Miele W4842 After Discontinuation

11 years ago

I had a Miele W4842 all picked out for an upcoming mud room/laundry room addition just before Miele pulled from the large washer market. I had the smaller machines in a previous house and loved them but want bigger now (my kids are involved in athletics that involve travel and arrive home with large bags of stuff that needs to be washed quickly -- my every day loads aren't as large as I like to sort properly but they have large loads even with sorted after trips). I believe when I checked the capacity the current smaller models are less capacity than the W1926 I had previously.

I am replacing Bosch Vision 500 due to rolling my sheets into a wet bundle (it takes three times through of separating them to dry sheets), inability to spin dry small loads (just a sweater comes out soaking even after repeating drain and spin- I have to add a towel to get it to spin our correctly), occasional items that remain partially dry at the end of a wash and excessive vibration. The machines will be in a new location on slab so vibration will be better in the new location regardless of the machine (and it is farther from the rest of the house). In the current location the Bosch shakes the whole house - candlesticks in the LR rocking, vibration in my kids room above etc.. I see some comments that the W4842 wasn't very quiet -- is it louder than the older small Mieles? My old one did sound a bit like an airplane when it was in the final fast spin but it was not for a long duration and didn't shake the house (could be that it was on slab and this one is not -- new location will be slab and an exterior wall).

What are opinions on going with the discontinued model if you I can get them? What about the older W4840 & T9800 dryer I got a decent closeout price on those but I believe the improvements to the W4842 are worth it. Are they exiting due to poor sales or due to problems in the design?

My other choices would be --

1) keep my Bosch (only 2 years old but drive me crazy

2) Electrolux Wave Touch has the reverse spin for my bundling sheets issue but I read that it is only at the end of the cycle and some people have the bundling sheets issue (if I still have that I might as well keep my Bosch longer).

or

3) one of the Whirlpool duets -- I had these in a vacation home and liked them there - but didn't use as much as in a full time home to be certain!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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Comments (6)

sshrivastava
11 years ago
Since these are now discontinued products, I would only buy a Miele W4842 and matching dryer if I were getting a screaming deal. I would *NOT* purchase a W4840 due to issues with the design and that it is the previous generation - being one generation behind a discontinued generation can't be good.

With regard to issues with your current Bosch, would dryer balls help with the sheets and can you have the unit leveled properly to solve the vibration issues?
kfpwvt
Original Author
11 years ago
The unit is level. I think it must be on a beam so the relocation will help. I can try dryer balls with sheets -- I have some. I already do only 2 individual sheets at a time (despite that the machine could fit 2 sets/4 queen sheets).

Still hard to know if grab the Miele while I can or assume discontinuation means flaws vs lack of demand.

I said no to the W4840 but thought I'd check opinions on that while I was asking.
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sparky823
11 years ago
When you start to put your sheets in the dryer, fold them like you were going to put them away, just not as neatly of course. Then lay them in the dryer and start the cycle. See if this doesn't help keep them from "balling up".
User
11 years ago
I have the Bosch nexxt set and my dryer also will roll sheets into a ball. I've tried the balls and it made no difference.
I now just dry one sheet at a time and that seems to take care of the problem. It's very annoying.
And yes, my washer does shake my 20 year old crawl space house so that you can feel the vibration upstairs in the room that is over the laundry room. I do not feel the vibration though in the family room which is right next to the laundry . Mine does not shake the whole house .

And yes, agree that it is very annoying that it can't spin a one item load . I wish it had a spin only cycle.

My daughter has a duet on a slab and so she really doesn't have vibration issues, but she did have a major repair (500 dollars) after 2 1/2 years. They eventually agreed to repair it at no cost after she blogged about it.

My machines are 4 years old and despite these annoyances, I'm otherwise pleased with the performance of the washing and will keep them until they die. I suspect there is no perfect machine . Probably something to put up with in all of them.
kfpwvt
Original Author
11 years ago
sparky823 -- I do carefully separate the sheets before loading the dryer - I could try the fold pattern,

chloe45 thanks for your feedback glad to know I'm not the only one with the balling up sheets. It might be faster to do one sheet at a time like you are doing rather than my two at a time and unwind/redry repeat. And you are right there is no perfect machine - I am starting to lean toward keeping them but I will need to invest in pedestals to keep them in my new layout and put off the new machines a few more years. I really wanted to Miele since I was very happy with my old one but with the discontinuation of the large machines I might just keep my Bosch especially as I am also doing some new appliances in a minor kitchen remodel and those or more permanent decisions --- I'll just be sure my space has a bit of extra room.

I looked at the Electrolux today -- the doors didn't open for me the first few times I tried them. Better after that. But real problem is that washer door is either open all the way or closed -- you cannot leave it open an inch or two which is how I like to leave mine between uses.
User
11 years ago
I tried loosely folding twin sheets today as someone suggested and drying two at a time and it worked on 4 of the sheets , the ones that were older and lighter weight.
On the pair that was newer and a heavier sheet, they still balled a little, but not a really tight ball.
So I think that is worth a try.