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Why are washing machines (and dryers/combos) so unreliable?
Judging by this forum, a modern washing machine appears to be about as complicated and intricate as a NASA Space Shuttle.
How difficult is it to swish some water around, then, when finished dry it?
Granted fluff gathers, but PLEASE let the consumer be able to remove the fluff, not have to have an “Engineer” out for £80.
Gary
The short and simple answer is that they’re made on the cheap for the most part. Corners are cut along with the costs and, bingo, they fail.
As for complication, it’s like most things these days, people will buy into the idea that it’s bigger, better, has more flashing lights than their Hi-Fi and that equals performance and longevity. It doesn’t.
It’s not hard to swish the stuff about at all, what is hard is doing it properly along with a decent life expectancy.
I always advised customers to buy a machine with a filter on it, not 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} sure to avoid all calls for something stuck in it but the customer’s odds were far better of avoiding a call.
K
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
GaryS wrote:Why are washing machines (and dryers/combos) so unreliable?
Please also bear in mind that this forum is on the whole used by people that have a problem with an appliance. We don’t get visited (too often) by someone with a perfect working order washing machine/dryer/dishwasher etc.
Someone has a problem, connect to the Internet and Google, find UK Whitegoods and ask…. 😀
Dave.
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
I agree that people don’t visit this forum unless they have a problem, but judging by the plethora of problems listed it still strikes me as a sad story (especially from one particular manufacturer).
With regards to gadgets on a washing machine, surely a timer display and buttons should be more reliable than the old clickety click mechanical timers of yesteryear?
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
Anonymous wrote:With regards to gadgets on a washing machine, surely a timer display and buttons should be more reliable than the old clickety click mechanical timers of yesteryear?
You’d like to think so and, I guess that they may well be in some ways but when they go wrong they do appear to cost more as spares. IMO, much of the time, that’s just blatent profiteering on the part of the manufacturer but there’s little that we can do about that.
You also have to remember that appliances are, primarily, mechanical devices with an electrical control system. If they cut costs on engineering the mechanicals then the electronics will report a failure and that, with electronic control, comes a degree of sophistication and sensors to tell the electronic “brains” what to do. All these things may well, in isolation, be more reliable than a mechanical equivelent but it makes fault diagnosis far, far harder in many cases.
And, in respect to laundry and dishwashing products, water and electronics rarely go well together and for £200 you’re not going to get the same level of protection as you would expect on say, a car, cost many, many times that. Like I said, you cut the costs…
K.
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
Anonymous wrote:(especially from one particular manufacturer)
It generally comes down to the price of the machine.
If you buy cheap + nasty, you get cheap + nasty.
Washers are very complicated machines. It’s an apliance that uses electric, water, and just to complicate things, they spin at high speeds at the end of the wash, and shake everything violently.
Combine this with the fact that most people wash every day now. People say to me ‘My mother had a washer 20 years’; but she washed twice a week, in a washer that spun at 400 revs. Today, people wash every day in 1200 rev machines. The only way to get cothes back into the wardrobe is via the washer. People use their washers more than ever before, so why do people buy cheap stuff?
And yes, if you look through the forum, one manufactuer stands out in particular for being unreliable. And I hate them!
Rant over! If you read all that without skipping any, reward yourself with a cookie. 😉
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
GaryS wrote:How difficult is it to swish some water around, then, when finished dry it?
Very easy indeed, so much so that many manufacturers have been able to ‘lower the bar’ as it were on build specification in order to produce a working product. 😕
However quality and reliability still do go hand in hand, making the consumer the first to realise this after sampling the delights of 21st century technology 😆
One high rolling European manufacturer in the forefront of these design, production and marketing techniques is knocking them out like pizzas in a flaming oven, with a similar build quality!
Pizza anyone ❓
Re: Why are washing machines/dryers so unreliable?
Today, people wash every day in 1200 rev machines
We only wash once a week, but I can expect a family of four to wash a lot more often. Problem is though, that if they sell it, it must be up to scratch (Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 blah blah.)
If you buy cheap + nasty, you get cheap + nasty
We didn’t buy the cheapest, probably the most cost effective…i.e. somewhere in the middle.
Well the “Engineer” is back out tomorrow…wonder what excuse it will be this time? It’s the same problem 2nd time in 2 weeks…3rd time I get a replacement… 😉
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