A Miele classic to stuff my stocking!

[washer111]

I think much of WA has harder water, based on my travelling experience. Perth isn't too bad, but much of the region uses groundwater from rather rocky supplies. I'm not comfortable sharing my locale on here: Despite the fact this is a fairly safe spot to do so: I'd rather not for now. 

 

I think much of Australia has these problems, its just people don't realise there are solutions to the problem or even think there is a problem to start with. I reckon half the people here wouldn't have a clue about what "hard water" is, let alone its implications!

 

[washer111]

Besides, I don't think its our water or location that is the problem, rather the particular batches we get. Perhaps you are getting your Omo from a different supply chain? 

 

The Omo was No Suds in our older Simpson, now too many suds. Although I will say the machine does use fairly low water levels, even on the Water Plus mode, so that might very well be the problem. Its generally OK on full loads, but anything less than around 75% and you will start having problems. We always use a 50% dosage anyway (especially after our experience with a full dosage of "Wool Wash" with only 4 pairs of woolly socks inside!). 

I'm starting to wonder if this detergent is formulated more for cooler water washes, than hotter washes, as it does have "Wash in Cold Water" tips on it and is probably more of an Eco detergent. 

 

[sudsmaster]

In my Mieles I use Persil powder, or Sears Ultra Plus HE cut with 33% STPP. The Sears Ultra Plus with Oxyclean powder works quite well in a Miele, although I generally don't go above 160F with it. I've also found that for a cold fill only washer in an unheated building, it's necessary to add the Ultra Plus to the drum before the clothes. Otherwise it usually fails to dissolve in the cold water fill in the detergent drawer, causing lack of detergent in the wash phase and too much detergent in the rinse phase.

I don't think Persil has the same issue, but I haven't tried it since I discovered the issue with Sears Ultra not dissolving in a cold fill. Seeing as how many Euro washers are on cold fill only, I suspect that Persil dissolves readily in cold water.

The Sears Ultra Plus HE with Oxyclean is a bit better behaved at higher temps than the "regular" Sears Ultra Plus HE. That is, it doesn't seem to get excess suds as readily as the regular stuff. But the Mieles rinse so well it's generally not an issue anyway.

 

[mistereric]

So far, so good! Love this thing to pieces.

Bought some Tide HE and am going to try smaller doses. We've peed on the floor a few times so far. I'm out of STPP… time to put in an order. I do have a tiny box of Persil but will be trough it in a week unless i conserve.

Can't believe the difference in sheets and towels at high temperatures. The yuck melts away and they feel completely different after the wash. Very impressed.

I used my dryer-test extension cord, and made an adapter to get it connected.

Five rinses. Machine connects to both hot and cold. 900 or 1100 rpm.

The dispenser is cleaner now, but there is a hard crust I can't seem to shift. I want to get the same crust off the panel without damaging the finish. Any ideas?

Tom, i found the manual online, so I think I am good. Thanks!

This one is dated 1987, so I think she just made the classic-cut.

 

[launderess]

MisterEric

Glad you found the manual and was able to download it, so you're good with that then.

Detergetn wise I'd start with no more than one tablespoon when doing washes at or >140F. Remember the four basic components of good laundering. Since you are upping both water temperature and mechanical action (by longer wash time) a decrease in chemicals (detergent) is fine. You can add pure oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate) in the dosage of 1/2 to 1 ounce per wash load which coupled with boiling wash temps will work a treat.

In removing old "crud" from the dispenser some Miele "nuts" in Europe put plastic parts of their machines through the dishwasher for cleaning. However YMMV and I'd seek another opinon on that, especially since the fascia on yours are brown and not the generic plastic.

Where is the water leaking from?

 

[tomturbomatic]

I am so happy for you Eric. Glad you are seeing good results. You might try vinegar on a paper towel to remove the crud with more dabbing than rubbing followed by thorough rinsing. I notice that when I remove towels washed in Tide HE from the machine that they have this incredibly fresh smell like near a waterfall where the water is highly oxygenated and super fresh. I hope you will like Tide HE as much as I do.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We've peed on the floor a few times so far.

From excitement or from the dispenser?

 

[mielerod69]

Miele should not be connected to softened water

Hi washer111,
If you read your manual it states on page 56 that the machine should not be connected to softened water. This is the reason why you are experiencing over sudsing problems. In Germany Miele has an AllWater model which only uses softened water in the main wash and mains tap water in the rinse cycles. I would suggest to just connect your Miele to normal mains water and bypass the softener.

