This new Bosch washing machine is broken, isn't it?

jfinnie

Bought a new Bosch unit in the sales as our old one was getting noisy. The machine is one of these:
http://www.johnlewis.com/bosch-wak24260gb-freestanding-washing-machine-8kg-load-a-energy-rating-1200rpm-spin-white/p1587472?s_afcid=af_78888&awc=1203_1452976919_b88550c66a02320c245cb07ac49d4049

When the drum is rotating slowly it seems very noisy to me, like a car with a failing pulley / belt. I am only doubting myself as I have a reputation for being hypersensitive to noises etc...
Quite impressed with the unit itself, must be about twice the weight of the old Bosch (which surprised me in these days of cost cutting). Runs really nicely, washes great, totally balanced during spins, but that noise...


Video of the noise here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuBH3AGrMKg
What do you think?

I've booked JL to come and swap it next week, but I don't want to waste their time if this is par for the course.

daveyjp

Sounds exactly the same as our 12 month old Siemens (Siemans and Bosch are same group, so no doubt use same components ).

Nothing to worry about.

EssexExile

Well I would worry, that sounds awful. Let them change it.

jfinnie

Popped back into John Lewis today. Had a play with the shop floor model - turning it by hand you could hear the same whine if you put your head in the unit.

There was a Bosch-employed rep doing demos in store as it happens. Turns out all these entry level units have a good feature spec but a cheap old brushed motor, and because they've got the load balancing stuff which varies the drum speed, they sound quite whiny as the speed varies up and down during the wash / rinse.

The next model up unit has a brushless motor, dubbed "Eco Silence Drive", and doesn't suffer from this whining. So I splashed the extra £80, which will be well worth it over the life of the unit. The Eco Silence Drive motor is also warrantied for 10 years by Bosch, which goes some way to mitigating the extra cost.