Expert Advice Needed

[veg-o-matic]

Unattended vs leaving the house

Hmmm. We seem to be getting into some very fine points here. I think it's okay to leave a washer/dryer/dishwasher unattended. After all, we bought these appliances because they get the job done automatically, with no intervention on out part. Though I enjoy watching my washer toss the togs, I'm not going to sit by and babysit it.

That said, I think it's wrong to leave the house with an appliance running, especially if one lives in a multi-family building. If my washer were in the basement of a single family house, yeah, I'd leave it running and take off. As it is, I have neighbors beneath me, and I don't want to be responsible for damaging their unit.

I think it's just plain common sense, which, unfortunately, many people seem to be lacking nowadays.

Remember: Doodoo occurs.

veg

 

[mayken4now]

It Happens All The Time.

Hi I am Steve and yes I will testify and please use these as evidence!

As being a member of this club, I have never brought up the bothersome very expensive occurances of this issue with my machine!

Is it reasonable to assume? Ok just what word is displayed on my machine? "DELAY", and the manufacture says "RUN the cycle while you are not at home by using this feature", "and your clothes will be DONE when you get home".!

1st post

 

[mayken4now]

2nd post

Ok now look at this. It happens all the time.

Sometimes the valve is more open (meaning more water enters the machine) than others. This was just a trickle, but I have seen more volume coming in while the machine is off.

And how much did I pay for the HE3T's? Yea over two thousand!

SO it is very reasonable one could assume quality.

Sue the manufacture.

Steve

 

[toggleswitch]

See, now in my case I really liked my downstairs neighbors and we had keys to each-other's apts, for just such eventualities.

Electricity was part of the monthly maintenance charges, and unmetered to the co-op owners There was a surcharge per appliance of:

$5 washer
$5 dishwasher
$10 dryer
$15 per A/C (Every month all year 'round)

for the above "optional appliances"
...so I allowed them to use my dryer. (their place had a W but no D) a 70's Westy F/L no less!, but I digress.

One day I got home early and started cooking dinner. The stove was right next to the dryer. (I had an undercounter Frid-Ge-More with a Sears badge and a SS drum). There was a clunk-clunk clunk sound coming frm the running dryer. So I opened the dryer door and found two bullets in there!

Remember references to my downstairs neighbor the cop?

All laundry priviledges were permamently suspended.

I coulda gotten my jingle-bobs shot off!

 

[westtexman]

Delay Start Feature

Although I haven't read up on this feature on the Hetties, this has been an option on many dishwashers for quite some time now. IIRC, the dealy-start feature (at least back in the day) was marketed to the consumer in a different manner. When I have heard references to the "delay start" feature, it is to program the machine to run during the night, when some power companies decrease their rates during "non-peak" times, as well as allow the machine to run while you are sleeping so you won't be bothered with the noise during the day.

Has anyone seen this option marketed to let the machine run while one is not at home? Just some food for thought.

Tex

 

[peterh770]

That Home Site

And check this out. It appears valve issues on these guys are a bit more wide spread.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/laundry/msg0814015618958.html

 

[toggleswitch]

...and silly me, I thought that water-oulet valves were pretty standard and normally outsourced. Yyou mean they wern't perfected by the late 60's? TSK TSK.

But then again send the work south y "Hecho en Mexico" results in such "small problems"

When I sold appliances for Sears, they were having the grates (for gas stoves) made there. The heat was melting off the paint/finish. I SO KID YOU NOT. Product testing anyone?

 

[kenmore1978]

water valves outsourcing

Typically, Dole or Eaton

 

[angus]

It is beyond my comprehension how anyone could go to work in the morning and leave a washer, dishwasher or dryer on. There are just too many possibilities for flooding or fire. I have experienced two instances of flooding with two separate relatively new machines. If I had not been home when this occurred, the damage could have been much worse. I am not advocating babysitting the machines, and yes, I have run a quick errand with the appliances running. But never would I go out for the day and leave them on. I believe in good old fashioned responsibility and common sense.

One of my neighbors years ago went to work and left the dryer on because it had "only a few minutes left on the timer". Eight hours later she returned home to smoldering clothes.

I guess I look at it this way. The instruction manuals do not warn against going out for the day while washing, etc... But would you go out and leave the stove or the iron on?

 

[tolivac]

I too am from the school of not running things like washers,dishwasers,dryers,etc while not home-esp while at work.Even if the machine has the electronic features or electronic timers and delay starts.These may be cool-and convenient-but in a thunderstorm prone area such as mine-don't want the lightening "accidently" starting a machine causing a home disaster.I don't even like recharging my razor while not at home-one time the plug in transformer melted down-leaving a puddle of plastic on the floor!Very glad it wasn't worse!That is the big reason why I like my vintage KA dishwasher over the WP newer one-the cycles are shorter and more effective-and less waiting time.I think the manufactuers put the warnings in the literature on your machines for "Liability" on their part-pointing out a "risk" of letting appliances run while you are not home.

 

[Burpalator]

I have been told that it's illegal in California (at least in L.A. County) to run the dishwasher when no one is at home due to fire hazard. Someone told me this in the early 80s and I have since made it a practice not to run my dishwasher and clothes washer and dryer for the fire safety reason unless I'm home. I suppose the same argument could be made about the refrigerator and water heater but, statistically, I think they pose less of a risk.

 

[mayken4now]

Ok guys

The question is about being reasonable to assume you can leave your "AUTOMATIC WASHER". The different opinions are all personal and are certainly accepted. A new washer malfunctioning weather you are home or not is not the question.

