Mid-80's Hotpoint Washer Spares

[saxmaniac]

You will be lucky to get 5 years out of new stuff. I don't know if Miele are any better but there is absolutely nothing on the market worth buying. They are in effect disposable

[matthewhouse]

I don't think Miele are quite as good as they used to be, the manufacturers frequently used to provide a 20 year full parts and labour warranty. Many of their products are now only 5 to 10 years which I guess is still much better than most other manufacturers. I'd expect 20 years out of a washing machine costing £3149!

[emeritus]

I remember reading an article in "The Engineer" in the late 1970's giving an account of an interview with someone from Zanussi, which said that they were going up-market, their then-new models having a design life of 7 years compared with the then-current design life of 5 years.

[julie_m]

The only "design lifetime" worth bothering with is "forever".

[dseymo1]

It's not so much the design life that's a problem, but as with so many things, repair is no longer a viable option; for example, main bearings are often moulded into the tub and not renewable.

[saxmaniac]

There is a bit of truth in both the last posts. eg in the late 70's a Zanussi washing machine had an induction motor, 2 pole for spin speed, 24 pole for wash speeds and no electronic control needed. Design life = indefinite! Fast forward a few years, brush motor screaming round and brushes and armatures failing, electronic control of motor speed = more trouble. Plastic outer tubs instead of metal. The earlier tubs had a good gauge of metal and quality enamelling, the later ones didnt! Plastic tubs have many problems and are less durable. I think the design life went down in proportion to the retail price. The Zanussi man's comments ae just PR B**S in my opinion!

[Herald1360]

Having got fed up with cheap washing machines dying just outside warranty (a year) I searched around for something better. In the end, though there were machines with 10year warranties, it seemed that they cost more in proportion to warranty period than some of the cheaper ones. OK, they may have been more repairable too, but I was already fed up with the hassle of changing drum bearings before I found with the last machine that it wasn't possible anyway.

In the end I just went for a John Lewis own brand with extended (to 5 years) warranty. This basically resulted in washing facilities for about £75 pa.

Interestingly, the machine was virtually identical to its predecessor (clearly made by the same manufacturer) except with less bells'n'whistles, a non sealed drum and a price about 50% higher.

I suspect that if you look at the prices of 20 or 30 year old machines, corrected for inflation, they will be pretty similar to what today's 10 year warranty machines cost. You get what you pay for (if you're lucky).

[Nickthedentist]

I also have a JL own brand machine - basically a Zanussi which cost a shade over £200 with a 2 year guarantee.

It gets used once a day and it's now 5 years old and still going strong. It washes very well and seems nicely put together.

I will happily do minor repairs (door seals, inlet valves etc.) on it, but if anything "big" like drum bearings need replacing, I suspect I will replace the whole machine.

N.

[saxmaniac]

In the mid 80s I sold ASEA machines which were Swedish and made for a 15 year life, later extended to 20 years. They were priced to compete with Miele, so up at the top of the market. The engineering was heavyweight, simple and there was no electronics.These were so good that they could be sold for "light"commercial use such as hotels, care homes etc. They did everything they said on the tin. The retail prices were £600 to £800 if I think rightly. The market changed in the early 90s and ASEA were taken over, cheap parts and cuts to quality and a few stupid quality control problems and as a relative newcomer to the UK they did not survive here.

[ekcopyephilips]

Hi all

Interesting thread, I used to be obsessed with automatics as a kid as we had a boring second hand servis supertwin and all my friends had fancy clean looking fitted kitchens with front loading washing machines with lots of dials and buttons that were just screaming to be pressed and turned by a nosey 8 year old.
My friends up the road had one of those early Hotpoints with the purple glass door and buttons. I never realised it was the colour of the glass and just thought they had purple sheets. It looked to me really old fashioned and old by the mid 80's, however now id really love too see one like that in use again. Also in the early 80's my aunt had a really fancy electronic Hotpoint machine that had no traditional programmer, it was all pushbutton, nearly wet myself when i was allowed to set it going on a spin cycle. All i remember was the gaudy brown and orange styling of the control panel and the 2 digit red LED display.

