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Re: Any washing machines that work with low water pressure?
Martin wrote:
andy_art_trigg wrote:
I’ve a customer who has just 4.5 psi water pressure.The statutory minimum level of water mains pressure is set at and agreed by all local water authorities @ 1 bar/10 metres head. Roughly speaking that is 15 p.s.i. Unless your customer is not on mains then they should expect that minimum pressure.
Most washing machines are based on such a minimum in order for them to operate with todays electronic control systems. Especially as most if not all now are cold water only and in order for the fabric conditioner to operate correctly means it requires 2 converging jets of water to operate. Without that pressure not even that will work 🙁
Now if the machine is gravity fed, then a power pump will be the only answer 😉
The pressure on a tank fed supply should be 0.43 PSI for every foot the tank level is above the fill valve level on the appliance. if the pressure is only 4.5 PSI this would indicate a tank level of only about 10 feet, is the dwelling a Bungalow and if so, this has been a common problem for many years.
When I was “on the road” the solution was to take out the flow restrictor in the cold fill valve, it was pushed into the valve body behind the valve filter.
This low pressure also caused many cases of flooding caused by “valve dribble”, as the pressure was not high enough to keep the valve firmly shut.
Shane
Re: ‘Smelly’ Dishwashers?
Martin wrote:An interesting article came up in the Public Forum I thought worthy of some discussion here perhaps 💡
We are blessed with, or cursed with, a very soft water supply.
We can tell if a customer is using salt as the dishwasher liner takes on a
“suntanned” appearance. The other downside to using salt in soft water
is that the water becomes even softer and more acidic. This can cause
permament damage to good quality glassware by leaching out the lead in the crystal. This results in a “satin finish” to the glass, which is permament.The most frequent problem we have with “performance” on dishwashers
is the purchase of large packets of detergent, by the time the customer
has reached the lower depths of the packet, the detergent is almost
useless. Dishwasher detergents are anhydrous and absorb atmospheric
moisture, unless they are stored in a sealed container. The absorption of
this moisture renders the Enzyme content of the detergent useless and
you then do little more than wash in dirty water, with the silica component
doing it’s scouring action.Wcda
Re: miele oven window glass broken
polux wrote:Hello,
I smashed the inner window glass of my miele oven (H340 bp). Called miele spare parts and they ask for £370 for a new one!!!!
Any advice on how to get a cheaper one? saw some second hand miele oven for £60 (H809 delux and H316b), could i transfer the glass knowing both doors are 60 x 60cm?
am i posting this message in the right place?
thanks,
Polux
Broken glass should be covered if you have “Glass Cover” on your
Insurance policy. Building insurance if it is a “build in”, Household effects
if a “free standing”.
WcdaRe: SMEG ?
Dave_Conway wrote:Yeah I’d go along with that.
We started to do work on behalf of Servevast earlier this year and so far no problems at all.
Contact levels are good, tech info easy to obtain, rates OK, product easy enough to work on, mainly range and built in cooking and dishwashers.
Just remember that an invoice is not enough to get paid though, you’ll need to send a monthly statement, an email to their accounts dept listing the job numbers is enough in general.
Dave.
We have Sevevast on suspension due to late payments and they are unwilling to discuss Service Fees.
I can see no reason why an Agent needs to send statements. As soon as an invoice is rendered it should be paid, there is no leagal requirement to send statements. That is a Judge’s “Statement Of Fact” delivered to one of our “former customers, who tried to defend a Summons for non payment of an invoice.
We have done work for more Manufacturers and Call handlers than I care to remember and not one of them, other than SERVEVAST, requested statements.
It would be interesting to know if if that requirement is written in the Contract.
Wcda.
Alex wrote: Took the lid off to fit a cold valve, no top weight, (the transit bracket used to lay on top of the block). As I was looking out the window I could see the curved block as a feature in the wall at the back of the patio, he made a little alcove into said wall, with a pot/urn in the centre of the recess. Looked good though, went back a few days later with a new block, didn’t want to demolish his handiwork.
I could write a book.
Alex
Couldn’t we all, but who would believe a lot of it. I have been in this game for forty six years and still something ugly keeps turning up, not always customers, I hasten to add.
WcdaPenguin45 wrote:Brushes for induction motors? Howzabout 054870? THe old Bosch motor was an induction motor AND a brush motor for spin.
Total anorack …………..
