How long should your washing machine last?

Hi Carl – As far as I know, most modern washing machines are of the ‘sealed tank’ construction that you mention, so unless you have a very expensive machine it is economically not worth repairing. There are efforts in Europe to tackle this sort of problem that is expensive for consumers and creates mountains of waste.

I would not expect too much from a £200 washing machine. That’s what I paid for one back in 1982. Modern machines have large drums and high spin speeds and that is asking a lot of the bearings. If the load is unbalanced, water and detergent can bypass the seal and very quickly wreck the bearing. I suggest not using the maximum speed, making sure the machine is levelled and stopping it the load becomes unbalanced and that might help prolong the life.

Cath – I am very impressed by how long your Indesit machine has lasted and hope it lasts for a few years yet.

Cath L’s machine bought for £200 with a 5% discount in around 1988 would have been the equivalent of a £500 or thereabouts machine today. This allowed, I’d suggest, for a quality build, as hers shows by its longevity. A £200 machine these days requires construction and labour costs to be minimised. For a machine that will be lightly used, say in a single person household or a holiday home, this might well be an adequate choice. But I would suggest you generally get what you pay for and such a machine is likely to have a shortish working life and not be economically repairable.

The questions we need to address include whether non-repairable (economically, that is) light duty machines should be sold without explaining its limitations, or whether all domestic appliances should have (acceptable) minimum working lives, in time or cycles, covered by an appropriate warranty; the latter would no doubt remove a swathe of low cost appliances that could be considered appropriate for people with limited use and low funds.

“Disposable” appliances are damaging to the environment in absorbing resources and then going to waste. Many don’t have enough spare money to buy better quality products but still need to wash clothes. A dilemma.

The EU is trying to bring in legislation to ensure that products are more repairable and that spares remain available. It would be good if the UK becomes more involved and maybe helps drive this forwards. We cannot just carry on producing mountains of white goods that have failed prematurely. Here is a relevant Conversation: https://conversation.which.co.uk/sustainability/right-to-repair-appliance-eu-rules

I am not happy that some products become not economically repairable after a short working life, as Carl Duffin reports. Equally I am unhappy about expensive goods that fail prematurely, especially since the our legislation provides consumer protection for a maximum of six years.

I presume that the UK has been part of the EU initiative while it was a member. Do we have any evidence it will not continue to support it?

There are many people who cannot afford a better quality appliance. How do we take account of their needs?

I think you misunderstood, Malcolm. I have not suggested that the UK will not support the Right to Repair and as I did suggest it would be good if we could drive this forward.

One way of obtaining a better quality appliance at an affordable price is to buy secondhand. I don’t know if there are dealers that offer a guarantee or whether it is better to take the risk of buying on Gumtree or eBay, or through local advertising. Some charity shops sell electrical goods and our council has a shop that sells working electrical goods that are taken to recycling centres.

My housemate steered my away from a cheap Indesit in about 1988 and persuaded me to buy a Zanussi instead. It still works fine, but has not ever had to serve a family as large as 5. It required a very simple DIY repair in about 1998.

From what I’ve experienced, cheap modern £200 washing machines may only last about 5 years if heavily used. I know of two such Bekos that have not been heavily used and are now both about 10 years old. One heavily used Beko last about 5 years and a similar Bush has now been going well for over 5 years.

Footnote: the Bush has just become beyond economic repair, after the remains of a Yale key and a £1 coin impacted and ruptured the bottom of the drum housing. That lets all the water out, onto the kitchen floor 🙁

I’d never seen a £1 coin with the silver centre separated from the gold outside before.

I know what I think, but I’d like to ask the panel whether or not this type of “money laundering” should be an anticipated operating occurrence, or a fault that should have been prevented by the user?

That’s an expensive mistake. With luck you may be able to remove foreign objects before they cause damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqP6grp0BXY

Some washing machines have a coin trap in the filter to protect the drain pump. I once wrecked the plastic impeller of the drain pump of my machine by leaving a £1 coin in a pocket. I made a new impeller from brass. It taught me to check my pockets twice.

Another argument for a cashless society and amazon keyless entry? (whatever happened to that?).

Duct tape?

As a repair would have to withstand temperature cycling and both static and dynamic pressure, I was tempted by the use of car body repair / bodging materials, as a fun and relatively inexpensive repair.

Vibration is another problem, particularly during the spin cycle. Any patch would be best applied to the inside of the tub, but the drum will be in the way.

