Tricity Bendix AW1201

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Good
Ease of use	Very easy
Durability	Long
Noise	Low
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	user friendly, cold fill
Disadvantages:	slow, basic

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Just looking at this machine is the only thing you need do to understand how it works its that easy.

Appliance arrives
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This appliance comes with a water inlet hose that connects with a female 3/4" BSP thread, a drain pipe, u-bend pipe section and a very comprehensive instruction manual. Before you jump straight in the manual even contains unpacking instructions which are well worth following.

Connecting/Plumbing in
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This can be either easy or impossible but it really depends on the quality of plumbing you have already in your home. If you have previously had a machine plumbed in it should be minimal effort to connect this one. You will require a few tools such as spanners but those with plenty of elbow grease could possibly just do it all by hand. If you do decide to get a plumber to connect it for you the minimum charge you can expect (if it takes not much time and no materials) is around twenty pounds.

The appliance should be connected to the cold water supply either to the rising mains or from your cold water storage system.

A minimum water pressure of 0.05 Mpa (0.5 bar) is required for the safe operation of this machine. If the water from the taps in your house flows fast you will have no need to worry. Otherwise contact your local water authority to check it (there may be a charge for this).

There should be a minimum vertical distance of 5.02m (16.5ft) between the bottom of the water storage tank and the appliances inlet to ensure water pressure is maintained through transit.

The appliance can be connected either into a drainage standpipe or onto a sink outlet spigot. The drainage standpipe should have an internal diameter of approximately 38mm and the top of the standpipe should be no less than 60cm (23.6") and no more than 90cm (35.4") above floor level.

The drain hose may be extended to a maximum of 4 meters although additional drain hose and joining piece are not provided. You can get these from any well stocked hardware shop. The joining piece must have an internal diameter of 18mm.

The machine must be level to prevent vibration, noise and displacement of the machine,. Adjustments can be made by turning the adjustable feet with a spanner although they may feel tight because they incorporate a self locking nut. If possible always place the appliance on a solid floor or insert a rigid support base under the feet. N.B. the machine should not be placed on deep pile carpeting.

Tips
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Before you connect your appliance to new or recently unused pipe work it is advisable to run off a reasonable amount of water to remove any debris that may have collected in the pipe work.

For correct functioning of the machine use the hose clips situated on the back of the machine to hold the hoses in place.

Make sure the electrical supply cable does not get trapped under the machine for your safety.

Technical specifications
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Dimensions height 85cm (33.5")
width 60cm (23.6")
depth 57cm (22.4")

Power supply voltage 230 - 240 V / 50Hz

Total power absorbed 2050 W (10A)

Water pressure minimum 0.05 Mpa
maximum 0.8 Mpa

Maximum recommended load cotton, linen 5kg
synthetics 2kg
delicates 2 kg
wool 1kg

Spin speed maximum 1200rpm

Consumption data for washing 5kg normally soiled cotton items at 60*C (Eco Wash 60*C)

energy 0.85kWh water 49 liters time 135 minutes

Features
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12 different programme functions for different types of fabric and additional rinse, drain and spin cycles.

Spin reduction. For more delicate fabrics this is useful and reduces the spin by roughly half (different cycles vary). There is also the option of no spin which is great for very delicate items as the machine replaces the spin with extra rinses to ensure all detergent is washed away.

Prewash. Select this if you wish your laundry to be prewashed before the main wash.

Half load. Selecting this will reduce the water consumption on the rinse cycles when washing smaller loads.

Rinse hold. When you select this option the water from the last rinse is not emptied out to prevent fabrics from creasing. Instead you can drain the water at your leisure using the drain cycle.

Start/pause. Use this to interrupt a programme which is running. You can restart the programme from the point at which it was interrupted or even change the programme which you are using.

Programme progress display. Five LED display marked wash, rinses, spin, end and door illuminate whilst in the corresponding part of the programme.

Programme selector dial. Use this to select one of fifteen programmes. It can be turned clockwise and anti clockwise so no need to worry about breaking it!

One year guarantee from Tricity Bendix

Washing programmes
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1) Whites 95*C 145mins.
2) Eco wash 60 *C 135mins.
3) Fast coloureds 60*C 120mins.
4) Non fast coloureds 40*C 115mins.
5) Mixed fabrics 60*C 90mins.
6) Mixed fabrics 50*C 85mins.
7) Mixed fabrics 40*C 80mins.
8) Delicates 40*C 60mins.
9) Delicates 30*C 55mins.
10) Wool 30*C 50mins.
11) Cold wash 43mins.
12) Quick and cool 30*C 30mins.
13) Rinses 30mins.
14) Drain 2mins.
15) Spin 10mins.

Overview
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Overall this is a very user friendly and basic appliance. It does what it says like a machine should. I would recommend it as a purchase to the older generation, students and a first buy for a couple/family because its so easy to use and hassle free.

I normally use cycles 4 and 7 because I like to wash at 40*C although I do find them somewhat slower than other machines I've used. The delicate cycles are very effective at taking care of those type of items.

It is quite a heavy machine at 35kgs, definitely a two man lift.

It costs 230 - 250 pounds, I got mine for 230 pounds from my plumber but you can purchase it in the following places;

Sainsburys online 245 pounds
Qed - uk . Com 233 pounds
Appliance world 250 pounds

The instruction manual is very good and goes into plenty of detail on Operating, Hints, Wash Care and maintainance.

I hope my insight provides you with all the information you require to make an informed purchase.