Advice cos I need a new washing machine

woodbutcher_2

I have had a Zanussi for 8 yrs and the bearings have just gone.Had them repaired at a cost of 114.00 pounds and i hope i made the right decision.The repairman said it was worth doing as it is such a good machine(cost 400)and he better be right 'cos me and my mate built his workshop for him and i don't think he would stiff me.

HugoSP

Once you know what is wrong with the machine, repairs are usually an easy DIY job.

There is actually a Haynes Manual on washing machine repair. At £15 I would definitely buy it. The bearings won't be expensive. You may be able to go straight to a bearing supplier, saving yourself a fortune compared to washing machine spares places.

To identify the bearing all you need is the numbers on the inner and outer races. Get yourself a basic mechanics tool kit - a couple of adjustable spanners, a cheap ring spanner set, a socket set and some screwdrivers.

When I was a skint student my own machine, a recon Hoover, suffered a broken down motor. I contacted a repair place who quoted some £140 plus for replacing the motor - more than we paid for the machine. After I removed the motor I discovered it was a brush motor with worn brushes. I got a new set of brushers for £4!

I sold the machine for £80 when my sister gave me a newer and quieter one IIRC I got about 5 years use out of it.

H

HugoSP

Sorry,

Forgot to mention -if you need one to get you by until you can sort it, have a look here. There are often people giving washing machines away in my area.

http://www.freecycle.org/display.php?region=United%20Kingdom

Hugo

Horasio

I have inherited a 25 year old Hoover machine, leaks a bit but washes fine and the spin is very drying.

Hope I haven't tempted fate saying that

My other one was a Hotpoint I had for 10 years and left as a fixture in a house I sold. This was 1994 and not sure how well things are made these days.

I do try and keep up to date on new ones in case it does conk out

Horasio

Does anyone know of any models that do a decent wash in less than an hour?

We had a huge one in the States that did that but it was a monster

jackieb

The newer LG ones have bigger drums and have direct drives (ie no need for brushes) so they're quieter too. They've came down quite a bit on price lately too.

I really want a Miele next time. The one I saw was about £800 but came with a 10years parts and labour waranty. For me, who goes through machines at a rate of knots, that would be worth it. I didn't get one last time as my washer, drier and fridge/freezer all died within the same month.

deanos

https://www.washerhelp.co.uk reviews and help on there

kittiwoz

Interesting that people seem to prefer Zanussi over Tricity Bendix. They are both brands of Electrolux, as is AEG. As Anne_Marie says Creda and Hotpoint are brand names of the same company too, in this case Indesit who also own Ariston.

I would agree with the people who suggested buying and fitting new bearings yourself. It won't be that expensive or difficult to do. After all the reason washing machines are only expected to last 5 years nowadays is because people are not expected to repair them. Most of the problems that washing machines develop are quite easy to fix, e.g. replacing brushes, bearings, belts, seals, hoses and even pumps.

If a circuit board goes that would probably be more of a problem, because although you would be able to get one out of a washing machine that had been dumped due to a mechanical fault it would probably have to be from the same model since I doubt there's cross-compatability. It's probably harder to access for replacement too. For this reason with repair you can expect more years from simpler machines with less complicated electronic control systems. That's why there's a thread on the old style board full of people who've had the same washing machine for over 20 years.

bargainaddict

Thanks for all your replies. We are going to look into replacing thebearings ourselves, and I am going to check out some of the basic models. I think I will steer clear of Tricity bendix as this is the make of mine and my neigbours.

HugoSP

bargainaddict wrote:

Thanks for all your replies. We are going to look into replacing thebearings ourselves, and I am going to check out some of the basic models. I think I will steer clear of Tricity bendix as this is the make of mine and my neigbours.

Good, glad to hear it!

Get that Haynes Manual. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll get you the ISBN number.

Also, let us know how you get on. It's great to hear of people helping themselves in this way.

Just to chuck in our lot, we have a Hoover something or other, bought a couple of years ago via the Clearance Comet website. It was a used and returned item. It cost us £46 including delivery!

It has been very good to us.

As well as replacing the brushes on the first one we had, I have also had to completely strip down one Miele machine because my darling wife washed some cushions complete with cheap middle eastern stuffing that burst out and swelled up like rice! The inner and outer drums were seized together.

I managed to rebuild it and we used it for another 6 months or so without any problems. We only changed it because I had enough points from a work based suggestion schemes to get a new one.


H