Miele Novotronic W918 :-)

[mattywashboy]

Hey Guys

Well for a while now since moving house, I have had one available spot in my garage that I could hook up one more washing machine easily to water and the drain. The question has been for a long time, which machine shall it be?

I know I wanted something a bit older, automatic, I was thinking a front loader as I can only hook up to cold water so had to be one that heated its water.

Scouring Gumtree i found a few older Bosch's, Asko's and Hoovers but all sadly out of my price range.

Then one day a couple of weeks ago I came across the winning machine. A great condition Miele Novotronic W918 that came in at the top end of my price range. I emailed the seller and picked it up two days later

Heres a pic.

 

[mattywashboy]

The sellers were a wonderful elderly German couple who were very quick to tell me this machine cost over $3000 when new so I should be sure to take good care of it. They said they only had ran it at Delicate 30 for many years now so hadn't been too abused.

The control dial has been Australianised I think by adding in the Hot Warm Cold descriptors, maybe to make it a bit simpler for people living in the age where top loaders were king and front loaders were a strange thing that australians were a bit wary of.

 

[mattywashboy]

Selecting Rapid Wash you get the cycle taken down to between 32 and 50 mins depending on temperature. Still gives a thorough wash and deep rinses. As with new Miele machines there are additional options available by quickly pushing the Power and Water Plus buttons 4 times in quick motion and then using the Spin Starch Drain Seperate Rinse sections to 'toggle' through different additional options such as 'additional rinse in Rapid Wash' and 'High Water Level Rinse in Cottons'.

The one issue I have identified with the machine is slightly rumbly bearings, nothing too drastic but very definately going to need a replacement on them. I may save some cash and get the machine serviced by a Miele technician just to ensure everything is as it should be.

 

[mattywashboy]

In summary its a great machine I love the selection you have in temperatures and programs and options. The 1600 spin is the fastest spin on an automatic I have owned so all very exciting. The deep rinses are brilliant too, everything comes out so fresh!

I hope it lives for many years to come!

Thanks

Matt

 

[washer111]

1600rpm?

What!? Our 4 month old Miele only does 1400rpm :-( Not happy Jan! 

Then again, we usually don't spin that fast. As a rule I rarely spin faster than 800rpm for clothes (Preferring 800rpm for lights/brights on Automatic Plus or Cottons and 1200rpm for Darks on Darks/Denims and 600rpm for underwear/socks, 400-600rpm for towels and 1400rpm for bed linens - Very OCD!)

 

But enough about me, thats a VERY NICE Miele you have there. I like the blend of old and new on this, although the cycle sequence indicator really clutters stuff up, IMO. 

Did you find any of those "cursed" exploding LG's from the 90's? Those have horridly long cycles, apparently (3hrs + for a "Normal" cycle. We had one at a Bed/Breakfast. Horrid little ba****d), Miele's are much better in that regard, and get everything done so quick, so gently and so easy. 

 

Does this one have a Honeycomb drum at all, or just the "regular" one?

 

 

[whirlcool]

Look at all that water in there!

 

[frigilux]

Where, oh where, has our Launderess gone? Oh where, oh where can she be?

 

[ronhic]

Matty

Fabulous W918 there Matty.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations!

Your 918 looks like my W1918 which has hot and cold fill. I love my 1918, but it is not my only machine just like this is not your only machine. It's nice to be able to spread the work around and nice not to have to wait on the long cycle if you have more than one load. On mine, if you select Rapid Wash, you do not get as many rinses and they sort of caution that it is for small loads. I read some test somewhere that said the 1600 spin left the load with 44% residual water, the dryest, at that time, that any washer extracted. There is a definite difference between the drying time needed for identical loads done in the W1918 and those done in the W1986 which has a top spin speed of 1200 rpm. I hope that you will be as happy with yours as I am with mine. You made a great find.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Immer Besser

Congratulations Matty, looks in good nic and nows the chance to get your spares ordered and get instructions from many here who have similar...

Those towels will soon dry @ 1600rpm

Happy Washing, Mike

 

[mattywashboy]

Thanks Guys

I love it. I have the Regular drum, this was a series or two before Honeycomb I believe.

I have the Rapid wash set up with three deep rinses. There is only a very brief pulse spin for the interim spin but then you have a full length final spin which helps things come out well rinsed and very clean.

