You will not notice any difference with Max water level. I set mine to Max Water level, but see no change. I am not sure, but perhaps it is some test setting. The one time I asked a Miele tech, he was not too sure, but says you will not notice a difference with Maximum Water level on or off.

For the Water +, MAKE SURE you set it to Water+ / Extra Rinse. If you do not set it to this, it does something with button settings and other features. I found out the hard way!!

So there is a checkmark beside Water +/Extra Rinse? correct? I did notice much higher rinse level this am.

Yes, a check mark means it is selected. MUCH higer rinse levels!

Larsi, you always have the Water +/extra rinse on right? Does anyone else use it?

I would think that Miele would have tested it to rinse well with its factory set rinse but it just didn't seem like enough water. I must say the higher level makes me "feel" better.

Washed white sheets today (that went way past their due for washing due to previous machine dying). Wow! Extra White with a prewash and they are blinding white. Used Persil Sensitive Megaperls to make sure they got very clean. Next time will use the Vaska. So happy ...

Dryer had them dry in a flash (normal/gentle).

Livebetter,

I ALWAYS leave my machine set to Water+/Extra Rinse. Just remember the high rinse level will NOT work in any CUSTOM wash cycles. The Water+/Extra Rinse will only work for the preset wash cycles (Normal, Wrinkle Free) and the MasterCare programs).

I too do NOT think the std. rinse level is enough. Clothes look and feel better with the higher rinse level!

Well I am exactly a year into ownership of my set and I decided a month ago to return everything back to default with few exceptions. I made the mistake of modifying everything I thought would be necessary right from the get go, never knowing how well the units might work as programmed. I have decided to leave the washer as is. Water plus is selected by default and that's all I want. Water plus/extra rinse, I believe, renders the sensitive selection inoperative. I like to add it when I want, not every time, my preference is to select it manually. The only thing I keep modified is the extra 10 min cool down time with the dryer, absolutely a must.

Other than that, Miele did a great job I think. I do have a few gripes about the dryer selections for time dry and lack of display screen, est., est. But overall, a great purchase. I can't help but admire the build quality every time I use them.

Mieleforme,

Do you have a W4840 or W4842?

When I set my machine to just Water +....the Sensitive Button is inoperative.

With my W4842 set to Water+/Extra Rinse, the Sensitive button/option is operable, if I choose!

I also have the W4842. When only water+ is selected, the sensitive option adds time to the wash for the additional rinse. When I had water+/extra rinse selected, the sensitive button would never add time. It was my understanding this was because it was already set to do the extra rinse every time. It's possible I'm mistaking, I'll double check when I get home. I'll also verify my programing version.

So Mieleforme are you saying you believe it does a very good rinse with its factory setting? It's such a little bit of water - I know it could be in my head but it just doesn't seem enough.

I have to believe with all the effort Miele puts into the machines they wouldn't have machines that didn't rinse well on the factory setting but I suppose there could be extenuating factors that might cause them not to rinse well in an individual setting (ie. water softener/soft water vs hard water). I read somewhere where they say why you would want water + (someone in the home with sensitive skin, non phosphate detergent - isn't that all detergent now?).

I've had my machines not even a week yet but so far am VERY pleased with them.

I washed a load of microfiber cleaning cloths this am and even though I used only 2 tblsp of Persil Color Megaperls there were suds left. Even with water +/extra rinse selected. I ran an additional "quick rinse" and still slight bubbles left. I guess next time I'll have to cut the detergent back more.

I am figuring out the dryer - when I get it right it dries things to perfection and so quickly. I dried sheets yesterday that were dry in a flash - I couldn't believe when I heard the beeps go off. I thought for sure the sheets would still be damp but nope - wonderful.

This has happened in the past, where several of us have the same model, yet our programs and options function differently! Software versions??

I have had my Miele W4842 set to Water+/Extra Rinse since week one of ownership! With the machine set like this, I get TWO rinses! TWO very deep, wet rinses :) If I select SENSITIVE, then some more time is added, and I will have 3 rinses. On my W4842 Water+/Extra Rinse DOES NOT automatically provide me with 3 rinses. Just two!

2 Tbsp. of Megaperls is not very much detergent. Remember, reducing & reducing detergent amount will yield a NOT clean result & is equally bad for the machine & clothes as is too much detergent. Some slight bubbles is not reason to panic, or add addt'l. quick rinses!

Okay people, there seems to be confusion about this Water+ / Extra Rinse setting. My W4842 is set to Water+ / Extra Rinse by default right out of the box. This setting simply determines how the Sensitive button functions. If you have Water+ / Extra Rinse checked, then by selecting the Sensitive button you will get higher rinse levels and a third rinse. If you only select Water+, then hitting the Sensitive button will give you higher rinse levels, but only two rinses..

