Thats a great site folks. Am very glad that the site is growing with more european memmbers. I have always liked washing machines from childhood and at the momment am a very happy owner of a miele 2888 nanitronic.Its the best machine i have ever used.Flexible, u can adjust temperature in 5 degrees celcious increments, alter rinse levels, and spin speed at 1800 rpm.A very quiet motor but with some noisy hydrulic suspension when things go off balance.Excellent wash results and quick wash times most programmes around an hour including 60 degree 5 kg cotton wash.The downside is the drum volume which is not 6 kg as other cheaper mieles and the standard wash cycle is a bit boring to watch, unlike my previous zanussi iz 16 which only lasted 3 years due to bearing failure and subsequent motor failure due to water getting into the motor. That machine was very slow 180 min for 60 degree wash but it had a tilted drum and a circulation pump on during the whole wash cycle.It was changing washing speeds and even spin without pump on during rinse cycle to enhance rinsing. However i need to say that its washing rinsing and spinning results were much inferior to miele's despite the long wash times and the exciding wash cycle. Its built quality however cannot be compared to miele but its the half the cost of a navitronic. My family howener has long experience with mieles and i have to say that they had been reliable and hard working machines up to now. But you see here on the island you here o Aegs lasting 20 years but not any more. The general build quality of most manufactures has worsened over the years epecilly the german manufacturers which were and are popular here.
Post# 115192 , Reply# 1 3/14/2006 at 12:17 (6,617 days old) by tomturbomatic(Beltsville, MD)
Welcome to the club. Thanks for the informative introduction.
Unfortunately Miele washers marketed in the USA have experienced a steady decline in flexibility, probably due in part to stupid bureaucrats who set energy standards for appliances, but don't have a grasp on what the appliances are supposed to do. They admit to testing dishwashers' energy ratings by washing loads of CLEAN dishes. So our Miele washers are far less flexible than those available across the ocean. The newest Miele washers available over here cannot even be set for a rinse and spin or just a spin. If it does not balance and the clothes are too wet, you are out of luck. I'm glad I have older Novotronics, but feel that Miele really let down its customers in the United States. Wonderful as Mieles are, I don't think that you will see anything that will compare to the wide variety of laundry appliances offered for sale in our country from just before the Second World War through to maybe the 1990s. Maybe you can be here for one of our conventions so that you will have a chance to experience some real laundry drama. Tom
Post# 115348 , Reply# 2 3/15/2006 at 07:32 (6,616 days old) by tomturbomatic(Beltsville, MD)
You mention the noisy suspension when things are off balance. I notice in my Miele that when a less than perfectly balanced load is being brought up to speed, the hissing sound is very similar to the sounds made by the balance mechanism in my 1969 Kenmore Combination Washer-Dryer. It was a very complex system where the machine balanced the load for the final spin by injecting water into one or two of the drum's 3 tanks opposite the heavy side of the load. Each time water was sprayed into a tank, air pressure was bled from the pneumatic clutch system that shifted the transmission from tumble to spin. Once the tub was balanced, this noise stopped and the tub was allowed to come up to speed. This rhythmic hissing sound of the suspension system is almost the same between machines made more than 30 years apart on two different continents.
Post# 115382 , Reply# 3 3/15/2006 at 10:14 (6,616 days old) by miele2888 ()
Hey Tom, very interesting the comment with your Kennmore. Those were the times that appliances were very well engineered unlike todays products that are of simple design and as cheaply as possible. Does your miele have a hydraulic suspension? I thought only the navitronics have due to 1800 rpm spin speed and the industrial 3 face motor used on this machine. The older mieles we have 8 and 12 year old 1200 rpm models have gas suspension.
Post# 115426 , Reply# 4 3/15/2006 at 15:48 (6,616 days old) by nickuk(chelmsford UK)
Thanks for the information about your high-end Miele washer. I have a modest Zanussi washer (different to your models). With any luck it too will pack up shortly so that I can buy a new machine :-)
I am very fond of Cyprus and have spent lots of time there. My ex-girlfriend was a London Greek Cypriot and we had a family home just outside Larnaca. The washing machine was pants - `Zerowatt'. It's not a make which I believe is sold in the UK.
