I Scrapped 13 MACHINES to Prove a Point: STOP BUYING These Brands!

Hi, welcome to How to Repair. In my

ongoing campaign against built-in

obsolescence, thousands of you have

asked for me to start stating which

machines to buy. My problem being, it's

very hard for me to point you in the

right direction in this industry today.

But I am going to be doing a whole

campaign on individual brands. And today

we are dealing with Hoover and Candy.

And I'm sorry to have to say this to the

manufacturers. Your quality has gone

downhill so badly since the days of the

Mirtha Tidville plant in Wales back in

the 70s and 80s. The quality of machines

that you are building today is an

absolute disgrace. And don't just take

my word for it. I imagine there will be

many an engineer leaving comments on

this video telling you exactly either

that I'm telling the truth or other

additional faults they will bring to

light in the comments. Now, I've

actually scrapped 13 machines, I think

it is, over the last couple of weeks

because I'm having a look in depth at

what is going on our landfills today and

why these machines are going on the

landfills. I've kept four machines to

show you the different build quality

over the last few years. Now, we have a

machine here that was manufactured in

2010,

and this has got bearing problems. We'll

go into that in a minute. The next

machine is a 2015 machine and this

machine has a warped drum, meaning that

the drum is rubbing against the outer

drum and it is a complete writeoff.

Although all the functionality of this

machine and this machine are working

perfectly when it comes to the

components, but the bearings have gone

in this one. This one has got a warped

drum. The next machine is a 2019 machine

and this has a software problem, meaning

the PCB has failed. And lastly, I came

across this integrated washing machine,

18 months old and going to the landfill

because of a design flaw that Hoover and

Candy have not changed in the last 10

years. They're aware of the problem, but

they don't seem to change anything.

I'm also going to be discussing the

accessibility on these machines and how

easy they are to repair and also how the

manufacturer treats the general public

and engineers with regards technical

information on these machines. Now, I

must say Hoover Candy do produce some

workshop manuals and assisted bulletins

with regards to repairing these

machines, but I'm going to actually go

in depth really to show you how how hard

they are to work on. When I had my

warehouse down in Calicott and I had a

reconditioning plant, this is in the

'9s. The only machines that I would

really recondition in those days were

Hot Point 95 series, which was a great

machine. That's the one where the motor

was on the top of the machine, not the

bottom. And the Hot Point 18 series,

which had a great big aluminium plate on

the back, and it was just so easy to

work on. It was a joy. And I also

reconditioned the Hoover A3 series and

they were an exceptional machine. They

had one of the best bearing systems of

all times. They used tapered bearings in

their machine and the quality was second

to none. But over the last 30 years,

it's gone downhill. And I'm sorry to say

some of these machines today are

absolute trash. So I'm actually bringing

this information to you as we go through

all these machines. And it's not going

to be a short video. I'm going to go in

depth on everything so you get an

understanding of what these companies

are doing. And I'm not just doing this

for Hoover and Candy. I will be doing

Hot Point, Indicet. I will be doing

Bosch, Nef, and Seammens. I will be

doing AEG, Zenusi, and many other

machines over the next few weeks because

I have actually got a stockpile of

machines all with all of these machines

were heading to the landfill. They've

either got the simplest defaults wrong

with them and they were easy to repair

which means general public was lazy or

not having the technical knowledge

knowing what the problem is to repair it

or the machines were catastrophic

failures due to obsolescence built into

the machine and poor build quality.

Okay, I just went down the office to get

you a picture and before you all take

the mick, yes, I used to have hair. But

here we have the warehouse and as you

can see the appliances that were in the

showroom in those days was Trricity

Tiara cookers, Creda Care freeze,

Tricity Presidents, Bellings, uh many

good fridge freezers in those days that

didn't cause any problem and fridge

freezers used to last 25 30 years.

cookers would last 25 to 30 years and

even the washing machines. You must

remember in those days we had great

British makes like Hoover, Hot Point, uh

Service, Phillips, there were so many

good machines and machines would last 25

years. You younger generation today

think the average lifespan of a washing

machine is good if it gets to seven or

eight years. It's not. We used to have

equipment that would last 25 to 30 years

and that's when you disposed of it.

People like myself were able to

recondition machines in those days.

Okay, let's have a look at the machines

that I've already scrapped. Now, this is

a drum that came out of, I believe it

was a 2014

machine, and this had had a basic hole

in the drum, and it was leaking due to a

coin, a nail, or something going through

it. Most of the machines that I've

already scrapped had either spider

problems, which is the actual support

that holds the drum to the bearing

system, [snorts] or the bearings

themselves had collapsed. And what

happened around about 2006, all the

northern hemisphere manufacturers

started producing sealed washing machine

drums and they started doing this all at

the same time. I suspect they had an

internal meeting between all the

manufacturers and came up with this

idea. I have no proof on this, but it is

really weird that every manufacturer

started doing this at the same time.

