White Whale Repair

The programme stops before rinse or spin, with water in the drum.

Possible causes

• A full lint or pump filter
• A kinked or blocked drain hose
• A blocked wall drain pipe
• The drain pump

Solution: Unplug the washer, clean the filter, straighten the hose, and pour water into the wall pipe to check it drains. If all is clear and the washer still will not drain, the pump needs checking.

The washer starts and waits, with an empty drum or water only trickling in.

Possible causes

• Low water pressure or a half-closed tap
• The mesh at the hose connection blocked with sand
• The water inlet valve

Solution: Close the tap, undo the hose at the back and clean the small mesh. On upper floors, low pressure at peak times is a common cause. If pressure is fine and no water enters, the valve needs testing.

Clothes come out very wet, or the drum tries to spin and stops again.

Possible causes

• An uneven load, such as a single blanket
• Slow draining so spin cannot start
• The motor belt or the board

Solution: Spread the clothes by hand and run spin on its own. If the washer drains well and still will not spin, the technician checks the belt, motor and board.

The washer walks across the floor, or there is knocking from inside with every turn.

Possible causes

• Unlevelled feet or a sloping floor
• A heavy load on one side
• Transit bolts still fitted on a new front-loader
• The drum springs or shock absorbers

Solution: Level the feet with a spirit level and spread the load. If it is a new front-loader, make sure the transit bolts are removed from the back. Knocking with an empty drum points to springs or shock absorbers, which need a technician.

You press start and the washer beeps or does nothing, or the door will not open after the programme.

Possible causes

• Clothes caught at the door
• Child lock switched on
• The electric door lock or its catch

Solution: Close the lid until it clicks, and make sure the child lock is off using the method in your model's manual. After a programme the door stays locked for a short while until the drum is empty. If it stays locked, the lock needs checking.

Every few washes on a top-loader; a full filter is the first cause of slow draining.

Coins, keys and hairpins reach the pump and jam it or break its impeller.

Overloading wears the belt and shock absorbers; in every wash, leave space above the clothes in the drum.

Usually the lint filter is full, there is too much powder or it is not made for automatic washers, or the drum is overloaded so the water cannot circulate. Empty the filter, use less powder and do not fill the drum to the top. If it continues, check that water is coming in properly.

This is usually a drain hose that is too low or pushed too far into the pipe, so water siphons out. Raise it onto the bracket behind the washer. If it continues, the water level sensor needs checking.

The freezer on top stays cold, while the shelves below get warmer and food spoils.

Possible causes

• Ice blocking the duct between freezer and fridge
• The defrost heater, sensor or timer
• The freezer fan has stopped
• Food blocking the air vents

Solution: Clear the vents and listen for the fan when you open the freezer and press the door switch. A temporary fix: empty the fridge, put towels underneath, then switch it off for a full day with the doors open so the ice melts. If the problem returns within days, the defrost cycle needs a technician.

A layer of ice grows on the back wall of the freezer, even though the fridge is No Frost.

Possible causes

• The automatic defrost cycle has stopped
• The door seal is not closing and humid air gets in
• The door is opened often or left ajar

Solution: Try a sheet of paper between door and cabinet in several places; if it slides out easily, the seal needs cleaning or replacing. Ice on the back wall of a No Frost fridge means the defrost heater or sensor needs testing.

Water pooling at the bottom of the fridge under the drawer, or dripping in front of it.

Possible causes

• The defrost drain channel is blocked
• The fridge is tilted forward
• The drip tray at the back is out of place

Solution: Clean the drain hole at the back of the fridge compartment with a soft plastic wire and warm water, and adjust the feet so the fridge leans slightly back. If water collects and freezes in the freezer, the channel is iced inside and needs a technician.

The power is back, with the display off or on, but the compressor stays silent.

Possible causes

• A protection delay after power returns
• The inverter board was hit by the returning supply
• The plug or socket

Solution: Wait fifteen minutes, and test another appliance in the same socket. If it stays silent, the technician checks the board and its wiring before the compressor.

Buzzing or ticking from inside the freezer, or the motor running all the time.

Possible causes

• The fan blade catching on ice
• The fridge touching the wall or not level
• Heavy dust on the condenser at the back
• Low refrigerant from a leak

Solution: Move the fridge off the wall and brush the condenser with it unplugged. If the noise is the freezer fan, ice has built up around it. Any work on the refrigerant circuit, such as a leak or recharge, is for a technician only.

Unplug the fridge and remove dust with a soft brush or vacuum; dust makes the compressor run longer in summer.

Close the door on a sheet of paper and pull it; if it comes out with no resistance, the seal needs washing with soapy water or replacing.

Fit a protector or stabiliser with a delay so the board gets time before the supply returns, and check once a year that it still works.

Usually not. If the compressor had stopped, the freezer would warm too. This means the cold air is not getting down, which is usually ice in the duct, a stopped fan or a defrost fault.

It is stated in the model name and on the box, and sometimes on the label. Among the models in the table, the WR-G4385HBV and WR-5395 HSSX are inverter, and the WR-4385 HSS is not.

