John Lewis mash m/c - any good?

[John Stumbles]

Our old washing machine seems to be destined for the great spin cycle in the sky[1] so new one time. John Lewis have their own brand JLWM1200 for £230[2] but it seems to be made by Zanussi to JL's spec[3].

I thought Zanussi were generally reckoned to be crap. Does the fact John Lewis use them make them OK or make John Lewis crap?

[1] house RCD cut out last weekend. Magic smell seemed to be escaping from machine. Investigation revealed no obvious damage on PCB but motor brushes down to nothing. eBayed some more & put them in today. RCD clicked straight off again. Don't think I can justify shelling out on new PCB or professional repair on ancient machine (Bosch Maxx WFL2260).

[2]

[3]

[The Natural Philosopher]

new motor is sub £100 usually. I had this. Internal motor short to earth.

Get a miele or fix what you have

[Andrew Gabriel]

May need to use an air duster to blow brush dust off the insulators holding the brushes, or wipe them clean if accessible.

New washing machine life has apparenly halved over last 10 years. Changes in wash cycle to meet EU regs also wears clothes much faster. You may well regret getting rid of an older machine which might have been repairable, and ending up with a new one with limited life and not servicable and clothes wearing out faster.

[spuorgelgoog]

I am reduced to pouring in kettles of water through the detergent drawer to get my eco washing machine to use enough water. I like to see my clothes splashing through the Surf.

Haven't found anything that washes as well as a twin-tub with the proviso you need a room with a floor drain to deal with the splashes.

Owain

[Jabba]

[e-mail] scribbled...

I often rinse the washing first, to ensure it's all wet. Overfill too, so the clothes are not rubbing against each other. Dunno if it works !

I worked for a firm that paid it's *repairmen* a bonus for any twin tub they claimed wasn't repairable and took away. It would be fixed, tidied up and out in the showroom in a couple of days. The ripped off dozens of little old ladies - the bastards.

[EricP]

So I am not the only nutter that creeps into the kitchen to do this arcane activity then. :)

[Andrew Gabriel]

+1

I kept my 1980's Hotpoint microprofile machine going as long as possible. I bought it through GEC staff sales and talked with the Hotpoint engineers who designed it (Hotpoint was also GEC back then - it's just a name now used by Merloni/Indesit).

The standard wash cycle was designed to gently lift the clothes out and drop them back into the water repeatedly, to wash the detergent (and rinse water) through them. Variations for different fabrics would change the level so as not to lift the clothes so far, right up to the hand-wash wool program which filled far enough to never lift the clothes out and just slowly agitate them. I used this to wash my dry-clean-only wollen suit trousers many times, without causing any damage.

Today's machines are only allowed to use enough water to dampen the clothes, and then rely on rubbing them together to do the cleaning, i.e. back to the wash-board.

Parts such as drum bearings are no longer replacable - the drums are solvent or heat welded shut, and the inner drums can't be removed. The machine is designed to be replaced when things like drum bearings wear out.

[meow2222]

I'd prefer to fix the Bosch. When brushes wear out they splatter carbon dus t all over, this is the most likely cause of the rcd trip. Running the moto r through the washing machine is an easy way to get most of it off.

Spare used parts arent expensive when you can find them.

NT

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , [e-mail] escribió:

I hope you meant the dishwasher.

Wouldn't that wash the grease out of the bearings?

[harryagain]

Reduced water level = increased mechanical action = more wear on clothes. I have a Miele. Lasted over 20 years so far. Zero repairs. Touch wood. Dunno if the new ones are as good.

[harryagain]

Water levels can be ajusted by fiddling with the pressure switches.

[harryagain]

Hmm. Interesting. I used to repair automatic washing machines thirty odd years ago. Some of them, it wasn't neccesary to open up the outer drum, the bearing was replaced from outside.

But the earliest mass produced ones (Hoover, ?100) were shit. They were put out long before properly developed. The range of fault was small but there were lots of them. Main bearing was one of them. About four/five hours work to replace. It had however a bomb proof induction motor.

[meow2222]

er, yes :) Wy do I do so many typos.

Wuold enough detergent get into them to do that? My current machine's had i ts motor dishwashed and is fine.

NT

[John Stumbles]

That's what it's turned out to be. Less than 10ohms armature to frame

[Mathew Newton]

We've had one - or at least a very similar model (looks the same but has a digital countdown timer) - for around 8 years now and have found it superb. It feels very well built and the only time it let us down was with a weepi ng inlet valve. We live in a very hard water area and such a fault is not a t all uncommon. Finding a replacement valve was easy, as was fitting.

Mathew

[meow2222]

You removed every trace of carbon first?

NT

[meow2222]

iirc the wfl2260 motor is bolted to plastic, so a live motor case doesnt ma tter much - if the tacho isnt case connected. If so, and carbon cleanup doe snt do it, just remove motor earth & fit a caution notice.

NT

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , [e-mail] escribió:

OK, ta. I'd probably give it a go too if it meant I could resurrect a motor, though would want to see if I could re-lubricate the bearings afterwards.

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , EricP writes

Me too, especially for things like bed linen and towels that soak up a lot of water.

[Peter Johnson]

I can't answer the question but is 6kg capacity adequate? (Just changed an old (10 year plus) Bosch 6kg for a Bosch 8kg. And check out ao.com, good for prices and next day deliveries.)