kcowan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Geez, Robbie even has an agent to help him BTD!
The "high efficiency" washers use less water but they run forever. If I could persuade my better half, I'd get a wringer washer with the "suds saver" sinks, which allowed you to get two (or more) loads washed with the same water and soap and possibly the same rinse water - depending on what was being washed. That's actually "high efficiency" and wringer washers only run until the clothes look "clean enough" - not more than an hour. For things that can go through the wringer, they'll likely be equally as dry as the HE washer gets them. ...
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I do keep the Kenmore dryer running. Purchased in Nov 2000 at the Sears Outlet store and with $75 off because of the dent in the control console (in the middle - no working parts there), it's has several "maintenance kits", consisting of the rubber-tired rollers the back of the drum rests on, the doorseal the front of the drum rests on, a new belt and a new belt tensioner. I have the next "kit" in the cabinet above the dryer as it's coming up on 5 years since the last one was installed.
An hour or two and $70-$80 every 5 years or so for a "like new" dryer? Seems like a good investment to me.
I never fix appliances.
Just drive over to the guy I've known for 30 years. Pete at center appliance. He shows me the good ones and helps my decision then he delivers and most important removes the old for free. No comparison shopping, no visiting multiple stores and no hassle.
Easy. Just hit the easy button!
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P.S.-- the LG He washer and dryer have one HUGE "plus" in comparison with my old GE agitator washer and dryer. Probably would make zero difference to most people, but for me this is amazing. It plays a pretty little song at the end of each cycle instead of a long and deafeningly loud "BUZZ!!!" that I swear could be heard a block away (with no volume control or easy way to shut it off permanently either according to workmen who know). With the appliances at the old house being located in a closet just off the den where I sat, that was simply awful, and having it heard at great distances was embarrassing and kept me from doing laundry at night. The pretty little song played by my new LG appliances makes my laundry day much more peaceful and fun and to me, it is a big improvement. I think that's worth at least half of the price I paid for the set.
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It looks like the obliterated seal might be important to keeping water out of the transmission, so there could be trouble ahead. But it's certainly worth the $20 to see, especially if the fix is easy. If there's a way to squirt/squeeze some grease into the transmission while everything is apart, that would probably be worth doing.
Decided today would be a good day to replace that seal. Got it done, and running a test load of rags now.
Not too bad, but most of the videos I found were about the tub seal, which is the next level deeper in, but I figured it out. A little tricky, everything was kinda crusty.
I used to work for Sears just repairing their washer/dryer brand. Made by Whirlpool, and sold under Sears' name, Kenmore. Back in the day Whirlpool/Kenmore had 50% market share. So if I walked in any house in America, 50% chance I could fix their appliances.
The dryer was a thing of beauty. Easy to repair, cheap parts, and built to last. With Youtube, most repairs could be done by the homeowner. A dryer that could easily last 50 years. (And could retail easily today under $250.)
But without doubt, the old Maytag washer was a washer that was built for thousands of washings. If those machines were really that good (remember the lonely Maytag repairman to prove it) why aren't those machines still around?
If those machines were really that good, why aren't those machines still around?
Here's what I think:
1. The washers were made with metal parts instead of plastic. Heavier machines causes higher shipping costs.
2. They do indeed last longer with less repairs, and less expensive to repair. In fact, to gain access to the whole machine, there were two screws in the front panel that once removed exposed and gave access to the innards. If there was such a thing as built in obsolescence, it lasted too long.
Today, I'm a proud owner of the 1998 Honda Accord. 22 years old with 110K miles. Often, I"m told the engine is bullet proof. There really are products out there that stand out and do stand the test of time.
Some of your post really confuses me.
Long ago I fixed my washing machine, it was a gear part for the agitator. It was plastic and had worn away.
With washing machines, and probably many other things, manufacturers are driven to reduce costs.
I can understand some manufacturer realized changing some metal parts for plastic parts is:
It's annoying to myself, as I'm cheap and would use a washer for 100 years, never replacing it because it looks old.
- Cheaper,
- Lighter, so shipping the part to factory and the finished product costs a few cents less, multiplied by many thousands over the years.
- Lasts nearly as long or at least many years, so it's acceptable to consumers, meaning people are used to things wearing out/breaking so if it lasts 10 years, complaints are few.
- Rarely, a change to plastic is because it's actually an improvement in some manner (think auto bumpers).
I realized my washing machine was barely agitating. So a few minutes of googling suggested that there were cogs (or AKA “dogs”) on Kenmore/Whirlpool/Roper washing machines that have been used with an unchanged design for like, for-evah! They limit the motion of the agitator to one direction, but they, of course, can wear out. I “risked it” and ordered a replacement set of cogs for the princely sum of $4 delivered.
After prying off the agitator cover, expecting to find a nut to engage with the socket, what do I see but a square hole? Kinda big square hole. I quickly surmised that it fit a 1/2” square drive tool. I looked around, and the thing that came to hand was my 24” breaker bar, which conveniently had an extension on it already. So, bottom line, I used a damn breaker bar to unscrew the plastic threaded piece, that probably needed about 0.0004 foot-pounds torque to unscrew. I held the bar vertically and used it like a screwdriver. Good thing I had a breaker bar!
The job took less than 5 minutes. Unscrewed the retainer, found 3 of 4 cogs broken, popped ‘em out, replaced them, screwed back together, snap the cover back on. When I first discovered the problem with the agitator, I honestly thought I would need to replace the 22-year-old washing machine, but I guess I saved another $600 or so.
Another annual update. Still running for another year (did a seal replacement last year, mentioned a few posts back).
So that's 34 years on the machine, another seven years after I first posted this, and some people saying don't bother. The original fix 7 years ago was a cakewalk, the seal replacement last year a bit more work.
What are the odds a new machine would have caused more trouble than this in the past 7 years?
-ERD50
Another annual update. Still running for another year (did a seal replacement last year, mentioned a few posts back).
So that's 34 years on the machine, another seven years after I first posted this, and some people saying don't bother. The original fix 7 years ago was a cakewalk, the seal replacement last year a bit more work.
What are the odds a new machine would have caused more trouble than this in the past 7 years?
-ERD50
We have a Maytag that’s about 40 years old. It stopped spinning and draining 2 years ago in the middle of covid. Didn’t want to go out looking for a new machine, so I did some troubleshooting online and found that a pulley had worn out, so ordered a new one for around $15, easily installed it with a new belt, and it’s been running like new. In 40 years, the only other thing I had to replace was the timer.
There is nothing different with todays machines, other than having cheaper parts and they are built to be harder to repair.