Aqualtis AQGD169S problems

[mattwatty]

Hi

new to posting on here but have been reading for a while now. Have always had a passion for washers and wanted to post my experiences with the aqualtis I bought 5 months ago. I was pretty excited when this arrived as it looked like a pretty cool machine but from day one I have been disappointed with it. The pump is so noisy it's almost pointless having a quiet AC motor. The programs also take a long time to complete - once it finally goes into final spin after faffing for ages it can be over 2 hours for a cotton wash.

In the last one month i have had the engineer out to it three times, once for a burning from the motor which was replaced and twice for a leaky door. Today after 10 mins of it being on there was water starting to drip from the door again.

hotpoint don't seem to want to know anymore so I have been back to the retailer and demanded an exchange or refund. Funny enough the manager said he has been having lots of problems with the aqualtis range and if he has his way they would stop selling them.

wondered if anyone else has had similar problems and any recommendations . My neighbour has the new Hoover 9kg AC motor machine and although i haven't played with it at all he raves about it and I have been round there when it's on it's final spin and it's quieter than my aqualtis. . Any thoughts?
thanks

 

[samsungfl]

Large Capacity Machines....

Hey welcome to the club! Its a great place!

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Hotpoint! Before they fix it again I'd definatley make sure to ask for a refund first because all ready its not acceptable, seeing as though its not very old at all!

Ive also just had a Hoover Vision 8kg washer taken away and refunded last week due to it being so unreliable, it broke down countless times and was mostly down to the motor being to small for its own drum, casuing it to burn out over and over again!

Ive heard very mixed reviews about this machine so I'd be carefull if you exchange it for the same model, or even a more premium one.

My experience is that these large capacity machines seem to cause more trouble than what they are worth, the technology for them to be sustainable isnt there from what ive been witnessing, If you read the post entitled " Hoover can handle it, I think not" You'll find im not the only person now whos had a problem with a new Hoover washing machine causing burning problems, the guy who's having problems with his has the 9kg one which you mentioned.

Hope this helps! And once again, welcome to the club!

Richard

 

[newwave1]

Hey Mattywatty,
Welcome to the club! Its great being around like minded people with a common interest! Great to hear experiences, i in my madness bought a hotpoint WT960 last year. I hate it. Long cycles crap balancing that takes an age, the suspension is knackered i think & the bearings are going. I'm goin to shift it on i can't be arsed arguing with them or my old employer to get rid of it. what a waste of £380!

I've worked in electrical retail for 7years now, and i've just left it but hotpoint have become exceptionally awkward since they became indesit company property.

You'd be in your right to ask for a refund.

Welcome again!

Darren

 

[MrX]

I have that version of the aqualtis and it's silent, over 6 months old and has given no problems at all.

I'd suggest that you demand a full refund, it's clearly got something very seriously wrong with it.

 

[kirk280980]

Three repairs within a single month, on a 5 month old machine, would have me worrying that it might be a lemon. In those circumstances I would be asking the shop for a refund or replacement too. The vast majority of user reviews I've seen for the Aqualtis have been very good, but it's always possible to get a duff machine that will never work right no matter what you do with it.

I have an AQXXL129, and couldn't be happier with it. Always spins smoothly and completes the cycle with no faffing around - one thing I like most about it is that, once the wash is over, it zips through the all rinses and spins quickly without wasting any time. Haven't had any vibration issues either, despite the larger drum and some of the bulky items I've been feeding it.

I guess my point is, provided you have one that works as it should, the Aqualtis can be a great machine. Hopefully mine will prove to be reliable in the long term, because I really can't say there's anything else out there at the moment I would fancy replacing it with.

Not sure what to suggest regarding the pump noise issue though, because this may be a subjective one. With the main drive motor being almost silent, the drain pump is bound to sound noisier in comparison. Overall it's still far quieter than the pump in my previous Zanussi, so in that respect I'm pleased. I suppose it depends on what you're comparing it to?

 

[robm]

Hi Matty, welcome to the group, another Londoner?

I have an Aqualtis which I have had a while now, it's the basic 1200 spin version (sorry have forgotten the No).

