I suspect all the manual wardens are actually harvesting archive.org then focusing their effort on getting a high search rank. Notice if you expand archive.org’s filters, there is a subject preset for manualzilla and manualzz. So when liberating a manual, it also feeds the baddies. But nothing we can do on that.

I’ll probably change my habits to search archive.org first, before using a web search.

Note from my other thread I spoke to a Beko tech support person who was willing to help. He asked what was wrong and started to speculate on the issue. Then I ran out of phone credit credit and we got cut off. I think he was guessing that the motor was bad, but it actually turned out to be a broken tacho, which I later fixed.

When I called back after fixing the tacho and buying more GSM time, I was hoping to reach the same person but got a useless lazy fucker instead, who could not be bothered to look anything up.

The person I spoke to on my first call put me on hold to go collaborate with a colleague. He was also surprised to be getting a call over a 15 y/o machine, but he did not use that as an excuse for shitty service. He made an effort.

I could keep calling back until I get an answer. But it’s costly in Belgium (15 €c/min). The shitty call I posted the transcript on probably cost me €4-5 and probably ½ of that is the cost of the initial phone navigation and hold time waiting for someone.

Need a website to show good repairability of all machines. Eg iFixit or something to consult before buying any new machine.

I want my money to feed a supplier who supports repair. When a washing machine salesperson is asked: “please show me a machine that comes with a service manual (not just a user manual), wiring diagrams, and please demonstrate for me diagnostic mode on one of these showroom floor models”. Completely fucking stumps them. They cannot handle it. Not a single machine. They look at me like I am crazy for asking. Thus I will not buy a single new machine. From where I sit it’s crazy that they can still sell disposable washing machines in 2025 -- while the EU’s Right-To-Repair law has been tied up in discussion for over 10 years.

Maybe I would buy a 2nd hand machine, if I can verify that leaked repair literature exists first. Which is a problem because the pop-up street market I would buy one from is there for just 1 day. Then next week that day might have different sellers and different models.

I would be interested in trying. Would the serial port that I describe here be the way to dump the f/w?

My laptop docking station has a DB-9 port.

Thanks! That helps. This msg brought me to a rar file for a similar machine with the same text as you found. So I was able to see the error code, but clearing it does not work.

WMD 26125 T

I managed to get the (useless) user manual (which is not easy for someone who refuses CAPTCHAs and other shenanigans by the user manual mafia cartels). But I could not find any trace of a service manual. The leading “WMD” seems to be significant. It marks the time period. There are many models with that prefix but any service manual for a WMD-prefixed machine might be useful.

Beko’s parent company is “Bionaire”, though I don’t think I’ve seen washing machines branded as Bionaire. I’ve heard Beko rebadges other machines, but I don’t know if my machine has any other underlying or parent brand.

It was alive. It was in the tin for a while too. The tin had a tight fitting lid so there is no way it could have entered after I bought it and put it in my pantry. I did not discover it until about half the roobios was consumed.

(edit) just attached a pic to the OP.

Guess I should phrase it as a food security issue, not food safety, since security is broader and covers shortages. I probably got less “food” because that live worm has a lot more weight per volume than rooibos I was buying. Plus it probably ate some of it. So there’s my courtroom testimony ready to go :)

Thank you! That is very useful. That document mafia page looks vaguely familiar. I wonder if I saw that at some point and gave up, because I got this just now:

“Cannot contact reCAPTCHA. Check your connection and try again.”

I have little tolerance for any CAPTCHA. Since it seemed relevant and you already confirmed there was a gem in there, I made more effort.. enabled more and more layers of nested JavaScript, turned on images, and got past it.

It’s progress for sure. Holding the 1st auxillary button revealed the error code, which I have attached. Looks like this for anyone else with images disabled (black=unlit):

Ⓞ⚫Ⓞ⚫⚫ Ⓞ⚫⚫⚫

There is still a secret decoding ring missing, but if I can assume that the top row of LEDs are 1’s and 0’s from left to right, I apparently have error code 101 (in binary, which is “5” in decimal):

H5 : PUMP OPEN OR SHORT CIRCUIT

That’S not what I was expecting. I was expecting a tacho failure. The pump spun fine when I hotwired it and the tacho was clearly visibly broken.