 

[foraloysius]

Congratulations! That's a nice Miele! I love that Rapid Wash button, my older Miele has a short button, but it only takes ten minutes or so off from the main wash. Fortunately I have other washers. ;-)

I assume you downloaded the manual? Or did one come with the machine? Don't you love the flexibility with the programmable options? I bet you're using maximum amounts of water! lol

Louis

 

[aegokocarat]

Lovely looking machine
Mieles seem to run in our family as my gran recently took purchase of a miele back in February
hope you have lots of use out of yours they perform far better than any other brand we have come across (well, mum says my samsung ecobubble is almost as good as the miele)
again, happy washing
Tom

 

[miele_ge]

"Where, oh where, has our Launderess gone? Oh where, oh

I was wondering the same thing.... also Hunter is gone too.... 

 

we have a slightly newer US version of that machine.... you will LOVE IT!!

 

Ours is about 12 years old and going strong.

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

Hunter still answers email and is still just as outraged at the state of the country as always so I would say he is just the same. Neither he nor his wife are having any new health problems, which is a good thing.

 

[Philip0603]

I have the updated fully electronic vertion of this machine, the W377 at the time it was the top of the range washer and I have it stacked with the matching T260 dryer and stack kit with pullout shelf. I paid about £1800 for the pair, but do not expect to replace them anytime soon. I love the 1600 spin, especially in winter when I have to use the dryer. Typically it takes a little over 30 mins for a load of cottons ready for ironing. My partner, for some reason, likes ironing. Also it weighs the load and adjusts the programme time according to load and was one of the first machines to have a fuzzy logic wash programme. The washer works out the fabric type and how dirty it is, then adjusts time and drum action accordingly.

Matty, once you get the bearings done, then the machine will run forever. Strongly suspect the reason they have gone is because the previous owner has not run the washer up to full speed often. Miele's have bearings as good as those on a Mercedes and, trust me in this, you need to give them a good thrashing every now and them. (Mercedes & Miele's that is)

Great machine, now just find the matching dryer. Miele made two, one with the sloping panel for mounting to the side of the machine and one with a vertical for mounting above the machine.

 

[washer111]

Question:

Does that timer knob control a timer, (i.e. Rapid Advancing), or does it just control the cycle and temperature selection? 

 

Adding to Phillip0603's post, I would assume that running cold washes will have impacted the bearings on this machine quite a bit too. In Australia, there is quite the "obsession" with washing in cold water (Whether or not your water is solar or gas heated) - which as we've all seen either don't produce the most sanitary results and can cause rumbly bearings. But I agree - giving the thing a run up to full speed every so often probably gives the whole sensory array a neat little work out - and should help it run smoothly for quite some time yet. 

 

[tomturbomatic]

My W1986 has what I guess is fuzzy logic. When started out in a cottons program, it will display maximum time, but if the load is so small that it only requires the initial fill to saturate the load and achieve the proper water level, it drops 10 minutes off the wash time. Likewise, if it cannot achieve the full speed in the spin after the wash, it recalculates the time and adds a rinse which flushes away the excess suds or remedies the unbalanced condition. Wonderful machines. The W1918 does not have to worry about that with all of the deep rinses and slower speed spins it does between water changes.

No, the cycle selector dial does not move, but the countdown timer and cycle lights let you know the progress of the cycle.

Miele was brilliant to keep the same drum diameter and just increase the depth to add capacity because the narrower drum diameter avoids the distribution problems that can happen with larger diameter drums.

 

[launderess]

Bit Late To The Party, But Welcome To The "Older" Mi

Very well done indeed!

Have been toying with the idea of nabbing a 1918 similar Miele, even missed a shot at a nib unit several months ago. Quite honestly though at this stage in my laundry game/collecting am looking for something with more capacity than Big Bertha (Miele w1070 - 5kg ). The W1926 or W1930 may fit the bill but something would have to go in order to make room.

Regarding the grumbling bearings; there are as many views as to why this plagues Miele 1918 series as there are grains of sand. If you recall a member from Canada went to hell and back with his unit over a bearing failure and finally gave up the ghost.

For some the 1918/918 series were the ne plus ultra of Miele domestic washer design. Easy enough to use with set features, but one could program additional and or improvise work arounds. As Miele went to the 1926, 1930, 1986 (using North American numbers) more and more became computer/fuzzy logic controlled up to and including market dependent "dumbed down" controls.

Some say it is because some sort of "inferior" metal was used, others blame excessive use of the max 1600rpm final spin speed. Who can say? What is telling is that after the 19XX series Miele never again ventured that high for final spin speeds that one can tell. Around 1400 seems to be the highest modern Miele's will go, but haven't seen all offerings from round the world.

Water usage: yes,like the 10XX series before them the 918/1918 used plenty of water to get the job done. However overall water usage was reduced IIRC because the latter does spins after rinses versus the 10XX that had one short spin after the third and a full after the fourth.