Washing machine rinses on very hot

[Carolyn]

Since I had a Combi fitted in the loft, I have noticed that a) my electric shower now runs fine,with no need to turn it on for approx 5 minutes, to give it time to stop blasting freezing then hot water, alternately and b) my washing machine now does its final rinse in very hot water.. If I am around when a cycle finishes, the clothes are steaming hot.. On a 40deg wash, I could end up with shrinkage, etc...

Any idea why this happens, and is it possibly due to mis-plumbing?? All the household taps are fine and run correctly, as does the CH,so I can`t fathom it out..

thanks

[Scott]

Does the boiler fire up when the washing machine is doing its 'cold fill'? Likewise, does the electric shower cause the boiler to come on?

[Ian Stirling]

Are the taps to the washing machine properly connected, and any valves turned on full?

[Alan]

In message , Carolyn wrote

Have you got the hot and cold inlets to the washing machine connected correctly? If they are swapped (red and blue hoses to the machine) then the rinse will be from the hot water supply and not the cold.

If you can gain access to the back of your machine feel both hoses while filling up on a 65 degree wash. The blue hose should be connected to the mains inlet and should not be getting warm and the red hose should not remain cold.

[Peter]

swop the fill hoses round they are indeed reversed

Peter

[Rob Morley]

household taps

Logic would suggest that the hot and cold feeds are reversed on the washing machine - disconnect it and run each tap in turn into a bucket (or the hoses into the sink if they'll reach) to see which one runs hot. Don't know about electric showers.

[Carolyn]

Pretty much what I thought, except that I haven`t altered the way the pipes feed to the washing machine & it was ok before the combi was fitted.. Perhaps the plumber disconnected/reconnected for some reason..? I will certainly have a look when I`m able to access the back of the machine(not an easy job!) Thanks for all your replies

cheers

[Peter]

That can still be correct but if the hoses are crossed on the back of the machine it will still be wrong, best to put machine on rinse and check it fills cold only.

Peter

[James Salisbury]

1. Does the combi fire and run when the electric shower is turned on?
2. Were the hoses for the washing machine installed before or after the combi?

If 1. is yes or 2. is before the combi then call the plumber back, as he as made a boo boo!!

[ritchieaber]

Some washing machines do a warm rinse last, candy washer driers to name one. It may be a case of throttling the hot water feed or fitting the restrictor washer in the hot inlet, to reduce the amount of hot taken with the cold.

[Alan]

In message , ritchieaber wrote

Don't machines have valves on the inlets which are controlled automatically to mix the feeds from the hot and cold?

[Ian Stirling]

The piping to the washing machine (from the combi) may be shorter than the piping from the hot water tank was. This means that when it draws water to rinse, it gets hot water, rather than most of it being stuff that's sat in the pipe for half an hour and gone cold since the fill. A diagnostic should be to do a boilwash. If it takes a long time to raise temp, and starts out cold, when it should be taking in hot water, then it's almost certain. (barring a maxwells demon infection)

[Peter]

rare to say the least

Peter

[Rob Morley]

I don't think they really mix it (although I suppose posh high-tech ones might), they just use hot water for a hot wash and cold water for everything else, adjusting the temperature by heating once the machine is full.

[Christian McArdle]

As for the electric shower, if I had a combi boiler, then the electric shower would already be in the bin. Replace it with a thermostatic pressure balanced mixer shower fed by the mains cold and hot water.

Christian.

[Ian Stirling]

"no need to turn it on for approx 5 minutes" means to me that the combi isn't quite adequate in terms of temperature.

[Carolyn]

Sorry, should have made that a bit clearer-prior to Combi installation, the electric shower was VERY temperamental, needing 5 mins before it stopped alternating between extremes of temp and now it runs fine, heats up instantly.. The plumber didn`t suggest using my Combi for the shower as well, instead kept the electric one as a backup & its fine for just me, anyway.

Still not managed to suss out if the Combi fires up when washer fills up, nor if the hoses are crossed over, but at least I have a starting point..

[Christian McArdle]

Remember that your combi boiler will provide a shower that is an order of magnitude more satisfying that a crappy electrical shower. The only reason to have an electric shower is that you have neither gas nor space for a hot water cylinder.

Christian.

[Ian Stirling]

Or that you want to boost the flow from the combi in cold weather.

[Christian McArdle]

Quite a dangerous way to do it, though. The electric shower doesn't mix cold in, so could easily scald by heating water that the combi might be providing at 55C at low flow rates. Far safer to use just a thermostatic pressure balanced mixer. 28kW gives an excellent power shower, even in winter.

Christian.