Washing Machine purgatory - Do they still make non-High Efficiency washers?

[aja8888]

Our big appliance store owner told me he's got Fisher and Paykel appliances in his home. And our independent appliance repairman has F&P units at his house. We got a Fisher and Paykel washer and found it to be a different style unit from anything else on the market--and clothes come out almost dry.

Washing clothes is a big part of my wife's life, and she swears by the quality of wash coming out of our Fisher & Paykel washer.

Agree with above comments on F&P washer. DD has one and loves it.

 

[Winemaker]

For those of you that have HE washers, does yours make enough noise and wobble to wake the dead? My machine "level" in every direction has been checked so many times I think my level must be broken!

 

[audreyh1]

So far our Electrolux front loaders have been doing very well. I wash a lot of nylon clothes on delicate cycle and those only take 38mins including the extra rinse.

 

[Ian S]

Indeed. Now not only are Samsung cell phones exploding, so are their washing machines! Seriously, how can some engineers make a washing machine that explodes? It must be a gift....

D'oh! Now Samsung Washing Machines Are Exploding | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

We have one but it hasn't exploded yet. What seems to happen is the suspension springs grow weaker over time and even slight load imbalances will cause the inside tub to rock laterally too much. This happened on our unit but the machine would sense an imbalance and stop with an error code. Sometimes however, instead of triggering the error code, the violent rocking would cause the spin cycle to revert to a rinse cycle and send the machine into a loop: rinse, spin, imbalance, stop, rinse, spin, etc. I guess we were lucky. The machine became pretty much unusable for anything approaching a normal load. Fortunately, I was able to order the four rod/spring assemblies online for $80 and replace them myself in what was an easy 20 minute repair. That fixed the problem immediately. How long the new springs will last is anyone's guess but I won't leave the machine unattended again.

It works well apart from the long wash cycles and we can easily get a comforter in without that center agitator. However, when we replace this unit, it will likely be with a different make. And we're good Samsung customers.

 

[homestead]

For those of you that have HE washers, does yours make enough noise and wobble to wake the dead? My machine "level" in every direction has been checked so many times I think my level must be broken!

Just fixed my daughters HE washer it was excessively wobbling , opened up
the back panel and one of the shocks was broken in half. $35 later running fine.

 

[W2R]

For those of you that have HE washers, does yours make enough noise and wobble to wake the dead? My machine "level" in every direction has been checked so many times I think my level must be broken!

Mine is in a laundry room, with a solid wood door connecting it to my den where I am usually located. If the door is closed, I can barely hear it and only if I am listening for it. But you know, so much depends on the location of the washer, and the hearing of the individual.

 

[jazz4cash]

For those of you that have HE washers, does yours make enough noise and wobble to wake the dead? My machine "level" in every direction has been checked so many times I think my level must be broken!

No but ours is a top load machine and it does have some sort of advanced self balancing routine. It jiggles the load to calculate how to balance. If the load won't balance it won't start. Then it dynamically rebalances when it does the high speed spin. Very rarely it will stop in the middle of a cycle for manual rebalance. It is very smooth while running. When we bought it the salesman said some people complained about excessive vibration and had to have their floors reinforced! I also noticed they were selling little rubber shock pads as an accessory along with the powder to eliminate odor for the front load machines.


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[samclem]

I think you want to consider something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Queen-AWN432SP-Washer-Capacity/dp/B00T6OB50A

samclem will be along shortly to recommend the Staber

-ERD50

Staber! Loads conveniently through the top, but cleans clothes by tumbling, like a front loader (but with no potential door leaks). I really don't know why all washers aren't built like this. It's still going strong.

Hey, you'd really like my 15 year old Whirlpool dryer. It's still young at just 15years, I hope to keep it for a LONG time.

 

[meierlde]

No but ours is a top load machine and it does have some sort of advanced self balancing routine. It jiggles the load to calculate how to balance. If the load won't balance it won't start. Then it dynamically rebalances when it does the high speed spin. Very rarely it will stop in the middle of a cycle for manual rebalance. It is very smooth while running. When we bought it the salesman said some people complained about excessive vibration and had to have their floors reinforced! I also noticed they were selling little rubber shock pads as an accessory along with the powder to eliminate odor for the front load machines.


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Of course you can contrast that with machines from the 1970s that would gladly walk as far as the power cord and hoses would permit. They were glad to bang the inner and out tub together loudly. Or recall washers of the same time frame that had the pump and the tub on the same motor so that the spin cycle began with a full tub of water.

