washing machines

[WA1GFZ]

Well about this time 30 years ago I bought a Kenmore model 80 heavy duty machine. Thursday night XYL reports no drain function. Belt was broken, for the second time in 30 years. Well Saturday after Deerfield recovery I go into the machine and see the belt was stuck in one spot and the motor burned through it. Hurst linkage to the super T10 tranie locked up. I unlocked it and got two of the three modes than reached in and yanked the rod and got third. Tranie still works but linkage not happy very tight. Called family for a little service for the dead machine, not worth fixing.......XLY went back to sears and bought model 800 hopefully as good. 
no metric screws in that baby....

[flintstone mop]

I love the "front loaders". Reminds me of the Westinghouse my parents had in the '50's. Supposed to save a lot of water! But the price is out of this World! You can buy two top loaders for the price of one of those fancy front loaders.
And Maytag is not the way to go either. The one I had would tear up clothes.
Fred

[WA1GFZ]

Maytag was over run by bean counters and now their stuff is junk.
I had one of their dishwashers and a cement mixer would have been quieter. A friend bought one that crapped out in a year and needed a $200 controller.
The Maytag my parents had serviced 5 kids and lasted for many years.

[n3lrx]

The Front loading machines actually do a better job because they toss the clothes around in and out of the water.. They don't just leave them soaking if filthy water and slosh them around. I guess the fact that they actually do a better job is why they cost more.

[WA3VJB]

RCA Whirlpool here, probably 25 years old.
Electric Dryer and Washer, both tooling along.

The front loaders are interesting for the reason Randy cites -- they toss the clothes around in the water better than the agitator.

But forget the pedestals they also sell, waste of space, and if the person using it is 5'2" they have to stand on a stool to load/deload.

Friday got a new Bosch fridge. We have been impressed by the Bosch electric range and the dishwasher from last year's home improvements.

The fridge has an electronic display and thermostat. We shall see how it holds up when I power up the station. Haven't done any EMP testing yet, but it's under warranty, huh-HA !

[AB1GX]

Maytag was over run by bean counters and now their stuff is junk.
I had one of their dishwashers and a cement mixer would have been quieter. A friend bought one that crapped out in a year and needed a $200 controller.
The Maytag my parents had serviced 5 kids and lasted for many years.

Maytag just recruited a new "Repairman".  The old one died about 8 years ago, probably from overwork.

The Maytag brand now means that the appliance has about average quality.

How do I know???  My washer had a pump failure and I got the part number.  The Maytag pump turned out to the be same pump that's used on over a dozen brands, ranging from el-cheapo crap to Maytag.  My conclusion is that if you want Maytag quality then by a cheap brand - the guts are the same and you'll save a ton of money!

[WBear2GCR]

Maytag is SK om...

No more.
Gone.
Killed by the computer, literally.
That and really really weak "industrial controller design."

They made washing machines, front loaders, Neptune they called it.
Worked great except for one thing.
The "computer".
It liked to go partially brain dead.
Then it did things like not working, opening the door with a full load, etc...
Got hammered with a class action suit.
They lost.
Apparently they knew the things sucked, but they kept the design and kept pumping them out...
And, if a repairman comes to replace the stupid board - which will die without warning for no apparent reason - they get $260 bux for the stupid unrepairable, unsocketed board...

So far, the first one lasted 6 months past the end of the settlement time limit. Great.
And I've been through 4-5 boards since then. The first one lasted 9 years - an anomaly apparently. Washes clothes just great. If the board works.

The brand is now owned by Whirlpool. They bought the assets. Such as they are.

Haven't seen the Maytag guy on TV in a while, right? 

               _-_-bear

[k4kyv]

Our old Maytag gave up the ghost about 1 1/2 years ago, after over 25 years.  It was one of the models with the heavy duty gearbox and massive counterweight.  The motor literally burnt up and the body was rusting out, so decided it wasn't worth fixing.

The one we have now, a Sears-Roebuck model, works well, and according to reviews on the net, was the most durable in its price range.  So far no breakdowns, but the flimsy plastic knobs feel like they are just about to snap off at the shaft whenever you turn them, the gearbox is anaemic compared to the old Maytag, and it doesn't have that heavy duty counterweight.  I'd be surprised if it lasts even 10 years.

Even before they went to the Neptune, Maytag  downgraded to the same flimsy junk that the rest of the manufacturers produced.  A few years ago, I went to the Maytag store to purchase a replacement part for my old one, and the serviceman told me I was doing the right thing by keeping the old one going as long as possible, and he took me into the back of the shop to show me the guts of a more recent model he was working on.  He said it was a piece of crap, and that's exactly what it looked like.  About like comparing a BC-610 to a Globe King 500C.  A few months  later, the Maytag store closed down, and I had to buy replacement parts from aftermarket vendors.

I have heard of people successfully repairing the Neptune board for a few bucks.  They don't even try to repair the board, just swap it out for a new $250 one.  Sometimes it is just a small component like a transistor or a resistor that has crapped out.  I'm surprised there are no after-market boards available for exchange at a fraction of the cost.

BTW, here is a good source for appliance parts if you can't find them locally.  I have always had good experience dealing with them.

http://www.repairclinic.com/

[WA1GFZ]

Yup, my friend also had a dish washer go brain dead in 1 year.
Our maching was getting rusty around the edges so worried about the seal. i know the controller was the source of the problem and the shifter linkage to spin the drum was very tight so must have bent.
Solenoid that did the shifting looked funky. Tranise seemed fine bit looked like a couple hundred bucks to patch it up. I sent the XLY to buy the top of the line new unit the 800 so we won't have to worry about it for a while. I also like GE we bought two GE cook top stoves and love them. Kitchenaide is also good we have a fridge and dishwasher that work well. I love stainless steel.

