Getting Ebac FL washer - made in the UK

[robm]

Hi all

Today I am going to take delivery of a 7kg Ebac washer. Got this at a reduced price and on a whim decided to purchase to test. I know some of you will be interested as these are still very rare only coming out fairly recently. There are no videos of these yet operating. I hope to change that!

Will keep you updated

https://www.ebac.com/washing-machines/ecare-7kg-1400-spin-digital-washing-machine

 

[washerguy02]

HI rob, I feel happy for you to get an eBac. I love these machines and I can’t wait to see videos of it. It’s nice that UK production for washers is restoring after some years, I hope there are more UK factories / more washing machine production in UK. I think this means more decent better built machines. I hope you enjoy the eBac and I can’t wait to hear your views on the new machine.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Good Luck!

Ah, I wondered when somebody on here would get one of these. They're still as rare as hen's teeth up here - only the Yorkshire area local shops seem to stock them.

I'm actually surprised that the likes of national Euronics/independent stores don't stock them (North of Scotland to the South of England). You'd think they'd want to steal a march on the competition - dunno what's going through the buyers' heads!

 

[robm]

It is a really interesting machine actually. I have been doing many vids of it and I am going to do something for YouTube soon you can see.

Here are some of the programme overviews -

Cottons takes 4 hours but does reduce to about 3
There is a cotton saver programme that lasts about 2 hours
They synthetics is 1:20 but can be spun on full speed
The Allergy care does a cotton saver wash (45 mins) with 4 rinses and full spin.

This machine uses a good amount of water and the intensive button gives good wash action. I find it gets clothes really clean. Does some deep rinses too.

Build quality isn't bad but not a Miele. It has quite a high pitched inverter motor but not too loud. It also has a water jet. Quite please so far and could be a good collectors item for the future.

 

[washman]

Four hours to wash cottons?

Did I read that correctly?

 

[henene4]

4h is not uncommon for EU Cotton label cycles.

Not that that has been discussed a million times on here...

 

[rolls_rapide]

"spun on full speed"

Good. Far too many foreign machines have dodgy spin speeds. I was reading about the cheaper Chinese brands that had slow spin speeds for the quickwash cycles.

 

[launderess]

Four hours?

Could wash ten or eleven pounds of cottons by hand (using a dolly stick or posser, and mangle) and have them on the line faster.

 

[robm]

Hi all

I have just done a quick overview for youtube. Will do other vids soon.

BTW 4 hours is the max time and it adjusts down.

Rob

 

[rolls_rapide]

Nice Review!

I was looking at machines on behalf of my parents. The Hoover ones are absolute rubbish now. The AXI model's door was too flexible, and had to be lifted to close and latch it.

Regarding the 'Quick Wash' spin speeds:
I've noticed similar 800rpm maximum on other machines (frankly, I'm like you - I'd want a faster spin to get the water out of the garments quicker).

I'm pretty certain that my mum's old Bosch 1400rpm has no dedicated quick wash, but she uses the 'Mixed fabrics' of around 40 minutes (at 30°C) - and its max allowed speed is 800rpm. Completely daft, in my opinion. She then has to do a 'spin alone' afterwards, with the max allowed speed of 1200rpm. Why the hell they couldn't just put the 1200 spin on the 'Mixed Fabrics', I'll never know.

Anyway, how 'tinny' is the Ebac's drum? Try tapping the drum's back wall with a finger-tip where is says 'PLASMA'... does it seem solid or flimsy?

 

[richnz]

4 hours to wash cottons!

One can only imagine the looks the sales folk must receive when they tell customers that gem.

How long does an EU kettle take to boil 1 litre of water?

 

[logixx]

When I sell a washer or dishwasher, I always advise against the use of the Eco cycle. Most people think the energy label applies to the whole machine, which of course is not the case. My favorite cycle to show is Whirlpool's Eco cycle at 6 hours.

Euro kettles are pretty fast at 2 to 3 kW.

 

[robm]

Thank you Rolls-Rapide

I actually thought I'd tap the drums of a few of my machines. My Bosch Logixx, Hoover 9kg (1 year old) and the Ebac, all felt pretty much the same. Not amazingly thick drums. My old Miele from 1999 was solid.

If Ebac can just amend their programming a bit they would be on to a winner. I am going to write to them and reference my review.

Rob

 

[rolls_rapide]

How goes the Ebac machine? Are there any irritations with the design?

 

[gorenje]

Hi Robert

I really like your machine. Congratulations and happy washing !

It is indeed a rare machine as a V-Zug can be, mabe even more rare. It has a simple and sleek design and it seems well build.

I would also say that 3 (or even 4) hours for a Cotton labeled cycle these days really isn't nothing uncommon.

I meen, I don't need to sit in front of the washing machine and watch and wait the entire cycle.
We are talking of a Cotton cycle for heavily soiled whites that need a thorough wash. But a cycle like this lot of people does it maybe only 2 times a month. So I think in this case the result is much more important than the time.

 

[robm]

Ebac review against Hoover, Indesit, Siemens and Bosch

Hi there

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back, it has been a busy week! Thank you 'Gorenje' and 'Rolls Rapide'.

