Same procedure as every year, James..

[henene4]

Well, as every once in a while, it was time to descale our washers. After takeing the Panasonic apart and seing the amount of limescale on the heater, I topped up the dosage of the citric acid to 190g per washer.
Pictures:
1. The 380g of pure, powdered citric acid (the package says 375g, but it ended up being 380g total) split up into 2 equal parts.
2. The package says to use 120g per washer and to run a 60°C (140°F) short wash, but about 6 months ago, this was 180g on a normal 95°C (200°F) cycle, which I continue to use.
3. I always dissolve the acid in 1l of hot water before putting it in the washer.
4. All dissolved!
5. The empty drum.
6. The cycle estimates 2:40, but as it is empty, the washer will sense it down to 1:30.

I'll upload some videos later on.

 

[henene4]

Videos

So, Uploading is still in progress after almost 11 1/2 hours. (Applause for German "High Speed" Internet!) I recorded with my Dell Venue 8 Pro. Thus the really bad sound quality. You get the best impression if you turn the volume up. Sorry about that.

So, first video, I start the Bauknecht (The AEG was still running a 40°C Easy Care cycle with darks). It goes through its first sensing sequence and starts filling. I add the water&#92acid mix and let it go.

Second video: At 1:19, the heater (about 1,5kW) kicked in. Being a relatively small heater for our standards, after about 30 minutes of heating, we are only in the 60°C area. Once the washer finished the enzyme stage (on any cotton cycle above 40°C without express option selected, it first heats to 40°, washes a few minutes and the continues heating), it shifts into this rather aggreessive and fast tumbling rythm. On medium to small loads, this usually equals a distribution wash. Once the set temperature is reached, the rythm gets slightly slower. This action is part of the UltimateCare system (as is the fancy drum).

Third video: The heating on the Bauknecht was finished at about 30 minutes left. at exactly 23 minutes, cooldown started. To give the acid a bit more time, I simply unplugged the washer for half an hour. This causes it to restart at the point it stoped. So you see the cool down, drain, first interim spin and begining of the first rinse. It does 2 exactly simmilar rinse except the last one flushes the softner compartment.
As I unplugged the Bauknecht, I started the AEG. Same steps as the AEG. After doing its initial fill and long sensing period (10 minutes), It droped the cycle time to 1:20. It has a 2kW heater, so it was already at 65° after only about 20 minutes of heating. The count down just skipped through the minutes at double speed.

 

[henene4]

More Videos

Fourth video:
To get a faster result and the maximum temperature I can eventually reach, I use the service cycle for all following cleaning steps. First, I enter the service cycle. I select the heater test. The display shows the temperature in °C and the heater turns on. With better sound quality, you would hear a loud grumbling noise, just like when boiling water in a pot. The heating is limited to 80°C, as on most Protex series washers.

Fifth video:
After the washer aborted heating, I use the motor test which turns the drum clockwise at 50rpm, and then counter clockwise at 250rpm. This not only looks cool, but gives the washer a good scrub. Just like the LG tub clean cycle. The display shows the speed in rpm divided by 10, so 25 means 250rpm. I took a save step back as I wasn't sure if the waterlevel is to high. If the water level is to high, the water is pushed up out of the drawer. And with water as hot as 180°F, this can be quite dangerous. Anyway, afterwards, I let it sit for half an hour as well.

Sixth video:
So, the Bauknecht finished rinsing and goes into final spin. I selected the max spin so the tub dries out faster.

 

[henene4]

After the soaking time, I used the service cycle to give the AEG a quick rinse. The display shows the fill level in mm above the lowest point of the tub. (Though this seems wrong, the tub is formed quite oval as this tub design is used with the steam models and the cavity at the bottom of the tub stores and holds the water while steaming.)

 

[henene4]

14 1/2 houes later..

The final video is finaly up.
Here you see me reading out the last fault code and the overall running time. The counter only counts full run-time hours of an activated cycles. So if a cycle runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, it only counts 2 hours. Thus, the 1270 hours (Hr 127 = 1270 hours) are more arround the 1500h range in reality. Makes a total of about 900h a year, with it being 2 years old in May.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thank you for the great videos!

Couldn't you avoid the mineral buildup if you used Calgon in the washer when it is heating? I only asked because I saw an ad for Calgon in a foreign language magazine and the rough translation was that Calgon prevented rocks, although I think mineral deposits was the more finely-tuned definition.

 

[dave886]

Can i use this method in a LG washing machine?

 

[henene4]

@tomturbomatic Yes, we could, but summing up its cheaper to pay 3€ once every 4 months than buying Calgon every week. And as our detergent is really cheap, we wouldn't save this much anyway. We never had a fault because of mineral deposit, but it's better to go save.
@dave886 The citric acid is safe to use on any modern washer in the EU. It should work fine on your LG. Just don't use the tub clean cycle. Select a normal cotton wash with the highest temp and Intensiv. After the sensing, as the washer fills, add the water&#92acid mix. Let it run untill it starts the cool down at the end of the wash and unplug it before the cool down fill completes. Be carefull as it will unlock the door after being unplugged for a few minutes. Then let it sit for half an hour. I don't know if LGs continue the cycle after being plugged in again. If so, let it just finish its cycle. If not, just set it to rinse and spin.

 

[BoschExxcel]

Lovely videos! Nice to see the Bauknecht and AEG in action!

The Whirlpool is due it's first clean/descale since I've had it 6 months. It's not dirty but might need a descale!