Front Load Washers revisited...

[mjarrels]

One thing I would look at is used. Around here, used < 1 year old sell for pennies on the dollar. My washer/dryer are 20 years old so I'm looking...

mark

 

[InlineDieselFan]

We have the Whirlpool Duet set, no problems, no complaints. She prefferred the Whirlpool over the LG for some reason, which I now forget. I liked the direct drive of the LG.

steve

 

[Steve_Miller]

Fixed my dishwasher this morning. Kenmore (10 years old and made by whirlpool), impeller was destroyed. Got the parts from a neighbour who is a repairman for a lot of brands. He was saying that from what they've seen the past few years that LG is one of the top lines of equipment. Whirlpool has sucked up Maytag in the past year or so. He just had some training on LG washers and dryers and just for comparison he looked up different motherboards for a few different washers, whirlpool was over $300, maytag same, LG was $45. He asked the trainer why and his reply was that LG makes their own circuit boards (albeit in South Korea) and their still making a good profit at that price. Just some more food for thought for what its worth.

Steve

 

[czechsonofagun]

Fixed my dishwasher this morning. Kenmore (10 years old and made by whirlpool), impeller was destroyed. Got the parts from a neighbour who is a repairman for a lot of brands. He was saying that from what they've seen the past few years that LG is one of the top lines of equipment. Whirlpool has sucked up Maytag in the past year or so. He just had some training on LG washers and dryers and just for comparison he looked up different motherboards for a few different washers, whirlpool was over $300, maytag same, LG was $45. He asked the trainer why and his reply was that LG makes their own circuit boards (albeit in South Korea) and their still making a good profit at that price. Just some more food for thought for what its worth.

Steve

Thats good to know, thanks Steve.

I fixed dishwasher yesterday - took out the piece of silverware my wife left stuck under the sprayer and thats why it did not turn If all fixes were this cheap and easy.

 

[milkman]

Mega,

I had always had good service w/Maytag until the last two, seems their quality is just not there like it used to be, then when they were the first to come out with the consumer front loader and so many people had problems with them, it has caused the same reaction to front loaders as the early GM diesels did for so long for the diesel powered autos.
I think that all the appliances are becoming throw away items, they used to last thirty years and then you put the old referigerator in the garage when you got a new one. We remodeled the kitchen three years ago and got a new Amana referigerator and the compressor has already been replaced, I asked the service man if it was warrantied another five years, he said, only the remainder of the referigerator warranty, if there was only two weeks left on the fridge warranty then the compressor would be warrantied for 90 days, I was dumbfounded, 90 day warranty on a new compressor.

 

[Bird]

I was dumbfounded, 90 day warranty on a new compressor.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a 90 warranty pretty much standard (or normal) on all kinds of repairs, whether autos, appliances, or whatever?

 

[Jagmandave]

We have the Sears front loaders, bought at the Sear's scratch and dent warehouse, paid about 2/3 retail and could not find a mark on either unit. We've had them 3 or 4 years now with no issues except one. We don't have them mounted on pedestals and it's hard for me with my bad knees to get down low enough to see all the way in to get that last sock...........clothes come out much cleaner and water usuage seems a bit less, hard to really quantify that tho..........we do use less detergent and softener ........we bought the basic washer, but the more frills dryer - next time I'll get the basic dryer too............no problems but dificult to understand all the different settings. I just want two - on and off!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Somegood information here since we are looking at new washers and dryers for new house.

ONE BIG PROBLEM; Wife saw this thread and took the computer away from me

We need to get some kina of code started like:

"Front Load Tractor Washers revisited...
or
" Tractor Front Load Washers...
or
Tractor Washers that Front Load...
or
FLW's revisited

I may never get to read TBN by myself again

 

[milkman]

I would expect 90 days on a repair, but on a part, especially one that used to last 30+ years, 90 days just seemed way out of line to me.

 

[hazmat]

Thanks for the info folks.

There is an appliance dealer nearby that carries LG & Whirlpool, I think I'll take a trip over there and inquire about "total cost of ownership" - ie if the motor quits, how much? Circuit card etc.... They have some kind of promotion on their website for a free 10 year component warranty whatever that is.

Wifey is getting excited, we are to take a family outing to purchase...

 

[63spyder]

we bought a maytag washer 10 years ago because i wanted it to last a lifetime.first year we had the motor replaced ,every year after somthing else.3 months ago the trany froze up.i asked theparts house where i bought parts for it why.they said maytag had been bought out and that it was not the washer my parents had.we bought an lg front loader set for a hundred dollars more than the maytag washer cost us.got the smaller capacity as our kids have flown the coup.could not be any happier it is an awsome waher and dryer

 

[PBinWA]

Our three year old Kenmore front loader just sprung a leak. I haven't tried fixing it yet or getting it fixed. I just went on Craigslist and bought a $100 top loader. Both my wife and I think we like the top loader better even though it isn't as efficient.

I'll probably fix the front loader and put it back into service eventually but in general it's noisy and doesn't seem to clean clothes as well. Clothes do come out of the washer "dryer" and spend less time in the dryer which probably saves money.

Nothing like digging up an old thread.

I did end up fixing the Kenmore. There is a bunch of weights they use to keep the balance on the drum while it was spinning. One of the concrete pieces was cracked and the vibration and loose bits had worn through the outer plastic drum. There was concrete dust all over the place in the washer. I ordered a new plastic drum. Filled the cracks in the concrete with concrete crack filler and then coated the surface of all the exposed concrete with silicone to make a "gasket".

Once I got it all put back together it worked better than when we got it and has been for the last two years.

 

[hilld]

I have to second the Miele washer and dryers. In our case we have had them for 10 years and the only problem has been operator failure. A towel was caught in the door before the unit was turned on and that caused the seal to tear, similar to you closing your car door with a towel in it and then trying to pull it through the closed door.

10 years later and the wash is still clean, the whites are really white. Yes, we do use the Persil detergent (Miele recommended), but you only use a 1/4 cup or less per was, so we only use 2 boxes/year and that is with 4 kids.

Once they need to be replaced, they will be replaced by another Miele set, hopefully another 8-10 years from now, the expected life of a Miele set is around 15-20 years.

Derek

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

Going on 16 years for the Whirlpool washer and dryer I bought. So far only needed to replace the dial on the washer. Our next set will include front load washer as our current one is a top loader.