Thread Number: 19167
Fisher Paykel power problems 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 309475   10/15/2008 at 21:08 (5,664 days old) by pulsator (Saint Joseph, MI)        

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My mom's Fisher Paykel washer has developed an issue with turning on. Sometimes it will turn on just like normal, sometimes you really have to push the power button hard, and other times it will not turn on no matter what you do! What is the problem here? Is it the button itself? The computer board? Both? Any idea how much it would cost to buy replacement parts if I did the work myself?




Post# 309486 , Reply# 1   10/15/2008 at 21:56 (5,664 days old) by coldspot66 (Plymouth, Mass)        

I don't think F&P will sell parts to consumers directly. You may be able to buy them through an F&P dealer. Sounds like a console membrane problem. Do all the other buttons work when pressed?

Post# 309546 , Reply# 2   10/16/2008 at 07:18 (5,664 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia)        
here is your answer - very long post alert.

 Hi Jamie

This is VERY common on F&P machines.
It does NOT use membrane switches. They use microswitches, similar to what you would find under each key of your computer keyboard.
Do NOT make the machine work by pressing hard on the button. You will crack the circuit board inside and that becomes expensive. You can persuade it to work by wriggling your finger side-to-side while pressing the button. (sort of vibrate your finger). I have a dead board which I use for spare parts, it only needed a microswitch replaced, but... I was lending this machine to a neighbour while I fixed their machine witih a more serious problem. My loaner machine had the same trouble as yours - the button didn't always respond. I showed them how to wriggle the button to get it to work. An employe of theirs used the machine, didn't know the "trick", cut a hole in the display sticker so they could shove a screwdriver in and press hard on the dodgy microswitch - cracked the circuit board in half so a 50 cent microswitch repair became a $180 circuit board replacement!!! I scrapped the board, I use its remaining good microswitches to fix other circuit boards. If you can't get a replacement, andI have NEVER found a match at any electronics store, then I am happy to send you a couple of good second-hand microswitches. They need to be soldered in by someone competent with fine electronic soldering.
Sometimes the original problem is a crack in the sticker over the control panel. (the control panel has a sticker over its whole surface, with the button positions part of the sticker. What I am calling the sticker you might call a decal or membrane.) The START button is the most often used button so it gets the most punishment. The sticker can get some cracks where you push the button. If you have wet fingers, some moisture can get through the crack and reach the circuit board. This corrodes either inside the microswitch, or the circuit board around the microswitch.
The microswitch can just wear out, too. (no moisture involved.)
So you need to find out if the problem is corrosion of circuit board tracks near the switch, or a broken switch itself.

How to open it up:
1. Disconnect from power outlet.
2. remove two phillips head screws at rear edge of control panel.
3. pull the control panel forward. It is held at the lower front edge by two lugs moulded in the plastic. So you sort of hinge the top forward and lift it up to clear the lower edge.
The control panel connects to the machine by one wire connector - follow the wires from the control board down to where they attach to the main power board inside. There will be a plastic connector, you flick the retainer with your fingernail and pull it out. You will now have the control panel with a few inches of wire hanging from it.
4. The display board is the circuit board inside the control panel. [F&P Smart Drives always have two circuit boards, one houses all the display lights and buttons (the display board) and the other one houses all the main power supply and drives all the functions of the machine (the power board). The two boards are mounted inside plastic cases, and the colour of the plastic indicates the model of the machine. The two boards are always matching colour. So depending on its age, your machine will have blue, green, mustard, grey, or some othe colour boards.] Remove any phillips head screws to allow you to remove the display board from the control panel. The board attaches with some screws, and two tiny lugs of the printed circuit board protrude out of the coloured casing and fit in behind some slots in the plastic of the control panel. Lift the display board off.
5. Open up the display board plastic case. It clips apart - you will see fingers of plastic from one half mating with the other half. Just press down on the fingers to allow you to pull the two halves apart. Inside you will find the circuit board.
6. Closely examine the circuit board. Hold the circuit board up next to the control panel, so you can work out which is the start button. (early models it is printed on the board, not so sure about later models.) Look for cracks in the copper tracks near the board, cracks in the board. Usually though, it is just the microswitch is clapped out.
7. Use a soldering iron and some de-solder braid to unsolder the pins of the microswitch. Pull out the dodgy microswitch.
8. Solder in a replacement microswitch.
9. Put it all back together. Be careful when reassembling the circuit board into its coloured plastic case - if you have bumped any of the display LED lights, you will need to straighten them up so that they fit into the holes in the plastic cover. [If when the machine is all back together and working, one of the display lights isn't working, you have dislodged a LED and it isn't shining through its hole in the plastic.]
10. If the display board sticker is worn out or cracked around the start button (or other buttons) then warm it up with a hairdryer, once the glue is softened, peel the sticker off and fit a new one. If you want I could send you an Australian spec one - the model ID will be different and there may be some slight differences in the markings. (give you something unique in USA.) That would be at your expense though - new stickers are about AU$30 to $45 depending on the model.

I am happy to help guide you through this Jamie. What are you like at soldering? Can any of your friends do it?

If you can't get it done locally, I could always repair your board, though you would be without the machine for possibly a few weeks to allow for postage each way. Or I could post you a couple of switches and some other member of this site in USA might solder in the new switch for you.

If you can do the soldering and don't want to wait for me to send out switches, you can always steal the microswitch from another function you never use. (they are all the same). Eg - before I got some spare buttons, I used to take off the "Woollens" function microswitch and use it for the start switch. Nobody ever uses the woolens cycle.

Good luck with it.

Chris.


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