[W1RKW]

When I moved to the current QTH and I needed appliances and I decided I was going with mechanical controllers.  The only exception was the microwave oven.  The oven, the dishwasher and fridge are not electronic.  The dishwasher has a mechanical timer, no RFI emitted.  The oven is typical, thermostatically controlled, no microprocessor, no RFI emitted.  The same for the fridge.  Washer and dryer are all mechanical timers as well, no RFI emitted. Don't have to deal with RFI or spikes on the line to wreck them.  The dishwasher as cheap as it was has been going for 5 years and it's quiet as can be.  The only problem I have with it right now is the dish rack is beginning to crap out.

The microwave oven bit me in the butt though.  It created enough RF noise to cause problems with my garage door opener a couple of years ago and cause the door to open by itself.  I have that problem licked though.

[W1TAV]

Well Frank, I hope your new machine is quieter then my (now 3 year old) Frigidaire/Sears Washer. It is one of the new "Green" front loaders and while is does save energy, and cleans great, it is a big signal noise generator! I can hear it 100 feet away from the house on my HF mobile. Keeps me off HF on Saturday mornings. .. Steve W1TAV

[WA1GFZ]

Gee, I think XYL bought another top loader.

[wb1aij]

Political talk is verbotten but clothes washers & dryers are OK. I can't wait until steam irons & coffee pots come up.

[KB2WIG]

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=10285.0

[WA1GFZ]

New Sears machine delivered Friday model 800 old one was model 80.
Weight appears the same as old machine. Hope it has a super T10 tranie. XYL giving it a work out today. Looks like a nice machine at twice the price as the old one in 1977. Nice KISS mechanical computer.

[flintstone mop]

We musta bought a $400 cheap Sears Kenmore. The load became unbalanced and the dam machine was literally hoping across the floor. It would not shut off. It's a P. O. S. I thought they would protect themselves and cutoff if the load became unbalanced. Says something for the huge counterbalance in the better machines.
Fred

[WA1GFZ]

She bought the 800 on sale for about $600 and it appears quite solid.
I think the regular price is about $650.

[W1IA]

Retired from the industry...The GE T-line washers were the best in the industry.Front-loaders have limited capacity, but do a fine job cleaning the clothes. These are all made by frigidare as I recall. Permanent-magnet motors make for high-speed spin and very maintenance free.

The GE's have come a long way from the old standard to the new T series...very dependable with a plastic tub (no rust) and very simple to service. Very high spin speeds, means less time in the dryer.

Brent W1IA

[WU2D]

Frank,

I was on a work trip to Switzerland a few years ago and the sales rep invited me back home for some hospitality. He and his wife had a chalet in a ski area, you guessed it, in the middle of the Alps on the French border. Wow is all I can say.

Anyway, after dinner they loaded the dishes in a fairly small dishwasher. When he turned it on, I thought something was wrong - no noise - just about silent. The washer and dryer which were vertically stacked in a closet were the same way - silent.

My sears Kenmore "Quiet Model" will drive you out of the house.

What is up? Why do we accept this crap?

Mike

[WA1GFZ]

Gee Mike our new machine is pretty quiet and I have not even put a level on it yet.
American people are stupid, haven't you noticed?

I'd give you two good exmples but the board nark would erase them

[W1RKW]

My parents remodeled their kitchen last winter.  They installed a Bosch dishwasher. Not sure of the model but cripe is it quiet. All stainless inside and it seems to make them happy with the end result.

My wife and I have a Fridgedaire and it's quiet surprisingly but it's a POS IMO.  It's 5 yrs. old, nothing but plastic and it's beginning to fall apart.  Looks nice on the outside but inside is a different story.  The dish racks need replacing as the plastic coating has been breached and the metal underneath is corroding.  Other plastic pieces have warped from the heat created by the dry cycle.  Can't wait to dump the thing.

[WA1GFZ]

Bob,
Check out kitchenaide. we replaced our maytag hos a few years ago. The only thing we had to do to it was run limeaway through it tomake the ss shine like new again.
that was just due to stuff in the water.
 Hey how about the bozo downtown and his gas prices. I bet he hits $4 soon.
We drove through Sunday night on the way to grandma's house.

[W1RKW]

Before I got the water filtration system I used to run Tang through the dishwasher to remove deposits and stains.  It worked great on the tub and sinks too.

I'm amazed that Bozo stays in business with his ridiculous prices.  The Citgo across the street is always busy but there's never anyone around at his place.  I guess he must have good mechanics or something.

I don't buy gas from the Citgo in town.  I plan my trips to the Stop and Shop station on Flanders Road in Eat Slime and use my S+S card and coupons to get 15 cents off per gallon.  That amounts to about 18 cents per gallon with respect to Colchesters Citgo.

The next time you plan on rolling through let me know and maybe we can hook up.  I'm about 2.5 miles from the center of town down Rte 16 west.

[WA1GFZ]

Bob I ususlly do RT85 when I'm too crapped for RT 2.
Yea, XYL does S&S.
Heck we must cross paths all the time.
Here comes the thunder and rain

[W1RKW]

I'm still waiting the storm out.  It's getting a bit darker right now.  I'm hoping like usual the intensity of the storms weaken like most of the time before they get here. Wait and see.