Slow wash on a washing machine

The time taken for a 60 degree cotton wash in my LG washing machine seems to vary enormously. Sometimes it takes over three hours. Today it is claiming it will take one hour and 15 minutes. I used to think it was to do with the size (weight?) of the load but today is quite a full load with what seems to be a fast cycle time. I'm puzzled.

Reply to
Scott
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Washing machines tend to adjust the amount of water used dependant on load. A large load will act like a large sponge and the much water is retained in the garments when the machine checks the water level. The greater amount of water in the machine during the heating cycle the longer it takes.

Reply to
alan_m

Do you mean the time on the display, or the actual time taken? If on the display, when did it show? As soon as you set it, or shortly after?

I'm used to mine revising the time mid cycle. For the 60° cotton wash it starts at 2:42, then it might jump from 2:08 to 1:18 and end up taking

1:52. I assume this is because the time taken for the water to reach 60° will depend of the amount of water which will depend on the size of the load. (It tops up a few minutes after starting.)
Reply to
Max Demian

On the display after a bit of 'analysing' but is seems accurate. I think Alan has hit the nail on the head in that the washing was bulky more than heavy.

Reply to
Scott

I have had similar, with mine I get an error message saying low water press ure, for which I just hit the start button and it tries again and is OK for 20mins or so depending on cycle. At one point it got really slow 9 hours f or a 2 hour wash I then remmebered I hadn;t used that calgon for a few mont hs, so I brought some more and while using it the firts wash time reduced b y about 1/2 and I only needed to push the restar button 2-3 times rathen th an closer to 10.

It could have been a coincidence but my washing times are a bit less than t hey were but it stil seems slow. I aslo noticed on reading the manual that sometimes a cycle won't start un less the drum can freely rotate and I did notice on the odd occasion where some clothes had managed to get inside a d uvet cover that the mnachine had a bit of a problem turning and apparently that can cause the wash cycle to stop for a while then try to restart in th e hope the washing gets redistributed around the drum. So there;s a couple of possibilities.

for record it's a zanussi FJS 1225 W from about 2006 IIRC.

Reply to
whisky-dave

I've not had low water pressure but I have had 'unbalanced load' if the load is too small. At least we don't need Calgon in Scotland.

The cynic in me says that - a bit like Volkswagen - slowing down the cycle makes it easier to pass the testing process.

I assume Mr P only intervenes where a certain individual starts the thread :-)

Reply to
Scott

When my machine behaved like this it turned out to be due to worn brushes.

Reply to
pamela

Worn brushes speed up the wash? Things can only get better then :-)

Reply to
Scott

Worn bushes extended the duration of the wash. New brushes corrected it. It was a Bosch.

Perhaps is was caused by repeated attempts to rotate the drum failing (which mught vary with load) until it got enough momentum to carry on. Perhaps the programer timed out the operation. I'm just guessing as I don't know why the new brushes worked.

Reply to
pamela

Since my post related to a shorter than expected wash time, can I therefore assume that the brushes are not worn?

Reply to
Scott

When you say the machine "claims" you mean it's the predicted duration on a display. Sorry, I misread that as the actual duration.

Reply to
pamela

No, I was referring to an actual (estimated) duration. Forget the word 'claims'. My point was that I put on a wash and it took about one hour 15 minutes to complete. The same programme on other occasions has taken over three hours.

Alan has helpfully pointed out that the load (in effect the amount of water absorbed by the garments) affects the time, which makes sense as the washing this morning was bulky rather than heavy.

I don't think worn brushes enter into the equation or washing times would get longer and longer and this would not account for a reduction from three hours to one and a bit hours

Reply to
Scott

Sorry about the mix up. I was barking up the wrong tree. :)

Reply to
pamela

At least it's all come out in the wash :-)

Reply to
Scott

Not yet. You have to wait another 31 hours for this wash to finish according to the faulty calculation!

Reply to
pamela

Similar to what I;ve found, I tried it empty too and it stil takes longer than I;d expect, I should time it properly. each displayed minute seems to take 3-4 times longer,depending on cycle. Beginning to think maybe it;s a capacitor problem maybe timing, perhaps I should take it apart. :)

Reply to
whisky-dave
[snip]

John Lewis tried to sell me 'Added cover' for two years. It turns out this covers accidental damage but not mechanical failure. Therefore in year two the mainstream warranty has elapsed and you are getting only accidental damage. This seems to me grossly misleading.

I pointed all this out and the department manager was fairly rude, inviting me to complain to Trading Standards if I wanted to. Eventually I gave up trying to get through to them on the phone so I wrote to JL and got a gift voucher. (I did not pay for any extended warranty.)

Reply to
Scott

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