Hi Dyson 2 Drums....
I just wanted to say that although I'm pleased the Softwave lasted so long (and is testament to Merthry) I think it was one of the last `proper' Hoovers and I thought it was a truly dreadful machine! I owned one in 1996 (inherited it) and quickly donated it to someone else.
The main prob was with the thermostats - it only has three as some machines do. To reach 40 on a cottons wash (number 4) it would heat til the 30 'stat was triggered. Then the timer advanced one section (6 minutes, every click on the timer seemed to be 6 minutes LOL) and it heated for these six minutes until it clicked on again. Otherwise known as a `timed heat'. Trouble is, I got my thermometer out and the water would reach 53 degrees. I spoke to an engineer at Merthyr who over the course of the conversation worked out that it was a design fault. The heating timings were designed for the synthetics cycle and then just applied to cottons. Problem? Synthetics used a much higher water level so the temp did get to about 40 but the lower water level on cottons meant the machine would heat too much.
Wash times were short (apx 12 mins for a 40 cottons) and rinses comparatively long. It was also a very light machine with no OOB protection, I don't think, so sometimes almost did flying leaps. The speed control module on final spin caused very erratic behaviour on mine.
I did like the front fill though and the instant start as you switched on that massive rocker switch. Wasn't the door lock strange too whereby you only couldn't open it in certain conditions....(drum turning, fill level reached etc) I'm sure that was the machine I could open during the cycle if it was static draining or something...
Hard to believe it was 12 years ago, my life in North London.....
Nick