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Electrical advice

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I do hope that I haven't contributed to your stress Visual. I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit with the Frank Spencer comment.

As for stress, avoid it as far as possible because it shortens your life. That's easy to say I know but it's not worth losing a few years off your life because of a dud washing machine.

I say that as someone who was lying on the front lawn laughing at the lawn mower this afternoon. Sure, I've got a problem because every damn screw, bolt and nut in the thing seems to be coming loose. But there's no point getting stressed so I just try and see the funny side of it. Crawling around on the front lawn looking for bits that have come off must look rather funny to passing traffic...

Not that I would be overly good at seeing the funny side in your case. It's gone way beyond a joke, but if you've already lost once with a washing machine then don't lose a second time with stress.
 
oh God no!
I thought the actual Frank Spencer joke was funny,because that particular technician was actually english.He kept calling me dear.

And believe me i know that stressing over a w/m is dumb but its just the ease with which they practice that bloody way of looking at you as if to say ,see theres nothing wrong with the machine its you.
We actually had to show him the machine working ,which we had taped so we could send it to Asko in a file.Because he again didnt have enough time to listen and see the damn thing in action.
 
My 13 year old F & P washing machine has died. In buying a new one, I'm anxious to avoid the sort of catastrophic drama Visual has gone through.
By the way, what's the current state of the drama, Visual?

I'd be really appreciative if forum members could say what brand of washing machine they have, how old it is, whether they would buy the same brand again, and what's positive or negative about it. And also whether you prefer the computerised control panels (more to go wrong?) or the dial-up style.

Many thanks.

Julia
 
Visual:
I've just been looking round the internet trying to find more info on washing machines, and came across a report on
www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/washing-machine - reviews
which said that a class action on Maytag had produced an admission of the problems by the company and compensation was paid. Don't know whether you are aware of this?
Interestingly, when I asked one of my neighbours what brand he had, he said Hoover but if he could afford to buy one he'd get Maytag "because they had a reputation of being virtually indestructible and functioned perfectly for much longer than any other brand"!!!

Julia
 
Julia,

Probably not much help, but I currently use an old heavy-duty Simpson and used to use a similar Whirlpool before that. In both cases they were old style, big, solid (nearly all metal), and reliable. Not at all water efficient, but with three kids at least we can get the washing done in reasonable time.

As for computerised control panels, I'd be wary of them myself. A friend used to have a dishwasher with one of those and apparently it was very unreliable. I think he said it got water or steam in it and was expensive to get fixed.

Perhaps spend a few dollars and buy the Choice report.

Cheers,
GP
 
Julia,
still no word on the Asko,presumably they are still testing !
I have the loan machine which is working reasonably well.
Don`t buy the maytag,stay away from bendix,or Asko
Recently I had to buy a part for my fridge,the seal ,thank god,and the lady that I spoke with started telling me about all the complaints that they get re-new whitegoods,she advised me never spend more than hundred dollars per year.So say you have to buy a new washing machine dont spend more than 6oo hundred dollars because when you break it up per year thats all you should really exspect with the new stuff.She advised the Hoover or Simpson
apparently the simpson is still made in Australia so parts and service are reasonable.should you need further advice I`ll keep my eye out on this forum.
By the way the lady giving this advice sells only spare parts hence all the complaints ,people get very annoyed about having to pay hundreds of dollars for spare parts for white goods that are barely out of warranty.She volunteered all this information because I asked if the seal did`nt stop the noise the fridge was making ,what else could it be!
She was on the phone for a good 20 minutes ,can you imagine how many people must complain!
And those bastards tried to tell me that I was the only one having these type of problems with my w/m.
 
I'll take a guess that your F&P machine developed a range of irritating faults where it essentially stopped dead and/or locked up the control panel during operation and either it died altogether or you just got sick of having to reset the machine half way through a load of washing. That's how they usually die anyway.

As for what I would buy, golden rule is don't spend too much because these days any washing machine is a bit of a gamble.

I haven't heard of too many serious problems with the cheaper front loaders sold (at various times) under various different brands by what is now Electrolux. Westinghouse, Simpson and so on. BUT I don't spend my days fixing washing machines so it's possible that there are problems with these and that I just haven't heard about them.

Top loading Simpson machines are notorious for pump failures and general trouble. Hoover machines have long been known for inadequate spin performance which leaves the clothes rather wet although this may not be an issue depending on where you live. Poor spin drying wastes a lot of power if you have to use a tumble dryer though since it takes far longer to dry than if it had spun better.

F&P machines as I said the electronics fail with all sorts of annoying symptoms which can start irritatingly early and carry on for 5+ years before it finally dies.

Not sure about the rest but in general keep it simple in my opinion. A dial control is, in practice, less likely to fail than electronic IMO although in theory the reverse is true.
 
I've got an LG machine.
All electronic, no centre agitator. Inexpensive.
More compact. I'm pretty happy with it.
 
Thanks for responses.