Some companies even left the joining

holes where the bolts used to be

[snorts] but decided to weld it instead

of using them. In my honest opinion,

this is what is illegal. Manufacturers

are deliberately going about building in

obsolescence. I'm going to leave that

subject alone now and I'm not going to

rant on about it, although I'm very

passionate about it. Now, this machine

had failed because of the actual drum

bearings. And I'll let you hear this in

a second.

The bearings for this machine, if I

wanted to replace them, would cost no

more than £20 retail, including the

seal, but the manufacturer has removed

the right to repair. This machine is

fully working apart from that noise you

can hear on the bearings. And within a

few months, the actual bearing system

would completely collapse. Every

component on this machine is good still.

The motor, the printed circuit board,

everything. And I'll be dismantling

these for the spare parts to actually

prolong the life for someone else's

machine with an affordable component.

The next machine, which is a much more

modern machine, this is a 2019 machine.

Oh, let me quickly go back to this

because I've actually written down the

cost of the components and what the

machine cost new. This machine was

manufactured around about 2010 and I can

tell that by the date code. The machine

at the time of purchasing was £280 to

buy. But the drum for this machine,

because it is a sealed drum, is £198.

The motor for this machine is £152.

And the crazy thing, even the wiring

harness, which is only a small amount of

wiring, is £139 for this machine.

Um, and the printed circuit board

actually is quite affordable when you

compare it to uh other makes. This is

only £115.

Right, moving from that machine to a

much more modern machine. Let's go to

the 2015 machine. This machine, the drum

will not rotate. It rotates, but it's

rubbing on the outer drum, meaning the

drum has warped. Now, this machine, uh,

basically a new drum for this machine is

less money according to what I found on

the internet. I can actually acquire

this drum for £146.

The motor is £108, but the PCB on this

machine is £192.

and the wiring harness is £146.

[snorts] Any one of those components

fail, I do not blame you. You are going

to go out and buy a new machine. But how

come the machine only costs £350, but

the manufacturer is selling individual

components so high? Next, we'll move on

to the Hoover. And this is a Hoover. And

what's the model? It's a HL series 168D.

uh sorry 1682D and this machine is a

2019 machine. This has stuff like NFC

capability for linking up to your mobile

phone, all gizmos that they try to sell

you [snorts] which really is not useful

in any way. It actually makes things

more complicated. And this has got PCB

failure, meaning that the program is

corrupted or one of the components on

the circuit board is corrupted and it's

no longer working. I'll just read you

the prices for the components on this

machine. This machine is £190 for the

drum. The motor I couldn't get any

information on and I don't believe they

sell it. But according to the Right to

Repair Act, all manufacturers should be

producing machines with spare parts

available for at least 10 years. But the

motor, I could not find any information

on this. The printed circuit board again

is a bit cheaper. It's £113

and the wiring harness for this machine

is 1995.

Everything is good on this machine apart

from the printed circuit board. And

again, we'll be listing all the spare

parts for that machine on the website.

Now, we're going to move on to a 2015

machine. Uh, this is Have I done that?

Oh, sorry. I've done that one. Now, this

machine is a 2024 machine, and I

couldn't believe it was thrown out, and

I really just had a quick look. And what

had happened is the belt had come off

the machine, but the person might have

looked at the machine and looked at the

back and saw that the belt was off and

this pulley wheel was loose as anything.

And this is actually because they use a

spline type u connection between the

drum shaft and the pulley wheel. And

when this machine was assembled, the nut

was not done up correctly or they did

not use enough locking compound to

actually fix this to the back of the

drum. And someone most probably looked

at this and because it was outside of

the warranty period, decided, my god,

I'm going to be charged £130 call out

for a machine that only cost them £399.

So they were suspecting that they might

have to buy a new drum.

>> [snorts]

>> plus the call out charge and they just

decided to buy a new machine. Actually,

I was able to fix this machine for less

than £15. But you do need the knowhow

and I have actually done a specific

video on this to show you how to rectify

the problem and that will be another

video. That machine now works perfectly

and someone will really appreciate a

cheap integrated machine. Now let's talk

serviceability.

Every machine goes wrong at some point

and some machines are easy to work on

and other machines are not so easy.

