Hotpoint is just a sub brand of Indesit and Indesit is owned by Whirlpool the US appliance's brand. The one thing that connects all three brands is poor reliability. The best low cost washing machine brand is Beko, mid-range Bosch and higher up Miele although personally I don't think Miele represents good value nowadays as they are only marginally more reliable than Bosch which is only marginally more reliable than Beko. About 2-3% difference between each brand in failure rate.

Whatever you buy you should get a washing machine with a long warranty that includes both parts and labour. Even Miele has something like a 8% failure rate. Washing machines are mechanical devices with a lot of moving parts. It's not hard to find a washing machine with 5 years full warranty for sub £300 that would equal £60 a year or less for guaranteed use or just £5 a month.

You could have this one for just over £300 after you've paid for the 5 year warranty on top and got about £10 back via top cashback.

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/Beko-WMB714422S-A-7kg-1400-Spin-Washing-Machine-in-Silver/id-BEK-WSH-WMB714422S-S

or this one for about £288 after cashback

http://www.electricaldiscountuk.co.uk//store/p/laundry-dishwashers/washingmachines/washingmachines/panasonic-na127vb6wgb/?awc=1311_1463908334_27556073f1121cba254700df933011b3

It just doesn't make sense to pay £200 on a washing machine that can fail shortly after warranty and then be looking to purchase a replacement. Better to have at least 5 years of guaranteed use from a higher quality washing machine and actually save yourself a lot of money for just a small initial increase in price. Last time I looked at Hotpoint (indesit) washing machines figures they were down at something like 66-72% reliability that is a 28 to 34% failure rate.

I've stopped buying hot point washing machines, they don't tend to last more than a few years anymore

Don't waste your money, This will be in the landfill within 3 years.

I don't think that's true of most domestic appliances, induction motors are commonly used to drive the main circulation pumps of dishwashers, fridge and freezer compressors, and as tumble dryer motors, where variable speed control is not required. Simple cap start/run induction motors used in single phase machinery are virtually bomb-proof too. We've got a 1950s pillar drill with its original 1/8 hp induction motor still going strong with just a new pair of silicone insulated fly leads to the field coils and a new start capacitor, but only because the 50s rubber insulation on both had become highly conductive.

I gather that washing machine motors are increasingly likely to use permanent magnets instead of induction for even greater efficiency.

I think the build and design quality of the appliance is a much bigger factor, than its type of motor. I'd probably avoid a direct drive washing machine, but only because the position of the motor means their tubs have to be shorter for the same depth of machine.

Yes, I understand how these motors work too, and I place a different emphasis on it. If you design for minimum cost then of course you will have more failures - but if you don't, you have a superior product. It's like warning people off LED bulbs because they have a driver circuit in them - buy decent ones and the benefits shine through.

You also seem to be assuming (on an example of one?) that the drive electronics are built into the motor, making it impossible to replace one without the other. Not for my washing machine: see eBay item 181918065486 (first search hit) for a salvaged drive for £40. Seems a stupid thing to make them one unit from a reliability point of view, considering the vibration the electronics will experience.

Three phase supplies won't help you with a washing machine, nor an efficient air conditioner, because they need variable speed drives.

Its definitely the induction motor. My relative has the same motor in his machine and I swapped them out to test - I agree Induction motors are normally very reliable in industry where 3 phase electricity is standard. But consumers don't have 3 phase AC. The induction motor therefore has on board power components to produce the right phase pattern of AC to turn the rotor by rotating magnetic induction. These must have failed. I am a electronic engineer but the onboard electronics are inaccessible without a complex rig to dismantle the induction motor (unlike a DC motor).

The replacement cost of the induction motor is £145. A replacement normal washing machine motor is about £60.

In summary, for domestic appliances induction motors are more unreliable, cannot be serviced whatsoever, and are far, far more expensive to replace.

I disagree. As I said above, induction motors are not only more efficient, but they are quieter, simpler and require no maintenance. While the driver is more complicated, there are also power electronic components in the driver of a conventional motor to control its speed. Are you quite sure that the chief cause of failure is motor/controller failure, or other things like drum bearings?

