Pre 2010 Candy Explodes in the UK

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Horrible... even though just a small number aswell as it was in germany... but it shouldn"t happend at all! Neither to Candy or Indesit or any other brand!
Just to say one funny thing that I constantly see in such UK magazines. Everything bad said about Candy, and then "The reliability section of our washing machine reviews also ranks big names including -->Hoover<--, Bosch and Hotpoint for aftercare and reliability." Hoover is constantly being rated higher for EVERYTHING than Candy. Quality, wash ability... makes me think that they are just making up results for market making ones to sell more.. I mean make difference between Candy and Hoover machine is ABSURD. If they recalled, they would recall only Candy.. I mean so stupid, I have no confidence in their tests anymore..
So, as I am not a subscriber of Which? Can anyone tell me what were results of this "reability" section please?
 
If I remember rightly, Hoover and Hotpoint has often always been a Don't Buy as far as reliability when it comes to Which?...

 

Then again it has been a while since I have been a subscriber.

 

Jon
 
ooh crap!!

my mate has just got a hoover optima coz his old 2004 hotpoint had finaly bitten the dust and the outer drum cracked. sooo i am very scornful of him at the moment!
 
At the end of the day

You're never gonna get anything impressive in the price range these machines sell for, you don't, however, expect them to explode!

It may not only be Candy or Hoover machines this happens to, but these machines do seem to be doing it more than other brands. It's only right this is brought to public attention, this could be very dangerous!

Having used machines made by Candy, Indesit, Beko and Antonio Merloni, I certainly know I'd never want one unless I had no choice! The build quality of low end machines like these tends to be visibly poor and flimsy to the touch.

I'd like to think this would push manufactuers to improve the build quality of low-end brands, and push consumers to pay a bit more for a better quality machine where possible. Sadly, I highly doubt it.

Matt
 
Which don't have any "Don't Buys" at the minute for Washing Machines or Washer Dryers. However, apparently the Candy GO482 was awarded Best Buy status at some point, but many Which customers have reported reliability problems with the model. There are also reports of poor customer service form Candy (but that seems to be the norm with companies these days anyway).

The other day, I spotted a discontinued built-in Candy WD at Homebase (A DIY chain for those who don’t know) that had the old style drum (it looks like the same kind that are fitted to the Hoover Nextras). The old drum seemed to be much better quality then the new ones. The metal seemed to be thicker and the drum seam wasn’t welded.
 
aegockocarat,

As you could see in the text it clearly says that manufacturing mistake was sorted out in 2009! So all machines that are produced in 2010-2011 are secure! You don"t have to worry about your friend ;)
And to be honest, even I was suprised when I saw that GO482 got a "best buy"...
 
4 pictures..

The first might be Candy, might not... 3rd and 4th are 100% Hoover black, but 2ND PICTURE is INDESIT DRUM! This is the picture that "UK whitegoods" tell is CANDY drum...

nrones++2-2-2011-13-32-5.jpg
 
Whether it's an erroneous picture or not, still doesn't excuse the fact that machines from any manufacturer malfunction in such a way.  Even just one machine is bad enough, and it looks like quality control/quality is getting worse and worse not with just appliance companies but companies in general, and it's more than likely going to take human injury before anybody realises.

 

The sad thing is that, especially with the price Hoover machines sell for here, you can get a better built Bosch or Elux or similar for the same amount of money.

 

Jon
 
ofcourse...

But I say again, everyone Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy... and even on site as Washerhelp - same... Indesit will end up like a good one if it goes like that -.-
This is bad, but when talking to people they should at least tell Candy, Hoover, Indesit, Hotpoint-Ariston.. not just Candy.
 
UK Whitegoods advise people not to buy Hotpoint/Indesit products in light of the drum issues.

The problem Candy has is that it has had a poor reputation in the UK for years and this won't help at all.
 
I quite agree with Jon here.

In the past there would have been a safety recall or safety checks made on every machine with that design of drum. Why is this not occurring this time?

You can only cut costs and quality control down to a certain point before people start being injured or worse.

Tom.
 
Perhaps it will be too expensive for them? Either way they (and Hotpoint/Indesit) should be forced to inspect/replace drums of the same design.

If someone is killed or seriously injured by one of them they will probably have much bigger fish to fry.
 
It is the seam that fails.

There really is not retrofit of repair that will fix a poor seam.

One could reprogram the spin speed to be like my 1976 FL washer and have it 550rpm.

Or one could buy back the machines and crush them.

It is the seam on the 201 stainless basket that fails, a poor joint or weld.

One could with a TIG welder add two reinforcement strips; that would cost a bundle, plus one would have one's head in a dinky space.

jnd
 
The outer drum on all Candy/Hoover and Indesit/Hotpoint machines are all sealed these days anyway, so an entire inner/outer drum replacement would be needed.