The main niggles with this machine is the way it spends lots of time pulse spinning, endlessly distributing and then stopping, having to re-distribute. Lots of wasted time that is unnecessary. Modern machines have out of balance sensors, I get that with larger loads. The problem is why when the load is perfectly balanced does it then completely stop the drum? If it kept the distribution speed the machine could pulse spin in faster longer stages but not waste time. Sorry it is a bug bear of mine in modern machines. I hate the faffing.

That being said, it is generally a good machine. I've attached a review of machines I have used recently, to compare. To note, I am not an engineer so I cannot comment on internal build or longevity, only time will tell on that. These are just my person experiences. Hope the JPG attached comes out OK. I copied the data from an excel spreadsheet I created.

All the best

 

[henene4]

Redistributing

Redistributing helps with even, thorough and crease-reduced extraction.

You know how when you wring a cloth out by hand you wring, stop, change position and repeat?

Same here. 3 pulses and redistributions in total are perfectly normal.

 

[launderess]

Quite right!

Compare wash extracted in a spin dryer (goes from 0-3300 rpms in < 40 seconds *LOL*), versus laundry out of a washer after even a final spin of 1400rpms.

The former likely will have far more hard creasing than latter.

 

[robm]

Redistributions

For me, pulse spins are an essential part of any modern front loader. What I find frustrating is when the load balances, spins and then stops completely before the next pulse spin. I just wish the drum would at least stay at distribution speed between pulses. This would save endlessly have to re-distribute after every pulse spin.

I have now done a video of the mixed wash. Hope it plays OK.

 

[liamy1]

Cant

Wait to see your review (haven’t watched it yet).

Want to see if it matches Which’s review - they absolutely trashed this machine in their review (IIRC it got a “don’t buy”).

 

[rolls_rapide]

RobM's video

Thanks for that!

The two door clicks as it unlocks reminds me of the Zanussi IZ.

The way the drum does that weird reverse 'adjustment' before a tumble, reminds me of another machine I had seen before on Youtube - maybe an LG?

The Ebac motor does sound whiny - is it a brushless type?

The spin in this video looked okay to me. The deceleration to distribution speed reminded me of my mum's Bosch which does this only once. I presume the Ebac machine is collating data at these points, comparing the out of balance signals. (I wish my Panasonic did this - it doesn't, it stops and tumbles everything out of equilibrium again).

I would love to know what the Which? report actually said about the Ebac.

 

[liamy1]

@Rolls

Copied and pasted below the 2 Ebac reviews (sorry, there would have been too many screen shots - I have tried to make legible) and my memory is working - yes they were both “don’t buys” but not just DBs, but bad ones - scoring 35 and 39 percent. Even most Indesit and Hotpoints do better than that (around the 50 percent mark)

 

[liamy1]

7kg

Which? verdict
Not good enough

The Ebac AWM74D2H is an interesting washing machine that allows owners to use water straight from the hot water supply to wash clothes. The aim of this is to reduce the energy needed to heat the water once it's inside the machine, and you won't find many machines like this in the UK right now. To find out how well this UK-manufactured washing machine washes clothes, we tested it at our lab. Read on for our full review of this Ebac washing machine.
Low energy use, quiet, reasonable at spinning
Poor clothes washing and very poor rinsing
We feel let down by this Ebac - we've waited a while to test it and only sent it to our lab when we knew that it would be widely available to buy in the UK. But we feel like we shouldn't have bothered. Our tests show that it's poor at washing cottons and synthetics and that it's weak when rinsing. And that's why we've made it a Don't Buy.

What is it?
This is a freestanding washing machine with room inside for around 7kg of washing, which makes it a touch smaller than average when it comes to capacity. It spins at 1,400 rpm, which is what you'll find most new washing machines hitting and it's badged with an A+++ energy label.
There are 15 wash programs to choose from and the machine comes with a 24-hour delay timer and a lock for the control panel.
What's it great at?
We like how this Ebac manages to keep energy use nice and low and the fact it's one of the quieter washing machines we've seen. The 1,400 rpm spin does a fair job of spinning away water from the load and wash programs aren't too long. But this is where the good news comes to a sudden stop.
Is there anything I should watch out for?
Clothes washing just isn't good enough. In our tests we were presented with poor results on both our cottons and synthetics tests. So, this is likely to mean that dirty and stained clothes aren't going to come out completely clean. In our rinse tests, it was plain bad at fully removing detergent from the clothes it had just washed. So, all-in-all, a washday letdown.
Our test results and test score are based on cold-fill 40°C wash programs for cottons and synthetics. But because having hot fill as an option on a washing machine is a bit of a rarity, we also tested it on its hot-fill setting, where a mixture of hot and cold water is used to wash clothes. We're sad to report that the results of this extra test were very poor and worse than the cold-fill results.
Energy use is reduced dramatically when already hot water is mixed with cold water to wash with, but we were very disappointed with the wash results.
Is there anything else I need to know?
Yes, this Ebac comes with a free five-year parts and labour warranty.
Should I buy it?
No. Clothes washing simply isn't good enough and that's why we've made this Ebac a Don't Buy.