I have mixed views on this machine. The pump is intersting as it can be quiet one minute and horrendous the next. It is definately much noisier than any of my other machines some of which are nearly 30 years old! However, as in Kirk's post it can also be quiet, for me it is totally random but is getting worse with age. The invertor motor however is very quiet and it doesn't vibrate.

On the balancing front it's quite bad sometimes, especially when it spins and then re distributes again. I would not want this as my sole machine. Having said all that, it does seem to wash and rinse well and is great for bigger loads. Because the drum is so big it’s generally good on the creasing front.

This is my second Hotpoint/Indesit machine and they can be fun but I think the general consensus is that they spend too long balancing. I think this compensates in the non Aqualtis machines for very basic suspension legs. The Aqualtis does seem to be better made.

I have been slightly put off by some of the things I’ve heard about the Hoover Vision and quality! Recently I stayed with friends that had a Hoover Nextra 7167 which they have just bought. I pretended I needed to do some washing to have a play with it! Great programming from what I could see and no faffing about. However, it was quite cheap really and that particular model was pretty noisy. I don’t think it will age well.

I’m currently thinking about the Jetsystem Washer dryer by Zanussi for my flat. It has got good reviews and a quiet inverter motor. Have you thought about an insight?

Rob

 

[newwave1]

Hey Rob!
Hope ur well mr! You know me and my love for zanussi! Im all for you gettin the jetsytem washerdryer lol wish i could afford one!

Yes i believe the main problem with the hotpoints is the legs, on my model the super silent motor is far from it, that and the bearings are going, it makes this really audible whiring noise when changing up speeds and when its slowing down, like a really loud whiney whir!

Darren

 

[MrX]

I hadn't really noticed the drain pump as being unusually noisy on our Aqualtis. Perhaps it's just because the machine's so quiet, or because the pump is right at the front behind the filter?

Ours certainly isn't any noisier than drain pumps on other washing machines that we've had, including Miele. I've had MUCH louder pumps on older machines.

When it's washing other than the occasional gush of water when it's filling up and saturating the clothes, you wouldn't even realise it was on, yet it does a pretty serious amount of agitation. The spin's also very very quiet.

I haven't found it was slow to balance either. Our Miele W970 would occasionally take an age to get a balanced load too and sometimes even abort the spin, particularly for small bulky items e.g. a pair of jeans.

I think these new fangled electronic machines are fussy about spinning, simply because they can be. Older machines worked on the 'fingers crossed' principle and just shook the house. Super silent spinning depends on the load being very balanced.

Also, I suspect that because the outer drum's so big there isn't a lot of play in these new machines if the drum should 'go mental' and start bouncing all over the place. So, they have to be quite balanced. It applies to all big drummed standard cabinet machines. They're only possible because of advances in electronics.

I haven't found the construction of the machine to be bad either. It seems to be very solidly built and the suspension seems pretty substantial (I had a look). The motor's pretty substantial too. I've also found the door and door locking mechanism to be a lot more sturdy than most main-stream machines.

I seriously think you've just got a machine that was built on a Friday at 5:29pm by someone with a massive hangover...

The only thing that I was cautioned about by the sales guy was that you shouldn't load the machine so full that the door is under pressure. This applies to most machines, but particularly the really large capacity ones as the door's pretty huge and the strain that can be put on the door frame is considerable.

A smaller porthole is not subject to the same level of strain.

If the door doesn't comfortably close, do not start the machine!

Also, he was saying that because the AC motor develops serious torque, it will comfortably turn a very heavily overloaded drum so you won't hear groans or squeeks, yet it could be warping the door as the load turns.

It's VERY important that if you're loading bulky items like quilts that you make sure they're not protruding beyond the drum rim.

 

[mattwatty]

Hey all and thanks for the welcome

appreciate all your input. The retailer has offered me an exchange and I am leaning towards the vision 9kg after getting the chance to use my neighbours yesterday a few times. Really like how it powers through a full 9kg of cottons in 1.30hr. I also done two smaller loads and it didn't faff at all. It also dropped the wash time by 15 mins for the smaller wash which suprised me. I've been onto the hoover website and I assume this was down to the KG mode? It says that it weighs the laundry within the first 4 mins of the wash and changes the wash time and amount of rinses accordingly . I was particularly impressed with how dry the clothes came out as well.
That said I am open to offer options at the moment. I'll take a look at the Zannusi's. Re the Insights - I remember reading on here someone bought one and was very disappointed in it's rinsing ability?