A metal patch, pop rivets and silicone sealant? I’m trying to work out how a key and £1 coin has managed to puncture the drum housing?

The gap between the tub and drum is small and if the coin etc. moves it can act as a wedge, sometimes causing serious damage.

Aluminium sheet is easy to shape to a curved surface but silicone sealant does not adhere to it, presumably because of the oxide coating. on the surface.

Maybe after 5 years the bearings have worn sufficiently to reduce the clearance. If the machine has been used regularly then 5 years seems a reasonable life for a cheap machine.

I have always assumed there is a little person inside our washing machine who turns my trousers inside out, opens and reverses the pillow cases and duvet covers, and takes the collar stiffeners out of my shirts and puts them in the door seal. Sometimes an anorak has come out repacked inside the hood. Only folding money has been found so far and is usually still fit for purpose. Tissue handkerchieves are a bigger problem as they tend to atomise and end up over everything.

Prior to making its way into the pump, a £1 coin put a couple of dents in the drum of my old washing machine, demonstrating the small clearance. Thankfully it did not puncture the polypropylene tub and the machine continued to work for another 20+ years.

I washed socks the other day. Remarkably every one that the machine released had a pair. I don’t remember that ever happening before.

In this specific case, over time all of the plastic stirring paddles had failed where they lock into the drum. After removing failed paddles and not replacing them, I think the now uncovered mounting slots made it possible for £1 coin sized objects to get between the drum and tub.

I was told that the catastrophic failure was associated with a loud bang.

As this machine has been heavily used, even with this failure, it has been good value for money.

That might have been a factor and it would have made sense to replace the paddles when they failed. Coins etc. do find their way out of the drum on washing machines where the paddles form part of the stainless steel drum.

Most modern washing machines are ‘sealed tank’ models, were the tank, drum, spider and bearings are a single unit. It makes them cheaper to make but repairs are unlikely to be economically viable.

I suppose that heavy use for five years is good value but with a little more care it could still have been working.

Replacement paddles are between £2.50 and £21 each depending on the model and possibly delivered by 9pm the next day.

Here’s information about replacing paddles, which can be easy or not so easy, depending on the model: https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix-it-yourself/washing-machine-washer-dryer/3287-how-to-replace-a-washing-machine-drum-paddle

I have not had a washing machine with plastic paddles. The advantage seems to be that it may be possible to remove one so that small fabric items can be retrieved as explained in the linked video I posted above.

I presume that washing trainers is hard on the paddles.

Products can be heavily discounted when a new model comes along, even if the differences are only cosmetic. Any initial teething troubles with a new model can also be avoided.

Harald, as far as I know the EU 2 year requirement you refer to is not a minimum manudacturers’ guarantee period but the equivalent of our Consumer Rights Act 2015, which gives 6 years protection (5 in Scotland) but with restrictions on the redress provided and the actions the customer needs to take. The onus is on the retailer and not the manufacturer.

Hi Harald – You might find what the flashing lights mean by looking online or asking a question on a forum. Here is some troubleshooting information from Indesit: https://www.indesitservice.co.uk/washing-machine-repair/troubleshooting If the drum is not rotating I suggest checking that the motor brushes are not worn out.

Over the years, the price of white goods has fallen and your £189 is less than I paid for a modestly priced machine back in 1882. If you want a machine that might last a decent length of time I suggest spending at least £500.

http://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blwashingmachines.htm
Was yours one of these early ones? 🛁🙂

Mine was a cleaner version of the one on this page, a Philips W082 Variatronic, made in Great Britain: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?15603 It served me well for 34 years but I decided to not to take it with me when I moved home. My parents had an Electrolux machine that lasted about 25 years. It was still working but my mother had been warned that parts were no longer available.

Earlier this week I helped a friend install and christen “George II” , her new Bush washing machine from Argos.

George cost £200 including delivery and removal of its predecessor. That was a similarly cheap Bush that had lasted for about 5 or 6 years of fairly intensive use I think.

Harald’s problem does certainly sound like a motor or drive fault. The Beko that my friend had before her 1st Bush failed that way, as best we could tell. The cost of a new motor would have been over £100, so did not seem appealing as an economic repair.

Naming a washing machine after a US politician may be setting a president. Maybe George II will serve for about eight years.

Nice one Phil. I still use a Zanussi that is a few years older than yours. Mine has not been fault free, but has only ever needed a minor DIY repair.