UPDATE: Spendide Fills, Won't Start, Door Locked

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

See my post (near end of this list of posts) for Monday, April 25th: Problem diagnosed.

My Splendide 2100 worked fine 2 days ago. This morning, I put in a load, set it for Delicates/Regular, and pushed the On button. As usual, the Door Lock Lamp light came on, the machine filled with water . . . and that was it. After giving it some time to get started, I moved the program selector knob to a Reset position to cancel the program. The Door Lock Lamp began flashing quickly, indicating the program had ended but the door lock was still engaged, as usual. And, as usual, after a couple of minutes, the Door Lock Lamp switched from flashing to a steady light, which should mean that the door can be opened. However, the door is still locked.

So, my wet clothes are in the machine, and I assume the water is still in with them because the machine never started. The door is firmly locked.

I went through the troubleshooting guide in the Splendide booklet and determined that there is power to the machine, the Delay Start feature has not been programmed, the cycle is set correctly, the hot and cold faucets are turned on, and there are no kinks in the hoses. The machine is just sitting there doing nothing.

Any suggestions? If I didn't have a load of wet clothes in the machine, I could wait to have an expert look at it. But, my immediate concern is getting the door open so that I can get the wet clothes out of the drum. And, of course, I'd like to have the machine working so that I could use it. It seems odd that it worked perfectly 48 hours ago and now doesn't work.

One more thing: Wayne just had hernia surgery 3 days ago, so he's not going to be able to help if the machine needs moving or anything else requiring muscle power!

Carolyn

[WaltandLynne]

The first thing that comes to mind is to turn the circuit breaker off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on. That may reset everything so it can start over. After that, I guess I'd call a service person. Someone else might be along soon with another answer. Good luck. Let us know what happens.

[H. John Kohl]

You will have to wait until Monday but I would call Splendid. They were great support to me.
Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

John, I have the Splendide Technical Service/Assistance Department number now programmed into my phone and will give them a call first thing in the morning. I will let you know what I find out.

Walt & Lynn, I tried the circuit-breaker-off trick, but it didn't work. I had hopes that it would, because I have to do that to my printer from time to time, and it does cure the problem. With the washer, it didn't. Thanks, though, for the idea.

Carolyn

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I put in a call to Splendide's assistance line the first thing this morning but had to leave a message as all reps were busy at the time. The recording said I needed to leave the details about my Splendide, including the serial number. I have the model number and a consise list events leading up to the current situation, but of course, I don't have the serial number; it's not on any paperwork from my dealer, where it was installed; I'd hoped I'd find it on the work order, which I have, but no--no serial number. I bet that number is on the back of the unit, making it impossible for me to get to since it's in that tight little space under the TV in the bedroom.

When I hear from Splendide, I'll post what I learned. The immediate problem is getting the door open so that I can get my clothes out before they mildew. The bigger problem is getting my Splendide to work again.

Carolyn

[bncinwv]

Carolyn,
Here is something that I found that may be worth a try, see the second paragraph about opening a broken latch:

http://www.splendide.com/service/TRAINMAN_TechTips.pdf

Here is the page with the service manuals:

http://www.splendide.com/service/docs.html

Hope there is something there that may be of use. The other thing to try is to turn the breaker off to the unit, leave it off for ten minutes, then try to open the door with no power going to the unit. (I read this on another forum and do not know if it will work or not, but it can't hurt trying??)

Bingo

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

I just got off the phone with a Splendide serviceman--wow! If every company had service reps like him, this would be a wonderful world. He was courteous, easy to understand, patient (he returned my call while I was out with the dogs and had to hang on the line while I got them from the dogwalk area back to my rig, about a 5 minute deal), and walked me through everything that might provide a quick fix. Wayne, sitting in the recliner while recovering from hernia surgery last Tuesday, enjoyed seeing me unscrew this, drain that, try this, now try that.

Nothing worked, but the good news is that my wet clothes were liberated once the water was drained from the unit. Either the pump is bad or the belt has slipped off the motor; the worst case scenario is that the motor is bad, but we won't go there just yet.

Now I know--if the machine is full of water and the door won't open, take off the bottom front panel, grab all the towels you can find, and slowly open the pump drain. When the water is gone, the door will open. Victory!

Carolyn

PS: Thanks for the breaker suggestion, Bingo. I had tried that several times; it always works with my Canon printer, but it didn't work with the problem I have with my washer. I sure was hoping that it would--had it been the controls, that might have solved the problem.

[kramperD]

We had this happen recently to the front load washer....found on line what you already tried...turned the water off, pulled the lower front panel, drained the water, but then I went into the area that filters water and found it full of junk.....pulled it out and put the hose back on and clamp, turned on the water, checked for leaks then started it back up and bingo, it worked! Don't know if the extra step will work for you, but worth a try. D

[stiles watson]

Good work, Carolyn. Hope total resolution comes soon.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

If I had more muscle power, I might be able to get to that area where water is filtered and see if something in there is clogging the line. However, the technician who walked me through the "opening of the door" this morning also had me do some other test-type things to see if he could determine what the problem was and, hopefully, perform an easy fix. He had me program some sequences that would allow the drum to spin without water, without hot air blowing, and some things that should have resulted in other actions from the W/D. He had hoped that the things he had me do would lead to a problem with the pump and water lines clogging, but alas, that wasn't the case. He apologetically said the unit would have to be serviced. Where we live, the words "have to be serviced" always strike fear in the heart, because nothing is easy to have serviced in our remote area.

Our nearest Splendide service facility is in Bozeman, 2 hours away, followed by Billings, 4.5 hours away. So, in June, on our way home from the 7 Feathers rally and our trip up the coast to Astoria, we're just going to come back through Clackamas, Oregon, where the Splendide service facility is located. The technician I spoke with said the facility has the parts there to do the work, and he could get us in and out on the same day. Since we're full-timers now, that was a better solution than driving to a service center here in Montana and give up our rig for as long as it took to get parts in and get the washer/dryer fixed. I'm still teaching--I need my home on wheels to be here in town with me!

I miss my Splendide already, but fortunately, the KOA campground where we're living has a clean, adequate laundry room. In spite of a broken washer/dryer, life is still good in our Monty.

Carolyn