Was sent to new Creda 17 series a LONG time ago – bouncing round kitchen.
“You have removed the transit packaging” says the Penguin.
“Oh yes”, says customer, “Mind you we had a hell of a job getting those bits of concrete out”.
I blew it and burst out laughing. He found the brackets, but had to ring his wife to find the 3 blocks – they were in the rockery!Penguin.
We thougt we had the only case of this in the Country, but, apparently,
lightning does strike twice. We had a case of this about 25 years ago.
shaneRe: Electrue/NESN
Dave_Conway wrote:As this meeting appears to be of such high importance and obviously has financial implications for the whole network, I am appalled to see that shareholders have not been invited or at least been kept informed on the current situation, whatever that may be.
Whatever it is though, it doesn’t look too clever given the urgency and notice period given.
Or perhaps that was intentional 😕
Dave.
If I was a shareholder and, fortunately I am not, I would be making representations to Company House, or the DTI, or both.
It would appear these people feel Company Law does not apply to them.
If they are not careful, they could be in serious difficulty with the Regulatory Authority.
It would appear they are unaware who actually owns the Business !
Wcda
Anonymous wrote:Thanks again for the suggestions. My first theory was the heater element but I have never known them to fail intermittently. I would have expected that once the casing had failed the ingress of water would have resulted in a permanent short to ground when power was applied. The machine has run faultlessly (6 washes) since the last fuse change. It seems as though I need to perform some megger tests in order to confirm your theories before committing to ordering any spares. I will let you know as soon as I have gained acces to a megger and a confirmed faulty component.
Is there any sign of discolouration around the live socket on the faceplate,
or is the plug hot to the touch when the appliance is in the heat phase ?.If there is a poor contact with the live pin when inserted in the wall socket,
it causes heating of the live pin which conducts to the fuse and lowers its rating. Once the fuse gets to a critical temperature it fails !There does not have to be a fault on the appliance !
wcda.
Re: Firenzi Fridge Cooling Problem
barney wrote:Hi – I wonder if anyone can help with a problem I’m having?
I have a Firenzi RF920 fridge (about 4-5 years old) which is not cooling (regardless of the temperature setting). There’s also a constant hissing noise coming from the rear or the fridge which I assume is part of/the cause of the problem. The hiss doesn’t seem to come from what I understand to be the compressor unit at the base of the fridge, but instead from the back of the compartment.
Does anyone know what is likely to have occured here and whether it’s costly to repair? I’ve followed the troubleshooting part of the manual but all it tells you to do is switch the unit off at the mains for an hour and to clean the air vents. Obviously, neither of these has resolved the problem.
Many thanks in advance,
Eve
This sounds suspiciously like a puncture of the evaporator, assuming this a model with a visible evaporator. This is frequently caused by speeding up defrost with a scraper and stabbing the evaporator; which is very soft and very thin.
If the evaporator is hidden behind the back wall of the fridge, it could still be a leak into the insulation.If this is the case it would be “Goodnight Vienna”.
There is a quick check to see if there has been a leak of gas. With the compressor running, switch of at the wall socket and switch back on after a couple of seconds. The compressor should not be able to start , if it does, there would appear to be no pressure in the “High side” of the system and the prognosis is not good.
wcda
Re: Upright Freezer
Guest wrote:Could anyone recommend the best upright freezer in terms of energy efficiency and reliability please?
Thanks
SharonToo much emphasis is put on efficency rating on refrigeration. Refrigeration is a very efficient heat pump and produces about three or four times as much heat energy as the power consumed.
During the heating season, the heat produced by refrigeration adds to the background heat in the home and reduces the fuel consumed by the heating system. The heating season, of course, lengthens as you move Northwards. In our area it about eight months long !
Last summer I installed an air conditioner/heat pump and our comfort level last winter was the best it has ever been. It was still producing a usefull amount of heat while th outside temperature was below Zero.C
Of course the above only applies if the refrigeration is within the house and not in the garage.
wcda
Re: Domestic & General loves Corgi?
Martin wrote:First thing this morning I get a call from a lady “Am I Corgi Registered?” she asks. No I say, don’t fix gas appliances, what’s your problem???
She has a duff Hoover W/M not pumping out, rang D & G and they said if GIAS can’t come out for 9 days (which they can’t…no surprise there), then get somebody local BUT he has to be Corgi Registered or they won’t pay up for the repair? She therefore phoned me and half a dozen of my competitors to get a Corgi bloke. As luck would have it, none of them were so she phones D & G who say, in that case call me.
