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Re: Ebac, design your own washing machine
It would be nice if they had a durability option, eg: Light duty (up to 3 loads a week), Medium duty (4-7 loads a week), Heavy duty (8 or more loads a week).
Re: Fagor In Bankruptcy
Their accounts show “net worth” as broadly stable between 2008 and 2012, but a gradual fall in “cash in bank” from £4 million in 2008 to £0.5 million in 2012 could well extrapolate to less than zero by now.
Re: Indesit bought
Given Indesit’s UK market share dwarfs Whirlpool’s, I would wager Whirlpool’s service network will be impacted more than Indesit’s.
Re: Indesit bought
A more optimistic view is that the increased economies of scale and buying power will allow the combined company to evolve towards better design and improved quality relative to their competitors!
Re: Miele G641 I PLUS
I spoke too soon, the problem recurred and I eventually found the cause was a faulty temperature sensor, intermittently open circuit.
Re: A £1700 Samsung washing machine
Note that these are the programs that contribute to the remarkable A+++ energy efficiency rating, presumably using virtually no water. The smug buyers will doubtless assume this rating applies across all programmes, including the high water level fast wash programmes provided for their convenience, in the mistaken belief they are doing their bit for the environment.
Re: Hotpoint dishwashers fires
The limitation of RCDs (Residual Current Devices) is that they only respond to faults causing an imbalance between live and neutral current, which usually only happens when there is leakage to earth. The clue to this is in their old fashioned name ELCBs (Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers).
RCDs work perfectly for an insulation fault, eg chafed wiring, where current flows from the live or neutral conductor to earth. They also are great at protecting against electric shock, where a small current flows from a live conductor through a person’s body to earth.
Many electrical fires are caused by localised heating resulting from a “bad” electrical contact, for example a loose wiring connector or a dry joint on a pcb. RCDs can do nothing to protect against this type of fault until a breakdown in insulation causes a conductor to short to earth, usually once a fire has started to take hold.
I’ve seen a few “burnt” pcbs on these FDW dishwashers over the years caused by loose pcb faston tabs, similar to the problem often seen on the rear mounted Servis washing machine pcbs.
Ken’s observation re the spilt coffee rings true. I remember replacing a Smeg integrated dishwasher pcb twice in one year, as the housewife had a habit of leaving the dishwasher door ajar and sponging the worktop above over-enthusiastically. I suspect some of the Servis washing machine pcb burn-outs I’ve seen were caused by high levels of damp in the room and condensation on the pcb.
Re: Legal advice needed… Speed restriction on transit van
Nice summary table here:
http://www.gosafe.org/media/50289/gosafe-dash-stickers-english-final-_409x285.jpg
Re: Legal advice needed… Speed restriction on transit van
For the record, the official government advice is here:
https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits
and in rule 125 of the Highway Code, here:
https://www.gov.uk/general-rules-all-drivers-riders-103-to-158/control-of-the-vehicle-117-to-126
You will see that car-derived vans up to 2 tonnes GVW have the same speed limits as cars. Other commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes can drive up to 70mph on motorways (assuming not compulsorily fitted with a speed limiter).
Re: Legal advice needed… Speed restriction on transit van
DrDill, I would rather trust the highway code and GOV website than your opinion, thank you very much.
These speed limits have been in place since the late 1970s. Maybe you learned to drive before that?
Re: Legal advice needed… Speed restriction on transit van
Goods vehicle speed limits depend on maximum gross vehicle weight (GVW):
Car derived vans up to 2 tonnes GVW (eg Fiesta van, Astra van), normal car limits apply (60mph single carriageway, 70mph dual carriageway, 70 mph motorway)
Goods vehicles up to 7.5 tommes GVW (ie all other vans), 50mph single carriageway, 60mph dual carriageway, 70mph motorway.
Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes GVW (ie HGVs), 40mph single carriageway, 50mph dual carriageway, 60mph motorway).
Under EU rules, all modern goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes GVW should have speed limiters set to 56mph.
Re: NTC cable repairs
The thickness of the wire is certainly not an issue. With typical ntc resistance of 10-100 kOhm, and cable resistance well under 1 Ohm, the type of wire used will have no practical effect of temperature measurement.
The issue of connectors is broader than ntcs, and applies also to some inlet valves and many pcb edge connector. I guess these connectors are available, together with the correct assembly tools, if anyone knows of a supplier?
Re: Contract Van hire – any thoughts?
I’m not clued up on the VAT issue, but the tax rules on capital purchases can be a lot more favourable than they used to be. The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) introduced in 2008 means the total cost of many capital purchases on plant and machinery (including vans) can be offset against profit in the year of purchase, as an alternative to the usual 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} per year writing down allowance. The AIA limit has gone up and down like a yo-yo since then, but for the current year is £500,000, up from £250,000 last year, before dropping back to the previous level £25,000 next year. All amply covering the purchase cost of a typical van, particularly if second-hand.
I don’t think the cost issue is clear cut, that’s why people favour different options. I think it comes down to personal preference, whether you are looking for known running costs and reliability, along with the attraction of a new van every 3 years, or whether you prefer to put money aside to buy outright, cover repair costs as they arise, and change your vehicle less often so as to minimise costs in the long term.
Re: Contract Van hire – any thoughts?
Which works out at £3000 per year over the 3 year term, (after taking off the value of the included road tax).
Alternatively, buy a 3 year-old 60,000 mile ex-contract hire van for £6,000 and sell it after 3 years for £3,000. This works out at £1000 per year. OK, the van won’t be quite so shiny, and maintenance bills will be higher, but overall should work out far cheaper!
