Washing machine. Replace or refurbish ?

[Donwill]

I have a working Servis Gem 800 M328 which I purchased in 1993, it has given excellent service, the only thing going wrong was a door catch and a perished rubber hose which I replaced last year. It survived the move from a previous house to the garage in existing house some 5 years ago. However, after completing a new utility indoors, the time has come to move said WM, but I am toying with the idea of purchasing a new one.

After a search for criteria :- Hot & Cold fill, and low spin speed say

800rpm ( I think the long life of the Gem 800 is due in part to the low spin speed), I failed to find anything at a reasonable price.

Am now thinking that I should stick with the Gem and try and refurbish it, I've rocked the drum and cannot detect any bearing wear, what else should I check and or replace before moving it into the new utility, I don't want a flood on new laminated flooring. Can anyone advise on a) new washing machines, and b) how to and what to check/ replace on the Gem 800.

Cheers Don

[John]

Drop the hot fill idea - almost obsolete feature as:

1. Low quantity of hot intake would mean that in many cases only the cold dead leg would enter the machine.
2. Cost of additional valves and controls
3. Modern Bio powders prefer to start off cold - otherwise a stain gets fixed.

..............it will open up more choice.

>

[Harry Stottle]

The item most subject to wear and leaking on washing machines is the rubber gasket around the door, (porthole gasket). Have a really good look at this, both above and below the water level, especially in any creases, as this is where splits will normally occur. There might be a small neat hole at the bottom of the gasket, but this will usually be to let any water drain back from the gasket to the drum. The outlet pump is the next in line for leaking, usually from the shaft seal between the pump motor and pump casing, but easily detected by a drip directly below the pump.

[Donwill]

Many thanks for the info, the WM seems OK, therefore the old friend has a reprieve.

Cheers Don

[meow2222]

depends what the fault is!

You talk of refurbing it yet dont tell us whats wrong with it. Theres not much point refurbing a machine that works faultlessly.

Re new machines, the prime consideration (imho) is cost versus reliability & life time. There you've got roughly 3 tiers: many brands, eg Servis, in the bottom league, brands like Bosch in the middle, and Miele etc in the top bracket. The other differences are mainly fluff designed to separate buyer and money.

If you get a low end machine, you're right to pick a low end spin speed, as the mechanics will often cope. A low quality machine doing a fast spin is a bad idea. But when you buy better, they're capable of better. However the low spin speed machines then have the attraction of often costing significantly less on an already not-cheap machine.

One good plan is to buy these sorts of things used, at 1 or 2 years old. A third the cost per year of service life, they last nearly as long, and no guarantee means no messing about and waiting ages if it goes wrong, you can sort it out right away, no hassle.

NT

[Harry Stottle]

Not a good idea buying used, unless you know the machine's history, especially from some dealers, you never know what has been done to them. I knew one dealer who would bodge up these type of machines by using different parts from other machines, and then fitting the non standard parts using twisted joints in cables, then using masking tape to cover the joints.

[meow2222]

I was thinking of buying privately, no point paying twice the price at a dealer's to reduce your risk by 10-20%.

Theres nothing wrong with fitting non-original replacement parts.

As far as duff workmanship goes, its always a risk when buying used, buying privately reduces it considerably. Obviously its necessary to be able to assess the machine, a skill many dont have unfortunately. Maybe another wiki article...

NT