A good Engineer has an idea on what is wrong with an appliance even before they look at it, just by the information they are given (providing the information is correct). The art is to know what a machine is supposed to be doing at a given time or what it is not doing. So for those who do not know, this is roughly how a washing machine works:
The washing machine cycle is:
Fills with water: Fill Valve/s operate (usually mixed fill depending on the program selected, but some newer machines are cold fill only) Some machines have a short pump out before they fill
Drum agitation: Motor runs (to mix the powder and water, it also serves to let the washing absorb some of the water so it can top up before going into the heat cycle).
Heat: Heater comes on (at this point the drum is normally static until the temperature reaches a set level, then it will agitate for a few tumbles just to mix the water and powder again)
Wash: Motor runs (when the correct temperature is reached the drum will agitate at whatever speed the wash program dictates, Fast for cotton or slow for woollens. And it will rotate so many tumbles in one direction then so many in the reverse direction.)
Pump out: Pump comes on (this empties the wash water out ready for the rinses to start and it is normally accompanied by a short spin)
Fills with cold water: Cold valve operates (this is the start of the rinses, and the program selected will determine how many rinses actually take place. At this point the water level in the drum may differ from that of the wash; this once again depends on the wash program selected)
Drum agitation: Motor runs (to rinse the washing)
Pump out: Pump comes on (depending on the program selected these last 3 stages may occur a number of times. If your machine is equipped with a fabric conditioner facility, this will be implemented after the last main rinse)
Spin: Motor goes into spin (the drum now starts to gather speed and will increment over a number of phases until it reaches its maximum speed for the selected program. If your machine has a built in out of balance detection system and the load inside the tub is very uneven then it may not reach its final spin speed)
