Fisher & Paykel WH1160P3

Terrible. Product leaks & has faulty seals – After less than 2 years of use the seal failed & left us with water all over the floor. It took Fisher & Paykel nearly a month to be able to install a new seal. Less than 1 month later, the new seal has also failed. Water everywhere again. Can't recommend this product. Show details

Its ok but has some issues – The machine works well although at times it does not spin. My son can wash a very full load and its fine if I put 5-6 towels in it gets to spin cycle and goes around and around never kicking into full spin mode I can never predict when it is going to do that I had 8kg Fisher Paykel machine before and it did the same thing I upgraded to a heavy… Read more

machine thinking it would fix the problem but it has not. I end up hanging it out the load soaking wet. My machine is less than 2 years old and the door seal has had to be replaced as it was leaking water I would have thought the seal should last longer than.

Not performing as well as expected – The machine is almost 2 years old and I am experiencing ongoing intermittent problems with the machine.Please note that the machine is almost out of the 2 years warranty.Someone is coming out to look at it on the 24/03/2023.I hope this problem will be resolved.

Disappointing, not what I imaged F&P – *** Update 2 Having owned it for a few months now the machine is just not designed properly to spin loads at the speeds it uses. It really is that simple. Sure it spins them but the vibration and noise are way worse than any previous front loaders i have owned. On medium to small loads it is at its worst but it doesn't like big ones much either.… Read more

The floor and machine are level, checked by technicians several times.

*** Update: The machine was replaced by F&P after Winning Appliances got involved on my behalf with the same model. The vibrating panels i mention in 2) have been resolved. Other items in my review are the same with the new replacement. Compared to previous front loaders the drum/machine still vibrates noticeable more at spin speeds but at least the body doesn't rattle anymore. ****

The washer is a disappointment, especially as i thought F & P was on the better end of the mainstream brands. Not a $3000 German washer but better than the Aldi, Bunnings or other non names i imaged. For the price it is more like the bargain options which seem to have improved, whilst F&P have gone backwards. My main issue is that the design ideas, look and marketing might be great but the day to day use is a very poor experience.

1) The machine is tinny, plastic whole top face and so on. I was surprised how light it was. How long the top panel will last if you don't keep the machine under a bench is an open question. I don't and like a normal user like to keep detergent etc on top handy

2) ( This has gone away after the machine has been replaced ). When the machine spins it makes a cacophony of random noises, resonance noises as it moves up speed and settles down. The machine has been balanced three times and on a solid tiled floor in a new built house. The machine makes these noises without ANY load sometimes. The body seems too tiny, under braced or damped. You can tell this easily as you can stop the noises by placing you hand on the side which stops the panels vibrating. Take you pick, well designed but poorly made, poorly designed or both. It isn't a random loose screw either as it can be the back, or either side vibrating acting like a loud speaker.

3) Water in and pump out are constant symphonies of 'on' and 'off'. The machine only fills to a level with no load. With any load, as your fabric soaks up the water the machine puts a bit more in to keep the level. My old machines did that but the top up was 3 or 4 goes. The F&P averages about 20, the first fill is never enough for even a tiny load and then the top ups are micro burst for one second. IE it add so little water it repeats this over and over. i am sure it scored well in a lab but in a real home you have constant sounds, water hammer if your house has this and the rainwater pump matching this by it too going on and off too if you have a grey water system. The draining is the same, it drains for a bit but never till the bowel is empty. It then waits and goes again and again... Why cant it drain to empty in one go and sure, drain some more during spin like all machines. Perhaps both features make it score well in the lab for water and power but you pay a large price in noise at home. I would also add that one wash then makes theses valves and pumps cycle so many more times than my previous machines that they cant help but fail sooner i would guess.

4) F&P say to leave the door open after use so it dries and doesn't get mouldy. Fine but i have noticed that often when i run the machine next time it starts by pumping out a good size chunk of water. IE that sat below the drum inside the machine. I don't do anything odd like leave wet things in there and it is far too much for condensation etc. Why not empty the machine as much as possible to avoid mould?

5) Put all this together and the machine is a new musical instrument for your home. It makes itself known when running. I have had 2 front loaders before so i have a baseline.

6) The machine has a dark frosted door. Looks great but you cant see inside much so if you have an over suds situation or the like you are in the dark. It has a bowel light ( now i get why!) but it is a rather weak LED. It helps but is inconsistent. It is programmed to come on for a bit at certain points but not every time you open the door which seems illogical. It also only stays on for about a minute so i have t reactivate it as i hang as i go - my line is right outside the laundry. You can move the dial to turn it on but for the tiny electricity usage , F&P just cant you program it to be more generous?

7) The control panel buttons are like a hyper touch screen which means if you brush against them as you work in the laundry the go off. F & P note in the manual how you can 'lock' the panel and i thought 'why, i dont have little kids?' until i started using the machine. So they realised themselves it can be an issue but kept the design. Why not design suitable buttons?

8) The machine washes fine but then again i have never had a machine that didn't wash ok.

9) F&P came to look at the pump/valve issue and said that is how it is supposed to work. They also looked at the spinning and it got a bit better when empty but still has issues with a load. They were hyper fast to respond, very polite but in the end great service but a poor product isn't a winning combination.

I will say that one good novel feature is the ability to alter a program and save that as the default.

So in the end whilst the machines washes it is a real disappointment. A disappointment in a brand i though were a bit above average. It has several poor design decisions for use in real life, it is poorly made in my view even if it looks great and a real let down to me. It is also a real let down to the great support staff. I cant see F&P keeping emerging brands at bay with products like this.

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