A Washing machine tripping or fusing electrics is a fault you can’t really deal with unless you have electrical knowledge, and a specialist insulation test meter. However, you might be able to do some basic checks as described in this article. A fusing washing machine can be caused by many different components, and many different wires or connections.
Most common causes for a washing machine fusing electrics
- The motor
- The heater
- The suppressor
- A wire shorting out somewhere
- Water getting onto an electrical part
Insulation test meter
To properly diagnose a fusing washing machine you need an insulation test meter. These meters put 500 volts (DC) through the appliance and individual parts.
They can detect the slightest of leaks to earth (low insulation faults). So this isn’t a diy job. If you have the right equipment then you probably already know how to diagnose and deal with low insulation faults. If not, you should get someone in to look at it unless you can see something obvious like a chaffed wire.
If you can’t see anything it might be wiser to book an appliance repair
If you don’t have an insulation test meter
Without an insulation test meter you can’t do proper insulation tests, but it may be worth testing with an ordinary multimeter if that’s all you have. It should pick up a direct short to earth. For example, if you test for continuity between the heating element pins and its earth tag or any part of the metal on the element (remove wires before testing) there should be no continuity.
Warning
Never test anything on an appliance when it is plugged in. Don’t try to test live parts. Disconnect from mains before testing.
If you do get a continuity reading, then electricity running through the heater will find a path to earth. This will trip rcds or fuse the plug. The same applies to any other part such as the motor. There should be no continuity between any electrical connection and earth (or the metal casing of the part). However, if no reading is found it doesn’t prove there is no fault.
No continuity may just mean a fault can’t be detected. A continuity test (or multimeter) uses a little as 3 volt’s. It can’t jump gaps, or pass through high resistance paths. But 230 volts from the mains can if there is a fault. This is why a proper insulation test meter is needed.
Exactly when is it tripping the electrics?
If you don’t have an insulation test meter, and/or you can’t find anything with a multimeter, the next best thing is to try to get clues by observing exactly when the machine trips out. If it’s as soon as you plug it in then it could be the suppressor (warning: suppressors and capacitors can give a nasty shock – even when unplugged).
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If it only trips out after it has started filling with water and the drum first started to turn, then maybe it’s a fault on the motor. (If you suspect the motor then it should also trip on spin).
If it trips the electrics a short time after it has finished filling with water and has been turning the drum ok a few times then suspect the heater. (removing the heater from washing machine).
If it only trips out on spin then it could be a bare wire in the wiring somewhere that’s touching something metal when the drum is bouncing around. This can often be intermittent, only tripping with large loads when the drum bounces around much more.
Process of elimination
A competent engineer should be able to find the cause of this fault quite quickly. But without an insulation test meter it’s a different story. You can disconnect the washer from the mains and do physical checks for any snagged or disconnected wires.
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Or for wires where the plastic insulation has been rubbing against something revealing the copper wire. This can short out if it touches something metal when the tub swings about on spin with a heavy load in.
If a part is suspected you can disconnect it to see if it stops the fusing. However this isn’t an ideal method. It could just trigger an error code.
And if it stops the tripping you can’t guarantee it means the part is faulty. For example, you could have a bare wire in the wiring harness to the motor which is shorting out on something.
You might disconnect the motor (moving the affected wire away from where it shorts out).
The washer no longer trips the electrics. So you buy a new motor at great expense. But it isn’t the motor.
The only way to truly test is with an insulation test meter. By the way they are far too expensive to buy to test one appliance. They are typically between £200 and £600 and carried by professional repair engineers.
If washer has tripped the RCD or fused – and now won’t work properly
Most people will naturally reset or replace a fuse and try the appliance again. If it fuses or trips again do not keep repeating this pointless cycle. Clearly there is something drastically wrong, which needs fixing. Especially in the case of physically blowing a fuse. If you keep allowing something to blow the fuse it can cause more damage to components.
Also, it would be very stupid to try bypassing a fuse!
Occasionally the washer might work OK and appear to have suffered no ill effects. If so, keep an eye on it. If it does it again try to observe when it does it as described above to get clues of possible suspects. If the appliance starts up – but with something not working properly – then it needs repairing. Whatever fused has failed completely, or damaged something else.
If nothing is working at all other than some lights it could be the main suppressor or main pcb. If the motor no longer runs it could be that the motor is the problem and it’s failed completely. However it could also have blown something on the pcb. Without the right knowledge and a proper insulation test meter you need to call in an engineer.