It's an absolute disgrace, made worse by both companies less then spectacular responses.

I wonder what Lord Weinstock and William Hoover would say???
 
If on had to, one could just take a TIG torch and us it inside the washer to add two renforcements. It would be tough, but there is no sparks.

The inner part of the nbaske is not sealed; that is where ones clothes go! :)
 
I don't care if it's too expensive, these companies shouldn't put a price on safety. If it was my company I'd replace the whole lot. In fact I'd make them more repairable in the first place, but that's another point.

Tom.
 
No recall

For sorting out the problem: In every text about this it said that Candy Repaired machine that was broken in the factory (the one that was assembling the drums) in 2009, that means that good machine is there from 2010 on.. and it is for machines that came ONLY from BRUGHERIO factory! (in that factory thing was broken).

No recall, because too little cases happend! I know that number around 30 cases (from both Indesit and Candy) looks BIG, but to the number of machine they sell in the year it"s like 0.01%. Ofcourse because of this problem you can call both Candy and Indesit, and (suprisingly) they will come for a free checkup!

Oh I forgot to say that drum machine in Brugherio was broken, but not totally.. simply it done some drums properly as it should, and some not.. anyway it"s replaced year and a half ago.
+injured people.. I think I read somewhere that the reason why they weren"t recalled in Germany, is because they done some tests, and they came to conclusion that people can only be injured, without anything deadly. If I find where I read it I will post it.

cheers,
Dex :)
 
Most Washers with a major failure are disposed of.

Today's society typically will not pay more for consumer items that are easier to repair. What sells is a flashy new looking item, that polished mirror finish spin basket. The labor cost of replacing a corroded aluminum spider and or bearings on a typical FL washer can approach what another new washer costs. The problem is worsened with items not built in ones own country, parts cost more.

It is actually we consumers that put a price on safety. Nobody wants to have all ones items one buys double in price. If 1 in 10,000 tires gets a bubble in 10Km; none will pay double to have 1 tire get a bubble in 20Km.

Consumers whine about a few percent difference in prices, they work sales, try to skirt VAT and sales taxes.

I drove an 1971 MGB that twice had its headlight switch fail and thus one had no headlights. The first time it happened was while on a dark windy road at night. I guess the theory is one in Europe uses the highbeam arm as the backup?. ie MGB knew about the issue and consumers did not complain enough to get a better switch. I never had a USA built car do this ever, thus here it was shocking. It is also why Lucas is called the Prince of darkness with electrical items here.

Here in the USA some states charge yearly local taxes on one's inventory. Thus if one has 100,000 dollars worth of spare parts in a store, one pays about 3000 dollars per year in tax. This is a local tax on the items cost, paid as a property tax. To get around the tax some do not count all the items; or move them out of the building, or hide stuff. With time many old parts have palty sales; thus the tax is more on the item than the sales and parts are sold to another dealer; or more often thrown away and go into a landfill. One could buy some spares on Ebay for little cost and the tax man wants to carry the items tax basis as what the normal cost is.
 
I was told and remember the Hoover De luxe from the 1970's was such a bad machine that Hoover had to get the act quickly together as customer flocked to buy AEG and Zanussi machines in the late 1970's and ealy 1980's. I have heard of this and this fault should not be happening, The trouble today is that many brands are now owned by big groups and made on automated lines.
 
No recall?

I'm sorry, but that's disgisting, it dosen't matter how few machines it is, or that they have fixed the problem. It also dosen't matter if the machines would "only" injure people, not fatally.

They know that some of their machines, no matter how few, could potentially injure someone and won't do anything about it. Shows what kind of careless money hungry company Candy is (and Indesit).

Matt
 
I don't think Toyota had too many cars with their recent, and somewhat infamous accelerator fault, but they still recalled them.

 

You can have 1 machine in say 500,000 that has a serious fault, but if all machines are made to the same standard with similar defects/weaknesses then what's to say it won't happen again?  The basic matter is that 30 machines have more or less self destructed, whether its 0.01% of the manufacturing output or 100% it still needs to be sorted especially in such a serious case!  Whether it's of a current generation or previous generation either does not matter, the quality shouldn't have been so bad for it to happen in the first place. What if it happened when a kid like most of us would have done when we were little were sat in front of the washer watching it? Or even to a bystander preparing dinner in the kitchen over or near to the washer...

 

Must be a thing with Italian companies in general, after another fairly recent experience I've had with Fiat... :-)

 

Jon
 
The fact that Hoover/Candy claim the issue was resolved in 2009 bothers me - it does rather imply that after identifying the potential problem, they just hoped that it wouldn't manifest itself in the lifetimes of the affected machines. Their claims that it is a 'very small, very rare issue' rings a bit hollow, as new cases keep cropping up - it'll be interesting to hear what UK Trading Standards decide to do.