In order to get higher rinse levels without selecting the Sensitive button, enable Maximum Water Level in the service/program menu. However, all W4842 units should have Water+ / Extra Rinse checked as default. But unless you also check Maximum Water Level, you will only get high level rinses when selecting the Sensitive button.

Make sense?

Sstava...

My W4842 DID NOT arrive with the Water+/Extra Rinse set by default!!

This again confirms, that Mieles arrive differently and software versions wildy differ!!

@larsi... Are you sure you didn't change it accidentally when you were fiddling with the settings and got confused as to the default setting? That happened to me with my Samsung TV LOL! The software is more than likely hard coded to default settings at the factory and applied the same way to all units in the manufacturing run. The service manual for the W4840, which preceded the W4842, states that Water+ / Extra Rinse is the default setting.

@mieleforme... would you mind posting the default settings for the W4842 for the most common program settings discussed in the forums: Water+ / Extra Rinse, Maximum Water Level, Rinse Process, Automatic Load Control, and Allergy?

I was wrong, I was wrong, I do have water+/extra rinse selected. However, when I select to restore the machine to delivery condition it goes back to water+. Thanks for the clarification Stava, that makes total scene to me now.

@mieleforme... When I select the option to restore to factory defaults, it does nothing. I can hit that option multiple times but none of my changes revert. It seems that my settings have somehow been permanently saved and I cannot restore to defaults.

Is there a power cycle or some other way to "reboot" the computer?

That I'm not sure of that. What program Index number do you have?
I have the following,

ELP:1827 EW:1828.

Also if you want the service manuals I have them.

Now I'm confused. Not sure what my default was. Maybe I should have left it alone.

I know that selecting water +/extra rinse definitely increased the water level in the rinse cycle. I can still select sensitive and it will add a third rinse.

When I selected quick rinse this am it did two rinses.

Do you think they set different defaults for different areas depending on water softness etc?

Larsi, sorry to panic about the bubbles but everyone always makes such a stink about "no bubbles" means a good rinse. These were my micro fibre clothes that I use for cleaning so did not want any residue left in them.

@livebetter... It doesn't make sense that Miele would program their machines for different geographical areas - they have no way of knowing where a particular machine is destined to go. What happens if you move? Are you supposed to call Miele to re-program your machine? They have country specific programs, which makes sense based on the destination country, but more granularity than that would seem futile.

@mieleforme... do you have service manuals for the W4842? I think you already sent me ones for the W4840, but there are some confirmed typos in that manual and some of the default settings in the manual do not match up to the actual settings of the machine. Do you have a more updated one?

Stava.. No, unfortunately those are all I have.

sshrivastava, I guess since you and I are in different countries I thought it possible we might have slightly different default settings.

Is there anyway to deselect water +/extra rinse? Mine has a checkmark (but I think it may have had it - not sure I set it). Although I'm sure my rinse levels increased after I was in the programming menu. Even with it selected I can still select sensitive and it adds about 10 minutes to the program.

It appears to me under Water Plus there are three options and you can select one but cannot deselect all. Is this correct? I tried clicking on water +/extra rinse again but the checkmark remains - I assume the only way to change it is to select water + or extra rinse.

It sounds like what you guys are saying is water +/extra rinse was already selected on your units as a default?

@livebetter... I'm assuming you live in Canada? Perhaps the default settings are different. There is a Country menu where you can see which region is checked. Mine is set for United States. It's the only selection that works - anything else will only give you a 40-45 minute wash cycle regardless of what program you select.

When it comes to Water+/Extra Rinse, you must have one of those options selected. Either Water+, Extra Rinse, or Water+/Extra Rinse. The functionality of your Sensitive button will change depending on which option is selected. Also, if you don't use chlorine bleach, you can turn off the bleach dispenser in the Bleach program menu. This will shave 5 minutes off your cycle time and will not run water through that dispenser. I'm assuming your cycle time is extended by 10 minutes with Sensitive because it is adding a third rinse?

There are also functions in the Program Menu you probably don't want to touch. Automatic Load Control, Rinse Process and Allergy should be left in their default states.

Water+/Extra Rinse was the default on my W4840. I don't see any reason why you'd want to change it. OTOH, the W4842 may be different, if it comes with Water+ as the default (because only Water+ on my machine would disable the Sensitive button).

I've had the Allergy option set for quite a while now. I noticed a few differences when I set it, and it hasn't hurt anything. The differences I saw (which someone else might want to verify):

Without the option, the machine wouldn't always drain and refill after prewash, and with the option it always does. There was justifiable skepticism here when I first reported that the prewash wouldn't always drain, but that's what I saw.

With the option, there are more cases where fill water is sprayed on the inside door glass.

With the option, the machine is more persistent about trying to get a good spin between wash and first rinse, rather than giving up and adding an extra rinse.

This is excellent information!