New Washing Machine/Concept: ISE CI555WH

on_a_money_mission

I bought an ISE5 about 6 months ago and it's been great - takes a huge load
and great features. I was also impressed last month when the chap who delivered
and fitted it (at short notice and after hours as requested due to no washing
machine crisis) sent us a letter to say he was going away on holiday for a couple
of weeks and if there were any problems with the machine then to call another
engineer who was on standby.
Great service.

kwatt

CKdesigner wrote: »

At the end of the day we are on the same side! Showing potential purchasors that they really should invest in a quality appliance and not go down the disposable route. Its no good for them, its no good for us and its certainly not good for the environment!

Totally agreed.

I just have some issues with the way Miele do things. The products are, from what I've seen of them, very good but they do come with some baggage and aren't perfect. Few are though.

Still, it's better than wasting money on some bit of rubbish with a supposed "good" badge on it. And, there's plenty of that out there. Looks like a bargain, priced like a bargain... but then you have to live with it.

Thanks On A Money Mission, the guys do try very hard to keep people happy. It staggers me at times the lengths some of them go to.

K.

Andy_ArT_Trigg

CKdesigner wrote: »

Don't get me wrong I think the ISE brand is an excellent idea, any manufacturer that builds products to last as long as possible and not to a price gets my vote anyday. But, what would concern me is that the machines as far as I can tell are sold by repair companies or individuals and these are the same people that are general repair men that service all brands. .... I would dread the classic line from a repair man 'I've never seen one of these before!' being said to one of my customers.

CK

There's a major difference with the ISE brand that has no parallels that I know of. The people responsible for their creation are doing it partially because they despise the way manufacturers mark up spares prices so high that appliances are commonly not worth repairing and how they often make it so hard to get technical information or support that independent repairs commonly won't touch them - therefore leaving the repair work for the manufacturers.

ISE are about breaking the mould on this one and no half-decent engineer will be able to say they can't fix an ISE appliance for lack of technical information. I also know that a major factor in specifying any ISE appliance is to consider how easy it is to get at and repair. The guys are all engineers and are keen to have them as straight forward and easy to repair as they can get them.

pork_2

Our washing machine has just died so we are doing our research now. As you can imagine its quite hard sifting through all the info out there trying to decide what to buy. We are both very keen to avoid having to buy machine after machine so the ISE ethos appeals BUT we are concerned that it also appears too good to be true.
Hubbie is pretty nifty with a spanner and managed to keep the old one going pretty well for the last 4-5 years fitting bearings, a new spider, new drum and a few more bits besides. We don't really want to have to call some-one in to repair our new machine if we don't have to yet ISE spares don't appear to be available other than through a repairer. Those that are seem to be made by Beko which makes us wonder about the quality.
Are/will spares be available to owners rather than repairers does any-one know. Also if beko parts are offered as spares does this mean that beko parts are used in the original manufacture?
I want a machine that will see me into the next 15+ years not an expensive white elephant that I can't get parts for when its off warranty without involving a third party who lives 35-40 miles away. Help

kwatt

Hi pork,

Yes spares are and will be available but, there was little point making them so whilst the machines were all under warranty as nobody had to pay for them. This is also the reason that you won't see them listed even at the distributors. It's only recently that some of the spares for the original first generation machines have started to crop up, mainly as they crossover to other brands. Part of the reasoning behind that was that, quite simply, commonly used components are much cheaper as they are mass produced, than bespoke ones are.

The first generation CI555 was made by Arcelik (yes, that is their real name) in Turkey. Second generation was also Turkish built by a different manufacturer.

The ISE10 is the only one that's Swedish built and they don't start to exit warranty until 2018 for domestic use, 2011 for light commercial. So, again the spares aren't online due to the fact that there's none out of warranty as yet.

In October the first of the ISE2 machines start to fall out of warranty.

The AW23, which is Polish built, won't start to come out of warranty till 2011 as well.

If you want 15+ years out a machine then you're looking at ISE10, Miele or perhaps a very high end pukka "built in Germany" Bosch/Siemens machine (£700+), that's your options for that requirement. There's no other machine that will even come close and there's no others I'd even hope for that sort of lifespan out of.

HTH

K.

pork_2

Thank you for that information. It is reassuring. We will ring the local engineer for some more information and are seriously thinking of placing an order.
Can you tell me - will it be a problem for the machine if we fill it from the hot tap rather than the cold tap? I am fully aware that it is 'cheaper' to fill from cold in most cases (we have solar water heating) and that there are issues with rinsing it hot water. We are currently happy with using our hot water supply in terms of cost and what it does to the washing what we want to know is what it will do to the machine.
Many thanks

kwatt

No problem.

Filling from hot is HIGHLY inadvisable on any washing machine of a number of reasons. It's bad for clothing and often renders detergent useless.

HTH

K.

CKdesigner

kwatt wrote: »

No problem.

Filling from hot is HIGHLY inadvisable on any washing machine of a number of reasons. It's bad for clothing and often renders detergent useless.

HTH

K.

Completely agree. Detergents need to start with cold water then be heated to do their job.

CK

saffrongirl

I have read the whole of this thread with great interest. My machine of approx 9 years is not long for this world and I have decided it is time to look for a replacement. The LED display doesn't always work properly, sometimes just as I have finished punching in the program it cancels itself! Not so bad you say, just program it again. But after 9 or 10 attempts I end up screaming at it and thump it:exclamati I know I shouldn't thump it but it's so frustrating! GRRRH! An engineer (independent) came out a couple of years ago and 'fixed' it at a cost of £50 but, he warned me that the printed circuit was going and it would have to be replaced at some point. I think I've done well to string it out for two more years.

So here I am having decided, now I don't have a money pinching husband anymore, that I would treat myself to a decent machine. I looked at the equivalent to what I have now and was not impressed! They all seem to be owned by the same two or three companies. Different name, same crap! I have looked into Miele as I was told years ago how good they were and, initially they seemed to be a good bet. But as I researched more I was not so sure. Before I logged in here I had a look at another forum and was not happy to read about the so called 'closed shop' Miele have and the mark ups on parts etc. On this other forum was a link for the ISE10. :huh: A what? was the first thing that came to mind. I was impressed by what I read. And when I came on here the more I've read in the forum the more I am convinced that this is the machine I should get. I know it's rather more than the conventional machines but the 10 year guarantee is brilliant. Yes, I know Miele give 10 years too but I've already stated my objections to Miele. And I like the fact thatr it is not owned by some huge multinational.

I have also looked at the ISE5 and am weighing up the pros and cons between the two. Not sure about the door on the ISE10. But I am definitely going to buy an ISE.

Thanks to all who have posted on here and helped me to make up my mind. (Well almost )

Saffrongirl

newleaf

I honestly don't think you would regret investing in the ISE saffrongirl.
The door is not really a problem, there is a knack to it, and you just need to be very firm with it at first - no need to be worried about breaking it, unlike with other WM's. I have found that the door shuts easier after a while - or maybe I've got the hang of it better.