Also the funny part about her Annual Insurance Policy is that D & G will only pay up for the labour NOT the part I fitted.( funny sort of insurance that is?) So being the all round nice bloke that I am, didn’t show the cost of the pump on my invoice!!
Fair enough eh?
Martin
Your Customer had a, ” labour only” policy, meant for appliances with a five year parts warranty. The dealer almost certainly sold the Policy, “not aware of the restriction”.
Some years ago, when we were Zanussi and D&G agents, we were caught with one of these and D&G would not pay for the part. We remonstrated with them, Pointing out this was in a Town 70 miles distant from us, the highest market Town in England, and with the access road climbing to 1600 feet above sea level. On top of that, the local Authority do not try to keep it open in the winter.
After hinting that we might decline to offer service in the area again, they relented and paid for the part.
wcda
kwatt wrote:Hey, maybe we should try that against cancelled contracts and some customers? 😉
K.
Some of us already have
wcdaRe: R600A to be banned!
JoeStrummer wrote:Hot news from the Shigatsu Ichi in Japan:
Hydrocarbon refrigerants to be banned with immediate effect.
Technicians in Osaka and Akita, Japan have linked the refrigerant gases used in most of today’s fridges and freezers to several health and environmental issues and have asked the Japanese government to implement an immediate ban of its use. The EEC are to issue a similar ban later today. The most common of these effected is known as R600A and has been used in appliances for over 5 years.
A spokesperson for one of Europe’s major appliance manufacturers issued the following statement:
“This is a very serious development and we have ceased production of all appliances using this refrigerant and have set in motion a major operation to remove this refrigerant from existing appliances. Working in conjunction with our service agents, we intend to remove the R600a gas from appliances and replace it with an as yet unknown replacement, probably the previously phased out R12. Obviously we have not budgeted for such an extreme operation but trust that our loyal service agents will agree to carry out this work at a vastly reduced rate.”
It is anticipated there will be a huge demand for older appliances which used alternative refrigerants and a major waste management company in Berlin today announced that they are to stop disposal of old fridges and instead move into the recondition/resale of old appliances.
There have already been reported sightings of unmarked vans collecting dumped fridges from a council estate in Leeds, probably to be re gassed and re sold.Joe, try getting hold of my left leg and pull that one. It’s the one with the bell attached
wcdaRe: When Adam was a lad!
Lawrence wrote:Hi Guys
My Father still waxes lyrically about a machine called an imperial that he used to sell for a company in London ,Ring any bells
LawrenceThe Imperial was built by Zanussi, before Zanussi entered the UK market with their own badge.
wcda
Penguin45 wrote:I did once solve this with a pressure washer – the customer had had the conversion done several years earlier and was reluctant to pay out again – we took it out in the garden and seriously hosed the damn thing! Probably more luck than judgement though.
Worth noting that the one’s which suffered most with the clogging problem are connected to the hot water supply; especially immersion systems. This also seems to apply to the various Thomson built machines and Diplomats.
All the money they save by reducing the heating time gets swallowed up by me having to clean out the fill/water level baffles. False economy?
Penguin.
It is unwise to fit any dishwasher on a hot supply.
On a cistern fed system the low pressure leads to an extended fill time , due to the resistance met in the water softener. With four or five fills the programme time can become very long.
With a hot fill, the wash phase is shortened due to the heat up time being reduced. If the incoming water is getting close to 65 Deg C the temperature kills off the enzymes in the detergent before it starts to work. The result is a wash phase reduced, by about nine or ten minutes, and the wash is done with little more than dirty water.
There is another downside, or upside, to a hot fill. It leads to premature failure of the fill valve due to overheating; these valves are only rated for about five minutes, even with the cooling effect of a cold water flow.
If anyone can remember the slimline Zanussi dishwashers that washed cleaner on a quickwash than a main wash; that was because, on the main wash phase, the timer did not pause whilst the water heated to temperature. This shortened the wash phase by nine minutes. On the quickwash programme, the timer paused while the water heated and produced a cleaner wash.
The problem could be cured by an additional link lead on the timer, the manufacturer declined to do the modification, probably due to cost. It would have been a “nice little earner” for the Agents. We produced the explanation, and the solution, but it was quietly buried.
wcda
