Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Five

Well, I've put everything back together and there is still no heat.

However, I stand by my theory (in Part 4). Before I put the motor back (using some shiny new and cheap jubilee clips from Screwfix), I took some time going over the motor.

The first thing I noticed, underneath, was rust. There appears to be a leak on the seal where the motor's shaft enters the impeller chamber.

It is only a matter of time before the leak gets so bad that water starts pissing out every where.

The other problem is with the impeller itself. The presence of the flap off the solenoid valve has destroyed the outer edges of the impeller. This can only have had a detrimental effect on the performance of the pump. Having spotted the damage, I was now less hopeful that merely removing the flap from the chamber would fix everything. And so it proved. The dishwasher is running and both spray bars are turning - plenty of water everywhere - but it seems that it is not enough.

So, what next? The impeller chamber is two halves that have been plastic welded together. I suppose its not beyond the realms of possibility that the chamber could be cut in half again, along the seam, a new impeller and seal fitted, and then re-welded. The question is, can I be arsed? Plus I'd need to spend money on some plastic welding kit. On reflection, I think its time for a new pump. As far as that goes, espares do them for about £80. However, there are quite a few sellers on ebay selling the part "new old stock" for less than £40. It's pay day on Friday so that's what I'm going to do.

For the record, the pump (which in my machine has no labels or other identifying marks) is a Welling YXW50. Power wise, there are actually a few variations of this pump but from what I can tell, all of them have the correct arrangement for coupling up to the existing pipework. These next two pictures are for me to use as an easy reference:

More soon, no doubt...

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Four

Right, I think I've finally cracked it. Before I get to that, I should say that having pondered the issue since my last failed attempt, I'd decided that the problem was with the main circulation pump even though it appeared to be operating normally (pumping!) and that the resistance across its terminals was within the specified range (78 - 100 ohms).

My theory went something like this: with the machine running normally, the PCB switches the heater on. However, that little switch that I replaced a few weeks ago must be depressed before the heater will actually work. It is the water pressure created by the main pump that causes the switch to be depressed. This is a safety feature in the event that the main pump fails, or there is a water leak, during the heating cycle. It prevents the heater from boiling or over-heating itself. Important, because my machine has no actual temperature sensor on it...

So, I decided that something must be serving to reduce the water pressure in my machine. It can only have been a slight reduction because both the top and bottom arms of the machine were spinning during the (many) test programs I had run. However, it was enough of a reduction that the little switch wasn't being depressed with the result that the heater was never actually switching on.

Tonight I removed the main pump which, frankly, was a pain in the ass. The non-reusable clips the manufacturer has used on all the tubing are nasty to get off, particularly as I was trying my best not to damage the tubing. Anyway, I got the pump off and inspected it. Some photos with commentary:

Here is the pump in situ. Note the nasty pipe clips...

Here is the pump on my coffee table, And what is that I can see in the impeller housing, directly under the sump drain connector?

Can you see it? It looks like a slice of water chestnut. It's actually a piece of rectangular plastic. I couldn't get it out of any of the connections. So I removed whatever the hell thing is attached to the housing.  

And lo, the piece of plastic is the same shape as the hole left by the thing that was attached to the housing.

Just like that...

Ah, I see. It's a flap that is supposed to be connected to that thing I just removed.

And here is a close up of the thing. Turns out it is a "FCD-90A" solenoid valve. It turns out that when activated, that flap serves to close of the water supply to the bottom arm in the dishwasher. It is this that delivers the "half load" facility on the dishwasher (which, incidentally, I have never used. Ever).

It's supposed to look like this.

And this.

I don't intend to replace the valve. And I can't put everything back together tonight because I have no jubilee clips of the right size. Roll on tomorrow for the grand re-assembly. Will I have my dishwasher back?

More soon, no doubt :)...

D

LG194WT LCD Monitor Repair - Part One - Take it apart

So, whilst I've been messing around trying to get my 8 year old dishwasher working, this 8 year old computer monitor stopped working.

The monitor is an LG194WT. I actually have two of these which were bought at the same time in order that our office desk, under which our two PC towers live, looks tidy and balanced. As it is, this particular monitor has had far more use than its twin and a couple of days ago it just would not switch on at all. Having fixed a couple of other monitors previously, both of which had faulty capacitors on the power supply board, I expected that this monitor had the same problem. It does, and I've ordered some new capacitors from CPC which should be arriving in the next day or so. I also had the option of buying the so-called "repair kit" for this specific monitor for £9 but it was significantly cheaper to buy the new components individually from CPC (less than £3).

In a later post I'll be doing the re-soldering and reassembly but to keep this post a manageable size, I'll just cover the taking it apart side of things for now.

It should go without saying that the very first thing to do is disconnect power lead from the monitor, along with any other leads that are plugged in.

Now, remove the silver bezel from the LCD. The bezel is just clipped on and can be removed using a spadger or a blunt knife. I've taken a picture of back of the bezel as removed so you can see where the clips are. Really, it is a quite straightforward process and with care, you should be able to remove the bezel without damaging it.

Next step is to remove the four phillips head screws from the back of the monitor:

At this point, the whole LCD and power assembly can be removed from the rear case. Note that the on/off buttons on the rear case are connected to the assembly. You'll need to disconnect the little plug thing as per the picture below:

Which leaves you with this:

If your monitor is anything like mine, there will be a number of wires taped down. The tapes need to be removed or, at least, lifted, so that the wires are free. Next, very carefully disconnect the multiplug from the actual monitor. This just pushes out but because it is very small and delicate, it is advisable to use a plastic drift of some sort. The plug needs to come out straight rather than at an angle (else the pins inside it might break). I had to resort to pushing on one side and then the other, just a tiny amount each time, before the plug was sufficiently detached to push it from the middle.

