Beko or Indesit?

[Wayne]

Hi,

I need to buy a new washing machine and unfortunately it's going to have to be the cheapest possible.

I've narrowed it down to a Beko or an Indesit.

Are either of these more reliable than the other? Or is it six & two threes?

I know neither will be high quality but I wondered if either is known for particularly good or bad reliability?

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Best wishes

Wayne

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Personally I don't think there's a lot to choose between them though if forced I would probably favour Indesit because they are part of the same group as Hotpoint and Creda. If you could find a Bosch washing machine I would expect it to be too much more expensive as Bosch produce quite a lot of budget washing machines these days. At the end of the day all of the cheaper brands have their problems but if I was trying to buy as cheap as possible I would look for a Bosch.

[andyr12345]

I have got a Indesit innex  XWE91483 model at the moment bought for €349euro in Ireland , (I dont know what the UK price is). 1400rpm spin A+++ energy rating 1-9KG quick wash and its even got a Brushless Induction motor fitted, even at that price. These are really quiet when washing and a bit noiser when spinning obviously but still not as noisy as a brush type motor when spinning this might not be an issue if the machine isnt in earshot, say if it was in a utility room, but mine is in kitchen and the low noise makes all the diifference I reckon, as well as I think that the brushless motors are much more reliable  as well as the noise issue. For these reasons me personally if I ever had to get another washing machine ever again one requirement of mine would have to be top of the list a washing machine that has a brushless motor - I could be wrong here but i think all the Beko washing machines have brush type motors, that used to be the case but maybe I am wrong or maybe they have changed now. 

If you ever want to test in the shop if a washing machine has a brushless motor and you have pretty good hearing, , stick your head inside the drum whilst revolving the drum by hand quickly (push the grey drum paddles/lifters) if the drum revolves smoothly with no 'shrill' sound then you could be pretty sure near enough that it has a brushless type motor fitted. I did this when i bought the Indesit Innex last month. I said to the shop assistant "Has this got a Brushless type motor?" and he said "not at this price (349euro) - you would have to pay more"  - when he went off I said to my mrs that I was almost 100% that it was brushless after revolving the drum , we bought it and when got it home and tipped it to one side to look underneath it was indeed the quiet brushless motor fitted to it. 

I think normally the washing manufacturers fit the brush type motors to the cheaper washing machines still these days because the brush type motor is cheaper to use in manufacturing the machine. But (if the info is true) induction motors last for years on washing machines because they have no brushes to wear out and need replacing, I also think they are better at washing because they have better torque and very precise speed control than the brush type motors. 

I would presume Bosch machines have all got Induction brushless motors wouldnt they? unless they use the brush type fitted in the cheaper Bosch machines now? - im not sure though. But thats good that you can get budget type Bosch machines these days because they used to be fierce price (good reliable machines though by all accounts) 

I like the fact about Indesit sharing a lot of the parts across the Indesit and Hotpoint range - In this Indesit innex the amount of parts shared with my 4 or 5 year old Hotpoint washing machine is amazing. Same drum, same pump, same motor, even same PCB board (albeit programmed with different software) same water valves , same belt. So you would never be stuck for parts should it come to it . 

Hope this info helps - good luck...

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Brushless motors should be more reliable than one fitted with brushes. But that's only if both motors are roughly the same build quality. I would put all my money on a Miele washing machine motor fitted with brushes being much more reliable and lasting longer than a budget washing machine with a brushless motor. I remember when manufacturers started changing from mechanical motor driven programme timers. They said PCBs have no moving parts and so are more reliable. The truth turned out to be that they weren't more reliable on the budget brands because they were so poorly made.

So all things being equal brushless has less parts to wear out so they should be more reliable. But as you say they only fit them because they are much cheaper to make. Whether they are more reliable or not is not guaranteed, but theoretically they should be. They should definitely be quieter.

[andyr12345]

1 hour ago, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

 ... I remember when manufacturers started changing from mechanical motor driven programme timers. They said PCBs have no moving parts and so are more reliable. The truth turned out to be that they weren't more reliable on the budget brands because they were so poorly made....

I personally have always been impressed with the PCB's in the later hotpoints and indesit PCB's - nice solder tracks and no dry joints, they look pretty well made and components look good quality on the board itself - on closer inspection of the Induction motors Hotpoint/indesit use again to (my eye) look like they are put together well .

- I have also noticed on my Hotpoint that on the PCB board (the components for the motor control part) there must be some kind of motor protection protection (unless there is thermal protection in the motor winding itself?) but I have noticed that if the motor is trying to turn the drum and it gets restricted the electronics will cut the power to the motor instead of getting into a situation of the motor straining and burning out the motor (or the windings) - so thats a good built in feature. 

Considering how cheap some of the Hotpoint/Indesit can be got in the shops I think they are a pretty reliable machine all throughout ... only thing questionable is the Drum bearings as I have had quite a few hotpoints with worn drum bearings, some just noisy towards the end but still carrying on for years (but noisy) or a couple of times shattering fully, but thats rare -  its a shame they didnt use better quality materials in the drum bearings that respect.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

It's the quality of components that tends to let them down. If built well a pcb should virtually never fail but they fail all the time.