Is anyone good at diagnosing washing machines?

[Tawdrylocalbrouhaha]

My trusty 15 year old washing machine is broken. When I start a cycle the water goes in, but at the point where it would usually turn, it doesn't. I've drained it, the drain and filter are fine. When I spin the drum it feels exactly as usual, so guessing the belt is still on. The motor sounds fine, but is not turning the drum.

Before I order a new one and bid my old friend goodbye, is there anything obvious I should do or check?

I don't want to call a repair man for a machine of the vintage - plus I suspect they wouldn't come on learning the age!

find an independent repair shop.
they should not be too expensive to come out.

First of all you've had a washing machine for 15 years wow I think I've had about 3 in that time .
You could look on you tube videos I've done that to work out the fault and shows you how to do it . But you may need to get a new one I'd say.

It sounds like the carbon brushes are worn down; cheap to fix, for the spares at least. (The call-out charge is a different matter) Easy for a competent DIY-er to sort out.

My experience is that when you call anyone about appliances over 10 years old they suck their teeth, check online, and say you'd probably be best just to buy a new one! (They are probably right in fairness)

It depends on the machine really.

We have a Bosch one that has been repaired a couple of times - the repair guy (who I completely trust) said that it's a machine worth repairing whereas some he would just condemn rather than repair as it wouldn't be financially viable to repair them.

Ask around for a recommendation of a trustworthy repair man

Easy for a competent DIY-er to sort out.

That right there is what I am not. Will google carbon brushes.

Oh, and the 2 repairs we've had done total much, much less than a new equivalent machine would have cost.

Look at do it yourself .com
It explains all the possible problems , and what you are looking for

Ours is about 15 years old. The repair man replaced the carbon brushes for £35.

It's a Candy, a brand which gets no respect from anyone, but I've had good experiences with. It's a real workhorse.

I'm not an expert, but I suspect it's the carbon brushes that have worn down. When everything else is working but the drum won't turn that's the most likely scenario.

You can buy them cheaply, around a tenner, and they aren't too difficult to fit. YouTube will help.

I also have an ancient washing machine & we've changed the brushes twice in the 15 years or so that we've had it. Yours has done really well!

Yep, carbon brushes are a possibility. We paid about £50 for ours to be replaced. I couldn't have done it myself, they were tricky to get to.

Well it looks like the carbon brushes would be available if that's what it is - I'll call a repair service tomorrow and see what they say. I wouldn't be up to changing them myself, I think.

Can I ask, if it is that, would the machine work fine yesterday and not today? Or would there be signs of something not right?

My washing machine just stopped when the brushes were too worn down; no warning.

Yes, it would just stop without warning.

Yep, mine just wouldn't spin one day.

the carbon brushes (what help the drum spin) You can order them online hopefully just look up "yourbrand" spares etc and maybe pay an electrician or handyman to come fit them, you fit these from underneath the machine so should be a pretty quick job.

From underneath the machine?! Eh? This is why I need a professional.

I fitted new carbon brushes. It wasn't complicated. Google your brand and there is probably a you tube video, I got the brushes from eSpares and I think they had videos also. Same symptoms as yours, just stopped spinning.

Mine did a huge clonk then just stopped spinning. Turned out to be the brushes. Took repair man about ten minutes to fix.