The wiring diagram shows that the resistence across the pump should be 75.6 Ω. I measured 141.1 Ω using a crappy pocket multimeter on the PCB side of the wire (so long cable included). That difference seems huge. I’m not sure what to think of this. I don’t think the PCB would be sophisticated enough to measure resistence. So I wonder if I am misinterpreting the error code.

I cannot clear the error code. After displaying the error code, I hold Start/Pause for a few seconds and it gives a quick flash as if to acknowledge that the error should be cleared or that it took an action. But it returns to the same error state anyway.

Good tip. I get the impression they only want service manuals and exclude user manuals. I do have some service manuals to contribute so I’ll be considering ifixit for those for sure.

I guess they wouldn’t want the user manual I just scanned. A search of their docs db doesn't show any user manuals so I suppose a user manual would pollute their archives.

I drempt of applying for a job at Beko just to get the training and info at their expense, then quitting on the first day. I think that would be the right level of therapy for me.

pic added to the OP

i’m not sure what an MC is, but I don’t see how to search for manuals on that site. After I upload a manual, how do people find it?

Bro, I am full on privacy but if you are crossing borders, it is very normal to get checked for ID and all,

No it is not normal to arbitrarily check ID at a Schengen border crossing.

well, shit.. it looked good for a moment but then I discovered it’s a Cloudflare site. CF is harmful to digital freedom and netneutrality. OTOH, I can see that they at least whitelisted Tor and the registration requires no information. But I see no upload mechanism, so it’s apparently not a way to contribute manuals.

Fuck lemmy.ca I guess, another instance to boycott

They are boycott-worthy anyway, as they are centralised in Cloudflare’s empire. I have them on my blocklist since they are Cloudflare.

I wish I had an error code but when it faults out it just gives a non-stop steady blinking LED. No variation that would indicated an error code.

Multimeters can be used to simply find out if a part is working. I recently used it when I lost hot water. By reading the voltage of the flow sensor, it was clear that the flow sensor bad (water running should give voltage X and still water should give voltage Y). I’m not sure how many such opportunities there are with washing machines though.

I really wish I could buy a new model control panel and put it on an old model so I can get useable diagnostics. (maybe I can?) Really hard to accept there is a water supply issue. It fills fine and it knows when to stop filling. The pump is fine, and also clear when I drain it and examine behind the drain plug. Surely if there were a water supply issue it would not fill the tub then decide after filling the tub and making some a few short fast spins that there is a water supply issue. I’ll pull out the water filter and see if anything looks sketchy. But I somewhat suspect the speed controller since the tumble (wash) cycle is way too fast.

I did not reach out to them in this particular case. But I would expect Test Achats to focus on getting me a refund of 2 euros or whatever it is; I would not think Test Achats would do anything to intervene in quality control.

When I have contacted Test Achats in the past, they said something like subscribe to their magazine to become a member, then they will advocate for me on consumer issues. I decided not to subscribe.

Then a few years later I complained about at a consumer issue to a gov agency who then forwarded the complaint to ECCNET, which apparently is the same org as Test Achats. They responded to say they only handle cross-border problems and that anything that is entirely in Belgium (where both the consumer and merchant are in Belgium) is outside of their jurisdiction.

I’m far from trying to track down the atomic component. I need to get an idea of what is failing. There should be readings I can take with the multimeter to see whether the motor is bad, or the controller for the motor, or something else. I’m not bothered at this point whether I can fix whatever part is broken. I might be fine with replacing a whole part. But I need to get there. I need to know which part is failing.

The assumption of pride for Germany is unlikely to be accurate.

With the recent rise of right-wing populism in the most recent European elections, xenophobia is most likely the culprit of suppression of pro-human-rights posts. Xenophobia is driven by nationalism. I wouldn’t put too much effort into separating the two. They go hand-in-hand.

At least name the mod.

Look at the modlog. No names. If it matters to you, feel free to ask around and report back. You’re looking in the wrong place for answers. I don’t know which mod lacks respect for human rights or who has the anti-immigrant positioning. Find out which mod hates immigrants and you’ll likely have your answer.