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Yes, the wife only spotted it after a long hot wash of ~ 3 hours, so the cycle took 3 hours + 6 years.
Anyway, any idea(s) of what retains this Heath Robinson rubber flapper in position?.
Thanks Dave, I can see why these ones don’t last too long due to the sharp point contact making and breaking rather than having a “real” set of contacts but I am surprised that I don’t see more complaints, replacing one simmerstat per year is high maintenance, my cooker is only used for two people.
I think I may have figured out this Zanussi fuzzy logic.
Normal operation: Depending on the selected programme the filling valves will open for a fixed time (different for the various programmes), after this fixed time period if the drum level is at or above the minimum level required to cover the heating element then the heating element is energised and the cycle continues. If the drum level is below this minimum due to say a big load of towels or suchlike absorbing some water then the filling valve will stay open or reopen if the clothes are still absorbing some water, the effect is that, especially with big loads, the water level will be just above the drum bottom for the wash cycle, if the drum only contains a few hankerchiefs or so then the drum level will be higher, it takes a measured 3.5/4 litres of water to cover/energise the heating element on this 7 kg machine.
Again IMO, this is why I am getting completely different initial fill levels with widely varying water pressures due to this fixed initial time period, I assume more sophisticated machines will shut the water off on initial fill once the minimum (heating element) level is reached, at the very least, and may even give higher drum levels depending on the clothes fabric requirements.
If the machine is started with low/no water flow available then the filling valve(s) remain energised until the time out period of 5/6 minutes has elapsed, the valve(s) then close with machine alarm.A neighbour’s Bosch Serie 4 Vario Perfect appears to operate quite similar to the above except that it will not start if the mains pressure is < 1 bar.
Have (family) experiences of 6 Zanussi budget price machines going back to 2006, all still working perfectly on mains water supply, the latest is a 7 kg ZWF7254B4PW, purchased one month ago for €360 or ~ £305, you can probably get a 8 kg for a few quid more.
The Miele required 6.5 litres of water (for your test) which required a fill time of 27 secs from a mains pressure of 3 bar. If the mains pressure reduced to say 1 bar then because the logic determines that 6.5 litres are required then the fill time must increase by a factor of ~ 1.7 to around 459 secs, if the fill time remains constant then only ~ 3.7 litres will be delivered into the drum, one way or the other, one cannot have a fixed filling time which mine has apart from that extra rinse cycle.
You might consider throttling in the filling isol valve on that test and note the filling time with the reduced filling pressure, I would be astounded if it remains the same as for the 3 bar pressure.
“459 secs” read ~ 46 secs.IMO it only confirms that the water level control is working properly ONLY on this one (extra rinse) programme as it increases the filling time on attic supply to give the same fill level as when on mains supply, ie, the fill levels are the same whether on mains or attic supply. The filling times on any the other programmes are the same on either supply so the filling levels are clearly not the same.
It will time out/shut filling valves after 5 minutes if the wash is started with the filling valve shut off.
Also just discovered that on a rinse only cycle (termed “extra rinse” on this machine) that the mains fill time is 134 secs but on attic supply is 266 secs.
Briefly, flow is reasonably proportional to the sq.root of dynamic pressure but the crux of my problem is that while we all agree that any washing machine fill level is or should not be a timed fill but should fill to the same programmed level consistently, irrespective of the pressure, my machine should do this between pressures of 0.5bar and 8 bar.
Yes, my machine does have different fill times for the different programmes, a “mini 30” programme will give a fill time of 124 secs irrespective of supply pressure of 0.5 bar or 2.5 bar so, obviously the fill levels are different, a “cottons” programme will give a fixed fill time of 94 secs again irrespective of the supply pressures again with different fill levels, these “fixed” times remained the same despite changing the analogue pressure switch. My very old (2006) ZWF1221G model which has the old type pressure type level switch does give consistent fill levels irrespective of the supply pressure, the filling time just takes longer on the attic supply.You should get ~ 10{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} increase in flow at 3 bar vs 2.5 bar, my measured (pumped out) volume was 14.4 litres and assuming roughly proportionate flows for both machines then your machine might only contain ~ 27/124*1.1*14.4 or 3.5 litres, enough to cover the heating element but I would guess very little showing in the drum?, the zanussi fills with almost 6 litres from the attic header tank (0.5bar).
If you put your normal clothes load in the machine is more water added to allow for clothes soakage and for how long?.
Not sure what you mean by initial fill but on the above Zanussi, it initially fills for 35 secs (prewash) and then for a further 89 secs via the powder dispersant drawer (total of 124 secs). These filling times appear to be fixed on this particular machine (60 min programme) with or without clothes at my normal mains pressure of ~ 2.5 bar.
John.G wrote:I have two Zanussi machines, one, a 2006 ZWF1221G model works perfectly either on mains or CWST (cold water storage tank), with a empty drum the filling volume is 16 litres, only difference is that the filling time is, as expected, far longer on CWST, If I divert some water via the soap tray space into a bucket, it will increase the fill time and still fill the drum with 16 litres of water, all as expected as a pressure switch monitors the level.
The other machine a 2013 ZWG6141P works OK on mains fill with a fill volume of 14.4 Litres BUT with a fixed filling time of 124 secs, if I divert some water via the soap tray space into a bucket, it will still only give a timed fill of 124 secs irrespective of how much water is diverted. This is normally not a problem but occasionally in the summer, we have to run both machines on the CWST and this machine will still only give a timed “fill” of 124 secs which results in a filling volume of 5.9 litres (too little), if I divert some water like above, the fill time is still only 124 secs.
Either machine, if started with the fill valve shut will shut off the fill solenoid valve(s) after 5 minutes accompanied by a flashing run light and the programme is (obviously) stopped.
I have posted this on numerous sites but no seems to think that a timed fill is ever used in any make of washing machine????.
Can now confirm that a brand new ZWF7254B4PW behaves exactly as the ZWG6141P, ie both machines do a timed fill so fill level is dependent on water pressure so if one user has a mains pressure of 2 bar vs another with a pressure of 4 bar then the fill level will only be 71{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} and if supplied from a attic tank only 35{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}. of that at 4 bar pressure. Both these machines have exactly the same (analogue) level sensor whereas my old ZWF1221G has the contacts type level (pressure) switch.
Lori555 wrote:Unfortunately still not working
Pour a few litres of clean water into the machine, remove the hose from the pressure switch, blow gently downwards through the hose to prove clear then suck on it until you get water and immediately reconnect to the switch.
Thanks Dave,
That is happening to mine, if I close the filling valve it will time out after 5 minutes but doesn’t explain the apparently 124 sec constant fill time, might try a new pressure/level switch maybe some fault or other in this stops the fill after this 124 sec time, I’m pretty sure its been like this from new.
