Washing machine slow fill: part 2

[Tim Streater]

Well we eventually got the water softener replaced with a new one, and today SWMBO got fed up with the washing machine filling so slowly, so pulled it forward and disconnected the feed hose at the machine.

Lots of resin beads in the filter in the inlet, and behind that filter too (there seems to be another, fixed, filter inside the inlet). Flushed that out. After that, at the next wash it filled a lot more quickly. So grot in the filter was to blame. But why would a water softener leak resin beads?

Also, when I posted about this before, someone suggested that there may have been a pressure reducer at the machine inlet - a rubber disk at the end of the hose with only a small hole in it. In fact the hose has a plastic 90deg turn at the end, and that plastic turn itself is of narrow diameter.

[Tim Streater]

It was the old water softener leaking resin beads, not the new one (well, AFAIK, anyway).

[Brian Gaff]

A lot of machine hoses are like that. i never did understand why though. it surely must build up the pressure behind it if its fed from the mains. Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Brian Gaff was thinking very hard :

They need to have the right angle bend, to reduce the space needed for the pipes behind the machine. If the pipe came straight out from the machine, likely it would also promote kinks in the pipe.

[Tim Streater]

Coming downwards at an angle of say 45deg would be favourite. Oh, and two rear inlets rather than one, at each edge of the rear. As it is, I have to pull the stack out in order to get at the connector.