On Fri, 4 Nov 2016 18:46:22 -0000 (UTC), Tim+ wrote:

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Tim+ writes:
You have to have a kind of grudging admiration for the way that some
washing machine parts are designed to last *just* longer than the warranty.

Our six year Hotpoint's main bearings are on their way out and the parts
warranty is of course five years. This will be the very first washing
machine that I've owned whose bearings have died before the rest of the
machine is beyond economic repair.

That age is probably on the boardline of having non-replacable bearings
too (welded drum seams).

Bugger. Think you could be right.

Popped the top off tonight and the outer containment drum is a welded
plastic affair so unless all the bearing can be replaced from the rear,
it's not going to happen.

I know the usual answer to "what new machine?" is Miele but are there any
other brands with good reliability?

Tim

Possibly John Lewis' own brand. I had a Siemens (mid-range I suppose - £550)
and it played up a lot and tended to fray things. In spite of video
evidence, Siemens wasn't interested - JL gave me a full refund!
The JL machine (8kg JLWM1414) has a big drum of about 70l and appears to be
AEG (I used the booklet from an AEG whilst looking at the JL and it
worked!).
AEG seems to be pragmatic re. the figures: it gets the European water
consumption rating by having 2 specific programmes for damp wash/garden
shredder performance and then has proper cotton programmes.
It's also semi-mechanical - no silly touch screen that doesn't decouple from
my finger up to as much as 3 - 4mm away causing uncontrolled changes.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway