Bloody washing machines..

[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh dear. I hate this washing machine.

I amn tempted to replace it, but just in case its worth fixing...

... it leaks water.

Not when I haul it out and watch it run through a cycle...but when it is actually washing - especially big or eccentric loads we THINK.

It's a Hotpont...I suspect the plastic drum is cracked or something...is this worth fixing or is it a chuck job?

Its already sheared off the mountings for the weights which are car body fillered back on to it.

If its a chuck job, how much is a simple reliabel washing machine that does cold as well as hot washing, these days..?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Usually it's the rubber boot(circular rubber seal at the front), that needs replacing or the hose underneath the outer drum. However if the sheard of its mountings and is erratic in operation it's time for a new xmas prezzie. :-)

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Bob Eager]

Check the door seal - it'll get flexed more if there's an eccentric load. Look for cracks and perishing. Only about 7-8 quid and a few minutes to fix it.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Well, do a big load in it, hauled out. Any clues where the water comes from, as in back/front, left/right?

I don't think drum cracking is a common cause of water leaks. New outer drums are of the order of £100.

A colleague bought one ~20 years ago. First time he used it, the concrete weights turned into a pile of sand on the floor. I think they forgot to put any cement in the mixture;-) Mine, which is only a year younger, is still going, but probably near the end. I damaged the outer drum when replacing the drum bearings.

[andy hall]

There's your problem right there.

I suggest the following steps

- Check on the Miele web site for what you want. Most of the range carries a 10 year parts and labour warranty all handled by the manufacturer's excellent service operation.

- Then find the cheapest web price for it. Starts around =A3600

- Get on with the rest of your life because the problem will be solved for at least 10 and probably 20 years.

[Holly, in France]

Been there done this, I think you could be right. One of my machine leaks only with big/heavy loads and it's because there is a little crack at the top of the door seal. Haven't got round to changing it yet so I just use it for smaller loads.

-- Holly, in France Holiday Home in Dordogne

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you mean hot and cold fill, there's little point these days as they use so little water that the hot won't get time to get hot by the time the machine is full.

[Tim S]

I second that.

Our machine just died, so we got the bottom end Miele after considering Bosch high end (Logixx range). Bosch products have served us well but the Miele washing machine was just more solidly built.

We got a Premier 500, which weighs considerably more than what it replaced (they say they use cast iron tank ballast weights rather than concrete), runs really quite quietly and has pretty much every programme feature we wanted. Miele build quality does seem to extend to even the smallest aspect of the machine. Came with a free 5 year warrenty too :)

Currys web site offered it last month at 479.95 which I was extremely surprised when our local Currys store price matched exactly and had it to us in 5 days. Do try that approach, they seem to be quite flexible.

Tim

[The Natural Philosopher]

As far as I scan tell te seal is OK, although te water DIES seem to come from towards teh front of te machine.

I would love to splah out (har har) 600 notes on a relaible machine...but even mieles are not foolproof these days. And a 600 quid machine that only does 10 years is the same as a 300 quid machine that lasts 5 years...or slightly worise when you take the cost of finance into account..

I'll double check the seal though.

[Stuart Noble]

If your requirements are normal (and who the hell uses all those fancy settings anyway?) you might as well go for a sub £200 Servis or similar. We had a cheap Spanish brand (Balay?) for 15 years, and we had an engineer out once IIRC.

[Holly, in France]

Ooh dear me, for once I'm not in agreement (or at least not entirely!) with Andy Hall! That must be a first:-) - not counting the education debate which I have long since given up on! If I had the money I *would* actually buy a Miele, but since I haven't I have fairly recently bought, to replace an old Siemens, two cheap French own-brand machines. They were 179 and 199 euros, ie less than 150GBP each, have 1000 and 1200 spin speeds, more programmes than I am ever likely to use, have a 2 year guarantee (one now over 2 years old, fine so far) and one in particular is exceptionally quiet (alas not the one currently in the house!). So, environmental/recycling issues aside, I am happy with these. Time will tell though, I'll let you know in a few years time.....

-- Holly, in France Holiday Home in Dordogne

[Holly, in France]

Well? :-))