Washing machine hot water query

VoucherMan

I put the washing machine (Servis M6006) on a 60 degree C wash this morning. First time (certainly this year) I've used a hot wash.

After taking on some water the drum turned a couple of times then stopped. There was just a buzzing noise coming from the machine.

I've come to the conclusion that the washing machine will only fill from the hot pipe when doing a hot wash? I've not had the hot pipe connected since it froze last winter.


Anyone knowledgeable to know whether or not this is the case? The instruction manual doesn't have any details.


Also for another piece of related advice.

I'm having the utility room re-plastered in a couple of weeks and having the plumbing seen to at the same time. I'd planned to have a new hot water pipe fitted but with a tap close to the washing machine so that I could run off the cold water from the pipe first. After reading a few other threads I gather most washing machines are cold fill only these days so is it worth getting the hot pipe connected or am I better off sticking with just cold?



If I want to use a hot wash I'm sure there are adaptors that split the cold water supply to both inlets, or I could do like I did this time and manually fill it with a watering can via the powder dispenser tray.

I don't know how heating water in the machine compares to using a combi boiler but since I have to run off about 10 litres of water before it starts getting warm I'm guessing a similar amount is wasted in the pipes afterwards so on a normal 40 degree wash it probably doesn't make much difference.

southcoastrgi

most modern machines have indeed only a cold fill, but if yours has both then the hot needs to be either connected to the hot or connect both inlets to the cold using a "y" splitter, however as i am not a applianance service engineer this may or may not solve your problem.

kwatt

Most machines, even older ones that had a hot fill valve would only take hot water on a 90/95˚C wash on the first fill after a prewash and at no other point. Great misconception by many is that they will always use the hot fill, very few ever did, still less do today.

The exceptions are the old Hotpoint and Hoover machines of yore when they were still made in the UK which had a "dumb" mixed fill. They just opened both valves and filled with hot and cold at the same time.

They stopped making those well over a decade or two ago.

Now I think you can get some LG machines that have hot and cold fill but, back to the first paragraph for details on how they work.

And, there's the ISE Eco machine that has an intelligent hot fill.

All others, to my knowledge, are cold fill only.

It sounds like yours is trying to fill with hot but, as the valve has no feed then yes, it would just sit there buzzing away looking for water to fill with.

A Y-Piece is what you are after and they can be got from any DIY store usually.

HTH

K.

Ben84

My old machine does this, if there's no water supplied to the hot water connection it just sits there forever doing nothing when you turn it on. I guess it is opening the valve and just sitting there waiting for the water level switch to be activated when it's full - but there's no water so it never happens.

VoucherMan

Nice to know I got something right for once.

Anyone got any thoughts on the use of hot water.

Is it more economical to use the hot intake, or just use cold & let the machine heat it?

Valli

you need to do a 'clean wash' every so often (at least once a month) where the WM runs VERY hot as constant washing at low temperatures does not kill bacteria.

This can be done without a wash load, in which case lower the spin speed as much as you can. Alternatively run a hot wash with towels in the WM to clean the pipes.

When not in use leave the door, and, if possible, the detergent drawer, open to allow air to circulate and then the Wm won't smell 'unpleasant'