Smurf: you are quite correct with your suggestion of what has happened.
The serviceperson said that because it was 13 years old he didn't have the "key" to the computerised electronics and thus had no idea how to adjust it. This was about four months ago. He did what appeared random prodding at most of the buttons, pronounced it unfixable, charged me many dollars, and left. The machine then did function normally until the last week when it has been stopping mid-cycle again and beeping its unhappiness loudly.
My attempts to replicate the results of the serviceman's prodding of buttons have produced no result. So, as you suggest, I can't stand it and will get a new one rather than stuff about restarting the cycle etc.

I'm interested in what you say about Simpson: people I've spoken to have been happy with it - one person has one 16 years old and no faults at all. And GP's seems to be OK.

Knobby: I've looked at LG before but was put off by the salesman (who was probably getting a percentage from some other manufacturer) and remembering comments when the brand first came out that it was "cheap and nasty". That was some time ago and their reputation seems to be different now. Will have another look.

With thanks

Julia
 
Julia, would anyone have any electronics knowledge in your social circle?
Because if the the fault is with the electronics it probably just needs a few components changed.(I`m assuming key means program,which means a chip)
Also have you considered the local repairer man,he would be cheaper to call out anyway and might have a spare chip from another machine,assuming that it would be a component

Just the idea of anyone buying a w/m sends a shiver down my spine.You however might be lucky,heres hoping.
 
LG is the old Goldstar brand

Amazing what some marketing can do to transform an image
 

Hi Visual:

Problem is that the repairman (so called) didn't know he had done anything useful! So calling him to repeat his apparent temporary cure would probably not achieve much.

I just hate it when I'm thinking I need to do
some washing but am scared to approach the washing machine in case I come home and find it beeping at me and the clothes lying sopping , at which stage, after a few entirely unproductive curses and similarly unproductive stabs at various buttons, I have to haul it into the tub, wring by hand (less than effective) and then put on the clothesline still dripping.

So today, after phoning all the local repair firms to find out what they repair least, and then reading Choice reports at the library, I went to buy a new one, the choice having come down to F&P or Simpson within the price I was prepared to pay (given that I'm told not to expect any machine to last longer than 8 years), and also given I didn't want a front loader. Ended up with the damn F&P again, based on its smaller external dimensions for small laundry, and much better spin action resulting in drier clothes. Can only hope it will be OK.

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice - much appreciated.

Julia
 
Julia,
I wish you all the luck in the world,be aware though that the faster the machine spins the more the clothes wear,for example towels will soon be threadbare due to the fast spin,so my advice is don`t keep it on the highest spin unless absolutely necessary.I`ve found that generally keeping the machine on 800 rpm gives you a fairly good spin good choice staying away from the front loader.
Also does the f&p have a filter?
Anyway merry Christmas and hope the new year is fruitful for you and your family.
 
I'll be looking into the F&P control problem when I get time to see if it's fixable at reasonable cost.

Unfortunately it won't be until February / March next year as all my time now is taken up with work, nightclubs (not going to them but trying to resolve the residents versus clubs issue in a sensible way) and keeping my 13,300 Christmas lights running. Oh, and sleeping if I get the time... : And then there's the forex trading and I was trying to get fit and do lots of exercise until the clubs issue blew up and cut my sleeping time in half...

I do have some suspicions as to what the F&P problem is but will have to do some proper electronics work to prove it. I'll post details once I've sorted it out if I find an easy solution. I have a F&P machine that's slowly dying...
 
Visual

Thank you And Christmas wishes to you and yours also. I sincerely hope 2006 brings you a year of trouble free washing machine - you will be so grateful! Having to replace towels a bit more often (though they seem to last well) is for me a small price to pay for quickly dried washing. It's a good point though.

Smurf:

One salesperson told me yesterday that a new control panel could be purchased for about $150 including labour if it fails again on this machine.
Does that sound right to you? If so, and if the failure happened at about five or six years of age, then it would seem a reasonable thing to do.

Your lights sound beautiful. Get the warring parties in the nightclub dispute to come and look at them instead of getting cross with one another.

Julia
 
interesting bvb

heres another one:

Panasonic was a merger between Transonic and Panavision.........Pana....sonic
 
Sounds about right in terms of the cost HOWEVER what they're doing is almost certainly replacing the entire circuit board which controls the machine.

This is a bit like replacing the engine in a car because of some simple problem such as one spark plug failing which should only cost a few $ to fix. Replacing the entire engine gets the car going but it's a very expensive way to do it.

What I intend to do is find out what exactly goes wrong with the electronics and replace only the failed components. With a bit of luck this will be a $5 fix for anyone with a soldering iron (and most people would know someone) and a screwdriver. I'll post results in a couple of months hopefully.
 
visual said:
Julia,
still no word on the Asko,presumably they are still testing !
Click to expand...

Just an update, machine picked up by asko sometime in dec 2005 still not back,
Asko now advising harvey norman not to talk to me anymore because they are handling it.Otherwise they`ll be liable, :swear: still struggling with loan machine, too small. Asko now means piece of crap as far as i`m concerned and Harvey Norman is :swear:
 

Visual:

That's just appalling. Have you contacted Fair Trading to see if you have any recourse towards a refund so you can simply start again with what would hopefully be a better brand? I'm very happy with my new F&P.

Really sorry you are having to continue putting up with this rubbish.

Julia
 
Julia,
Just contacted them will be putting the whole saga in writing. Lets see how protected consumers are by the fair trading department.
 
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