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David Wilson
Wilson’s world
David Wilson is editor of Engineeringtalk and Electronicstalk and associate editor of The Engineer
Dry response
Eighteen months ago, I invested in a rather splendid Bosch washer dryer and it has proved to be a most valuable piece of equipment. In the winter months, when the weather is perfectly ghastly, it’s a joy to be able to stuff it full of dirty clothes and take them out clean and dry a couple of hours later.
In the summer, however, I rarely use the dryer. Instead, I take my clothes out to the back yard and hang them out on the washing line. Not only is it cheaper, it’s also more environmentally friendly.
On some occasions, though, it starts to rain while my wash is hanging out there. In those instances, I usually bring it in and place it back into the washer dryer to finish it off. But last week, I got a bit of a shock. After half an hour in the dryer, the laundry was still as wet as it was when I put it in. Clearly something was wrong.
Fortunately, because the machine is less than two years’ old, it was still under warranty, so I phoned the number on the Bosch website to see if someone might help.
The response I got from the Bosch customer support folks was nothing less than exemplary. After less than two minutes on the phone I was directed to an individual who booked an appointment the very next day for a member of their service team to address the problem.
I must admit that I was rather bowled over by the efficiency of the outfit. And when the washing machine engineer turned up promptly first thing in the morning, I was even more impressed.
It didn’t take him long to figure out what was wrong. After checking out that the heater was working, he deduced that the problem lay with the lack of air flowing across it during the drying cycle, causing it to be shut off prematurely.
The reason for this lack of airflow, it appeared, was that some extraneous matter had been trapped in the duct beneath the dryer motor. So the engineer removed the motor and used a coat hanger to fish the detritus from the duct beneath it. There wasn’t a lot of the stuff, to be sure — just enough to cause a problem.
With the material removed, the washing machine engineer put the machine through a short cycle to check that it was operational. Much to my delight, it was.
After he had departed, I couldn’t help but reflect on the uncommon service that I had received from the company. If only all companies behaved in that way, life would be a lot easier. Clearly, customer support was Bosch’s number-one priority.
By the same token, I had to question whether the engineers who designed my washer dryer deserve the same praise. After all, they must have been aware that this sort of problem might occur. So why didn’t they design in a simple filter to trap such extraneous material? One that could be easily removed and cleaned by the owner of the machine, rather than by a washing machine engineer armed with a coat hanger.
David Wilson
The Wilson’s world blog also forms part of the Engineeringtalk, Electronicstalk and Manufacturingtalk newsletters. To subscribe, go here for Engineeringtalk, here for Electronicstalk and here for Manufacturingtalk
Readers' comments (10)
Anonymous | 19 May 2011 1:54 pm
Why not use a dehumidifier to dry clothes overnight, it can dry more, and does wool without damage Additionally, it needs no venting, and you can use the recovered condensate for other uses (not suggesting an electric iron as that would start a flame war, but works for me). One must think outside the marketing straight jacket
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HJ | 19 May 2011 2:02 pm
The person that fixed your dryer was more properly described as a technician rather than an engineer. Quite liklely he had no recognised engineering qualification.
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Anonymous | 19 May 2011 3:13 pm
In the interests of impartiality I feel obliged to point out that other makes of washer dryer are available.
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Rob1 | 19 May 2011 3:40 pm
This referring to technicians as engineers seems to be quite common nowadays. I've even heard a plumber referred to as a sanitary engineer, and an outboard engine mechanic as a Marine engineer, all of which is absurd and misleading. To reinforce HJ's remarked, I know none of the chaps I've referred to had recognised engineering qualifications. Some form of education in this respect is long overdue, and Engineering establishments should take the lead in dealing with this.
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John Butler | 19 May 2011 3:48 pm
Reading the article my immediate thoughts were "someone will pick up on the use of washing machine engineer" - and I was not disappointed in the response from HJ. However, Institutions within the Engineering Council recognise Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians. Someone skilled in maintenance of what is some fairly complicated equipment is highly likely to be suitable for membership as an EngTech. So the use of "engineer" in this case is most valid. We will never be able to protect the name of "Engineer" in the UK but if we use the full designations when describing ourselves then we may eventually gain the recognition we deserve.
CEng, FIMechE, MIET
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Gus S. Calabrese , S.E. 99guspuppet | 19 May 2011 7:51 pm
I have met PhDs that were id 10 Ts. I have meet engineers who were incompetent. I have met technicians who were so productive and smart I feared for my job. So "A Rose is not always a Rose"
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Graham Field | 20 May 2011 9:06 am
Getting back to the original question - why was the air intake positioned at low level, and why wasn't there any filter?
Probable answer - because it's a washer/dryer and has to do two incompatable tasks, resulting in a lot of design compromises.
Having said that, most tumble dryers also take in air from inside the machine casing, with no thoughts about air filtration or quality. They have crude lint filters on the exhaust, but no filters on the intake. Why it's assumed that any old unfiltered air will do to dry your 'clean' clothes has always left me wondering.
Of course it might be that they know they consumers are very lax about cleaning filters in products, but more likely that they are concerned with keeping the build cost to a minimum, and only include 'features' that they think will help sell their products.
It usually takes the public clamour that follows a house fire caused by an overheating appliance before any action to re-design a product is considered. (Sad, but true.)
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David Cutter | 23 May 2011 7:03 pm
Whatever the judgement about the filter, a thermostat indicator behind a decal saying "clean/change filter" or the like is a very cheap and easy answer for the CUSTOMER.
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SST | 25 May 2011 9:57 am
Cost has been mentioned as one of the reasons for the manufacturer not providing an intake filter, but a more likely reason is energy efficiency. Manufacturers are under significant pressure (competitively and mandatory in some cases) to continually improve the energy efficiency of their products. The more filters that are added to a machine the more it increases the parasitic losses and thus reduces the product’s energy efficiency, so trade-offs and compromises such as this are often the result.
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Scott | 25 May 2011 2:00 pm
This is not the place I expected to see the misuse of the title 'Engineer'
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