These manufacturers seem to build the machines to fail shortly after the warranty expires. Brush-less induction motors are very costly to replace, because of the added on board complexity, with many large power electrical components which can go wrong. But more inefficient Old fashioned washing machine motors are very simple components and there is much much less that can go wrong with them.
I think given the very high failure rate of these machines, I would recommend people to look to buy a machine which may not be AAA+ but simple A rated with a non-induction motor.

Interesting info, thanks. Actually, the only time Hotpoint picked up the phone was to sell me an extended warranty (normally I wouldn't bother with these but I had a feeling that this device would cause me a lot of bother, and that bet paid off). Looking to move house and hopefully the new place will have room for a separate washer and dryer (definitely NOT made by Hotpoint or any related companies if I can help it)

Washer dryers are known for being a lot less reliable than standard washing machines due to the extra complexity of the product. Most washer dryers even Miele have inferior reliability. At one point Which stated the most reliable washer dryers are about equal to the least reliable washing machines but that quote is from many years ago and there are a lot of cheaper low end washing machines on the market now but it at least gives you an idea about washer dryer reliablility. Washer dryers are definitely something to get on extended warranty as the premiums are probably heavily subsidised by standard washing machine insurance premiums. Some insurance policies often have a clause that if the machine fails over a certain amount of times they will replace it so you have a higher chance of a brand new machine after a few years with a washer dryer.

I'd need quite some convincing to spend that much on a washing machine, My £300 machine performs admirably and is cheap enough to throw away.

Logic boards, if you really need a replacement can be a problem for diy anyway as they tend to come unprogrammed so if you bought a new one you'd also need to obtain a pirate copy of the repairman's software, or find somewhere that will supply and flash one for your model. A second hand one could be an option though, and a fault may be a simple dry solder joint or failed component that costs pennies to replace anyway.

Fortunately, I've only ever had to replace one (actually just a microcontroller board, as most of the electronics were on its other PCBs) and that was several decades ago in one of the very early (top of the range) electronic hotpoints and cost me over £100 for the part.

Iv


I suppose it depends on how much you invest in a washing machine, the Samsung we bought was £600.00 and I know from experince if logic boards go they want crazy prices for repairs..

When I've looked into insurance, it is usually more economic to buy a reasonable priced reliable brand and throw the appliance out if it fails, and far cheaper still if you fix it yourself.

Had my £300 Zanussi for over 7 years. After one year the original element failed, bought and fitted the new part myself, cost me about £20 and was literally a five minute job. Other than that I've dismantled the soap draw and cleaned the mould out the inlet nozzles, cost nothing.

Our previous machine was a hotpoint, the bearings failed during the 13th month, ended up paying a call out fee even though the engineer admitted it was a design fault. One case where the hotpoint free parts guarantee was worthwhile as he had to replace the drum, the spider and the rear half of the plastic tub. Think I got about 7 years use before the bearing started to fail again, at which point I flogged it in an auction for about £50.

My Bosch washer failed last week, was 13yrs old and had never missed a beat. Just bought another Bosch to replace it. Hopefully will give as good service

Had an issue with our new Hotpoint washer dryer but their customer services would not answer their phone at all for weeks. Had to get an appointment with an engineer via an extremely delayed Twitter communication! Not impressed with the quality if the thing even after it was fixed. Will never buy Hotpoint ever again, life is too short to spend it trying to get adequate service. Won't vote cold, but I wouldn't risk it.

Had a Samsung for 4 years now and going strong, after going through many hotpoints every couple of years, I find paying a few pound a month for breakdown insurance on washing machines will pay for itselfs £30.00 a year or so for a repair or replacement everytime it breaks.

Another suggestion might be to clean with pipe cleaning brushes .

Yes, but unfortunately that's statistically insignificant. Just because yours hasn't failed doesn't mean that an above average proportion of them haven't.

How about a Samsung (8kg) as an alternative, with 5 year p&l warranty, £304 for new accounts at Very: post #6 of this?

Paid 225 for my Arctic washing machine 5 years ago and works brilliant!

I have a Hotpoint washer,its about 7 yrs old and still going strong.

We put white vinegar in each wash to keep black sludge down to zero and no it doesn't make the clothes smell of vinegar.

