Sunday, February 04, 2007

Laundry Day!

Well, I finally had to do it – the laundry! I decided to start with a load of towels, just in case the results turned out to be disastrous. My washing machine is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. As you can see from the photo, it’s quite small; in fact, I learned that I could fit two or three towels, tops, in a load. I figured out where to put the soap, but after that, it was a mystery.

The front of the machine, an impressive-sounding Candy Aquamatic 3, has a table on it that has some type of code; I think the Da Vinci code would be easier to break than this thing! There are columns numbered 1 through 12, along with a mysterious Z that seems strangely out of place. The row are coded (P, C , A, B, C, and ILTC). The C I can figure out easily enough, but the rest, who knows? To the right is a round dial; and in the middle are three push-buttons labeled with a key symbol, a cup symbol, and the letter “E,” respectively. Are you as confused as I was so far?

I looked around for an instruction manual, but to no avail. So I loaded the towels, threw in some soap, and closed the door, or tried to close the door. After several times, and an eventual hearty slam, I managed to get it to stay shut. I pressed buttons, I turned the knob, but nothing happened. Eventually, though, I got it to spin, so violently that the door flew open. Good thing I had bypassed the wash cycle! Now what? I pushed and turned some more and, suddenly, water appeared, and then some suds. I was on the right track! The drum began to turn, rather slowly, and the towels flopped around a bit. I left it running like that for quite a while, hoping for the best. When I felt they had had enough, I turned the knob again until I found the spin cycle. Once the excess water had been removed, I opened the machine to take a look at my handiwork. Were they even clean? They smelled all right, so again I just hoped for the best.

Now it was time to dry them, the old-fashioned way. Dryers are rare in Italy; most buildings are not wired to handle them, and they are terribly expensive to run. So what do people do? They hang their laundry to dry in the fresh air, so this is exactly what I did, and I even have a photo to prove it!

I was still not satisfied, though, with the way this first attempt went. What do those numbers and symbols stand for? And how do I know which number I’ve chosen on the dial, which has no markings? Or did it? I grabbed a flashlight and inspected some more. Sure enough, though worn away through years of use, the knob contained numbers (and that mysterious “Z”), visible only with a flashlight. Well, at least I was getting somewhere.

By the way, I did a little Web research this morning, hoping to find the instructions for this contraption online, and found out that the Candy Aquamatic is now producing models up in the 1000s. That explains a lot!

7 comments:

Annette said...

Carolyn:

LMAO! That's all I can say about laundry day!

Annette

Vítor Souza said...

Please help me! I have that same washing machine at the appartment I'm renting in Trento and I have no clue how to use it!

To make it worse, the labels in the knob are almost unreadable!

I send you an e-mail. If you could reply, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Vítor Souza

Carolyn Seefer said...

Vitor,

Oh, how well I remember by Candy Aquamatic 3! No, I never found a manual for it, but I finally figured it out on my own. Just as with yours, the numbers and letters on the round knob to the right were just about completely worn off. But here's what I did:

1. Put clothes in washer and slam it shut, hard! (That's the only way I could get it to lock.)

2. Put the soap in the pull-down drawer to the left. (Hint: don't use a lot of soap; this is a very small washer).

3. Turn the knob to the right until the desired number is under the white arrow. (Hint: I had to use a flashlight to do this in order to see the numbers. Although they were worn off, I could just make them out with a flashlight.)

4. Once the number is selected, press the middle button (the one below the button with the key).

This should start your washer going. Then just leave it; the washer will cycle through the wash, rinse, and spin cycles automatically. And be patient! It seems to take forever to complete the wash load.

5. Once the load is done, press the bottom button (the one with the "E") on it to unlock the washer door and remove your clothes.

For most of my loads I used 4 or 5, and those seemed to work well.

Good luck! Please let me know if you're able to get it working.

Ciao, Carolyn

Anonymous said...

Grrr!!! I'm in the french alps with the same washing machine!! I'm getting so aggravated I think I might go wash my clothes in a puddle outside!! :)

Okay, I figured out the soap, the dial, the key, how to start it ....my question is though, what # should I start it on?? After washing for a long time, it stopped moving and so I thought it was done, however ...I opened the door and water spewed out so I shut it again very quickly. I can't seem to find a spin cycle?! Any suggestions?! This is crazy!!

Etienne said...

Wow, I am renting an apartment in Paris with this very same Candy 3! Cycles 4 and 5 work fine, but can't figure out what the rest of it means (or how to do delicates). This has been the only helpful post I've found so far on the mysterious and enigmatic Candy 3, thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Germany,

where I own a Candy Aquamatic 3 the person before me left in my apartment. After figguring out which programs where fine (the symbols to the left are quite clear to me) it worked for about 5 years. Now it doesn't let out the water (doesn't pump). Any suggestion? Can't find a person to repair this kind of washing machine and a new one fitting into it's spot is about 700€, what is more than a big WM...
Where exctly could I look if something is stuck and soesn't let the water pass?

Brooke, sometimes my machine stopped and I had to turn the control to 12. Try it. :)

Ruzi the Spider

DewIce said...

Greetings from Iceland

I have a Candy Aquamatic 3 and the laminated instruction manual :D ... but it is in Icelandic