Hi, I’m Rory from eSpares and in this video, I’m going to show you how to replace the
inlet valve in this Hotpoint washing machine. Now, here we are round the back of the washing
machine. Water gets into the machine by coming through the inlet hose, through the inlet
valve and into the machine. The inlet valve’s job is to control how much water goes into
the machine and when it goes in during a cycle. Now there are two types of inlet valve, the
hot water valve and the cold water valve. However, on most modern washing machines,
only the cold water valve will be plumbed in. So how will you know when your inlet valve
is broken? It’s most likely to happen during cold weather. Cold water inside the valve
can freeze and expand and therefore crack the valve and cause leakage. So if you’re
noticing that there’s a leak coming from your washing machine either at the back or
underneath, and it’s definitely not coming from the door seal, then the chances are you’ll
need to replace the inlet valve- especially during cold weather.
So here we have a selection of different inlet valves, they come in all different shapes
and sizes; from the simple, like this one-way hot water inlet valve to the more complex,
like this four-way cold water inlet valve which sends water into four different directions
inside the washing machine and has four valves on it too. Now, it doesn’t matter how simple
or complex the inlet valve is on your washing machine, they’ll all be fitted in much the
same way. What you will need to make sure of though, is that you get the right inlet
valve for your washing machine. To do this, you’ll need the model number. This can be
found either round the front on the inside of the door or like this model, on a label
on the back here.
So now what I’m going to do, is fit this three-way cold water inlet valve inside this
Hotpoint WD 440p washer dryer. Safety first, make sure your washing machine is unplugged
at the wall before you get to work and you’ll need to move it into a big open space like
I’ve done so you’ve got easy access to the back of the machine. Now, I’m just going
to remove the top panel, so I’ll need to remove the two screws at the back here. Now
we can just about see the cold water inlet valve situated below the dispenser draw top
here, it’s held in place by three screws; two in the dispenser draw top and one at the
back of the machine, which I’m now going to remove.
So now we have a slight problem, one of the screws holding the dispenser draw top to the
inlet valve is positioned underneath the chassy of the washing machine, so we need to move
the whole dispenser draw assembly forward a couple of inches so we have access to it.
First thing I need to do is remove the draw, and now I’m going to need to remove the
fascia as well which is held in place by a couple of screws.
Now I just need to remove the fascia by unclipping these two clips, and then I can put the whole
thing on top of the machine. We can now move the whole dispenser assembly and inlet valve
forward a couple of inches so we now have access to the two screws here. They are Torx
head screws, you can buy a Torx set at the eSpares website, I’m just going to use a
Torx bit on the end of a driver. Lastly, I’m just going to snip the cable tie off. Finally,
I can remove the pressure sensor, and now I can separate the inlet valve and dispenser
assembly just like that. I can now remove the whole dispenser assembly over to one side,
just being careful not to damage the tub inlet hose, and now I’ve got space to work on
the valve.
Before you remove the old one, just make sure to take the seals off it because they don’t
come with the new valve. Now, I’ll need to remove this hose by taking that clip off,
and then pulling the hose off just like that.
Now I just need to remove these connections but before I do, I’m going to take a photo
so that I know how I’m going to put them back into my new valve. Now we can get rid
of our old valve, and here is our new one.
Basically to fit it, all you need to do is repeat every single step you’ve just taken
to remove the old one, but in reverse. Starting with putting the connections into the new
valve. Don’t forget your seals of course.
And that’s how you fit a cold water inlet valve to a Hotpoint washer dryer. It’s a
bit of a fiddly task but it is doable and is certainly better than getting an engineer
out. On a lot of models, it’ll be a lot simpler to change the inlet valve than on
this one, because the dispenser draw won’t be in the way.
Inlet valves for all makes and models of washing machine are available on the eSpares website.
Thanks for watching.