With all the tapes and trim removed, and the multiplug to the LCD disconnected, the power supply assembly can be "turned" off the LCD. You will have four pairs of wires at one end of the power supply. Turn the power supply off the LCD as if the end with the wires was a hinge. You should then see this:

Disconnect the wires from the board. The plugs just pull out:

The power supply is now completely disconnected from the LCD. Put the LCD somewhere safe. Remove the power supply from its cage by disconnecting the multiplug that comes from the adjoining board and removing the four phillips head screws.

In the pictures below, the damaged capacitor can clearly be seen - it has a bulging top.

That's basically it. Next step is to replace the faulty capacitor. There are in fact nine capacitors on the board. I intend to replace eight of them (and so leaving the very large capacitor well alone). These are the specs:

Just waiting for my delivery from CPC now....

More soon, no doubt...

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Three

Just a quick one.

I solved the E4 leak by using skinny jubilee clips on the pipework at each end of the new heater. The dishwasher is 25 minutes into its longest cycle and so far I have nothing to report.

The photo below compares the fat jubilee clips that I thought would be perfect (but weren't), with the new ones I bought today. Annoyingly, the new clips came from Halfords which meant that they cost me £3, compared to the 99p I paid for the fatter (and in my view superior) clips from The Range.

More soon, no doubt...

D

Mondeo ST24 - broken driver's seat

Just a quick one before I go and take my dishwasher apart again.

The frame for the back rest in my driver's seat had snapped on me. Clearly a previous owner had had the same problem, because the frame had already been (poorly) welded once. My MOT guy was concerned about the state of my seat and so I borrowed my brother and his welder and re-welded the frame. The repair lasted about five minutes. So, since there appear to be no ST24 driver's seats left, I obtained one from a MK1 Mondeo LX to use as a replacement. I have two things to say about that. First, the MK1 seat has an identical footprint to the MK2 seat, and so fits straight in. However, the MK1 seat I'd bought had no pre-tensioners. Using the whole seat would have given me an airbag warning fault on the dashboard. I therefore kept the ST24 seat base, and simply fitted the MK1 seat back. The seat back is removed from the base by undoing the four T50 size torx bolts. I now have this weird looking (but safe) hybrid seat.

ST24 hybrid seat

It is also apparent that the ST24 seat back frame is identical to the frame used in the MK1 LX (and so probably any MK1). At some point in the future I'll be stripping all the gubbins off the broken ST24 seat back and installing them on the MK1 frame.

More soon, no doubt...

D

Mondeo ST24 - MOT work: Part Three

Well, I'm all done with this. On Tuesday I replaced the rear brake caliper whilst my brother very kindly spent his one day of the week off, lying in the dirt, welding my poor old car.

The brake caliper change was straight forward. Before starting I checked that the handbrake was operational - it was - and that the problem really was with the old caliper - it was (the little cam inside ratchet arm thing had worn away. There was also a lot of rust inside the back of the caliper which probably wasn't helping). Since we were pressed for time I didn't bother unhooking the brake cable from the equalizer bar behind the handbrake and instead simply cut the ratchet arm thing off the caliper using an angle grinder. Good job my new caliper wasn't bought on an exchange basis.... I put new pads on at the same time, then bled the system with an eezee bleed kit. All done, save that I still have to re-attach the handbrake cable.

As far as the welding goes, this went from needing a couple of small patches to needing some large plates. The rear quarter / third of the sill on each side was rotten. You can see from the photos what we had to cut out. On reflection, it might have been better to put new sills on (along with new rear arches), but limited time and funds precluded that course of action. It might be requirement next year though (if the old beast is still running). Once again, I can't be arsed doing a running commentary and instead simply attach some photos of our progress. I should add that the sills are completely covered by the car's body kit so there was no need for a beautiful finish on the welding. Bearing in mind what he was having to work with, my brother has done a damn fine job.

So, for the time being that's pretty much it for my car. I can now drive to a hardware store for some skinny jubilee clips so I can sort my fecking dishwasher...

More soon, without a doubt.

D.

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Two

Righty.

I've bought a new heater element. It's not a Kenwood part but then again, neither is the original! Having studied the heater on my dishwasher, I decided that there is one factory somewhere churning out dishwasher heater elements for all the dishwasher manufacturers. So, whereas the "approved part" comes in at about £70, an identical (and presumably non-approved part) cost me £18. The pictures below compare the original part with the one that cost me £18. The new part is the shiny one. Apart from the gleam, it looks identical to the original.

I bought the new part from"bartyspares" on Amazon. The part is listed for a Beko but will probably replace the 1800w element on any dishwasher.

So, on to fitting. This was quite easy with the back panel removed. I had to cut the old clips off as they are the non-reusable sort. Disconnect the three wires and then remove the old heater. The new one goes in its place, re-attach the wires and connect the rubber tube on each end. I've used 30mm - 40mm jubilee clips for this and have now hit a snag. The clips I've got are too wide. Even fully tightened, the force of the water passing through the element is forcing the rubber tubes off (at both ends). This means that water is spilling into the bottom of the machine and setting off the flood sensor. The flood sensor - which manifests itself as a series of beeps and an E4 error on the display - basically shuts the machine down apart from the drain pump. This means I do not yet know whether my new heater has solved the original problem of the water not being heated; the machine just doesn't run long enough before the E4 to be able to tell.

Needless to say, I'll be buying some thinner jubilee clips at some point. Until then, I'll continue washing my dishes in the sink. Grrr....

In this last picture you can see the new heater fitted with the new jubilee clips which are too wide.

More soon, no doubt....

D