 

[dyson2drums]

Hi Matt

The hoover is quite good but what spin speed has your neigbour got?
By the way the person with the disappointment from the insight was 2drumsallergy.
Thanks.

 

[samsungfl]

Hoover 9kg!

Hey! Im glad the retailer has offered you an exchange so quickly! Usually with me it takes ALOT of arguing and shouting LOL!! Best of luck with whichever machine you get, if you are considering the Hoover 9kg model Id say go for it! Im still very skeptical of Hoover however I'll addmit my 8KG Model was iccredibly unreliable but when it worked, it worked properly and produced some very good results in its short life!, So if you get a good one, Im sure you'll be more than pleased with it

Hope this helps!

Richard

 

[MrX]

Good luck with the Hoover. It seems from what I'm seeing on here, that with quite a lot of brands you can just get stuck with a disaster of a machine that will just need to be replaced regardless of who has made it. Miele is possibly the only exception to this rule.

I think with any of these 8kg+ machines, you do need to just be a little careful when loading them up. Unfortunately, they aren't commercial machines and they really don't handle large duvets very well. I think the advertising is quite misleading to be honest. They will wash 8kg+ of laundry quite well, but if you put in a very bulky item the machine will end up not performing well / become damaged.

I'm not saying that anyone here would over-load a machine, but I do think that people on this site might be likely to put a machine through its paces more than the average user.

Unfortunately, no domestic machine seems to be capable of handling large duvets, despite the claims made in the marketing literature. You have to remember that hollow fibre duvets in particular swell and become extremely heavy when wet. Really, they should only be washed in a big commercial laundry machine. I have heard a few horror stories about door damage, rubber seal damage and motor failures on a lot of 8kg+ machines, not just the Hoover Vision or the Aqualtis.

In reality, an 8kg+ domestic machine will do a huge load of laundry, but it very inadvisable to use them to wash anything with hollow fibre or similar fillings.
Also, as I said in a previous post, make sure that you do not load the machine so full that the load will strain the door. These machines have seriously powerful drives and are quite capable of silently moving the load around in such a way that it could push the door out causing damage.

Again, this problem seems to occur with hollow fibre filled items like pillows and duvets as they simply are capable of absorbing many times their own weight in water. You could end up with 40 - 50KG in the drum quite easily! They are very different to cotton or other fabrics in terms of how they absorb water.

A commercial machine is a far more robust device and has significantly larger capacity and a LOT more power than any of these big drum standard front loaders.

The Aqualtis display for example will suggest that you do not load the drum fully when washing duvets. It should only be 2/3 or less full. This means that they realistically cannot wash an 8kg duvet.

On the other side of it, you can fill the drum up to the top with towels and it will plough through 8kgs no problem.

Basically I think a whole range of manufacturers are really making rather far fetched claims about these machines ability to handle duvets and it should perhaps be investigated by the advertising standards watchdogs.

So, just be careful what you're putting into the machine for big loads!

 

[electron1100]

Noisy Pumps

AAHHHH these cheap crappy magnetic pumps are shite, most manufacturers use them now, when they test noise levels on machines they obviously dont test them with the pumps running.
I have a Bosch which is a quiet until that bloody awful pump starts up, what a joke..........

I have put sound proofing in the machine which makes it even quiter but it makes the noise from the pump even more noticable

and as for machines that come from the Merloni/Candy group.........the end is nigh thats all i can say

Gary

 

[hotpoint9534]

Would it not be possible to retrofit an older pump with the same electrical rating? Or would the electronics of a modern machine reject it, as we might reject a heart transplant?

Tom

 

[rolls_rapide]

Ahh, you mean fit....

A shaded-pole, free-flowing Vortex pump?

 

[hotpoint9534]

Yes sorry I meant fit! Retrofit was the wrong term in this instance. Still, it would be interesting to know if it could be done.

Tom.

 

[electron1100]

pumps

hello
Yes the old Hoover vortex type pump would be a good choice, nice and quiet, but i cannot be asked to drag this thing out and fiddle about.......one day i hope to get one of my lovely old Hoover 1100s in the kitchen then i will be happy

Gary