Miele USA W1's Water Inlet Error After Prewash

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You could do as Washingpowder suggests or you can add a prewash to the program, since the prewash starts with a cold fill, heats the water to about warm, and then the next fill will take in hot water, and depending on your incoming water temperature the heater will take the temp to the setting and then maintain the temperature throughout the wash.

Keep in mind that you will not get much heating in the Normal program - at least I don't. On my machine, the heater runs for the first 13 minutes of the wash and is never heard from again during the wash. This may not matter if you are supplying 120F water and then I guess the heater will run for a total of 13 minutes throughout the wash. Since I am not supplying 120F I don't really use the Normal program for much of anything, plus I don't want to spin everything at 1600rpms.
 
It really seems Miele is not going to do a thing about this. Just add it to the list of feature crippled W1's. Maybe they will just hide the prewash feature in the hidden settings menu and act like it is not there at all. Other countries have programming settings easily accessible, not here. We are not so stupid after all here in the USA, we discovered the prewash no longer works. It is just a matter of time they will take away water plus and max rinse levels from USA W1's. You know the features we are not allowed to access.
 
Slow down a bit...

You're spinning a story that's just not there.

If they didn't want you to have a prewash, they wouldn't have it, period. It's not like it's a common feature in the US.
Claiming melavalance seems a far reach.
And they certainly won't respond better if you tell them that.
(Working in customer service for a retailer handling cases in store I can tell you I empathize on the issue there, but not on that claim. If a customer is upset about service issues, I totally agree with him an give my best. If he claims we do that on purpose and threatens me with such claims, I take that personally.)

The reason some settings are hidden in a service menu is that they are not ment to be needed.
They exist as a relict for special cases. They alter cycles in ways that may not be beneficial to everyone.
There are settings in there that are capable of basically bricking a machine.

So they placed them on one level, not ment to be activated without technician consultation.

And they are not new.
They are there since the Novotronic days...

They won't take away water plus, they won't take away max rinse level.
Just like the Allergy option never was in the user accessible level, the max rinse level will never leave it.

Yes they are currently pretty slacking with quality control though, that is true.

Easiest way is always to make hell break loose.
They offered a feature, that feature is not usable, the manufacturer dosen't resolve the matter, thus you can always push to reverse the contract on basis of false pretence.

They will check out the machine with a technician first, they will confirm the fault.
They won't be abled to resolve it, then they offer a replacement - usually a model one level higher.

Not sure if I missed something, but you haven't even had a technician out, right?
 
Wouldn't cancel either way

Every time they visit without resolving your issue you have an additional card in your hand you can point to when trying to get higher levels involved.

Turning them away with they argument "I know they won't help" will ALWAYS be used against you by service.

Just speaking from experience there, not the first time I hear such things...
 
Initial call out from Miele almost usually now for years has been to diagnose and document whatever issues customer is reporting or otherwise found.

If the problem can be manged at that time within short period of time allotted, then all is good. OTOH if technician does not have part or parts, repair will take longer than allotted initial service call time, etc.. then another follow-up call out appointment must be made.

Turning away a Miele USA tech nowadays (since they no longer provide any sort of detailed tech support via telephone or email), likely will result in an issue of "he said, we said". That is customer claims appliance isn't working properly, but Miele cannot document fact.

A customer planning on seeking a refund, exchange or other such action needs to have a Miele tech document issues found so there is a record for machine in question.
 
Miele admitting problem?

Laundress-

The interesting this about this particular issue is in the post on another forum that you linked to above, Miele wrote a letter to the user admitting the problem. At the least according to that post, Miele wrote:

“Hello Mark,

I am happy to assist, I understand the frustration due to the pre wash cycle not working. Due to the new software update the prewash cycle has stopped working with the appliance. Germany is looking into the software and getting the issue rectified.

If you need further assistance, please contact Miele at 1-888-996-4353 or visit us online at www.mieleusa.com

Thanks for contacting Miele!

Tichina J.
Miele Inc. | 9 Independence Way| Princeton, NJ 08540| USA www.mieleusa.com/service“

This appears unusual for Miele in that their first instinct is to blame the user, but instead they appear to admit they are at fault. And, in spite of this promising admission, they do not give a timeline for the fix, nor do they address whether the “fix” will help Mark (the user) or simply potential future Miele customers.
 
