Could be - does it trip your circuit breaker (if you have one)? Ours tripped the breaker when heating the water, as the heater element had shorted out. The heater can also fail open circuit. New one was £22. Fitted it myself. A bit fiddley, but only one bolt. If you tilt the washer back a bit - remove 2 bolts holding plastic cover under door you see 2 plastic covers that just pull out and you can get access to underneath. connections push onto heating element and one bolt with 2 nuts holdd earth wires and element inplace. Undo and element just pulls out (inside machine). Replacement quite easy.
Mark G W, December 2004
