the chinese made engines are made from the dies that honda sells to other companies. they have a proven track record, and even have their own class among small engine racing applications. i dont belive their is any reason for anyone to call them "junk" as you WILL NOT find any reviews on premium engines or generators that have not had problems or failures. GENERAC, which is a company that ONLY makes generators, now use clone engines. you will not walk into any home store, and find a snow thrower, pressure washer, or lawn mower with a honda or briggs and straton without ann insane price tag attached to it. might i also remind you, that with a labor cost of $95/hr these small engine mechanics charge you these days, is it worth it to fix a 10yr old honda when you can replace it with a new engine for the same money? lastly - there would not be a demand for these, which there obviously is, if the american companies were not trying to suck every last dollar out of the public. a company oversea's can reproduce and SHIP all there engines here for less than half what a honda cost - which i might also remind you - is made in china.. lastly ill bring up one more important point - the people that knock these are the people that dont own them. when you want a good review - ask the people that actally own one - not the people that want to belive their stuff is better just cause they spent more money. if you have the money to spend, and its for something you need your life to depend on - then yes its probably a better idea to go with a honda. the actual motors are very similar, but honda does use better carbs, better qualtity tanks and will have metal lever and switches in place of the clone's plastic. - but prepared to spend. nobody is saying the clones are "better", but they are far from junk. if you have an old mower or snow thrower that you kept good care of, but the b&s or honda finally gave out, can you justify spending all that money to replace it? for the price of replacement honda these days you can buy a new 2 stage troy bilt thrower with a clone.

Some trivia, since I'm still in the initial excitement phase.... Have notice that when my existing ref. ice-bin is stocked with these little cubes instead of its own crescent-shaped cubes, the dispenser doesn't spit them all over the kitchen like it used to. Easy/predictable dispensing for once. Suspect related to size/shape of the new cubes but, man, what a relief. (Whirlpool Gold side-by-side frig. I've got two of them at different locations and both of the ice dispensers have always done this.) For the price, thinking I might get a second unit for the second location. Also pleased to find the little machine makes ice at about 4x the rate of the unit in the ref. -- and I'm including bagging/re-freezing time in that number. In the past, I've often run out of ice from the frig when I've had company. When I knew I was going to have guests, I often went out and purchased a bag of ice to make sure I wouldn't run out. Appears to me, this machine may obviate that occasional need. @jeri.....have also noticed that that little indent on one side of the cubes feels wonderful in the mouth. Tip of the tongue fits right in there. Very pleasing sensation. OK, I'm over it.

Metamorph, I share your pain -- and curse the day that, being a silly naïf about the then-new world of HE machines, I passed on a $600 drum replacement for my trusty (and LARGE capacity) non-HE top loading Maytag. It wasn't perfect, but it got the clothes and comforters and towels clean and didn't think it was smarter than me. I won't recount the sordid tales of two subsequent sets of HE junkers (one FL, one TL) and their causes of death, but suffice it to say that I'm now in the market for a top-loading machine that (1) permits the user to manually set the water level; (2) does not leave the last of the prior load's rinse water in the bottom of the machine to "save" water for the next load (a synonym for "mildew factory" unless you always leave the lid open when the machine is not in use, and sometimes not even that works); (3) permits a long-term soak of really dirty items (after an initial rinse and drain) without automatically draining after its unchangeable preset time or even if you turn off the machine; and (4) has at least a 4+ cubic foot tub capacity so that we can wash a lightweight down comforter, more than one set of sheets and pillowcases, or four pairs of medium weight canvas coveralls used in outdoor work. Well, after hours and hours of hunting, I'm here to tell you that you have to give up on #4 unless you're prepared to go to a really serious commercial machine -- like one with a 100 pound capacity that will mean that, other than a basement location, you will need to reinforce your floor, plus likely plumbing and electricity re-fits. Look at commercial laundry equipment suppliers in your area, concentrating on "OPL" (on premises laundry) machines that are intended for salons/spas, restaurants, etc. (These are not coin-operated machines for laundromats, dorms, apartments.) The problem is that all of these machines are 3.3 cubic feet. Nothing larger is available in the US. Ok, so you have to do more and smaller loads of wash (federal regulators are historically oblivious to the value of your time) of towels or rags or other smaller items, but the real point is that it is now impossible to get those larger items -- a dog bed, a comforter, a sleeping bag, a 9x12' lightweight canvas tarp, a medium size rag rug, into that machine at all. So, off to the laundromat for you, or trip$ to the cleaner$ with the comforters. This is the "unintended" -- but in fact perfectly predictable -- consequence of the regulatory drive to force us into water "conservation." The problem is, the solution is bogus and probably doesn't save much if any water at all. Final word: our excellent regular appliance repairman told us that, in his long experience, HE machines -- both FL and TLs -- require about 4x the number of maintenance/repair calls of traditional machines. Consider the fuel consumption involved ther, not even counting the value of human time and the cost to the homeowner. He also reports that many, many customers tell him that they regularly put a load of wash through two full HE machine cycles in order to get the items really clean. Sorry for the "vent" here but I just want to do the wash effectively and efficiently and I'm frustrated that that's no longer possible.

A little water may get into the air dome and tube at the tub-end when it fills but should drain completely, unless the air dome has gotten clogged and can't fully drain. Could be the tube has a crack or break and is leaking pressure ... thus filling too high. However, that should result in overfilling on all water levels. Do the other levels also seem too high? There's a flood protection function that turns the pump on if the tub level exceeds the highest level by a margin ... but of course that depends on accurate pressure reading from the transducer. The pressure transducer may have gone bad, off-spec, if the air dome and pressure tube prove to be OK. The transducer is integral to the board and has no adjustment so the board must be replaced if that's the problem. Automatic vs. manual selection doesn't affect the fill levels. Automatic sensing settles on one of the five levels, same as a manual selection. Two other things I can come up with that could affect the water level and/or the basket's float characteristics on a small load vs. large -- 1 - Weight of the basket. There are liquid-filled gyroscopic balance rings integral to the rim and base of the basket. The weight of the basket, including the fluid, must be within a specification range for proper operation. The basket must be replaced if fluid leaks out of either ring, which is rare and would also cause spin-balancing issues. 2 - Wrong machine size is set. F&P agitator-style washers on the Aus, NZ, and other world markets are sold in several capacity sizes. US models are all the largest size but the control board must still be set for the size of the machine. Wrong size setting makes for wrong water levels and other operational characteristics. Size is set via a "hidden" key pattern but I suppose it's possible for someone to accidentally change it, except that the wrong sizes would be for smaller capacity and presumably lower levels. But, check it anyway. With Power off, press/hold Wash Temp Up, then press Power at the same time. Should get four beeps and the panel turns on. Spin Hold light indicates the correct size. Press Spin Up to change if necessary, then Power to confirm & exit.