What Makes A Washing Machine Reliable?

Reliability is one of the key things that we established was important when designing Ebac washing machines almost 10 years ago.

A washing machine really is the workhorse of the house - it tends not to get noticed too much when it's working well, but as soon as something goes wrong and it starts to malfunction or not perform well, it creates great issues. When it breaks completely it really creates many problems.

We thought that washing machine reliability was one of the key things that we had to build into Ebac washing machines. But what makes Ebac washing machines reliable?

A washing machine is a fairly complex piece of equipment. There are many different aspects to it and washing machines are significantly more complex than what they were 30 years ago.

Let’s start with the main components. The two main elements that drive a washing machine in terms of its physical movement are the motor and the drum. Motors come in all shapes and sizes, and just like car engines they have performance standards. Ebac have chosen a brushless inverter driven motor as one of the best motors you can get to drive all Ebac washing machine.

Brushless means it's quiet and there are no physical parts in contact to wear down. It uses electromagnetic forces to turn the motor and is connected to the drum with the cable which is connected to a flywheel. The flywheel is connected to a spider and the drum sits on the spider with bearings.

The spider and the bearings connect the motor to the drum and are extremely important parts of the washing machine. Ebac’s motor is an extra large motor with greater capacity than what is needed. This is to ensure smooth operation and to ensure that the motor is always running well within its capability.

The flywheel turns the drum from the motor. Ebac’s flywheel is cast rather than welded. Cast flywheels are stronger and more reliable. Again this is quite unusual. It's more expensive to have a cast flywheel - but they're stronger most reliable than other types of flywheel.

The flywheel sits on our high quality spider and bearings. Our bearings are extremely high quality bearings and have a high tolerance. They are much more robust and stable than cheaper ones.

Then we have the drum. Ebac’s drum is enclosed in a repairable plastic case. Made from extremely high quality plastics – very durable. The moulded casing can be opened and removed so that the drum can be serviced.

All of these things that we've mentioned in terms of the washing machine mechanics are some of the key factors in making a washing machine reliable.

If you have a cheaper motor or a brushed motor, if you have a cheap flywheel, cheap bearings, a cheap spider and a fused casing that can't be opened or repaired - all of these things result in lower performance and lower reliability.

Ebac only uses very high quality elements and that results in high reliability.

Moving on to some of the other features. Another key element of washing machine is the pump, Many washing machines, in fact the majority only have one pump and it's a drain pump that pumps the water in and out of the machines.

Ebac’s washing machines has two pumps. One recirculating pump that move the water around the drum to help wash the clothing and then a drain pump. Many, many washing machine manufacturers removed the recirculating pump to save costs. Ebac reintroduced it along with brands like Miele because it is the best way to wash and it and it shares the role of of moving the water around with the drain pump. As a result of this, you get a more reliable wash.

Other aspects that make a washing machine reliable are the physical aspects - the casing, the plastics, the door, the control panel.

All of Ebac’s plastics are manufactured in very high quality plastics that are very durable and last a long time. The buttons don't break, the handle won't break and the detergent drawer is robust.

All of these things added up to make a washing machine reliable - or not!

If a machine does not have that reliability engineered into them through the quality of the components and manufacture - they simply won't last very long. An Ebac washing machine will probably last around 10 years and is guaranteed for 7th year - all of the parts and the manufacturing process have been designed as such to make it extremely reliable and last a long time.