I agree, the steam venting from hot washes does make it worse, although it does clean the tub. You can reduce mould growth in the tub area and avoid a stinky machine by avoiding regular use of liquid detergents, as they leave a residue behind that encourages mould growth. The liquid versions of some soap powder brands also don't contain any bleach, which would help to kill mould.


I deal with the black mould in the draw and inlet nozzles of my machine by either removing and dismantling the soap draw compartment and cleaning it with thick bleach and a scrubbing brush, or else if I can't be bothered to open up the machine, I use a steamer lance with a brush on to get the worst of it off.

When we had machines with hot water fill, at least the 60c tap water would keep the mould growth down on one side of the soap draw compartment.

Our Bosch Classixx Express 1200 is about 8 years or so old now. The motor failed last week. I bought a 2nd hand motor off ebay and fitted it myself, cost was £40 delivered, it was the only one that was on there so that was damn lucky as a new motor is just over £200!! That's pretty good though, 8 years. Oh and 2 sets of carbon brushes.

A fair point but you could run the Beko at reduced speed so its running below maximum performance for less wear. It's all about averages anyway. As someone else pointed out their Beko failed at about 2 years. There is no washing machine with 100% reliability its all about probabilities. Lets say Beko had a failure rate of 14% That's still 14 out of 100 that fail and that is an average for all models so perhaps some models only have a 5% failure rate and others perhaps 23%. The coop warranties do vary. If you buy a premium model like Miele the warranty is more expensive, not by much but its more. Maybe its based on the purchase price or maybe its because Miele repairs out of warranty are horrifically expensive often 2 or even 3x the cost of some other brands even though such repairs are less frequent.

You can run it at 90 deg until your electricity meter engages warp drive, but it won't get rid of the mould in the nozzles and in and around the soap drawers. - in fact it might even make it worse as it steams more!

Why is a more efficient machine less reliable?

The black mould that many see in their washing machine is caused by washing at low temperatures you should wash at a very high temp every so often so that you clean the machine and prevent mould growth.

The insane rush for efficiency at the expense of reliability effectively creates more waste and inefficiency - machines are built to meet pointless efficiency targets but not reliability targets.

Good stuff and I agree. However, it seems that Co-op's extended warranties are the same price regardless of brand. Well at least the one for the model you link to and a Hotpoint are the same. The Hotpoint is £10 cheaper (only ~5%) but then it has 1kg less capacity and a slower spin (1200 vs 1400rpm - and there's a square law relationship going on so that's more significant than it seems). Both would lead to less stress on the drum bearings, the failure of which I believe is a prime cause of expensive repairs. I wonder if the reliability of this reduced performance Hotpoint is considered similar to the Beko?

Except that an induction motor, if it and its driver circuit are built properly, is so much better than a brushed motor. It is quieter (the brushes are what make the noise), it is more efficient and it doesn't require maintenance (brush replacement). All washing machines have electronic control anyway - it's what enables the motor to run at different speeds.

I've had water leaking out the front of the soap tray on a couple of washing machines, both had blocked and partially blocked water nozzles caused by soap powder in the holes above the tray, my current one also had black mould partially blocking one of the two crossing inlet jets at the back so that most of the water would miss the conditioner section of the draw.

​he purchased from the retailer.

Hotpoint - no thanks!

Which do the reliability survey for the uk as sadly general domestic don't release figures on failure rates for their insurance policies. You can get free or low cost trials for Which which is worth doing. I tend to do a free or £1 trial every 2 to 3 years or so.

Yes you can do but you should factor in how much your are paying for that insurance. Coop electrical does it at cost so its less than £100 typically but many others charge much more and in the case of monthly payments like AO much, much more. Also if you buy an unreliable washing machine and rely on the warranty then clearly you may have frequent visits which is your time wasted.

My 20 month old Beko Eco 8Kg washing machine bought for a bargain £232 failed last week. After investigating I found it was the motor. It, like many ECO AAA+ machines use a induction motor, which have a pile of on board complexity to simulate the needed energy pattern they need to magnetically induce the motor to turn. The motor costs as much as a new machine to replace.
It's a common story that these machines are built to fail and be replaced shortly after the 1 yr warrenty is over.
I will be claiming a repair back from the retailer - legally we have the expectation of a reasonable period of using the goods.
The machines which last 15 years + (like my old one) don't have complex induction motors, they have motors which are simple, rarely fail, and have replaceable carbon brushes to turn the motor which only cost £12 to replace. All repairs apart from the control board and motor on washing machines cost buttons and are easy to do.

