Haier HWF85ANB1 (8.5kg)

If we use powdered detergent the clothes come out covered in detergent stains even though i am using less than the recommended amount. We use liquid detergent now and clothes also are coming out smelling worse than when they went in, even though i've only used the machine maybe 5-6 times.

The most frustrating machine ever!! If you want to wash in cold water be prepared to be frustrated every time you use this machine, or wait a stupidly long time for the cycle to run. One of the features of this machine is an auto weight sensing… Read more

process which then factors in to how long the cycle will run. Great right? Yes, but ONLY if you use the default temperature, or maybe if you use a higher temperature, but that’s a bit of a grey area too.

If you use the (default) Cotton cycle with a small load at the default temperature of 200 and the default spin speed of 1200rpm (or indeed increase it to 1400rpom) the auto weight sensing process will run and you will have a cycle time of ~57 minutes.

If however you change the water temperature to cold the auto weight sensing process does not run and you will have a cycle time of 5 hours and 22 minutes. Yes, you read that right, almost 5 ½ hours for a load of washing.

Doesn’t sound right does it? Even the people you talk to at Haier/F&P are surprised about it when you log a service call. (They are nice people by the way and this is a design or technical issue, not anything that they themselves can fix). Service call logged and I thought great, bit of an inconvenience but they’ll fix it.

Wrong.

Before a technician came out Haier/F&P cancelled the booking and said: “Our Technical Support team and Product Specialist have confirmed that this is normal for this machine, even replacing any parts will not make the product operate differently”

So yes, a cold water wash on the cotton cycle will take almost 5 ½ hours and that’s perfectly OK by Haier/F&P.

Appliances Online were equally surprised and logged a job with Haier/F&P on my behalf. I was hoping that I might wind up with a second opinion within Haier/F&P that said there was an issue but alas no, same result – “normal behaviour”.

Here’s where the frustration kicks up a gear.

If you start the wash with the default settings, let it run its auto weight sensing process until it displays the cycle time and starts bringing water in to the machine, pause it and change the water temperature to cold and start it again, you have a cycle time of 57 minutes.

Oh yes, Express 15 is the only wash cycle with a default cold water temperature, but that has a maximum load of 1kg (in an 8.5kg machine)

If this is in fact a designed action it really feels like someone is smacking you on the back of the head and saying “We know better, just use what we say”. Interestingly, the manual makes no mention that the auto weight sensing process does not run if cold water is selected…. Page 13 of the User Manual says: “Note: Auto Weight The appliance is equipped with a loading recognition. At low loading, energy, water and washing time will be reduced automatically in some programmes. The display shows “auto”.”

On the default settings the machine is fine, but the inability to use cold water in a logical way is bordering on it being not fit for purpose.

I bought both this washer and a matching Haier dryer so there was no issue in stacking the dryer on top of the washer. That complicates any thought of replacing the washer with a different (no Haier/F&P) one as so far, the dryer is fine.

I chose Haier based in no small part on how good their heat pump water heater is and I’d still recommend that all day long.

So, in summary: The machine is fine, except when you want to just use cold water straight out of the tap.

If you do want to use cold water, be prepared for it to take almost 5 ½ hours, or be prepared in having to muck about every wash to pause and change the water temp after it’s auto weight sensing process.

Would I buy another Haier/F&P washer – not a hope.

References: In case someone at Haier/F&P sees this and is interested, the service job references are 08196964 and SA-0004237682.

utterly amazed how long it has lasted. Just keeps going

I had an LG machine for nearly two decades, worked a charm but had to replace it and unfortunately Betta Electrical sold me a Haier/Fisher Paykel, and barely 1 year later the rubber seal on the door tears - like how does rubber tear on a washing machine when compared to LG??? Worse, Haier wont cover that part under warranty. They tried to charge… Read more

me hundreds of dollars to replace it. Service and Maintenance appears part of the scam that is Haier, worse they admitted they clearly aware of their faulty product and that this happens, and yet they continue to push their faulty product on Aust consumers, and just as bad is that Better Electrical sell it ...

Great Mid Range Washing Machine – Recently purchased the Haier after our old Samsung finally broke down. We were somewhat hesitant due to the mixed reviews. After using this washing machine for a week, I am happy to say we are satisfied with our purchase. The machine is very quiet (we installed the noise reduction pads) that come with the washer. Admittedly there are alot of… Read more

functions on this machine and I would recommend a read of the instructions. For example, powder is not recommended for quick washes. Getting to know the machine seems to be the way to get the most out of the purchase. Haven't bothered with the wi-fi function, don't really need it to use the machine effectively.

Not practical at all – My Haier 8.5kg machine in black colour is only 9 days old and obviously under warranty. It is not washing my clothes properly. White clothes stay dull, socks stay dirty, and stains are also not getting removed. I wanted to figure out the problem. But its very dark door doesn't let me have a look inside. If i could look inside, i could get an… Read more

idea if i need to adjust its wash cycles or set its higher soak timings to fix the problem. This specific model has no "drum light" inside and no "auto dosing" function as well. So the user cant trust the machine that it can take appropriate amount of detergent itself. And the user cannot look inside to assess the problem as well.

For normal white front loading machines, with transparent doors, i never thought about a drumlight. I had no idea how this black door going to annoy me in the future and i had no idea that i MUST need a drumlight with dark door. Obviously I realized it after using it. But retailers and manufacturers would just say you read the features and bought it. They don't want to accept that customer cant predict its consequences before using it.

With all these problems, when you give a call to JB HIFI or HAIER, they tell you that a technician will come to check the machine. If it is customer's negligence or fault, then customer needs to give $150 to technician. And for customer's fault, they have a very long list You are putting too much detergent Or too less detergent Not using the correct wash cycle. Not using the correct feature. Not doing or doing thousands of wrong things. Eventually there is a 90 percent possibility they are going to blame that on customer. And the customer will still stay with the same annoying and non practical machine and will also pay $150 for its assessment.

With this specific model, the machine is not at all practical in real life without the drum light. I would call this a "manufacturing designing fault" but the manufacturer and retailers will never agree to it.

This specific model should get discontinued. It is very expensive and still not have any feature to make it practical to use.