You open the hot tap and hear the spark, but the heater does not catch or lights for a second and goes out.

Possible causes

• Weak batteries
• The gas valve closed or the cylinder empty
• Air in the gas line after a cylinder change
• The ignition electrode or flame sensor

Solution: Fit new batteries and make sure the valve is open. After a cylinder change, open and close the tap several times to purge the air. If it still clicks without catching, the sensor or electrode needs a technician.

The water is hot, then suddenly runs cold and the display goes off or shows a symbol.

Possible causes

• The protection cutting off after long continuous use
• Someone opened another tap and pressure dropped
• Batteries running low
• The overheat protection tripped

Solution: If it shuts off after long continuous use, that is usually the safety cut-off, not a fault: make sure the room is ventilated and the flue leads outside, then close the tap and open it again. If it shuts off after a minute or two, try new batteries and avoid running two taps at once. If it keeps cutting out on overheat, the technician checks the sensor and heat exchanger.

The temperature is unstable, scalding one moment and lukewarm the next.

Possible causes

• Water pressure rising and falling
• The tap wide open beyond what the heater can supply
• Scale in the heat exchanger

Solution: Close the hot tap slightly instead of mixing in a lot of cold, and set the temperature on the display. On an older heater with hard water, descaling the heat exchanger restores a steady temperature.

Water flows weakly and the heater does not detect the flow, so it does not light.

Possible causes

• Low mains pressure in the building
• A blocked inlet mesh on the heater
• Scale on the shower head or tap

Solution: Descale the shower head and tap. If pressure is weak across the whole flat, a booster pump solves it better than any heater repair. The inlet mesh can be cleaned with the water valve closed.

Drips from the fittings or the heater body, even when it is off.

Possible causes

• A loose fitting washer
• A heat exchanger cracked by high pressure or age
• The water valve

Solution: Close the water valve and see whether the leak is at a fitting or inside. A fitting can be tightened or its washer replaced. If water is coming from inside the heater, close the gas too and call a technician.

Once a year before winter, or as soon as ignition slows; weak batteries delay ignition and make the heater cut out.

The flue must be free of nests, dust or tape, with its end outside.

In hard-water areas, a yearly check and descale keeps heating steady.

On a model like the WG-111 CS, that is the safety feature: it shuts off after 200 litres in 20 minutes. Close the tap and open it again to continue. If it shuts off much sooner, try new batteries first.

The safe choice is outside the bathroom in a ventilated spot, with the flue leading outside. A heater inside a closed bathroom is a real carbon monoxide risk.

The flame holds while you press, and goes out the moment you let go.

Possible causes

• The knob was released before the sensor warmed up
• Grease or burnt food on the sensor
• The burner cap is not seated, so the flame misses the sensor
• The safety valve or sensor itself

Solution: Hold the knob for 10 to 15 seconds after lighting, clean the metal tip beside the burner with a dry brush, and seat the cap properly. If only one burner goes out, a technician needs to replace its sensor or valve; do not open any gas connection yourself.

No spark at all, or clicking without the gas catching.

Possible causes

• The plug is not in the socket
• An ignition electrode wet from wiping or a boil-over
• Blocked burner holes
• The ignition unit

Solution: Check the power, dry the electrode and give it time. Clean the burner holes with a fine needle. If no burner sparks, the ignition unit needs a technician. Until then, light it with a match: hold the lit match to the burner first, then press and turn the knob.

The flame is long and yellow instead of blue, and leaves soot on the bottom of the pan.

Possible causes

• Food or water in the burner holes
• The air regulator out of position
• The cooker set for natural gas while you use a cylinder, or the reverse

Solution: Clean the burner head and dry it well. If every burner is yellow, or you recently switched from a cylinder to natural gas, a technician must change the jets and set the air. A yellow flame produces carbon monoxide, so ventilate the kitchen.

The oven lights and goes out, or food cooks on one side only.

Possible causes

• The oven knob not held long enough after lighting
• The oven safety sensor
• The oven fan has stopped
• The oven thermostat

Solution: Hold the oven knob for 15 seconds after lighting with the door open. If food cooks on one side, check whether the fan turns. If the oven goes out once you let go, the safety sensor needs checking.

The rotisserie motor does not turn, or the grill will not light.

Possible causes

• The spit not seated in the motor socket
• Power to the cooker
• The rotisserie motor
• The grill safety sensor

Solution: Seat the spit in the socket until it locks, and check the plug. If the motor is silent with power present, a technician needs to measure it. A grill that goes out works like a burner: hold the knob until the sensor warms up.

Once cool, with a dry brush, and dry them fully before refitting.

Look for cracks or stiffness, and test the joints with soapy water; if bubbles form, close the valve and do not use the cooker. A stiff or cracked hose is replaced with an approved gas hose with the valve closed, and on mains gas a technician or the gas company replaces it.

No. That sensor is what shuts the gas if the flame is blown out or a pot boils over. Removing it means gas could keep flowing into the kitchen. A worn sensor is replaced with a new one.

The jets in the burners and oven are changed to the natural-gas size, and the air and low flame are adjusted. This is technician work that must be done before use, after which the flame should be blue and steady.