 

[wierdguy]

Mieles are great machines, just like their vacuums

 

[mistereric]

After two loads last night, the small dose Tide HE worked very well. Looks like I have a detergent solution! I used a whole scoop but poured it over the divide in the dispenser, so each wash got about half the dose. Same with a scoop of oxygen bleach. Results were very decent, and no oversudsing.

Why didn't I think of vinegar before? Sheesh. Good idea.

She seems to leak only on rinse fills, which is kinda bizarre. The machine is level, so thats not it. Weird that its only on rinses! The water leaks out of the dispenser.

I absolutely love the super quick dryer cycles after using this machine.

 

[tomturbomatic]

If the dispenser leaks only on the rinses, it might have something to do with the fill jets above the drawer. While it is filling for a rinse, partially pull the drawer open and see where the water is spraying down then shut off the machine and remove the drawer. You might have hard water deposits that are deflecting the spray and causing a leak. Is it leaking on the fill for all of the rinses or just the last one? The last one fills into the softener dispenser and that can be a whole different can of worms. Given the bad state of the dispenser when you got the machine, it might just need a bit of demineraling to stop the leaks. Good luck!

 

[launderess]

You can split detergent 1/4 to 3/4 between pre-wash and main cycles. Since these machines do not spin after the pre-wash a good amount of detergent will carry over to the main cycle.

Leaking from which of the rinse cycles? All four or just the final one? Where does the water come from? More towards the back or front of the dispenser drawer.

If only the final rinse check to see if the fabric softener compartment including siphon tube are clean. The manual tells how to take the latter apart for cleaning. If it is fouled with gunk it may not drain as fast as it should causing the leaking.

Best way to determine what is going on is to remove the dispenser drawer and allow the washer to fill for the final rinse. Whilst it is doing so examine if water is coming freely from all ports.

If the washer was used in Manhattan/NYC only we have pretty soft water, so a build up of scale deposits doesn't come to our minds at first.But then again seeing pictures of the state of that detergent compartment anything is possible.

If the worse comes to the worse you may have to remove the entire detergent compartment and examine for leaks and or damage.

 

[ronhic]

Dispenser leak

The other thing to look at is the hose from the inlet solinoid to the dispenser - it may have developed a small crack in it.

It's something that happened both to my Hoover Electra and my mothers ASEA - easily fixed, but can be a bugger to find as we tend to look everywhere around the dispenser, drum and door boot without actually checking the actual inlet hose.

 

[mistereric]

The door to the fabric softner dispenser is very crusty. I'm surprised - spent 31 years on NYC soft water and never saw crust form like this. The dispenser sat in the sink with CLR on the deposits overnight and they hardly shifted. Might try to take the panel off the front of the dispenser so I can soak the whole thing.

I'll def check out how the jets are firing next time I do a wash. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[launderess]

Personally

While one understands the desire for a "mint" looking vintage appliance sometimes we have to deal with the real, as they say.

CLR is powerful stuff and if it didn't remove the crud not sure what else might outside of sand blasting. My larger concern would be the internal parts which are fast becoming if not already NLA from MieleUSA. Could deal with the odd blemish or such externally.

Of course you could push the boat out and see if a new dispenser drawer is available from MieleUSA. Seeing as the machines came cheaply even spending the dear money Miele often wishes for parts shouldn't be so bad, that is if you want a "clean look" to the appliance.

What you may have could also be something other than scale crud, and or it has sunk so deep into the plastic and remained for so long that shifting it totally will be near impossible.

 

[washer111]

Machine is not leaking as such, suds start to appear from the outer tub from between the door seal and the main drum. 

 

We've read the manual, it never stated to NOT connect to softened water. Too bad anyway, we're not even going to THINK about putting it outdoors. Hardness is 25 Grains per Gallon, around 350ppm in every L or something. That hardness killed 2 electric kettles in 12 months and if we hadn't gotten a softener, our POS Simpson would've gone the same way. Miele wouldn't honour the warranty on any service there I'd bet, especially if one had access to softened water. 

 

The manual DOES say, however, not to connect the machine to HOT water, hotter than 60ºC or 150ºF. I think its our detergent choice, since the Bio-Zet we used before didn't do this. Using "Napi-Sand" also really causes issues. Fabric Softener helps, though we don't use it lots!