Baumatic appliances - any opinions?

[newman]

I will be fitting a new kitchen and have been looking at Baumatic integrated appliances. Does anyone have good or bad experiences to share?

Regards

[usenet]

We have a Baumatic sink, which is fine, and a Baumatic built in dishwasher which has had a number of problems.

We've had it (or them actually) for about two and a half years. The first one died completely about 15 months from new and, even though out of guarantee, we got it replaced free of charge by pressing the SOGA. The replacement (a different, better, model) worked well for about 15 months again but has been playing up for the past couple of months. It fails to rinse properly and often seems unable to start it's pump up and keeps retrying.

The service organisation isn't very satisfactory either, the engineer isn't very good at listening to the symptoms one describes and doesn't really check that the machine is actually working satisfactorily before leaving. The last time he didn't reassemble it completely either - he left the top cover off.

I doubt we'll buy Baumatic again and I also doubt if we'll buy an integrated machine again either. The silly hoops one has to jump through because of the concealed switches would all be avoided by simply having the controls on the front. We don't conceal ovens and hobs so why conceal dishawashers?

All our previous dishwashers have worked for years without any problems at all.

[Christian McArdle]

If you want front panel controls, you should consider a "semi-integrated" model. I actually prefer fully integrated models, not only because they look better, but because the hidden controls are usually easy to use electronic switches rather than tatty motorised switches, which I absolutely despise.

Christian.

[Martin Angove]

We have Baumatic built-under electric oven, 4-burner hob and cooker hood (Screwfix). Can't say we've had any problems with them. They may not be built quite as well as some other brands, the 3kW burner on the hob whistles if you turn it down to just above simmer and the hood is a little noisier than we'd have liked, but otherwise we've been pretty pleased with them so far.

Our other new appliances came from the same end of the market; Beko (Currys). We have (stand-alone) dishwasher, fridge and freezer, and are very happy with all three. The freezer in particular has more room inside than seems possible on the outside :-)

Caveat: although we bought the appliances just about a year ago, they've only been in daily use since last August.

Hwyl!

M.

[AlexW]

Have 5 burner hob, built in Elec oven and wide extractor hood. All working fine after 2 years, no prob's at all. Whole shebang cost around £450 IIRC from a local dealer.

Also, a while back the hood appeared in MFI badged as Bosch (IIRC) for approx 3 times the price, I had a very good look internally and externally and could not tell the difference at all. Dunno if there was any.

HTH,

Alex.

[Christian McArdle]

Almost all cooker hoods are made by one company (elica) and then rebadged to extinction. You may have one of those.

Christian.

[AlexW]

Right, sounds like it ... glad I did not pay Bosch money though, even if I was bothered by the whole branding thing, there was no actual badge!

Alex.

[Oliver]

Got a 4 hob gas hob and electric oven fitted, the on fitting made a whiring noise (Not the fan, alot louder) and the element glowed bright red, called up the service team and they sent someone out within 2 days, not bad service if you ask me, and they look good and dont cost the earth, not sure if they work that well (Doesnt really matter as the house there in is for renovation)

[Mike]

We bought a Baumatic hood which took ages to come and when it did it had obviously been reconditioned. But as we had already made the cut-out for it we kept it.

[Seri]

Seeing as our kitchen has a few Baumatic items in it I'm posting my comments on them one at a time:

Baumatic 5 Burner 90cm Hob (B17.7 -

The hob is pretty good, solid controls, easy to fit and install, good and clear instructions for both installation and use. Problems: The little rubber feet on the bottom of the cast iron pan stands come off and require refixing with heat proof glue. The small burners let out a high pitched whistle when turned down to the lowest setting.

Baumatic Stainless Steel 90cm Splashback Big lump of metal with the word Baumatic embossed in it, fairly solidly made. Problems: Instructions are non existent (no idea whether the wood panel that comes fitted into it is just for transportation or if it's part of the splashback to help reduce dints and dings). When peeling off the plastic coating it leaves areas that look distressingly like scratches, but these are easily removed with a gentle wipe of thinners.

