Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
buffalotina

Bosch Axxis WFT2460 losing its mind....

buffalotina
11 years ago

Hello, I hope for some help otherwise this machine is OTD and replaced with a Miele by Friday...

I have had the Bosch Axxis+ WFR2460UC since 2003. Have loved the way this machine has worked, washes fantastic, love the power wash option that gives cold water fill profile wash etc. After about 6 years we had to replace the motor because the brushes had worn. Now last month it has sort of lost its mind. I had set a load on with NO FINAL SPIN as the option. I very rarely do this. Usually at the end of that cycle the display comes up and asks if you want to spin or not. You can then select a spin or just go to the drain cycle. Unforutnatley DH came along saw the washer stalled and turned it off and then could not get the door open again. Anyhoo...after that turning the machine to either the drain or the spin program and pushing the start button just resulted in erratic results - the machine just would not do it. I thought somehow it was confused. For the last few weeks we have been running normal cycles fine. Everything working as expected. Now in the last couple of days the machine has been stopping mid cycle and I go to it and the display is just flashing and the LED light on the start/pause button is flashing. The only way to get the machine to do anything is to start a new program and let it go through it. It will NOT let me select a drain or a spin program. Tonight I came home and it seemed to be taking forever to go through a program adding time and more time as it went. I have the service manual. I just spent a couple of hours going through EVERY single test in the service manual. The machine passes them all with flying colors....absolutely no error codes are stored. BUT, the machine STILL will not let me select a drain or a spin cycle and run it. If I turn it to those and then push the start button again the display flashes with the cycle name and the LED on the start/pause button flashes but NOTHING happens. If I push the start/pause button again the LED on the button goes completely off and the display still flashes the with cycle name.

It is weird. It is as if the machine is forgetting whether it is running a cycle or not and so does not know what to do....however, every single diagnostic test beit the valves, the heater, the drain, the motor.....the display...every single test in the service manual runs FINE!

Please help! I am assuming that if I call a service tech I will pay for the call and they will mess around running up a huge bill and will want to just replace the controller board because I cannot honestly see what else they could diagnose. I found out from Bosch the controller board is over $500. No way do I want to put that kind of money + service call charges into this machine at this point.

I am so disappointed with this machine. For a little more when I bought it I could have had the Miele 1986....so wish I had done that 9 years ago. However, live and learn..

Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!

Comments (11)

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oops, got the model name wrong in the post title. Sorry!

  • lee676
    11 years ago

    Here's the entire service manual for your machine - should be able to help

    Bosch WFL2060UC & WFR2460UC Service Manual

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you so much. I have run through all the service tips tests and they all came out fine. Unfortunately the rest of that manual would be beyond my capability. I called a service guy today and he said he would probably have to start by replacing the control board - which I already know I do not want to spend that much on this machine. I am very reluctant to get someone out because I think this thing could be a needle in a haystack.

    I just started a load now. I will see if it completes. It may well do, but there is definitely something intermittant going on whereby some loads don't complete and the stand alone drain and spin cycles do not want to start.

    Thank you again!

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    Check to make sure the machine is grounded really well.
    Sometimes if the grounding is weak the boards will act weird like yours is doing. To add an extra ground to your washer try loosing a screw in back and wrap a wire around it and then attach the wire to your cold water pipe.

    I've seen in some houses where the ground in the wall plug was not good but the wire trick will take care of this in most instances.

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    jakvis, Thank you. That is fascinating. The machine has been installed for 9 years and this is only a recent issue. But perhaps boards getting older etc it is becoming more of a problem or something. Most certainly it is intermittant. Tonight I ran a full program, it finished on time and after it the machine WOULD let me run a stand alone drain and a stand alone spin program (I tried just to test it). So definitely intermittant. I will bring some copper wire home from work to do as you say, can't harm!

    Presumably you want me to remove any screw on the metal on the back of the cabinet and wrap round that? Thank you!

    Tina

  • lee676
    11 years ago

    I swear about 90% of failures on Bosch appliances are the electronic control board.

    Sometimes unplugging the machine (or switching off the circuit breaker that controls it) and restarting it fixes this sort of thing, but you've probably already tried that.

    I have an old Miele (predecessor to 1986) at my old apartment. Better machine overall than the Bosch, but the new Mieles run on 120v rather than 240v and thus take a long time to heat the water, so I wouldn't want one. I bought my Bosch on craigslist for $100 - you can probably find one if you give it a month or two for much less than buying a new control board. You can swap washers or just pull out the control board and put it in your old one. Bosch has only revamped their U.S. 24" washer line twice since the '90s, so old ones that match what you have shouldn't be impossible to find.

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    lee676 - Thanks - good thoughts there. I have tried unplugging overnight once. Problem is this is intermittent so it is hard to systemize what is going on. I will try unplugging again. In my area these machines are rare - doubt I would find one on CL, but I could always look! After all I am now thining of putting mine on there! However, I would not expect any purchasers: will probably donate to Habitat. It still has life in it.

    I hear what you are saying about the current 120V Miele W3033. However, if this Bosch is dead then it is the best of the rest IMHO and I just don't want to replace with Bosch again.

    thank you!

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    buffalotina, The issue with ground can happen as wiring gets older. It's called a floating ground. The wires in the house, plug outlet and breaker box can get a little corrosion at the connection points and the result is a weak ground. Many electronics rely on the ground as part of their circuitry and when the ground is weak the electronics are not seeing what they are supposed to see and sometimes become confused.
    A floating ground doesn't have to affect the entire house as it may be only on one circuit.

    Since you are stating several times that the issue is intermittant this tells me that it is most likely not a bad electronic control. Parts are generally Good or Bad but not both. It's important to eliminate all other possibilities before replacing a part.

    In appliance trainings all the manufacturers tell us that over 75% of the controls that are replaced and returned to the factory test ok and the issue was probably a poor connection or ground.

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    jakvis, Thank you! This information is great! I believe the machine is currently not accepting instructions to run the stand alone drain and spin programs. I am armed with wire and will hook it up tonight to see if it changes something. If it is as you say then I believe it should almost be an instant fix! I will report back.

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    To report back. I ground the washer by connecting copper wire wrapped around a screw on the back of the cabinet to my cold water supply pipe. Unplugged machine while I did this. The machine still does not want to start the drain or the spin cycle, the stand alone ones.

  • buffalotina
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    So my Bosch WFR2460 washser just stopped mid load again..full of water, lights and display flashing. I had to enter the service mode, which I now know so well, to use the drain pump test program to empty it....Then began a new quick wash cold cycle to to simulate a rinse and spin to get the laundry out. That failed...service mode again to drain. Now on a quick cotton wash to see if I can get that to complete.
    I think I am going to call my dealer tomorrow and order the W3033, new in box, gulp, over the phone. Looks like this Bosch is going under real fast....I was almost just testing it thinking I was pulling the plug on it prematurely...but now I don't think so.
    Ironically a friend of mine who I was venting to about it then just had her 3 year old Bosch Nexxt 500 drum stop turning or spinning...I got the service manual and we ran the diagnostics and it looks like her motor control board is dead. That was a $1000 machine 3 years ago! I am just not going to put over $500 into a new board for my Bosch...Need to cut my losses on move on...hopefully to a higher place with Miele.

    I figured out I bought my Bosch 9 years ago for ca. $1200. Have done ca $600 in repairs. That is $1800 for 9 years.....I am sure if I had bought the Miele back then it would still be running fine...AND it would have been one of the good ole 240V machines!!!!

    Stay tuned!

Sponsored
The Creative Kitchen Company
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars47 Reviews
Franklin County's Kitchen Remodeling and Refacing Professional