On the subject of reliable modern stuff i have a Miele Prestige Plus, it was the cheapest of the range, but the most important thing was that it has a stainless steel outer tub. My partner works with horses and with old plastic tub machines all the hair,grease,grass from working with horses sticks to all the nooks and cranies in the outer tubs reinforcing and basically rots and stinks like a blocked drain. I pulled apart an old machine once and the construction is such, that even when you put it on a long hot service wash with no clothes in it because of the low water levels the outer tub is never washed clean. This won't happen with a Miele as its a smooth stainless steel tub, with all the reinforcing on the outside. Makes the machine VERY heavy, but if the machine lasts 3 times longer than a Hotpoint or Indesit (Same company) then its a cheap machine. Ours does about 5 - 7 loads a week and because Miele don't change their styling a huge amount it still looks as new today as it did 4 years ago.

[saxmaniac]

That is the difference with the German and Scandinavian stuff. The build quality was in a different league. Stainless tubs, 4 suspension legs, cast iron weights not concrete. As the years went on though you could see the standards slipping and as groups like Electrolux took over some quality brands like AEG or Siemens bought an Italian factory then you could buy what you thought was a good German machine and end up with a cheap Italian or re badged Zanussi. Clue was in the price.

[dseymo1]

I have a 20 year or so old Bosch, and recently replaced the drum bearings fot the first time. Unlike many other machines, I can honestly say that the job was a joy to do - proper engineering, and no sharp edges to cut your hands! I understand that recent Bosch washers are made on much the same lines as the cheaper models these days, though.
Somewhat off-topic, a similar comparison could be made beween my 40 year old Hayter mower and the more modern version.

[Stubble]

ekcopyephilips

Video clips of my Hotpoint Liberator De-luxe 1851/03 from 1975, not in daily use but in gentile retirement and only bedding and towels washed in the old girl, no metal fasteners or anything that could damage the vitreous enamel wash drum.

Lee



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0NnzFTyJPg[/url]

[sp10mk11]

There is definitely a link between plastic tubs and gunge build up it is the most common complaint about modern washers.........followed of course by the short life span of most mass market machines
but engineering costs money so you have to look to companies like Miele, Asko ,V Zug for top quality build quality though even the last new model from V Zug had a plastic tub.
Since the "I" age came every product just seems to me to be disposable and uninteresting..........moan moan moan

[saxmaniac]

Im not sure about gunge being linked to plastic tubs. Some problems were caused by powders and conditioners sometimes certain combinations would cause chemical problems. One machine would have a load of jelly like gunge on the aluminium parts which then rotted rather quickly, others would remain like new even much older and more used. I have seen very smelly machines of all types!

[sp10mk11]

Saxmaniac
Yes I am sorry I should have added low water levels to that, I have myself seen white gunk build on aluminium spiders and what it does to them, but I have also seen black gunge inside soap draws in hoses and plastic tubs..........

In America people have brought lawsuits against manufacturers for these type of problems.

Some manufacturers have added a "saniwash" program to help keep the tub clean

I would agree that various liquids and powders can cause this problem which in this day of high technology is pathetic, it shouldn't happen at all, I have never had a metal tub machine suffer from this except the door rubbers have gone black where the machine has been left with the door shut for a long time.

The mysteries of the modern washing machine

[emeritus]

When we got our first automatic (a Hotpoint) in 1988, we had to call the engineer out under warranty three times in the first 12 months: each time it was a blocked water level sensor, and each time it was replaced by one having a larger diameter tube than the previous version. The engineer said that the washing powder formulation had been changed (in accordance wth EC legislation I think) and the new versions made larger cakes of scum than the old in hard water areas such as ours that blocked the narrower tubes. It worked flawlessly for the next couple of decades.