LG WM2455HW problem

18 years ago

Have an LG WM2455HW washer purchased about 3 months ago. It seems to be overly sensitive to suds. It rarely completes a cycle normally without going into the "suds removal program." ItÂll stop before the wash cycle completes, drain, sit there idle for 5 minutes, and then jump ahead to the rinse cycle. There is not any excessive sudsing in the machine when this happens (in fact, hardly any sudsing at all). Being an engineer I need to know why (and how) this happens. I popped the cover and took a look under the hood. There are only 3 methods the main board is getting feedback from the washer: a thermistor to sense tub water temperature, a pressure switch to sense tub water level, and the Hall Effect sensor on the motor to sense rotational speed. How does it determine there is too much sudsing? Another factor: There are 2 "ports" on the top of the tub, one where the water flows in and one connected to the vent on the back of the machine. Inside each of these is what I would call a "mushroom valve" that acts like a check valve. Could it be that suds build up between the inner and outer tubs (unseen to me) forcing these valves shut, then pressure builds up in the tub, and the pressure switch interprets this as an over-suds condition? ThatÂs the best theory I can come up with. Perhaps the assembled brain trust here can shed some light on this and provide a possible solution.

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Comments (5)

regus_patoff
18 years ago
Are you using HE detergent ?

I use Tide HE liquid, but have read on these forums to use half or less

We've had our LG WM2688 for about 9 months and have never had a problem with oversudsing.

most models are similar...

LG service manuals

Parts @ http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/index.action

Parts @ http://www.repairclinic.com/
mm895
Original Author
18 years ago
Yes, HE detergent is used. As stated in the original post, there is no sudsing problem and that's not what I'm looking to solve. I'm looking for a technical explanation of how the machine senses an oversuds condition to trigger the "suds removal program." It is here where the problem is, sensing oversuds when there are none.
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sparky823
18 years ago
Don't know anything about LG but I have a Maytag Neptune and they sense suds(from what I have read) by a change in the torque and the computer sensing this which causes it to go into the suds removal step. Maybe the motor torque is changing on your LG?
mm895
Original Author
18 years ago
Problem solved. After further research I determined the machine senses over sudsing by increased water level (pressure) in the tub. Water level can be seen by pressing the prewash and custom program buttons at the same time. The readout is about 62 when the tub is empty and gradually lowers as the tub fills. The water shut off point is different for different cycles. For instance, if it normally fills to 37 on the cotton/normal cycle it will detect over suds at a level of 34. The water level readout was swinging up and down quite a bit while washing and as soon as it got to the suds detect level - bam - it would go into the suds removal program, sometimes just 4-5 minutes after it started washing. So I replaced the pressure sensing switch ($15 at Sears parts) and problem solved. The new switch is much more stable and doesn't show the wild fluctuations in level while washing.

Here are a few more things I found out about this model during my research:

Pressing spin speed and prewash buttons shows RPM. Extra zero is left off when in spin cycle. 45=45RPM when washing. 45=450RPM when spinning, 110=1100RPM.
Pressing wash/rinse and custom program buttons shows water temperature in Celcius.
Pressing prewash and custom program buttons show water level--the lower the number the more water.

In examples above both buttons must be pressed exactly at the same time or you'll just get some beeps.

If you use liquid bleach it doesn't go in until 5 minutes before the end of the wash cycle.

Different cycles use different amounts of wash water. Permanent press and bulky/large cycle uses the most water, cotton/normal the least.

Agitate times are different for different cycles. Cotton/normal agitates for 18 seconds and rests for 8 seconds. Permanent press agitates for 8 and rests for 8. Baby wear agitates for 6 and rests for 16. Bulky/large agitates for 10 and rests for 10. Sanitary agitates for 15 seconds and rests for 10 seconds.

In sanitary cycle once the water temperature hits 70C (158F) the heater turns off and the water cools for whatever is left on the cycle.

When washing with hot water, as the tub is filling, once the temperature hits 51C (123F) the hot water is turned off and it fills with cold water the rest of the fill. Depending on how much is left to fill you may wind up with 40C (104F) water and your hot wash is really only warm.

The water fill level for rinses is usually more than for the wash.
mrb627
18 years ago
When I run a Cotton/Normal cycle with temps set to warm/cold, I get 32C for a wash temperature and a resting water level of 40. Monitored the temp all the way through the wash, it never rose above 32C. At the end(22 min later), it had dropped to 31C. If I select the same cycle with stain treat and water plus, I get an initial fill of 32C and a resting water level of 38. Rinsing water level with water plus was 33. Since stain treat is defaulting to hot/cold, I would expect hotter water than 32C. I missed the end of the wash cycle, so I did not get a temp reading prior to pump out. Will try it again and report back. Shouldn't warm be about 40C?

MRB