Problem With Jl 1202

[Gingernut]

Hello,

I recently bought the John Lewis 1202 after reading lots of good feedback about it. It was delivered this Tuesday, and once it was plumbed in I ran the recommended wash with no clothes and half a measure of detergent, not all of which was taken from the drawer. Last night I ran the first wash with clothes, but at the end of the cycle I noticed once again that only about half the powder had been taken from the dispenser drawer, and none of the fabric softener.

My previous washing machine (a very unsatisfactory Indesit that we inherited with the flat) was very old and clogged with detergent deposits. It, too, did not clear soap from the drawer or accept fabric softener, but I assumed that this was because the machine was clogged, despite my best efforts to clean it.

The fact that a brand new machine has done the same makes me wonder if there is another reason that the detergent/fs is not taken up - would anyone be able to shed any light on this? Could it be a problem with the water pressure, and if so, how do I fix that?!

Many thanks for any help.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Welcome. It sounds like a water pressure problem or a partially kinked fill hose. A quote from the Washing machine won't fill with water (or no water goes into washing machine) might help -

".. the obvious thing is to check that water is actually available through the plumbing from the offending pipe. Turn off the tap on the affected supply and unscrew the hose from the valve at the back of the washing machine machine. Then simply hold the fill hose into the sink or into a bucket and turn the tap back on. If water comes through at a decent flow rate then check the filter in the water valve on the washing machine. You can pull it out with a pair of pliers and clean it. However, this will only explain your fault if it is severely blocked up, which is rare.

If no water comes through the hose, or the flow is very slow, then the fault is in the plumbing. This is actually also quite rare, but if your machine was plumbed in using those self plumbing taps that clamp on to the copper water pipes then they do sometimes get clogged up and need the hole clearing. If this happens to the cold supply it can be achieved by turning the stop tap off first, but if the hot supply is blocked - which is the most likely of the two - then you have to turn off the cold supply and then drain the hot water tank by turning on the hot tap until the water is drained out (unless you know where the valve is to turn the hot water off in your water cylinder)."

If everything is OK, but you just have a poor water pressure you may need to start using the detergent that you place in the drum if possible.

[Gingernut]

An update, if you're interested...

The engineer called round on Saturday and fixed the problem in about 3 seconds flat. The valve for the cold water pipe was partly closed, which meant not enough water was going into the machine. I think it must have been like that since before we moved in, which would explain why the old machine wouldn't take powder either.

Anyway, all fixed and I finally have clean-smelling, fabric conditioned clothes! Very happy with the John Lewis machine.

Thanks again for all your help. Great forum and website

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

An update, if you're interested...

Thanks very much, we are always interested I didn't think it would be the washing machine with it being the same as the old one. Glad it's sorted and you are happy with the washing machine.