I assume that the fault is tripping the RCD trip (not a miniature fuse trip). This is most likely to be the heater element, in my experience, and can be eliminated if you have a cheap electrical test meter. Set the meter to the highest 'ohms' range (may say something like 2M or Meg...). UNPLUG THE WASHER. Upend the machine and pull the leads from the element. Clip or hold one meter lead on one of the connections of the element (don't touch with your finger as it will give a false reading) and poke the other on the metal casing on or near the element. The meter reading should be 'infinite', the same as when the meter leads are not connected to anything. If there is any reading at all- 1 Mohm or .5 Mohm etc the element has broken down inside and needs to be replaced.
If the element is OK, then something else has broken insulation. This could be due to a water leak onto a connector or circuit board etc. Use the Mark One Eyeball to investigate.
Regards,

Bobcat, September 2009
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