When you buy a new washing machine you get first 12 months labour and parts manufactors guarantee on it anyway where did you get 5 years from or was it Samsung because Hotpoint never give 5 years guarantee

What happened was there water coming down from the dispenser after machine was taking the conditioner at the end was it a leak I've got the same problem

​yes, good job he purchased 5 year guarantee.

You can buy this and get insurance on it

Samsung are good, as op has said make sure you have 5 years parts & labour warranty.

Did he get a replacement

The best advice I can give based on what I have researched - is check for whether it has a sealed drum, whether it has a filter flap at the front for easy access.

The best machines are the ones that are made with the best engineering and parts but also the best for repair. Machines nowadays are made not to be repaired so many sealed parts which reduces manufacturing costs (the iphone approach to washing machines lol)

You wouldn't buy a car that didnt have a bonnet that couldn't be removed to do a repair so dont buy a washing machine that cannot be repaired easily.

Hi, I am looking for a 9 KG machine - where do we check these reliability / failure % ratings please? and also how are Samsung machines please?

Unfortunately, we bought a Hotpoint after going through 2 Bosch machines in 5 years- the engineer said to buy a cheap one and throw it when it breaks down. Seven years down the line and it's still going strong....... Maybe they have changed.

Hotpoint is just a sub brand of Indesit and Indesit is owned by Whirlpool the US appliance's brand. The one thing that connects all three brands is poor reliability. The best low cost washing machine brand is Beko, mid-range Bosch and higher up Miele although personally I don't think Miele represents good value nowadays as they are only marginally more reliable than Bosch which is only marginally more reliable than Beko. About 2-3% difference between each brand in failure rate.

Whatever you buy you should get a washing machine with a long warranty that includes both parts and labour. Even Miele has something like a 8% failure rate. Washing machines are mechanical devices with a lot of moving parts. It's not hard to find a washing machine with 5 years full warranty for sub £300 that would equal £60 a year or less for guaranteed use or just £5 a month.

You could have this one for just over £300 after you've paid for the 5 year warranty on top and got about £10 back via top cashback.

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/Beko-WMB714422S-A-7kg-1400-Spin-Washing-Machine-in-Silver/id-BEK-WSH-WMB714422S-S

or this one for about £288 after cashback

http://www.electricaldiscountuk.co.uk//store/p/laundry-dishwashers/washingmachines/washingmachines/panasonic-na127vb6wgb/?awc=1311_1463908334_27556073f1121cba254700df933011b3

It just doesn't make sense to pay £200 on a washing machine that can fail shortly after warranty and then be looking to purchase a replacement. Better to have at least 5 years of guaranteed use from a higher quality washing machine and actually save yourself a lot of money for just a small initial increase in price. Last time I looked at Hotpoint (indesit) washing machines figures they were down at something like 66-72% reliability that is a 28 to 34% failure rate.

Don't waste your money, This will be in the landfill within 3 years.

just check hotpoint ebay - the 35% code prices appear to have been already discounted there - not such a good deal

I'm on my 3rd Hotpoint......bearings have never lasted more than 3 years and I need a new one now; one where you don't need ear defenders and one that is built to last.

Don't for get This Morning show on itv they catch on fire!.

my last hotpoint didnt even last 3 years. bearings gone - needed to replace whole drum.

perfect it worked, cheers OP!

hotpoint washing machines not good anymore. my friend's broke after 3 years, it was a write offffffff.

Would never buy any machine by these lot stick to Meile buy one and forget it

this code does work on anything on website giving 36% off

I've stopped buying hot point washing machines, they don't tend to last more than a few years anymore

Is there any trick to finding it on the site or is it OOS? It isn't listed under laundry-->washing machines.

Which is better this one or this http://www.very.co.uk/hotpoint-ultima-s-line-rpd9467jgg-1400-spin-9kg-load-washing-machine-graphite/1600001853.prd let me know thanks

I cant find it

found it on the site, the code gives a massive discount!!

cant say i didnt try

still broken

Link broken!