Cheers for uploading that Rob, a great range of machines. Darren will have had to take himself off somewhere private with those images
A friend of mine who rented a house in Chester had one of the machines without Direct Spray, i think it was the EW1100F. This was in 2006 - i never realised it was from the early 90's, it looked like new. It only rotated one way, but this also happens to older Zanussis so i think it was a slight timer problem - my mate never noticed it till i pointed it out, so i can't have affected the wash much!
A Direct Spray machine came up on eBay a couple of months ago, sold for £77 i think.
Zanussi XC/IZ Machines -
Like Kyle's one, these are doing very well for modern machines i think. Mum's friend has one, which must be 7-8 years old & does alot of washing (her utility room is always full of washing) but has never had a repair. There's also alot of them on eBay and only the odd one appears to be broken, usually with worn bearings. Think it's safe to say theyre the last of the well made Zanussis tho - the next generation of machines (badged Aquacycle-Essential, Progress-Hydrosystem etc) & bearing the Electrolux name beneath Zanussi seem to mark the start of a dumming down of quality. Certainly not disasterous machines, but not up there with the XC/IZ's, it seems
Dishwashers -
Rob - what sort of problems have your parents had with the Kenwood diswasher? Are they made by Kenwood or by someone else on their behalf?
Kyle - Electrolux group do seem to mix & match the way they badge products i've noticed aswell. My mum has an Electrolux Premier Condensor dryer from 2000 and whilst the cabinet is very similar to Zanussi Condensors of the time, it's the budget Bendix version that shares the facia and controls with the E'lux version - strange as Zanussi kinda fits inbetween both in the range.
Similarly, our E'lux Premier washing machine (WM1200A) was very similar to a Zanussi Aquacycle of the same era, but the other Premier washer was a re-badged Tricity Bendix AW1053. It seems they do occasionally offer higher spec machines like your dishwasher in their budget brands & vice versa (like with the E'lux Premier washer that was a Tricity Bendix).
Rolls Rapide - i do know what you mean. I own a 2008 Zanussi Progress AAA diswasher & the top rack in particular is very poor. It's almost like the slots were designed and the didn't even try to fit plates or cups into them. They just don't hold stuff and there's always gaps inbetween the crockery which don't need to be there. My parents mid 90s Multirack DW907 was much better in this respect, with decent racks. However it's interesting to read your comment about the water bypassing the door seal, as ours always let a trickle of water out from the base of the door. It still works to this day - our neighbour has it now as we changed when we updated the kitchen, but it still leaks aswell, about 15 years after it began!
Zanussi/AEG Takeover -
Hoovermatic - I believe Zanussi were taken over by Electrolux around 1988, though im not sure if they also bought Tricity Bendix and AEG at this time or later on. It seemed that the quality of the machines remained very good throughout the 1990s but started dropping at the turn of the millenium. Zanussi still seem to offer better quality than other similarly priced machines, but as mentioned a little while ago, the XC/IZ badged machines seem the last of the long-lasting ones.
Tricity Bendix (budget) & AEG (quality) appeared to level out with Zanussi (mid-range) in the quality stakes as time went on, so in the last 5 years or so there seems to have been very little difference in quality between them, even tho AEG command a higher purchase price. It seems the extra money now buys you more features, but not a better made machine, which must leave a few AEG owners feeling abit short-changed. Tricity Bendix seems to have virtually disappeared from the UK market now, with Zanussis range spanning the budget and midrange, AEG being the more expensive brand & E'lux being the innovative brand.
Wow, what an essay. Hope you havn't all nodded off :S
Liam.
. Two things I really hated abotu the top rack was that firstly you could only get 4 rows of mugs and glasses in - the middle row was far too narrow to fit anything but cooking utensils in, and also it offered no support for glasses, if you closed the top rack at anything more than a snails place and it was half full, tall glasses would always fall over. The bottom basket however was well laid out, not too different to Bosch machines.