 

[Paracelsus]

I'm a big fan of the Speed Queen washers and dryers also. I got the old fashioned mechanically controlled machine (no electrical input panels). I expect it to last 30 years. It still meets the environmental rules for water usage, but isn't a HE. This is the one I got: Speed Queen AWN432SP113TW04 : Warners' Stellian.

I did get the SQ dryer too and am very happy with that also.

 

[MichaelB]

This is usually such a thrifty bunch, yet there's no discussion of the "very low cost" washing machine options, and even when the thread title is "non-High Efficiency", the machine that best fits that desctiption has yet to be discussed.
.
.

Even better yet, it's a top loader.

 

[W2R]

This is usually such a thrifty bunch, yet there's no discussion of the "very low cost" washing machine options, and even when the thread title is "non-High Efficiency", the machine that best fits that desctiption has yet to be discussed.
.

Even better yet, it's a top loader.

Wow! I haven't seen a setup like that since I was a kid. My grandma never had a washer and used a scrub board and wringer and so on, and hung the clothes out on a clothesline to dry of course. Her wringer had a long handle on it and it was fascinating to watch her operate it.

She did finally convert to a refrigerator with a freezer compartment, instead of an ice box, but I remember when she did that, back in the late 1950's. She said she felt pampered.

The lack of modern appliances created a LOT of work in those days.

 

[Sunset]

We have 1/2 that setup , the left side.
Used at our cabin on an island.
The rollers aren't needed as we hang clothes outside for a day or two and they just drip dry.
It even works without electricity, a green option.

 

[Another Reader]

My aunt used to have a wringer washer at the beach cabin. I was a toddler, but IIRC the machine agitated the water, but she had to put the clothes through the wringer by hand. The washer was out on the deck, and my guess is the washer drained under the deck into the sand.

 

[AllDone]

I've got a 15 year old Maytag HE front loader. It refuses to die and I would like to have a new set in one of those pretty new colors, because I am shallow that way. Every couple of years a load gets left inside for a few days and then it needs a pack of Tide washing machine cleaner to remove the musty smell, but I've always chalked that up to operator error.

 

[meierlde]

I just checked lowes web site to see the range and you can get agitator washers if you so desire. The prices of top loaders vary from 319 to over 1k depending on what you want.

 

[jazz4cash]

Of course you can contrast that with machines from the 1970s that would gladly walk as far as the power cord and hoses would permit. They were glad to bang the inner and out tub together loudly. Or recall washers of the same time frame that had the pump and the tub on the same motor so that the spin cycle began with a full tub of water.

Yeah but I never had any of those problems with my Kenmore machines that were 2 steps below top of the line. Two washers in 27 yrs. 1st one developed a rusty tub after 20 yrs. 2nd one got replaced because the dryer had leaky seals so we replaced the set.

Oh and my clothes were cleaner with fewer wrinkles.
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[meierlde]

Yeah but I never had any of those problems with my Kenmore machines that were 2 steps below top of the line. Two washers in 27 yrs. 1st one developed a rusty tub after 20 yrs. 2nd one got replaced because the dryer had leaky seals so we replaced the set.

Oh and my clothes were cleaner with fewer wrinkles.
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Of course these were the filter-flo GE models. The pump and the tub were on the same motor, so when they pumped out the tub started spinning at the same time spinning all the water. As the water got pumped out the unbalance began to show up and before long the violent shaking would begin. Todays Ge washers have a motor for the pump and a motor for the tub, so that the water is pumped out before the tub starts spinning, likley making it easier to add unbalance comphensation since there is a lot less mass spinning.

 

[spncity]

All's well that ends well

Acquaintance of DH had a front-load LG that stopped working. Spider assembly that holds the drum was broken. DH gave him a price for repairing (parts and labor). The guy decided to buy a new washer (same model) as they were on sale. He ended up giving the broken machine to us.

Repair for us was $75 part and free DH labor

So - it was a low risk way to try a newer front load machine (and to finally dump that awful Maytag).

Save​

 

[GalaxyBoy]

(and to finally dump that awful Maytag).

Oooo that front loader Maytag we bought in 1999 was horrible. The memories of the replaced circuit boards, that stupid wax lock, and all the horrible mildew made a shiver go up my spine. The local Maytag repairman sure wasn't lonely.