What do you hate about your Daily Driver/Dream machine?

[mattywashboy]

Whirlpool WF810W

I have a fewpet hates with this machine. First off all the intermittant spins are pathetic, two short bursts is all we get. ON top of this, when the second burst reaches full speed (about 600rpm) the pump turns off and the drum coasts to a stop, which means the bulk of the water spun out doesnot get pumped out, it just falls back and gets added to the next rinse water, a bit daft in my view. Also the detergent compartment, i think there is a fault becuase i have discovered it does not fill through the main wash compartment at all,only through prewash and softner. It doesn't bother me but my boyfriend kyle took the initiative to do a wash this morning and put powder in the main compartment and it was still there when the cycle was over.This was a white load, meaning lots of dirty socks and coffee stained work shirts. Other than that the machine is okay, washes well, heats fast and the final spin is good, i do admit i am starting to pine for 1000rpms of power, maybe more *looks wistfully out of window*.
Check the vids below to see if you can spot the faults i am on about.
Matt

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mattie17

 

[oxydolfan1]

I have a Whirlpool TL, 1988, 5500XSWO, and there's not much to dislike...it's a great, basic machine.

And I'd never speak ill of my machine, BUT IF I DID:

The control panel is a high-gloss, black, painted, ribbed strip of metal with shiny black knobs, trimmed with faux chrome. The timer has a deep recess beneath the main knob and a faux chrome ring surrounding the dial, and this ALL collects every bit of possible dust, lint, water marks, etc. and requires CONSTANT cleaning, or it looks totally neglected. The recess under the dial gets a little skeevy as well over time, and has to be scrubbed out with an old toothbrush reserved for this purpose.

It's not a functional problem, but quite the annoyance, when you're trying to maintain the piece for historical reasons and sentimentality.

A few years later, white-on-white came into vogue here in the States, and it was an improvement, aesthetically at any rate, and in terms of caring for the control panel, at any rate.

 

[zipdang]

KitchenAid Ensemble

I sometimes get terribly impatient with its infernal, seemingly endless balancing act before launching into a high speed spin. The countdown display might say there are 6 minutes remaining in the cycle, but occasionally it can be more like 15 minutes. Just spin already! Ugh.

My only other gripe is that if you pull the dispenser drawer out while the door is open at 90-degrees or more, the bottom of the dispenser drawer rubs against the top of the door and could scratch the plastic trim. A little bit of extra clearance would be nice.

Regardless, it's still my favorite of all the machines I've had, and the matching dryer is fantastic.

 

[user 12105]

I have one major gripe with my Kenmore 90 series is that the bleach dispencer is pathetically small and if not very careful pouring...bleach all over the place.

Oh yeah and the paint on the front edge in the seam is starting to peel and has started to rust...will take care of that over this next week.

All in all i am happy with this washer...heck and why not,..it's an excellent cleaner.

 

[foraloysius]

My daily drivers are my Miele frontloader and my AEG frontloader.

The only thing I miss on my Miele is a soak cycle. Older Mieles used to have a separate prewash cycle that could be used as a soak cycle and the more modern ones have a soak option. My model (W715) is just between that I guess.

The AEG (Öko Lavamat 6450) also has the problem with the mold in the detergent dispenser. I have to clean it out with chlorine bleach on a regular basis. I also don't like the fact that you can't raise the water level in the rinses. The third annoyance with this machine is the time it takes to get into spin when it's not fully loaded.

Louis

 

[nickuk]

My mother in law's Bosch has a terrible problem with black mould building up in the dispenser, do you think it's when the dispenser is totally airtight, or something? The Hoover Logic which sat in the same spot in the kitchen until 3 years ago never got mould.....

 

[aquarius1984]

The Mold issue was never a problem in any machine I ever used until the house I rented for a while with the Hotpoint WF000.

This machine constantly had mold in the prewash section, I think because the mainwash section had powder flowing through it once a day at least. maybe cleaning it.

The softener was not too bad, I wonder if adding "Microban" detergent dispenser drawers would alleviate the problem.

I believe the chopping boards with it are very good although im a die hard wooden board user for the sake of my knives. Educated Chef and all that.

And AEG produce F/F with Bacteria Guard or whatever in the plastic coating inside. My John Lewis F/F made by AEG had that.

Not that these Microban products are a substitute for a cleaning regime anyway it may just help.

Nick

 

[fredriksam]

machines i have and the bad things about them

Siemens:
1 it failed after 2-3 years of use and i had to find parts to it
2 the balancing act that takes long time and when really unbalanced it does spin and bangs and moves forward.
3 Sometimes it smells sour in the drum, even if i wash at 95 celsius sometimes.

Hoover Keymatic 2234:
Gets stuck after first rinse in all programs. Have to get the card halfway out to countiniue. Of course the machine is pushing over 40 years but still.
Also the clothes gets to tangled up when using the pulsator function.

My dishwasher: Cylinda, Sounds really really strange. Seems to get too hot also.

About another thing. RE: Aeg moldy in dispenser. I have seen that on many Aeg machines that i have recycled. The question is why it gets that way in these machines. I have no idea, but it is a problem for sure.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Mold!!!

My theory is that the mold is due to more natural ingredients and certain new polymers being used in fabric conditioners and such...

Also could be that hot fill used to wash away spores etc, so mold was less likely to grow...

Certainly older UK machines like Hoover , Hotpoint & Servis had quite smooth powder dispensers, unlike say the new AEG, LUX & Zanussi models which I find a complete nightmare to clean...(its a standing joke the first thing I do after doing my sisters dishes is to pull the powder draw out and dunk it in a bowl of hot bleachy water...LOL)

Frederick, sorry to hear you are still having probs with the 3224 Keymatic, when you said you switched the motor last year did you switch the programmer you said you found as well?? If you did its certainly a mismatch of programmer and wiring harness loom, which type of programmer unit was it??

Mike

 

[robm]

Where do I start

I love washing machines but there are things that really ennoy me! However, I won't bore you all with them so I will pick out one of my pet hates which has also been mentioned.

Faffing distributions and spins aaarrrrh

My Miele has got it right I think, but most other machines can be a nightmare. Distributing for ages, a short burst here, a short burst there. A rest, a spin, it's endless. Even the older machines. My mums old 95 series hotpoint, used to spin a short spin at 500 then turn endlessly until another short burst at 500. I can understand letting the water drain inbetween but how long does it take!

Some straightforward spins please. A quick pulse to get heavy water out and then a straightforward step up would be good for me.

That's my moan over LOL

Rob

 

[rinso]

HE3--Good machine overall, but:
Owner's manual is inadequate. It doesn't even explain what the function is of the rear dispenser compartment with that little insert thingy. Nor, does it tell you what happens in each of the cycles.

Not enough water for bulky items like pillows and comforters.

Balance process is extremely time-consumming. After what seems like an eternity of fliping the clothes back and forth, the load still must be perfectly balanced for the machine to ramp up to its highest spin speed, which often doesn't happen.

On Whitest Whites or Heavy Duty cycle, the tumble speed is a bit too slow. Instead of lifting the clothes and dropping them like my Frigemore, it just rolls them into a ball and slops them around.

Just wish appliance maker engineeers would get our input when designing new machines. )