Which Magazine January Test Results

[samsungfl]

Ah I see what you mean now I agree yeah, strange how they can quote a Bosch quieter than an Aqualtis with a Brushless motor! Really shows I think that their testing sometimes isnt up to scratch, their results arent very reliable in some aspects.

Yeah I agree with you there about rinsing performance is alot more than a water level, because like you say there are still many factors to take into consideration, In a rinse i must say the action is a very important role, As Ive realised over time that too much action causes just more un wanted foam in a rinse which isnt really what you want, also the interim spins like you mentioned

Richard

 

[lavamat_jon]

Richard - did you ever find it really annoying when an otherwise clear rinse in your Zanussi would be really foamy cos of the Jetsystem? As fun as it is to watch I prefer how clothes are just saturated and "flexed" in rinsing through normal tumbling rather than just being sprayed at.

Jon

 

[samsungfl]

Jon- Yeah I agree with you 100% on that! the Jetsystem just used to make rinsing a lot harder than what it needed to be at times. I wished it would just shut off when it came to rinses LOL!

And to make matters worse the Zanussi rarely topped the water level back up on rinses so the water level would be underneath the holes in the drum!So there was just enough water for the jetsystem to work!It wasnt until you heard the pump growling because it had nothing to pump through the jetsystem it would do such a stingy top up LOL! Not too sure if AEG'S were/are that bad though! Not my cuppa tea! LOL

Richard

 

[lavamat_jon]

Actually my AEG wasn't too bad - water level would always be in the seal at it's lowest, and if you pressed sensitive care all rinses would of to where the glass became flat, except the 2nd rinse where it would go halfway up the door! Still, cos of the jetsystem it took it 3 or 4 rinses for it to rinse to the same level as the Miele can with just 2 rinses, so something's gotta be said there .

Jon

 

[rolls_rapide]

Zanussi IZ16 rinsing

On my machine, a small load just gets tumbled during the first two rinses, occasionally interspersed with distribution speed tumbling. Jetsystem operates all the time during the rinses, except if...

...the drum is fully loaded (jeans, towels). In which case the action is as mentioned above, plus additional action of low level spin bursts, for 5 seconds at a time.

When the spin bursts section of the programme is identified by the machine, the jetsystem pump stops for a second, then resumes.

The spin bursts DO create a creamy froth that seems to be difficult for the machine to pump either to the jetsystem, or to drain.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Re-invent the Wheel...!!!

It seems the rinsing issue is the biggy at the moment, I`m sure by cutting down and using less powder than manufacturers reccommended doses helps, ( which is always overscribed IMHO)
and using other stuff such as when the spinning between rinses, cut the motor leaver the pump on and start the cold fill, as the drum slows down the cold water is hitting the drum and spraying outer cabinet and flushing excess sudz away!!

I only realised the benefit of it the other day when listening to dads service quartz from the 80`s and seeing it do it. simple things just as altering one tiny bit of programming can make all the difference in performance...we await with baited breathe the all programmable Super Unimatic front loader!!! right Robert..!!!

 

[rolls_rapide]

Rinsing

My 1998 AEG seemed to trickle water very slowly down the back of the dispenser compartment during the intermediate spins (I think). Would this be correct? (I opened the drawer to take a look).

I presumed it was to flush out excess suds.

 

[newwave1]

Having experienced my mothers aeg jet for 4years, even that can struggle with persil non bio! I gotta agree with jon, his miele rinses amazingly to say it does to low rinses and long interms. My newwave is always clear after its 1st lot of interms and that only uses a medium rinse water level and a medium tumble speed and that rinses brill! As does my zanny with its 4 rinses with lotsa water

Rinsing is my biggest factor in a machine, it has to rinse well. No buts. If you ask me its about getting things very wet, and moving the clothes through the water at the right speed. My wt960 is brill at rinsing, on cottons its gr8 with the 1200rpm interm and the high level rinsing, but when i do my colours i've been using reduced creases, with extra rinse which gives me 4 slow tumbles in a medium water level, and things rinse really well!

Im even more intregued by the moon now it's been given a 5star rinse rating, im tempted to find one on ebay and stick a normal indesit door on it just to try

One thing i like about my servis quartz is how it runs the inlet and the pump at the end of an inter spin to clear the pump!

Darren

 

[platinum6]

I love reading Which? sometimes but I don't always believe in what they say because I know that all washing machines they test are good and that I'd stick firmly with my own thoughts about them.

It did however help me with one thing though, to find a new washing machine to replace the (not so) old Hotpoint in 2005. I got a small Which? washing machine guide through the post and the top 3 machines in there were a Dyson, a Siemens and a Bosch. The most reliable brands were AEG, Bosch, Miele and Tricity Bendix. No prizes for guessing what I got to replace the Hotpoint!

It is of course a Miele and for £899 in John Lewis brought me pure washing excellence and to date I still have no problems with it.

It washes and rinses very well on all programmes and it's top 1600RPM spin gets the load almost dry.

