The ASKO History
An enterprising young Swedish farmer named Karl-Erik Andersson in 1950, set out to build his mother a different kind of washer. One with superior cleaning power and reliability that could heat water, spin, and even boast durable, state-of-the-art, stainless steel drums. A unique, energy- and water-efficient machine that would reflect a farmer’s love and respect for nature. A washing machine like no other. So the young farmer built his amazing washer, surpassing even his meticulous mother’s high standards.He was so impressed with his creation he decided to share it with others. Today Asko as the company is now called is an international corporation. Asko appliances claim to still do a better job of cleaning with a fraction of the water, electricity and detergent of other machines. Asko manufactures a full range of washer, clothes dryer and Dishwashers, even an outdoor dishwasher, but I am not sure weather it is available in Australia.
Mackay
The Asko washers and dishwasher are very popular here in Mackay, Queensland as well and I have been serviceing them for the last 20 years. Overall the appear to live up to their reputation of being a quality product.
Front Loading Washers
The front loading washer has a unique feature where part of the front panel assemble is attached directly to the moving outer bowl. The most common arrangement is the outer cabinet is fixed and the opening for the door is attached to the out bowl by a rubber bellows. Asko’s design removes this bellows which can cause faults as the bellows can wear with so much movement. The rest of the machine’s components are similar in design.The main drive motor is a DC Brush motor connected to the drum by a belt.Some of the common faults are jammed and fused drain pumps, brush wear on the drive motor and cockroaches in the electronic board. The last one can be an expensive repair. A fault I found on one model is the plastic just seemed to be crumpling away. The compound of the plastic appeared to be breaking down in a 5 year old machine. This is similar to the fault I have written previously about in the Fisher and Paykel dishwashers.
Dishwashers
The Asko dishwasher is a very solid machine with very few mechanical faults. The most common by far is drain pump failure. The pumps can be replaced with the universal UNI 12 Pump. The other major problem as with all dishwashers and their electronic boards are our North Queensland Cockroaches.
Here is the tip of the day for any brand Dishwasher
♦Spray around the outside of your dishwasher every 4 – 6 weeks with a good surface spray to keep the cockeroches away.
If you are having service issues with your Asko washers, dryers or dishwasher in the Mackay area, call me Rod Swan, Andergrove Appliance Service on the number below.
