Upon inspection I replaced the element (£42) as this had burnt out. I also replaced the thermostats (£20) as it still would'nt heat up. This seemed to do the trick. After only a day of use it's stopped heating up again. The element is o.k. but no way of knowing if the thermostat has gone again,? dont want to waste another £20 on another set if it's likely to be somthing more. Any one able to help please.

Rob, September 2009

I had a similar problem, which turned out to be the heater relay on the main board.

This had fused in the on position, which resulted in the heater running when the door was closed, whether the machine was running or not.

The build up of heat blew the one-shot thermostat.

The main board (I thing hotpoint refer to it as the drying unit) is about £120.

However, if you're good with a multimeter and a soldering iron, you can test the relay, and replace it.

From faint recollection there are 3 large orange relays on the board, one is rated at 16A, the others less.

I think the heater is the largest one, rated at 16A.

I sourced a matching component from Farnell components for a few pounds. ( I think their min order is £10, but I also bought some batteries.)

Barry, October 2009

Hi Rob, Check vent isnt blocked or squashed, I did see an article on restting stats by pressing a thin tool into the hole in the black one-Make sure the machine is unplugged from the power first! There is another sensor in the fluff collector assembly which may be suspect. did you change this one? For access remove the vent tube from the machine internals by releasing the two small screws at the rear. The sensor is top left of the fluff tray looking in the rear of the hole.

George, September 2009