On Wed, 8 Feb 2012 01:19:11 -0800 (PST)
Keefiedee wrote:

Can someone shed any light on this as it is puzzling me? Looking on
eBay for "UK 3 Pin 24HR 24 Hour Timer Programmable Mains Wall Home
Socket Plug-IN Switch", these are generally rated at 3200 or 3000
watts - yet they all look the same, and the one with the 3200 rating
also includes a warning that it is not to be used for washing machines
- which is exactly what I do want it for. I haven't scrabbled round
the back of my washing machine to see what wattage it is, but I can't
see it being more than 3000 watts, so why should there be this
warning?

It could be the inability to handle the inductive load as some have
said but another point to consider is that some washing machines with
digital controls require you to press a "Start" button after selecting
the programme. Pressing this button without the power being on will
have no effect [1] so an external timer would not be appropriate.
Perhaps they've had too many complaints from people who bought them and
then found they were not suitable so decided to go for a dumb-ed down
warning saying "not to be used for washing machines".

[1] yes you might be able to start the machine then turn off the power
and set the timer to let the machine continue from where it left off.
But it's a bit of a kludge.

--
Mike Clarke