Which? is good but sometimes it's also good to trust your own mind and thoughts for getting a new washing machine.

 

[platinum6]

On the subject of rinsing, it doesn't bother me with how well a washing machine rinses clothes but all that's really needed is about 3 or 4 rinses with a decent water level and fast interim spins in between them.

I so love the high water levels that the Hoover Vision does, it's simply a modern day Logic lol. It gives me the impression that it doesn't seem to have overflow protection. My Miele does and it works well. Does Hoover have it on any of their Vision models? Just for added protection?

I'm not criticizing, just wondering if they have it.

But it's good for big loads though, it looks like the water level has been altered by pouring extra water through the dispensing drawer, I do that with my Miele and it gives the load superior rinsing results. Even if I don't, it still rinses fine. No complaints there so why is Which? saying that today's machines don't rinse very well? It all sounds ridiculous to me lol.

 

[samsungfl]

it looks like the water level has been altered by pouring e

Hi, I'm not too sure if the hoover vision has overflow protection i suspect it does though as it would be dangerous for a machine not to have it , I however do not add extra water to the rinse cycle which is the shocking thing, it only does that kind of levels when you fill it full though.

just for anyone who is suspicious of this rinse level ive made a video of it filling to that level by itself. No manual intervension needed.

 

[islingtonsteve]

Hey Samsungfl

That is one hell of a rinse level. I have the 9KG hoover vision ( which is start a new post about in a sec) and i've never seen it do levels like that. I wonder if there's something up with the pressure switch on that. I'm all for good rinsing ( which the vision is great at) but that seems a bit extreme...

 

[samsungfl]

LOL Yeah I agree! Try filling yours full, it might do the same level I didnt realise it could do it up until a week or so ago hehe!

Yeah Ive had my suspicions about the pressure switch to, but it kinda makes sense really because it only does it on enormous loads LOL If it did it all the time I'd call the engineer hehe

Richard

 

[platinum6]

You know what, these high-end Hoover Visions aren't too bad. I'd buy 1 mainly for the nice water levels lol. This should teach all the other brands a thing or 2 about having the right water levels for rinsing.

On my Miele, the water level varies for rinsing depending on the programme and uses the same level on every rinse. How cool is that?

In it's instruction book, it tells me what water levels it'll use in the main-wash and the rinses and although where it says medium level, I expect the level of water to just come up to the glass but instead manages to fill below it. But like I said before, rinsing performance is superb, I just can't fault it!

I think today's machines should do spin-rinsing like the Hoover New-Wave did. This gave better overall rinsing, can't think why no one does it now lol. It's awesome!

 

[rolls_rapide]

The problem with the New Waves (at least the early models) was that the 4 speed levels, 600, 800, 1000, and max rpm were not always followed.

My mother had the AC178 1300 'New Wave' and it sometimes omitted the two faster speeds, instead timing-out and progressing into the next rinse-fill.

On the occasions it did this, I suspect it had suds-lock that prevented the pressure switch resetting itself.

Mum used to use Ariel 'Future' concentrated powder that seemed to foam up.

 

[newwave1]

Newwave

Ahh yes my dear newwave! When all the spins complete the rinse that follows is as clear as day. However sometimes because of the minimal tubgap the foam can really kick up! You have to cut the dosage in half for these machines.

spinrinsing litterally applied to the fast interm spins. the machine still used a decent amount of water, that i'd call a medium level of water. but the actual spin was only in the wash!

I'm lookin forward to using it again soon i haven't had time for my collection lately!

Darren

 

[islingtonsteve]

If I remember rightly from the user manual for the new waves it did stress that it uses a completely different way of washing and that dosage needed to be but by 1/3 if following the instructions on the box of the detergent

 

[newwave1]

Steve,
You are correct! i dont have a manual for mine unfortuately i had a manual for the newwave years ago and in bold print it stated that you did not need to use that much detergent, because of the ecoball, the minimal tub gap and spin wash, it wasn't necessary!

Darren

 

[superelectronic]

Dosing in the New Wave

I'll second/third that re: the dosages for the Hoover New Wave (and Classica/Soft Wave) models.

From memory:

Hard water/full load

Standard powder: 150g (normally 225g)
Concentrated powder: 100ml (normally 150ml)
Liquid: 120ml (normally 150ml)
Concentrated liquid: 80ml (normally 100ml)

The normal dosages were said to be for full loads in large machines (not that machines with capacities in excess of 5kg were really around in the mid 1990s) and could be significantly reduced for smaller machines and lesser loads.

Amazing the crap you can store away in the mind!

Interesting to note that almost no manufacturer I know of recommends anything other than following instructions on the packet now. When the environmentally friendly machines first came out they did cite detergent savings were possible but this practice has disappeared. So the question is: have detergent manufacturers sorted out their dosing tables or is detergent not as strong as it used to be? Or does detergent rinse out more easily or is it formulated so that residue is less of a problem? I wonder...

Of course, consistently recommending/using small dosages can lead to a mucky machine (scale and/or slime) so perhaps that's why the idea was dropped.

Al