Baumatic 90cm Glass and Stainless Cooker Hood (BT82.1 -

Construction is sound and solid, pretty well engineered and easy to put together. Comes with two chimney sheaths so it can be brought down quite low and have the chimney reaching the ceiling with no issues. Problems: The mounting holes in ours weren't quite level which made hanging it a bit more fiddly than it could have been. The instructions are next to useless for telling you how to put it together (only 5 minutes of head scratching required however).

Baumatic 100cm Uragano Sink (BX30P -

sink is lovely, has to be one of the nicest sinks I've seen. It has sound dampening on the underside and it's solidly made and designed. The attachments and fittings for it all slot in snugly without being tight and the waste trap and drain has a nice action to it. Problems: No template to tell you how big the cut-out needs to be (an annoying problem as the grips to hold the sink to the countertop require and extra 15mm all round to be cut out)

Baumatic Monobloc Mixer Tap (FX300SS -

actually plumbed in yet so can't comment too much. Problems: Had marking on it that doesn't look like it will ever come off.

Random accessories: Baumatic Griddle Plate - A nice solid big lump of metal

Hmmm, that's my lot, hope it helps a little.

Seri

[usenet]

Seri wrote: [generally favourable comments about Baumatic snipped]

I note that you say in some cases that the instructions were rubbish. Our (unreliable) Baumatic dishwashers have rubbish instructions too, both from the point of view of installation and of use.

For example:-

The instructions say that one should adjust the door catch on the dishwasher after installation, and they tell you how to do it in the sense of how you loosen it and move it. What they don't tell you is what you are trying to make the latch do, i.e. how tight the door should shut or whatever.

Similarly the list of wash cycles tells you all sorts of useless stuff about each wash but doesn't grade them at all. There are washes with names like 'strong', 'intensive', 'vigorous' but it's well nigh impossible to tell which is the strongest. There are several with almost the same duration and temperature. The cycle number bears no relation to the duration/strength, 1 is a short rinse, 2 is the longest cycle, 6 is the shortest wash cycle.

[Martin Angove]

Ok so ours is a Beko, but what seems to happen is that if the DW isn't quite level, the door, being hinged at the bottom, shows it worst. Perhaps your door adjustment is simply to allow for this? I take it that it closes ok and the washer runs and doesn't leak?

Again, with our Beko, the numbers go up with temperature, mainly, thus:

1: cold pre-wash (4 litres, 15 minutes) 2: 35C quick wash (wash, rinse, 11 litres, 30 minutes, 0.85kWh) 3: 40C gentle wash (pre-wash, wash, rinse, 14 litres, 71 minutes, 1.08kWh) All the rest have the same pre, wash, rinse cycle. 4: 50C "economy" wash (14 litres, 170 minutes, 1.05kWh) 5: 55C "normal" wash (14 litres, 96 minutes, 1.51kWh) 6: 60C "super" wash (14 litres, 106 mintues, 1.73kWh) 7: 70C "intensive" wash (hot pre-wash, 18.4 litres, 125 minutes, 2kWh) 8: "auto" wash (programme varies, up to 22 litres, 167 minutes and 1.9kWh)

Which sounds a bit more logical than yours. I don't know why I just listed all that, sorry, it is *totally* irrelevant.

Hwyl!

M.

[usenet]

I wasn't actually asking for help. The adjustment is so that the microswitch that shows the door is closed works reliably but nothing in the handbook tells you this. If it's not adjusted correctly then the door can appear to close but the dishwasher won't run because the microswitch isn't operated, or even worse the microswitch goes from on to off half way through a wash.

[snip sensible list]

Exactly, that's what one expects but the Baumatic ones are apparently completely random and the descriptions are such that you can't really tell which is more intense anyway.