New miele washer and dryer

[moon1234]

Called Miele USA and asked when they are coming to the USA. Miele said they have no intentions of bringing the newer line to the USA in the next three years. They directed me to the professional line for an 8KG washer.

While I like the Octoblue, the price is crazy expensive.

We have a W4840 that we have 6000 hours on. We bought it a little over five years ago. It has NOT been maintenance free. We have had the rubber door seal replaced once (soon to be done again) due to it leaking from the front door, the door latch has been replaced/upgraded. Now the water path control unit needs to be replaced. It just clicks and then the cycle aborts with an F63 fault code.

The T9800 Dryer has had the belt replaced, heat sensor replaced and the lint trap replaced with one that had larger holes. The one with the smaller holes would cause the dryer to overheat.

My quote from Miele for the most recent breakdown, F63 fault code, is $550 to $600. $199 for the Water Path Control Unit, $80/hour labor, $110 Diagnosis Fee and $150 trip charge.

It is very frustrating for me. We are a family of 10 people and do 4-6 loads of laundry EACH day plus diapers. We had bought a Bosch AXXIS WAS24460UC washer JUST for diapers. It lasted a sum total of 18 months and the motor died. I have not replaced the motor yet. That is a $200 fix if I do the motor myself.

I don't know what to buy that is going to last. I would love a Miele Professional line, but I just can't understand why they provide a one year warranty on a $4000-$6000 washer? It doesn't make any sense!

My wife wants to just chuck all the Miele stuff and get a couple Electrolux FL washers and replace them every few years. She said she is tired of waiting two to four weeks to have a washer repaired and that Miele just does not hold up like they claim.

Anyone have thoughts on what to do? We are getting the W4840 fixed for now, but I feel a new washer will be purchased after the next breakdown. We need something that can withstand our laundry volume and still has a true sanitize function (diapers, etc.)

 

[turboace]

Ugh, don't want to hear this. I just got the F63 for the first time the other day. I power cycled it and it's been just fine for a few weeks since. How did your F63 start?

 

[henene4]

Well, the Professional washers are way faster and more durable. If that is to expensive, you could may try to get an ASKO er so

 

[logixx]

I'd say you should either invest in a Pro model and be done with it or get a Speed Queen and either sanitize with bleach and an extra rinse or put the diapers through the dryer on max temp and maybe a little too much time (basicall over-dry them because that's when clothes get really hot).

The Miele's Octo line, the domestic W4000 line and the SQs have the same drum volume of 80 liters, I think.

The warranty thing is interesting. It seems that Miele offers its 10 Year Warranty on select domestic washing machines everywhere but in the US. I wonder why.

 

[richnz]

I'd say fix it yourself. The water path control unit is at the top and if you succeed then you've saved a whole lot and if you don't then you're no worse off.

I say this because I had an issue where no water was admitted into the fabric softener compartment. I found one of the brass contacts was bent and after it was straightened the problem went away.

Perhaps start a new thread. I have a W360 machine and can provide pictures of its innards.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Wow

Well have never heard a Miele sound like that, what are the other issues that are surfacing with the new models?

Hello Moon, are those 6 - 8 loads a day all full capacity loads? at that rate you would be better off with the larger capacity models, but strange that its only a 1 yr warranty.

 

[logixx]

FWIW...

 

[moon1234]

@logixx

Yes it is the water path control unit. Started out saying "Fault - Door Blocked". Then it switched to F63 fault code and has stayed there. A few minutes into the cycle we hear click-click-click-click for about 30 seconds. Then the buzzers/alarms go off, the water drains and it displays the fault code.

I removed the soap dispenser drawer and looked inside while the clicking was happening and you can see what looks like a plastic flag in the back on the right. It is slightly moving back and forth. Almost like a gear that is missing a tooth. I stuck a metal hanger in there and moved the flag back and forth and if you get it in just the right place the clicking will stop and the cycle will continue. After the next drain cycle it will start clicking again.

My hanger trick worked for about three days. I guess whatever is broken inside the water path control unit is now actually broken.

I would try fixing it myself, but the water path control unit part is $200. That is a big expense to gamble on. I would rather pay a REAL Miele tech to fix the problem.

@chestermikeuk
Yes our loads are 6-8 full to the max loads per day. Our house consists of the following ages:
36
34
13
12
11
6
4
3
23 months
8 months

The last two are still in cloth diapers. We would go broke if we had to buy disposables. The oldest 6 all take daily showers and the younger ones take a bath. That means a minimum of 10 towels per day. The two oldest females usually use two towels per day (one on the head and one on the body). Then account for towels used to cleanup spills in the kitchen, hand washing towels, etc.

Next up is a set of clothes for every person followed by 5-12 diapers per day with associated cloth wipes, diaper covers, etc.