Fused and door won’t open
If the door won’t open and the washer has tripped the electrics it could have fused the door lock inside. This should only usually happen if there was a big flash, and maybe there isn’t an RCD fuse-board fitted (which should trip fast enough to not blow parts inside).
Alternatively it could even be the door lock that has tripped the electrics due to something shorting out inside (Washing Machine Door Will Not Open).
Notice how I keep saying, “could”? That’s not a good reason to speculatively by new parts. You need to be sure a part is faulty before thinking about buying one unless it’s cheap enough for you to be happy to take a risk on. And is also easy to replace.
Don’t get carried away
Over the years many experienced appliance repairmen have been seriously injured or killed.
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I have a Hoover washing machine, that caused the RCD to trip yesterday, I changed the fuse and went to try again, but the trip goes even before the washing machine is switched on, i.e I plug in the socket and it trips, any ideas what could be causing it ?
Hello Samantha, that is a little unusual. If you are sure that the washing machine is physically switched off when you are plugging it in then the main suspects are something in the plug itself (which is rare if it is a moulded plug, but if not then take off the plug cover to check), something shorting out inside the mains cable, which again is rare unless you can see physical damage anywhere. Or the mains suppressor, which is the first part electricity runs through after it gets into the machine through the mains cable and before it reaches any other part.
However, unless you know exactly how to bypass one safely, or you have an insulation test meter as mentioned in my article to test it with for low insulation, there isn’t anything you can do unless you were wanting to simply take gamble and try replacing it, which may or may not work. I cannot rule out any other possibility, but if the mains suppressor is clearly damaged or burnt in any way then that is the cause.. Also, as my article mentions, suppressors can hold a nasty electric charge even after being unplugged so don’t let anybody mess with them unless they understand how they work.
Thanks very much Andy for your your quick response. I have had another look and although I thought the machine was switched off I think I had that wrong, sorry! I was having a very stressful afternoon!! I have tried it again, and when plugged in, the lights come on for maybe 2 or 3 seconds then the trip goes. I have a friend coming next weekend who would be able to install a new part, so would ideally want to have a part ready, i know its all a bit of a guessing game but happy to risk it with an educated guess! Thanks again.
hi my panasonic NA148VG4 trips the electric the instant you put the plug in. It first went during a wash and all the washing is still in it. Repair not till thursday. Do you have any idea how i can get my washing out before it is ruined? it’s already been in there over a day. We tried getting to the lock from inside but couldn’t reach it. Thanks
Hello Mandy, I’ve just added a small paragraph at the end of the article pointing to my article about trying to open a jammed washing machine door.
Hi I’ve got a indisit. Iwsc51251 washingmachine it tripped the rcd about 10 mins in to 40 degrees cycle i manually drained the water puy wet clothes in and tried on a spin+drain setting to dry clothes worked fine so i put on q 20 degress cycle. And once it started To fill up a bit and again tripped rcd i reset and put on spin and drain. And works ok. Any ideas?
Hello James. If it fills up with water, the motor turns the drum, it spins okay, and it only trips out when it is heating the water then is sounds like a classic case of a heater issue. Main suspect is either the heating element is shorting to earth, or there is an electrical fault such as a trapped or loose wire on the heating circuit.
As my article describes though unless you have the specialist insulation test meter you cannot test the heating element properly unless by any chance you can pick up some continuity between the earth tag and one of the heater connectors as described in my article. If you cannot see any wiring faults you would have to assume it is the heating element and only find out once it is being replaced.
Hi, I have a 10 year old Hoover and my electrics have been tripping for maybe the last month intermittently. Once it trips, it continues to do so, so I tried switching off all the switches on the main board and switching them on one by one. It turns out the washing machine switch tripped the main rcd when turned on. Strange because I can use the washing machine without the electrics tripping. It seems to happen randomly
Hello Nazia. Tripping the electrics is a very hard fault to fix yourself without proper insulation test meter as described in my article. If it is also intermittent then it just makes it harder still. An intermittent problem with tripping the electrics can be caused by either water leaking onto something, or the drum catching a bare wire or causing a bare wire to short out. Both of these faults can only happen on specific long programs, all with particularly heavy loads.
In other words it is possible that a leak only gets onto a live part on a very hot wash, or a particularly long wash. Or the drum only moves around enough to cause the electrics to trip when it has a particularly heavy load inside.
Without a test meter all you can do is bear that in mind, and try to find out when the random tripping happens. It may not be truly random, it may only happen with heavy loads, or on certain programs.
Thanks for the response. Would I be able to get the machine repaired if the above is the fault in question, or would it need to be replaced? I am currently trying to get hold of an electrician but it’s an impossible task at the moment!