I remember trying out the Cypriot detergents - Dixan Power Plus, Laser, Eureka were the main ones. I really liked the scent of Dixan. What do you think of the detergents? Water is very soft over there, right? Where we lived they used to cut the water off most days - my ex-family said it was so the expensive hotels down on Larnaca Bay could have all the water for the paying guests!
I miss Cyrpus, the food, the music (I still have some of the CDs) and I hope to return one day.
It's really nice that you have found the site. and I hope that you are enjoying a no doubt very pleasent climate this time of year.
Nick
Post# 115516 , Reply# 5 3/16/2006 at 05:39 (6,615 days old) by miele2888 ()
Hey Nic, Thank you for your reply.It must be some time ago you have visited the island because lately things have changed. We now use sea water which is fitered, processed and mixed with rain water so we dont face any water shortage any more. However i wouldnt say that our water is soft appart from some villages which use spring water dierctly for household use.Its almost summer now here and i can assure you that although the island has changed a lot good food music and having fun are still one of our strong points. As far as detergents are concerned Dixan is a product of German Henkel and its identical to German persil. I was in Holland lately and the formula and scent of Dixan was the same as Henkel Persil which is Different from Unilever persil you have in UK. Laser and Eureka are cypriot Detergents of Average quality i would say. They both changed their formulations lately and they tend to produce a lot of suds forcing my miele to add an aditional rinse and another 10-12 minutes on the wash cycle. Personally i use Ariel, Dixan and UK persil non bio which i find to give whiter results than the persil bio. The Zerowatt brand nowadays is absorbed by the Candy group which produces HOOVER,Kelvintaor, Candy and Zerowatt. older machines however were a brand of their own and usually 6 or 7 kg machines. They were reliable machines but slow spin 400 or 500 rpm.Most people discarded them when the enamel tub was becoming leaky after 8-10 years of use. I am also fond of Essex area especially Colchester where i stayed there for 3 years. If you decide to come to the island we can arrange a meeting Nick. Very nice hearing from you.
miele 2888
Post# 115526 , Reply# 6 3/16/2006 at 07:09 (6,615 days old) by nickuk(chelmsford UK)
The Zerowatt was a 1996/7 model. It was only a 5kg machine, with an adjustable dial you could set to 1,2,3,4 or 5kg or woolens (highest water level). The spin was 600rpm, with an induction motor. It must have had some sort of centrifugal clutch system or equivalent, because it would spin lower first of all (maybe 375) and then ramp up half way through the spin. You say that it is GIAS, well that would make sense because the older Candys had centrifugal clutch on the 400/800 spin. Nowadays of course Candy is just brush motor same as Hoover.
When I was on the Island last was 1999. Then, Dixan didn't smell like Henkel Persil. It was pretty similar to The WIP Express handwash scent. Either Henkel Persil has changed scent lately or Dixan has, or my memory is deceiving me.... I have Henkel Persil in the form of Le Chat from France and Sainsburys Perform tabs, these are also same scent as Henkel Persil. They are made by Henkel for Sainsburys.
My fave detergent over here is Persil non bio too. I have lots of others but I think it's the best. Non bio has more bleach than bio which is maybe why you say it whitens better. However I think the optical brighteners in non bio are released only at higher temperatures - at least, that's what the manufacturer of anohter non bio powder (Kleeneze company) claims. This is good because dark colours don't suffer as much at low tempeatures. Personally I use Persil non bio on blacks sometimes and the result is fine.
I like the scent and performance of Ariel but I find it too sudsy.
It would certainly be nice to meet up if I ever end up in Cyprus. I'm remembering now allt he things I liked about it and embarassingly my first memory is of a steak house! In Protaras - Rocky's?
Miele, my 6 kg Novotronic 1986 has the hydraulic suspension with a top spin speed of 1200 rpm. The 5 kg 1918 has a top spin speed of 1600 rpm. My old W1065 had a top spin speed of 1100 rpm.
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