Like Keith says, drum failures have happened before, but old machines offered a degree of protection with their steel outer tubs, which would have lessened the chances of the inner tub exploding out like it has on these machines with plastic outer tubs.

Personally, I'd be very wary if I owned any of these Hoover/Candy machines. The faults and their response with the 'The One' vacuum cleaners showed their contempt for the customer, but at least safety wasn't an issue with those. It seems that the only thing that is going to make the company take action is, unfortunately, the first major injury or - god forbid - death that this causes.

It kind of reminds me of the Corporate Ethics scandals from the automotive industry - the Chevrolet Corvair of 1960, where the car could lose control and roll over very easily, and the 1971 Ford Pinto. With that vehicle, Ford actually calculated that it would be cheaper to pay compensation to the families of those burnt to death in those cars than to recall all the cars and fix them. That one puts a chill right down my spine, and puts me right off Ford cars!


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About 15 to 20 years ago there were many counterfeit "foreign" auto parts on the market in the USA. One of the major car magazines was showing how to id the fake boxes, fake logos. In some knockoffs of Lucas ignition points and coils, the knockoffs were better in quality. With the MGB I drove once the bug came off the rotor and I got stuck on the road. I had a spare in the truck thus I got home.

In Fiats in the USA; there were some old models that got recalled because the car was a safety hazard because the frame rusted in key places and the car was structurally unsound.

A current scandel around the globe is that jet aircraft are serviced at the low bidder; and fake fasteners and parts are used at times.

The Chevy Corvair was no more dangerous than any other 1960's car of that era. Many folks ate up Naders book based on really no facts and BS.It really helped the Ford Mustang's sales too. What Naders book really did is get seat belts in cars, dual brake cylinders front/back, collapable stearin columns, keand side lights on cars around 1966 to 1967ish. The Chevy Corvair was the scape goat. It is really a great handling car. An MBG that dies in traffic or has its headlights die on a windy road is a corporate ethics issue, a dangerous simple thing like rotor and headlight switch is made to low in quality, thus one has failures at the worst times. Nadars book killed a car that was no le3ss unsafe that others of that era.

"A 1972 safety commission report conducted by Texas A&M University concluded that the 1960-1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control than its contemporaries in extreme situations.[23]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvair
 
Washings dangers

Historically dangers in washing were/are:

Drowning in the old creek,

catching Pneumonia

Getting burned by boiling water

Getting ones hands caught in a wringer machine

An exploding washer is so odd that a recall may not even have happened until recently.

There are probably gobs more folks electrocuted around a washer or dryer; or kids killed by getting into one; or folks who hurt their backs moving them,dryer fires, than ones hurt with exploding washers.

Having a washer fly apart and kill somebody seems like unwritten territory.

If it was fire related; then the fire guys get involved. It it was a expodling pressure vessel, the ASME guys here get involved.

The washer basket flying apart is like a failure of a clutch that breaks and is massive failure, or where the lawn mower blade tip speed is regulated here.

The whole boiler codes came out in the steam train era due to loss of live and limb.

Other than dryer fires, kids in washer/dryer, wringers ; shocks and getting hands into belts/pulleys; that other hazards have there been?
 
They still aren"t sleeping!

You people constantly tell the neither Candy or Indesit doo anything..
Candy: you chan check by entering a Serial number of your machine (but that can be faulty), and no matter what you can call Candy service for free checkup! If machine is affected, you get another non-affected one for free...
Indesit: everything the same, but instead of having new replacement, you get some security things on it, that will make sure there will be inner damage only.
But it is true that they knew that there was something wrong, but maybe they thought it won"t be that bad.. who knows...

Maybe they did announced it somewhere, but nobody seen (and I repeat, probobly no one would know about this, if it didn"t happend in Stiftung Warenttest lab - whao knows what other scandals there might be on washers!). I am telling this because they mooved producing their gas hobs in Turkey, and in turkey there was no law that said the "sicuriflame" (the thing that stops flowing of gas if there is not flame) has to be put. So they in Turkey didn"t put that, so those hobs were like all others, just without that extra security --> Candy announced that on every country"s website where those from series it wasn"t put were sold (you can go to Candy italian website to check..)

Well, anyway it shouldn"t have happened. :/
 
>>You people constantly tell the neither Candy or Indesit doo anything..
Candy: you chan check by entering a Serial number of your machine (but that can be faulty), and no matter what you can call Candy service for free checkup! If machine is affected, you get another non-affected one for free...

You can't check on the UK website (yet). On Which, a customer posted who purchased a GO482 in 2008 called Candy and reported that they blew them off saying that if there’s no problem with it now then it shouldn’t blow up.

BTW Our Hoover WD squeaky drum is getting worse; I'll be calling them out tomorrow.

About 3 months old and it will have its second callout by tomorrow - it speaks volums about Candy's lack of quality.
 

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