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Crosslee PLC have announced they are to cease production at their Hipperholme factory.The company’s board say it is “no longer viable to continue to manufacture tumble dryers” and have therefore “reluctantly decided to cease” doing so.They say the company is solvent with a strong balance sheet and is able to meet all of its financial obligations going forward, and that stopping manufacturing “is neccessary to protect the future financial interests of the business”.
that’s sad but underlines the cost of labour and overheads in this country. I assume that they will still import and sell products but I doubt they will have the same simplicity and reliability of the current model
I wonder if legislation like the workplace pension, which increased costs for all employers, helped in the demise of this factoryThe government need to look at ways to help manufacturing as it seems we are importing everything these days
Dave
Very sad, I got the full (or as full as I could get) story here:
K.
Am I correct that Whirlpool still manufacture their Hotpoint and Indesit tumble dryers in the UK – and exported in significant numbers?
kwatt wrote:I forgot that.
That said, how much longer that’ll be there is anyone’s guess.
K.
considering the current fire risk that is posed by this design I am surprised they are still producing it. Even with the mods there seems to be a higher risk than normal. Or someone has it in for them
Dave
I really don’t think it’s a design thing, perhaps not the best for sure but, fundamentally flawed I don’t think it is.
What I can say with almost absolute certainty is that statistics have conspired against them as 5 million of them out there. Stupid people. It’s really not hard math to figure a number are going to go horribly wrong. 😉
700 odd in as many years is, to my mind, good going given the givens.
K.
from what I have seen with most dryers the manufacturers are cutting corners. With the creda vented type design they are blowing hot air into the cabinet which means the drum seals have to be reliable to stop lint from blowing past the seals into the case. If lint does get into the case it can not only settle causing a fire risk but since this machine get the intake air from the same place this lint can then get into the intake duct
The alternative it the white knight type of system where the air is pushed out essentially creating negative pressure inside the drum. Any leaks in the seals just results in cold air entering the drum. result no large amounts of lint inside the case.
I cant remember ever having a Wk type machine with lint in the case so lower fire riskDave
I wish I’d taken pics of the one I was at in a pub many years ago.
WK, an absolute miracle it hadn’t gone up in flames! Chocked full of lint.
But consumer demand for more capacity means smaller heaters, means you can’t have the big double element or similar as you need smaller space to deliver the same/greater heat to maintain performance/consumer expectations = higher temps = more sensitive stat/overheat = assembly to ensure when replaced it’s “clean” = higher repair costs. I could go on but you get the gist.
In the end they are more sensitive, IMO, to misuse/abuse etc simply due to market pressures or consumer demand, you can take your pick of the reason/s why.
But it also means that the design has to accommodate the requirements and not the other way round which to my mind is a bit of an issue.
Thing is, lint is highly flammable as it’s a lot of air with flammable material so if it’s not cleared, well… is it really a surprise when it goes up, irrespective of design?
If the things were maintained correctly, no problem. And, I’m not at all convinced that the punters that own them are best placed (or competent enough) to do that.
K.
all down to fault driven repairs, the idea of servicing never enters their heads
been to lots of places where they are care homes autistic or adults with learning difficulties living with staff. they then buy a domestic dryer and use it to death. been to a few where its amazing they have not had a fire
was that WK you found full of lint vented or condenser ?
Dave
Vented.
It only all demonstrates that any of them can go if not used correctly. When you’ve got upwards of 5 million out there, there’s gonna be some proper donkey’s using some.
K.
I have heard that the site the factory was on is being sold.
All the tooling and machinery was also up for sale.
I’m sure many have noticed that there’s a lot of parts that are nigh or just completely impossible to get as well now.
So I’m guessing that’s pretty much that. End of the road for a lot of machines out there.
K.
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