Add in bed sheets, pillow cases, etc. once per week and laundry gets very overwhelming if not done on a daily or semi-daily basis.

I would NEVER think of using bleach in all of my loads. The clothes wear out fast enough as it is. A simple capful of bleach on a towel will cause a hole to form within 5 washes. We run all towels and underwear through sanitize cycles EVERY time. The pediatricians are always amazed we are not more sick during the winter than we already get. I attribute that to prompt sanitize cycles and religious hand washing when sickness is going around.

The Octoblue 8KG machine is almost $7000 in the USA. It comes with a one year warranty and requires Miele to install it. It looks virtually identical to the W48xx series washers, but with the better digital interface. If Miele offered a 10 year warranty I might think this was ok, but they offer 1 year. To me that is CRAZY. Korean cars that drive down the road cost a few thousand more and come with a 10 year, 200,000 mile warranty.

It is almost like Miele does not want to sell laundry in the US and prices it high to discourage purchases. If their warranty matched the price, then I would say Miele is standing behind their product. Canadian customers were offered 10 year warranties. Why did they offer only one year warranties in the USA?

Speed Queen has no sanitize capability so they are basically out from a hygiene perspective.

I am a little disappointed in our Bosch WAS24460UC in only lasting 18 months. My guess is that the brushes are shot. I have done this dance in the past with Bosch and new brushes will only get you a few months due to the groves worn in the commutators. Without machining to make them smooth the new brushes don't last very long. The brushes also make a HUGE carbon mess all over the motor windings and it only get worse when just the brushes are replaced and the motor is not cleaned and re-built. SO, that usually means it is just cheaper and easier to replace the motor. Surprise, surprise this NOT cheap. Miele at least has a brushless motor on their W48xx series washers. As far as I know LG is the only other company to offer brushless motors besides Miele. LG build quality sucks though.

Uhh. I don't think anyone makes anything quality and actually stands behind it. Miele is usually quality, but they just don't stand behind it in the US like they do the rest of the world.

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

Surprised Bosch in the states are still using a brushed motor, everywhere else they're all brushless (all WAS, all WAY, select WAP models anyway).

Surprised none of you lot of purchased a new Miele yet, interested to see more videos, and in better quality too.

 

[ozzie908]

2 machines?

Do you have room for 2 washers maybe one that does not need to do the sanitise cycles?

Austin

 

[MieleisdaTits]

I like the precise aspects of the aesthetics... It looks fresh... although I liked it less this morning than when i saw it last night. I much prefer the Chrome series to the "white" series.. But I doth think we'll be getting them int he US anytime soon.. it always takes a couple of years. Anyway..Tomorrow I get a new pair of Miele's delivered anyway...( I got the Little Giants in stainless steel) Now that it works on more rational current I decided to get the Machine I always really wanted .. although perusing the instruction manual makes me wonder if i will ever be able to fathom its complex mind...(ie get it to work!) MY W1215 i chose for the 240 V aspect, but was too dumbed up for me.. and WHOEVER decided to put the word STURDY on washer AND the dryer??... Makes ZERO sense... my two 1926's never used that word, besides i like numbers for my temperature not random words! Recently this ridiculous word annoyed me SO much that I had to get rid of em.. even though they do an AMAZING job in every respect.. (I'm giving em to the lesbo's across the hall that we love. They a clearly are puzzled by the neighborly gift...(which leads me to believe they don't know how to do laundry at all and they send it out!... but the 1215 and the 1415 will fix that I'm sure, and they'll get into the chore soon!) I'm sure performance wise the new W6065 will not be much different... we'll see in a day or so.. but" the word" has gone... and I get to have numbers! .. Mission accomplished! Anyway.. maybe in 2015 i can get these new Miele's that are obviously so very de rigueur in Brussels these days

Also, (today cus of some person on this website raving about his) I am getting a "Laura-something" ironing device delivered... It's better be good for 2+ grand,, (The Miele version is sexier I think but the Laura thing was more readily available so I caved in and bought one - anyway I have the new Miele Rotary Iron already so I can't feel too guilty about straying brand-wise)

On a side note... Laundress is fascinating, wonderful knowledge and wit rolled into one! (In the laundry closet on top of the dryer is a bottle of Laundress Starch and some Denim wash stuff (great stuff!)... might be the same chick even come to think to it!? She even knows about voltage... so if the Little Giants don't like the prewar/gilded age voltage situation in my apartment... I'll have to get her to chime in to help the electrician... cus American electricians always seem to hate Miele's plugs no matter what the Model I've had!

Enough Rambling!

