Bosch Classixx 6 Wae24364Gb/11 Fd 8903 602307 1200 Express

[thomastt37]

WE purchased this Bosch Washing Machine on 1st July 2009,and also a further 3 year guarantee with Domestic and General it has been lightly used as we have another washing machine,so only tend to use the Bosch to wash sheets etc.My wife usually uses the WASH PLUS programme at 60 degrees 1200 spin,this programme generall takes 2hrs 10 minutes to complete.At the begining of April my wife attempted to run this programme as she has done for the last 4 years but the following happened..

Machine fills up and within 1 minute of the programme starting the PROGRAMME ADVANCED almost an hour completely on its own THE HEATER appeared to HEAT UP,this had never happened before and in consequence the washing load wasnt washed properly.My wife tried exactly the same programme again and the same thing happened.

I contacted Domestic and General and arranged for the local Bosch Engineer to call on the 23rd April last.He changed the Main Circuit Board and the Heater Thermostat and left.Unfortunately these repairs had no effect as the initial fault remains.I contacted Domestic and General again and the Bosch Engineer called on May 12th last,he changed another circuit board and before he left he explained that the machine uses fuzzy logic and that the fuzzy logic controlled the programme length,he told my wife to try all the programmes,which she has done.She found that using the COLDER shorter washes,programmes werent affected quite as much. Finally using The SPIN Programme on its own initially set to 1200 this would change to 800 on its own,which has never happened before.

The Bosch Engineer is due to pay a further visit on Friday 6th June next,in the meantime I have been doing my own investigations on line and have discovered that this Bosch Machine has been known to DEVELOP EARTH LEAKS on the MOTOR AND THE HEATER which can affect the FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLER.

At no time has the Bosch Engineer pulled out the Machine from under the work surface and checked the Electrical Integrity of the Motor or Heater,or made any other checks for that matter. I am seeking your opinion on this machine as my wife is losing confidence in it! So would appreciate your views as surely under our warranty provided by Domestic and General we are entitled to a conclusive repair? Thanks for reading this Michael [Devon]

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi Michael, insulation leaks can indeed cause some bizarre symptoms. Any engineer working on an appliance should always check the wall socket to make sure it's earthed, and then test the earth continuity on the appliance followed by testing for insulation leaks with an insulation test meter. Apart from it being essential for diagnosis and safety of the customer it's for their own safety whilst working on the appliance too.

In practice, engineers are sadly all too often under too much time pressure and often don't bother although there should be little excuse for missing out on safety checks. Although I always made a big effort to check these things before I worked on an appliance there were definitely times when I "forgot". It could be that he checked and found nothing, or it could be that he didn't check and your fault is related to insulation leaks. It certainly seems plausible considering he's already changed several parts which didn't fix it.

[thomastt37]

Hi Thanks for your quick and informative response.I am pretty confident that the engineer hasn't checked either the plug, the motor or the heater for earth leakage,and this time I think that I should insist that he pulls the machine out from under the work surface and checks it all out as I do not want him back for a fourth time without either fixing the problem or declaring that its unfixable.Looking at previous posts on Bosch Machines it appears that the lower end priced Bosch machines are no more reliable than most other lower end priced brands.and as they are no longer made in Germany do not have the same quality as the older German made ones!I will keep the forum informed of what happens next week,but thanks for your help meantime..Michael

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Yes please give us an update on what happens, which will be very useful. Bosch are now relatively cheap, and nothing like the Bosch of old. They still get rated well at Which? though and seem to have a decent reliability record for their price. Anyone wanting a washing machine close to the quality of the old Bosch would need to upgrade to a Miele which start at around £700.