Anybody In Germany Know What's Going On With This?

Does anyone work at Miele in Germany who frequents this forum? I would like someone from there to speak up about this. How long before this issue is fixed? How could this even have happened, I thought they tested everything before letting a machine out the door. SAD!
 
@SGT20

Miele is famous for producing much of internal components of their appliances in house. But that applies to things like motors and other bits. They do buy lots of other things off the shelf as it were such as solenoids, pumps, etc....

One is going to assume unless or until proven otherwise Miele used outside sources for software for washing machines and other appliances. Much like Crouzet of France once provided programmer/timer for their quasi mechanical washing machines, dishwashers and dryers....

If that is the case it would mean going back to supplier to work out what is wrong and how to correct. Given worldwide upset across the board to nearly everything this past year or so thanks to covid, it could take longer to sort this mess out.

Was always advised when growing up never to purchase first model year of anything. This was because there were bound to be kinks, and they would be sorted by subsequent year models.

Thing is don't seem to find these sort of complaints with Miele W1 washers sold in Europe, but then again maybe didn't look long or hard enough. Since these units were on sale there before coming to USA you'd think any bugs would have been sorted. This unless as per Miele made various changes to things for sale in North America that somehow has now gummed up the works.
 
Yes, one would suspect that it must be the latter problem as the first Miele W1’s in the US certainly did not have this particular issue. So some change they made to the W1 subsequently gummed up the works. One question would be whether Miele views this specific problem as a serious one needing speedy resolution or just a minor nuisance. But perhaps your point is that either way, the timing of a solution may not be totally under their control.
 
Hot water intake

I'm fairly certain it has something to do with the North American designation of using hot water for main wash fill. I've noticed Normal cycle going through with prewash perfectly fine, at least when selecting 120F or below. Miele seems to alternate hot and warm fill when using temps of 140 and up and considering most European machines are cold fill only, that slight programming change may have produced the bug.
I'll reprogram my 860 for a cold fill only tomorrow, and see if it goes through a cycle without a problem.
 
The tech just left.

Amazing customer service, amazing knowledge. That aside, he said that Miele is aware of the issue and they're currently working on a fix in Germany. He said he doesn't know how long it'll take, but hopefully soon. He explained they already tried doing an intermittent fix in NJ, and none of the solutions worked, hence the escalation to Germany.
 
@mielerod

Decided to wash at 170F, sans prewash, and my thrifty side refused to heat that from cold. Especially considering two AC units running at turbo already.

I'll be running microfiber cloths soon using the singlewash option (less water to heat), will report right after.
 
Will be interesting watching this all play out..

Will MieleUSA charge for these call outs and repairs?

If new motherboard is required or something will that part be free along with install?

Will MieleUSA reach out to any number of Americans who bought affected models and yet haven't contacted them about this issue? Will they issue a recall or similar notice?

What about scores of washers sitting in warehouses or dealers inventory yet unsold?

A simple firmware update that solves issue would be less costly way of dealing with things, provided it permanently fixes issue.

At least affected washers still are otherwise usable. Cannot imagine what people would do if after paying so much money now would be totally without a washer for indefinite period.
 
@launderess

Excellent questions I've been pondering myself.
Truth be told, there's a part of me regretting shelling out the big dollars, especially considering the circumstances.
Sure, a pre-wash isn't the most important thing nor does it discount how well the machine performs, but just the fact that Miele let such a mistake go unnoticed makes me wonder about the quality control of machines adapted for the US market.
Maybe F&P would have been a better choice, with their 5 year warranty.
 
Other countries get longer initial warranties, and the USA a measly 1yr. This whole mess ruined our USA W1's. How they are dealing with this as of now and apparently no resolution, it screams a part/parts issue vs software/firmware. If they would just clarify which it is. They have to know by now exactly what is wrong.
 
Under EU laws minimum consumer warranty is two (2) years. Some individual countries have longer requirements...