 

[henene4]

Love to hear you get an industrial machine! You know it can reach 195°F? Try it with some whites and JUST normal detergent. You will never ever again miss a 195°F on any washer you will buy (probably, the next one you will buy is built today in about 30 years).
A nice thing on that washer is the option to programm anything (Wash times, rinse times, rinse levels, number of rinses etc.).
There are just THAT MUCH settings, it is like you would work for Miele and optimize the cycle HOWEVER YOU WANT!!!

 

[launderess]

Weclome To The World Of Miele

*LOL*

Was watching the film "Marathon Man" past weekend on television and the end scene with the German trying to talk Dustin Hoffman out of killing him pretty much fit how one feels about Miele.

All the while DH's character was telling the German to "not move", "don't come any close" the German just keeps talking over him as if nothing DH says is of any consequence, in short *you* don't matter, only us.

Miele does make some wonderful appliances but their customer service tends to leave myself and others cold. You will be told "the machine cannot be doing that". If you continue and insist then it is "what have *YOU* been doing to the machine?" "maybe you have been using the wrong products or don't know how to do laundry properly...).

When Miele USA finally does agree you'll need a service call count on waiting several days to two weeks (or longer) for someone to show up. This new breaking down of service charges is something new for Miele USA. Remember them telling us about it when going through it over our W1070.

Basically rather than bill flat hourly charges as they used to; now you pay for different bits. There is a charge to come out, another to "diagnose", yet another for labour, and of course parts.

As for quality the W4000 series didn't live long and from what one understands both the washer and matching dryer gave more problems than they were worth. It doesn't surprise me that Miele pulled the plug on both so soon after introduction.

Many persons purchased these uber-sized Miele units thinking at last they would get a German built quality Miele product with American size capacity. Er, wrong! *LOL*

When the washer worked, things were fine, but more often than not things kept going wrong. Door seals leaking, water/suds coming out of the detergent dispenser, internal flood control registering it detected "leaks" then shutting down the machine. To remedy this often fault MieleUSA would tell customers to tip the washer forward, then allow it to "air and rest" for a day or so. So there you are sitting with a washing machine that equals a mortgage payment for some, and it is sitting their airing out for a few days. This of course means you cannot do laundry unless there is a back-up washer, or hit the Laundromat.

To the OP: You might wish to consider finding an older Miele model such as the 19XX or even 12XX series that will do very hot to boiling washes. Have seen several NIB/uninstalled sets of 12XX series on fleaPay over the past few months. You also find new or slightly used 19xx series units on same as well.

For your other routine laundry have you considered purchasing a soft mount Wascomat or similar commercial machine? You can find them often on eBay as well (someone just sold a NIB older Wascomat that only fetched <$500).

If the washer is close enough to water heater and you prime the tap before it fills you should get a decent hot wash. If you set the pre-wash to warm that will heat up the machine and you'll have less heat loss during the hot wash cycle.

Look also at some of the OPL offerings from Electrolux and Wascomat. They may have a few more cycles and bells than Laundromat machines.

There are other European washing machines sold in the USA that will reach hot to maybe boil wash temps. Both Fagor and Blomberg come to mind; however their service network may be small to nil in your local area.

 

[launderess]

Fagor

Pipe:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[washer111]

Video of Delicates Cycle:

To me, to see that was very concerning. The probably about the water level our Miele machine gives when on the Cottons cycle, not Delicates. In fact, our Delicates cycle fills right the way to half-way up the door - which is seriously Delicate compared to that wash action...

 

[logixx]

Well, I played with the new series at the store and have come to pretty much the same conclusions as other members from Germany.

 

- door is now all plastic - not that it's a bad thing as such but I don't think I would slam the door shut like the previous door allowed one to do

- cycle knob has some play to it, while the knob from the W3000 series clicks firmly into place

- that orange door handle could be slid around the door frame (from the actual position at 10 o' clock to 2 o' clock)

- detergent dispenser is very wobbly

 

The dryers are actually nicer. The lint filter pulls out towards you just like a drawer, which I liked.

 

Alex

 

[moon1234]

Well I took some pictures and a video of my "Water Path Control Unit" problem with the W4840. Maybe these will help someone else that is starting to experience this problem. It looks like a white powder if forming on the plastic gear that moves the water path from stage 1 through stage 4. This could be lime buildup as we have somewhat hard water. Not sure though. A nudge with a screwdriver will make the gear advance. I guess this what I have to put up with until Miele gets here with parts.

The yellowish part on the right is the water path control until. You can sort of make out the red plastic gear.

 

[moon1234]

Closer picture where the gear can be better seen.

 

[moon1234]

Overview with the top off. Water path control unit on the top left. Followed by a link to a video where the clicking can be seen and heard.

 

[ozzie908]

Whilst awaiting a part

would it be worthwhile taking it apart and giving it a clean and lubricate?