Bosch, Nef, Seaman, Zenusi, AEG,

Electrolux, LG, Samson all have machines

where the front panel of the machine

comes off. A lot of Hot Point, Indet,

Hoover, Candy, and other makes use what

they call a welded cabinet. This means

that you cannot remove the front panel

of the machine. And another thing, the

lids on these Hoover and Candy machines

are the worst in the industry. Any

engineer will tell you that the normal

lid on a washing machine is just two

screws and the whole lid comes away

easily in one go. These Hoover Candy

lids are constructed with three separate

components. You have a back plastic

strip, two side plastic strips, and this

is chipboard. And what actually happens

with this chipboard is over a period of

time because of moisture in the air,

this wood swells and it jams and it does

not make it easy to get the lid off. Any

engineer will tell you that these lids

on the Hoover and Candy machines are the

worst in the industry. and they really

need to look at changing the design of

this because it's nothing to do with

money. It's just bad accessibility.

And of course, they should not be

welding the drums together, uh, sorry,

the cabinets together. They should have

a couple of screws at the bottom. You

take the actual display panel off,

remove the door seal, and then you're

able to remove the front of the machine.

Every other manufacturer seems to do it

this way. It's only Hot Point, uh,

Indicet, Ariston, Hoover, Candy, and a

few other makes that are building these

welded cabinets, and it is a disgrace.

The workshop manuals and technical

bulletins are very good. The rest of the

machine is not badly built. I actually

do like Hoover and Candy suspension

legs, and I'll bring one of these up on

the screen. They're quite a reliable

system. The way they mount the drum in

the cabinets is quite good. The quality

of the paintwork on the cabinets are not

too bad. Um, they do have on some

machines a bit of rust problems, but

that's usually due to people having too

high a pressure and water trickles out

the soap drawer and then runs down the

machine causing rust. But the actual

performance and the wash on the machines

are very good. But pretty much all the

manufacturers today do have good washing

capabilities. It's only now they are

greenwashing appliances, telling you how

much uh or how little water they use,

how little energy they use when it comes

to washing the clothing. They're trying

to actually look green, but they're

building obsolescence into their

appliances today. And you know the basic

washing machine from the machines I

talked about at the beginning of the

video in the 1970s and 80s. The basic

wash cycle has not changed in any way.

Apart from we are using a lot less water

and some people do not think it washes

as well as the old machines, but they

are more environmental friendly when it

comes to energy and water. But if we're

only saving a couple of pence per wash,

but the [snorts] machine is only lasting

five years, where is the benefit? Next,

I want to talk about warranties and also

insurance policies with regards these

machines and try and make it clear so

you understand where your money is

going. Firstly, I saw this exact machine

a couple of years ago when I was in

France. In France, that machine came

with a 2-year guarantee standard. And

that is because European legislation

dictates that no manufacturer is allowed

to sell electrical goods without a

2-year guarantee. But in the United

Kingdom, they get away with a 12-month

guarantee. Now, you can take insurance

policies out. When we consider that this

machine was £350,

the insurance policies that I've had a

look at many websites are normally

somewhere in the region of as low as £3

and as high as5 or six pound per month

for additional insurance. Now, if it

only comes with a 12-month guarantee and

you wanted peace of mind for 5 years,

then you would be paying an additional

£240

for the peace of mind of having the

insurance. But when you consider that,

that would mean that you would have £600

to spend, you would actually be better

off buying a higher quality machine in

the first place. Now, when it comes to

spare parts, these machines, when it

comes to the consumables, things that

wear out or can break because of

negligence, door seals sometimes get

moldy and need replacing. Pumps

sometimes wear out and need replacing.

Shock absorbers and other small

components. All these parts are

affordable, and this company does have

good prices on spare parts, as I've been

reading. But when it comes to key things

that build obsolescence into appliances,

washing machine sealed drums, programs,

wiring problems, motors, they all are at

the point that you would not replace the

component because it is too expensive.

You would go out and buy a new machine.

And I don't blame you to be honest. I

think when purchasing a machine today, I

would not even look at any manufacturer

that does not give you a guarantee of 5

years. And that is the bare minimum. We

even have a British company um which

sells machines with a 7-year full

guarantee. Bosch do a full 5-year

guarantee, although they build sealed

drums. When a company like this is only

putting a 12-month warranty on their

machines, think twice [snorts] before

parting with your money. And with this

built-in obsolescence that they are

doing with sealed drums, I'm starting to

think the only way we are going to get

legislation changed is to hurt these

companies where it counts, and that's in

their pocket. Because if you don't buy

their machines, they're going to start

looking at why people aren't buying

their machines. and then they may start

doing something about this. I hope this

video helped you. Thanks very much

indeed for watching. I'm sorry to be so

harsh on these companies, but someone

has to bring the truth to the table. Our

politicians are doing nothing about it

because consumption is good for the

economy. As I said, all the machines

that I'm scrapping, all the spare parts

will be on the website. So, there will

be some affordable spare parts. We do

sell new parts as well. And we have many

videos on how to repair these machines.

Thanks very much indeed for watching.

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