United States consumers have no such legal protections and thus are at the mercy of whatever manufactures offer.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/faq/index_en.htm

This being said consumer testing or advocacy groups have found that in most instances major malfunctions with any appliance are likely to occur within first twelve months or less of use. This is one reason why many advise paying for extended warranty at time of purchase.

Also many credit or charge cards will extend original manufactures warranty period if their card was used to pay for entire purchase price.

If things reach a critical mass level then lawsuits will start flying, and or federal government will step in I suppose. Lord knows Maytag was driven into the ground over issues with their Neptune washing machines.
 
This sounds like a sensor value is put out of "whack" with the US hot fill, and the solution can't be to ignore that sensor value (as they may well use it for a different part of the washing cycle, perhaps to specify spin speed to not crease synthetics) . The fix-scheduling of something like that, together with testing etc is undoubtedly what's taking the time.
 
Our Au W1s are hot and cold fill, so it’s not a US specific scenario. My older generation machine has no issues with prewash, one has been updated to its latest firmware and has no issues. I’m surprised your all using prewash that much, I generally only use it a 3-5 times a year.

If you have the text display, what about changing the country code to Au or EU and see whether you have the same issue? Obviously only do so if you are confident with manipulating these settings. Or do the US machines now come locked to the US as a country? The machines we get here, let you choose USA as a region.
 
Pre-wash

My older Miele W1070 states in owners manual that if using liquid detergents pre-wash could be skipped and just go with normal cycle. That machine was made decades ago and believe it was then standard advice which has only grown since.

Unless doing washing grossly contaminated with muck or filth, today's modern detergents and other laundry products cope remarkably well with just a wash cycle alone.

Then you have many European and other washers have "stain" programming which didn't exist previously. Electing that option on a cold fill washer (which most sold in EU are these days), slows down heating to give cool to warm water more time to shift marks before any possible high heat would set them in.

Commercial and laundromat washers normally have a short pre-wash (it varies in length and sometimes can be programmed), mostly to flush away loose soils and muck before the (often comparatively short) main wash cycle or cycles begin.

Quite honestly wash cycles on both my Lavamat washers are long enough on "normal", cannot deal with extra time added for pre-wash.

IIRC Miele over years toyed with not offering pre-wash or even soaking cycles, then bringing them back.
 
I use prewash for heavily soiled laundry. Mostly whites and a hot 140 degree wash. I do not believe we can change the region on USA W1's. Not in the service or programming menu at all.

How do you convert to a cold fill only on USA W1's? I know you have to change the setting for it. Do you keep the hot water line connected? Y adapter? Time increase for heating? I do not use automatic load sensing because the cycle times sometimes shorten too much for normal soil. The washer does not know how dirty the load is just the weight. I also use water plus third option, our water plus is not selective option just increases water level by 3 increments in wash and rinse. Other countries it is selective option also. I also use allergen option for a 3rd rinse or 4th with extra rinse.
 
It worked!

Setting the machine to cold water fill only eliminated the error. Just ran a Sanitize + pre-wash without a hiccup.
Now we know for a fact that the error comes from something related to the switching of EU cold fill only
 
Already spoke with my technician

He said he'll forward the info. Hope he gets some points.

@Derrick, in the settings menu under Additional Programs there's an intake modifier. One can choose either "hot for main wash" or "cold fill only". According to the manual there's no need for y-connectors, the machine won't utilize the hot water valve at all.

I use pre-wash somewhat often. E.g. stopped using paper towels in lieu of about 30 microfiber cloths. Considering they get quite soiled, I prefer to give them a bit of cool enzyme treatment before percarbonating in 170F. Same about bedding, which is heavily starched.
 
Cold fill washing machines are popular and indeed mostly all one can find nowadays in Europe. This ticks off those who have access to hot water at the ready (especially if it's cheaply heated say by solar), and run to washer isn't long. But never the less view of manufactures, many consumer groups, and others is that it's best to let washer heat water to proper temp.

Both my AEG Lavamat washers are cold fill only. In fact looking at Miele W1 washers offered in Europe most seem to be cold fill only, but didn't search entire range for each country. Installation instructions clearly state washer cannot be hooked up to hot water connection.

https://www.manualshelf.com/manual/miele/wea-025-wcs-active/user-manual-english/page-65.html
 

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