 

[liamy1]

8kg

Which? verdict
One to avoid
The Ebac AWM86D2H is an interesting washing machine. It's designed and manufactured in the UK and unlike almost all machines available to buy right now, you can hook it up to your hot water supply. This means you can take advantage of water that's already been heated. And it comes with one of the fastest spin speeds we've seen. But features aside, we wanted to find out how well this Ebac washes clothes and that's why we tested it at our lab. Read on for our full results and review of this Ebac washing machine.
Excellent at spinning, not very noisy at all
Poor at washing and very poor at rinsing
We've waited until Ebac washing machines were widely available in the UK before testing this model and we're sad to report that the wait hasn't been worth it. This is a poor washing machine with few redeeming features that did badly in our clothes washing tests. And that's why we've made it a Don't Buy.

What is it?
This is a super-fast spinning washing machine that comes with a best-of-breed 1,600 rpm spin. There's room inside for around 8kg of laundry - about average for a machine today.
It comes with the option of hooking it up to the hot water supply, which means you can use already hot water to wash with, rather than just cold water which will need to be heated. This means that the Ebac, which comes with an A+++ energy label, does a good job of keeping energy use low.
There's a 24-hour start delay option which means you can load the machine and then set it to run at a time that's best for you. You can lock the control panel and a digital display shows the remaining wash time.
What's it great at?
Energy use is kept low and we like how quietly this machine goes about the business of washing clothes. To keep energy use as low as it can possibly be, use the machine with already heated water on its hot-fill setting. But we found that energy use is low across the board for this machine.
The 1,600 rpm spin is also hugely effective but, sadly for Ebac, this is where the good news ends.
Is there anything I should watch out for?
We're just left underwhelmed with how poorly this Ebac washed clothes in our tests. For cottons washed on cold fill with the machine then heating the water to 40°C, it was poor at shifting the dried-on stains we tested it against. And when we switched loads from cottons to manmade fibres, it was equally unimpressive in comparison to many other washing machines we've tested.
Rinsing was pretty bad too so this might sometimes mean you need to run an extra rinse cycle to get rid of all signs of detergent in your home.
Our test results and test score are based on cold-fill 40°C wash programs for cottons and synthetics.
We also tested it on its hot-fill setting, where a mixture of hot and cold water is used to wash clothes. Sadly, the results of our test were very poor and worse than the cold-fill results.
Is there anything else I need to know?
It comes with a free 10-year parts and labour warranty and this is a rarity in the world of washing machines.
Should I buy it?
No. There are many better washing machines at this price and we expected more from this Ebac.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Thanks for that!

Initial thoughts: Gosh!

On second thoughts, I wonder if they used the 'intensive' setting? I imagine not...

And they probably used a dumbed down standard test powder. If they'd used their wonderful winners 'Formil' or Ariel, they'd probably get better results.

This kind of basic testing really irritates me, and actually puts me off Which.

 

[vacbear58]

Which

Below is an oldish video from Which describing the processes they use.

And they use the programmes thay consider people will use most like 40 degree cottons or 40 degree synthetics - trying to emulate real life settings.



There is a link on the video which will take you, not immediatly, to the tests which have been summarised above. You could even go for a trial subscription (which i think is £1) to avoid posting speculation as matters of fact

 

[liamy1]

I’ve got to admit,,,

There have been times where I have been sceptical of them, there have been many reviews they’ve done I’ve really not agreed with (either a great review for a product I’ve owned and found rubbish, or vica versa).

*And they probably used a dumbed down standard test powder. If they'd used their wonderful winners 'Formil' or Ariel, they'd probably get better results*.

I don’t believe they’ve ever stated what detergent they use during their machine tests, maybe they should. As we all know of course, there are so many variables with laundry - machine, cycles, detergent, water type/temp and how many clothes/what type of clothes a user would put in together.

I know there is one site (more of a tech review site) that tests washers and they say they test all their machines using “a branded non bio detergentr” so they of course either mean Persil or Fairy - linked.

https://www.trustedreviews.com/best/best-washing-machine-3431783

 

[rolls_rapide]

sceptical of Which

I've personally had irritating previous experiences with their 'Best Buys', so I'll take their 'modern' advice with a large dollop of salt.

Make no mistake, I do hold vintage Which in high regard. Back then, the information was concise.

 

[ozzie908]

@ Rolls-rapide

I too enjoy the vintage Which mags but back then they did the testing in a number of homes and not in a laboratory.
They said that if there was too few a machine to test out it was due to not being in enough homes and thus they could not speculate.
Did they test the Ebac in a few homes like they did the old twinnies and Auto's?

Austin

 

[vacbear58]

@ Austin

Austin

Which have always done their primary testing in a laboratory, right back to their first washing machine test (wringer washers) in 1958. I understand they also do some testing of machines in homes to get "real world" appraisal but the primary tests have always been in the laboratory.

Actually I wish they would update their tests on this machine which are now about 18 months old to see if their have been any changes in the programming to improve performance. I had considered buying one of these earlier in the year but the Which report put me off, whilst not the most expensive machine, they are a long way from being the cheapest with a best buy Beko machine being less than half the price.