My Mothers Bendix.....

[danoz74]

Hi all!

I was wondering if anyone was able to help me re my mothers old Bendix.
It was bought in Sydney, Australia in 1979ish and had the detergent dispenser (with metal flap) on top. From memory the cycle dial was like 1,2,3 etc. Mum mainly used program 1 (Pre-wash, and 95 deg wash.. I was allowed to put the detergent in each compartment!) on my dads clothes. Being a chef, his clothes were often horrific. I can remember sitting on the laundry floor, watching them washing, and fascinated that they came out so white & bright.
When we moved back to France nearly 10 years later, it came with us. Only needed to change the plug and she was off.
They sold it when we moved back to Oz not long after :-(
She bought a Miele at my insistence when we got back, and was never as happy.. Since 1989 they've spent almost the original $2000 on it in repairs.. And I wont even mention my Asko 12605..
They sure don't make 'em like they used to..

Thanks in advance, and thanks for such a fabby site. I thought I was alone in my fascination with all things washers..
Ahh.. The Internet!

Bye from Oz!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Welcome Daniel, We are glad that you found us. We all felt like we were the only ones until we found others who share our fascination. Sorry to hear of your bad service from your Miele. I wonder what the customer service office in the Fatherland would say if you were to discuss your case with someone and fax them your repair invoices. Maybe the local service company is not very good. Can most of the problem diagnosis be done by plugging a computer into the controls? If you don't mind discussing them, what sort of problems have you had? When the spin part of the motor in my old Miele went died, a new motor came to half the price of a new machine, so beautiful as she was, she only lives on in photographs. I am interested in finding out who made the Bendix washer that you had.

Enjoy the club and all of its resources.
Tom

 

[danoz74]

Thanks.. and more info

Tom, thank you for the kind welcome ;-)
I do admit to have been lurking here on and off for ages, but decided to finally join.

The Miele's computer went within the first 8 years.. that was $600+ in itself. It then continued on, until this year where both the rubber door lining (does it have a name, I can't remember) & some internal hoses leaking, and often after an overnight wash, it'd still be turning when mum went to empty it in the morning. It was serviced by Miele Aus for the replacement PC, but they went for an auth'd service guy (local on the Gold Coast, QLD) for the last repairs... I have my suspicions re this as the guy apparently came to look at the rubber lining for a quote, and not long after that, the other probs occured... Cynical?! Moi?
They decided to fix it as my mother has some affection for it now ;-)

As for customer service... My own Asko experience has been nothing but appalling. To be brief:
It's less than 10 years old, and I've had to replace brushes on motor once, then a totally new motor, and finally a new pump. The guy who replaced the motor noticed the spin speed on 1400RPM (towels last load), and said "that's why the motor's gone, you need to use 1000-1200"!
In my letter of complaint I advised Asko that we are only 2 in our household, we only do 3-4 loads a week, that I was told by service dude I shouldn't spin @ 1400.. How can this be possible? How would it handle a family of 5-6??
The reply? Basically told that this is to be expected, that I was being unreasonable in my expectations, that I indeed should not spin @ 1400 and basically sod off..
You can imagine what my reaction was, which included sending the twat a copy of the original brochure extolling the virtues of a 1400 RPM spin speed..
Then again, it seems like all large companies treat us this way..
Finally re the Bendix: Me too!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Daniel, the rubber between the cabinet and the tub is known as the door boot. Yikes! The computer; do you think it might have blown from lightning creating a voltage surge? I have heard about some awful storms down under with bad lightning.

RE: the ASKO. We have heard some reports of bad service. ASKO was involved in a transaction of buying or merging with an Italian firm, not noted for really high quality. My Creda washer has to have the brushes replaced every 5 years, although now it receives less use, so they might last longer. It's on its third set of replacement brushes. That's better than some older Bosch washers around here. The brushes for the motor are no longer available. That is real customer service and product support.

 

[aquarius1984]

i like you

your attitude "about cant be bothered service departments" is bob on. Twats is such a strong word but one i love to use when i cant take anymore lol . Welcome to the party Nick.

 

[danoz74]

Thanks Nick, I like Aquarians too ;-)

You could say I'm not known for my patience with useless "Customer Service" personnel.... And Twat is NOT a stong word... I know of plenty more ;-)
As for Mum's Bendix, maybe there aren't any Aussies here to help ID it :-(

 

[danoz74]

OMG....Just saw this now....

On another thread:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/THREADS/VINTAGE/7882x17.htm

Very similar to the abovementioned model, but dials & dispensor on top of machine..
Seeing that door with it's little handle brought the memories flooding back.. And the program listings.. I vividly remember thinking everytime I saw that program #1 with the black ink dot "BLAT", which pretty much described my dad's chef's gear..
Getting closer to solving the mystery.. Anyone? Mattywashboy, Gizmo? (Hello BTW!)

 

[aquarius1984]

aquarius

i was born in july which makes me a cancerian. Aquarius refers to my love of Hotpoint washing machines which were back in the late 90 britains best selling washing machine. Made in the uk by uk people for uk people. Im not starting about how italian merloni have crashed its superiority. Im close to tears about most things today as it is. Well take care! Lol Nick

 

[tumbler]

Motor brushes

I'm surprised to see that Miele and other machines are still using brushes (series-wound d.c. motorsl Many brands, including Whirlpool Duet, Frigidaire, Maytag et. al. have gone to 3-phase induction motors (except in some cases on their smallest machines) driven by a variable-frequency inverters. This type of motor does not use brushes; automatically, this eliminates a source of service problems and noise.

 

[launderess]

Speaking For Myself, And I Am Unamimous In This

Language!

 

[aquarius1984]

Launderess

apologies but i only usually say that word and the F word to myself when angry. Was just agreeing with Dan about the idiots that make machines that do 1400rpm then say oh you cant use that feature. no offence intended to anyone here. X Nick.