How many of you folks multi-tasks? Ya know that's the thing this day and time. One could only wash clothes, then dry them etc. Then mow the yard, then run the hoover, then wash the car, and clean the house, then by midnight perhaps we can go to the grocery store, and catch a movie - NOT, too tired had to babysit the washer all day!

Refer to PeterH770's comment #79027 in this posting. "AINT ENOUGH HOURS IN ONE DAY"

Steve

 

[gizmo]

It seems to me that this is the wrong question - not is it ok or normal to leave the machine unattended, but is it normal to expect that the machine may flood or otherwise malfunction occasionally? Also, whether the machine is European, American or of any other origin is immaterial. American top loaders flood too.

I personally rarely leave my machines running when I'm not home, but my machines are all second hand and rescued from the recycler. I still do it on rare occasions but my house is freestanding and a real old dump, when we move to the new house I will be much more strict.

Really we all need to accept that things go wrong from time to time and we should take steps to mitigate any consequences. Otherwise every machine will have to incoroprate many layers of failsafe technology and the cost of machines will be inflated both to pay for the extra tech, and to allow for lawsuits...like this one.

Here is Australia there are varying requirements in the building codes in different states. In New South Wales, new houses are required to have wet area floors which slope towards a floor waste outlet so any flood water would just go down the drain. Here in Victoria they are not required. My new house will not have one but if I had my time over I probably would. It is a concrete slab floor so it's too late now.

I can certainly imagine that in an expensive and recently built condo complex, floor waste outlets should have been incorporated from the design stage. They would provide substantial protection at minimal cost. Where water from a failure or flood (including plumbing failures too, not just appliance faults) has the potential to fall downstairs and affest other units, then I would have thought that at least some degree of "floodproofing" should have been incorporated into the building design.

Many modern washers have so called fail safe systems which turn off the fill and turn on the pump but if the outlet hose fails, or a hose bursts when the power is off, then there is nothing the machine can do, there is going to be water everywhere.
It is NOT reasonable to assume that nothing will ever go wrong.

Chris.

 

[Burpalator]

I think the original concept behind the automatic was that it would do all the work itself -- set it and leave it -- so the basic inference is that it doesn't need an attendant. Just my opinion but it makes sense to me.

 

[gansky1]

Bendix Said it Best...

The Automatic Washer - Protector of charm and beauty...

Leaving an automatic washer to do the dirty work isn't just convienence, it's a birthright!

 

[gansky1]

1939

Set yourself FREE!!

 

[gansky1]

BTW, the first scan (birthright) is from a 1937 Bendix brochure touting the washer before it was even available for sale!

With advertising like that, who could argue? Perhaps some are lulled into a somewhat false sense of security having done countless loads of wash in their machines, time after time, the washer completes it's cycle and turns itself off without fail. The one time something does go wrong it's the manufacturer's fault? Always has to be someone else's fault... Sometimes bad things just happen, that's life and we should try to stop finding someone to blame for every bad thing that happens. (except the price of gas!)

 

[petek]

Is that the Queen Mum in that ad, the one with the big hat? LOL
BTW I don't own a Bendix but have always considered myself fresh, free and radiant

 

[andrewinorlando]

The question here really is SHOULD you leave an appliance running unattended. There is no reason why you can't do so, after all, it is automatic. There is most likely nothing in the instruction manual that says that you cannot or should not (is there??) Did the owner violate the manufacturer's instructions in any way by leaving the machine running without being physically present? Depends on what instructions are contained in the owner's manual.

I have been the victim of defective water valves on both my washer and my dishwasher. The dishwasher, fortunately was a GE Potscrubber, so when the valve failed, the overflow protection took over and the pump swtitched to drain mode to dump the excess water that was coming in. This went on for about 40 minutes till I came back inside. Fortuntely, the machine took care of the problem for me, otherwise the consequences would have been ghastly. My washer, also a GE FilterFlo was, fortunately, located in the basement. The water ran for about 3 hours (I was actually home, upstairs, asleep). It did a lot of damage to the basement, and everything down there had to be thrown out that couldn't be dried out. It was a mess. Washers (except for maybe Miele) have no such overflow protection, unless they are mounted in a pan with a drain connected, as that machine probably should have been if it was on an upper floor of the condo.

So, should you leave these machines running when you leave the house? NEVER. Not unless you can guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong with them. And no manufacturer can, or does, make any such guarantee. In this case, the manufacturer should have NO liability unless it can be shown that this is a regular and known defect that the manufacturer has been unwilling to remedy. Equipment failures happen (don't we all know that!!), it has to be up to the user to exercise good judgement in how that equipment is used or allowed to be used by others.

Just my humble opinion (and experience).

 

[super32]

reasonable to assume?

Im with other who have posted, it is an automatic washer. You are suppose to be able to put the clothes in and go do other things. With alot of safety features on todays newer appliances there is no reason to have to babysit. I do use the delay on the washer to finish as im comming home or getting up in the morning. I use the delay so I dont have wet clothes in the machine all night or day.

I have seen refrigerators catch fire, 2 certain brands of TV's have recalls because of fire, people have parked their cars in the garage got out went in to the house and the car catch on fire. True story, I had a radio in my bedroom, it was about 2yrs old at the time. I turned off the lights to go to bed and smelled something burning. I turned on the light and got up to find the cord on the radio going up in smoke. The radio was not on.

My point like others on this forum, there are other appliances, lights, radios etc.... that we leave pluged in and not turned on that can start a fire or leak when we are not home. I dont know anybody that shuts all the power and water off when they are not home.