This has to be a record !!!

[MossRoad]

We've had our Speed Queen washer for about 12 years now and it's still going strong. There's parts availability too since Speed Queen builds most of the commercial models for laundromats. They are pricey but they're built like a tank. If you're in the market for a simple, no frills washing machine or dryer that should outlast all the junk Lowe's and HD sell, look no further. There's a simple adjustment to get the wash tub to fill completely since EPA regs only allow the new ones to fill up around 2/3 full, which is really stupid.

Our Speed Queen washer has ECO mode. That was the government requirement.

However, You don't have to use it!

That sucker will use up to 22 gallons of water for wash, 22 for rinse, and 22 for extra rinse. 66 gallons of water if you let it.

Here, it doesn't matter. Every drop of water we pull out of the ground for washing goes back into the ground through the septic system.

It does a great job on cold, and uses very little detergent as well.

 

[number two]

12 yr old Speed Queen here.
Good Stuff!
New Speed Queen have the electronic dashboard.
Not sure how I feel about that.

Good Maytag set went with the house in 1989.

Frigidaire -two Mexico-built units OK so far.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

We have a 1940s international harvester freezer that has never had anything done to it

My neighbor has one. Chest TYPE. Logo inside door when you open it.

 

[jyoutz]

We've had our Speed Queen washer for about 12 years now and it's still going strong. There's parts availability too since Speed Queen builds most of the commercial models for laundromats. They are pricey but they're built like a tank. If you're in the market for a simple, no frills washing machine or dryer that should outlast all the junk Lowe's and HD sell, look no further. There's a simple adjustment to get the wash tub to fill completely since EPA regs only allow the new ones to fill up around 2/3 full, which is really stupid.

Even the models that are sold for home use are labeled commercial. But they are only sold at independent appliance stores, not big box stores.

 

[jyoutz]

12 yr old Speed Queen here.
Good Stuff!
New Speed Queen have the electronic dashboard.
Not sure how I feel about that.

Good Maytag set went with the house in 1989.

Frigidaire -two Mexico-built units OK so far.

You can get both manual and electronic Speed Queen models. The dealer said the electronics were commercial duty and far better than the consumer big box brands electronics, but we went with the manual dial because they were cheaper and work well.

 

[m1garand762]

Tell me about it. New stuff isn't built near as strong. Just had a new AC and water heater installed.

Both old units that were replaced were 1993 models. Almost 30 years on a water heater...unheard of nowadays. Bottom was about to finally rust out. AC still ran great but needed to be recharged and a couple of different companies told me the freon needed was banned in 2020.

I figured just replace them both. I hope I get atleast 10 years, hopefully more out of them

Do not be fooled by residential companies the Freon r22 in your case was not banned. They just quit making it in this country because of buerocratic red tape going back to I believe 1994 and the Montreal protocol. It is extremely expensive to purchase but readily available. I purchased 4 30 pound jugs yesterday for $1600 each

 

[IndyJay]

Amen, I wish, you're right on the money P.
Stoves that you can replace the elements, controls etc and not the complete thing. A mechanical control that works fine for decades and finally dies costs about $50-$70, the new electronic ones are almost the price of a complete stove.
I don't need a washer to tell me how much water I need. My daughter has a fairley new washer and it weighs the clothes to set the water level, you have no control. You can't fill it and let it soak for a hour or so. You unplug it to let it soak and it empties the water when you plug it back in. No temperature control for different cycles, it's a piece of ____ fill in the blank......M

I have also experienced the pain of replacing 30 year old appliances and other devices that are still working but with minor issues only to have the replacement fail within a few years.

Typically it is a board that is no longer available or a cheaply made part that breaks, also not available.Cheaply made, gimmick features to sell product, built in obsolescence to keep the cycle going.

We have become a culture of "replace rather than repair" in nearly all aspects of life, whether it is machines or even relationships.

 

[jjeff]

Imo some folks want the latest and greatest appliances in order to supply these things and still make them somewhat affordable the build qaulity is compromised and mediocre components are used, I've asked other family members why do we need new smart appliances connected to our home wifi? Will they actually do our laundry, cook our meals, put the groceries away in the fridge? I'm not smart enough to have a smart home, my big compromise was getting a flat screen smart tv, a nest thermostat, and a Roomba.

 

[tstex]

My refrigerator (Frigidaire) and washer (Amana) are both less than 5 years old, and both were made in USA. I'm not sure about my Kenmore freezer, although I doubt it.

I would ck that statement on “made in USA”? It’s prob assembled here, but all of the parts are made in crapsville China inc. You might even want to ascertain where the raw materials originated?

 

[WVH1977]

I purchased a commercial Speed Queen washer. It has everything but the coin box. Same as those found in laundry mats. I can repair it myself if need be and parts should be available just about forever. Cost me a little less than a grand.

We put Speed Queen washer and dryer in our new house. it was the two appliances we did not mind paying 900 a piece for. Worth it!!!

 

[DeanKC]

Sadly the better products on the market today are made by Samsung or LG out of Korea, but there is all the pricing....

Replaced two refrigerators in 2018: Whirlpool for the kitchen; Samsung for the overflow. So happy we put the Whirlpool in the kitchen as it is 10 times better than the Samsung. Samsung 3-door w/bottom freezer. Ice maker capacity is about 25% pitcher. Whirlpool will fill about 3 pitchers with ice. Samsung freezer always has ice attached to the drawer. So far, Samsung shut down once for about 3 days, then started up again. No more crappy Samsung or LG (Lucky Goldstar) for us. Whirlpool is made in USA. Our Whirlpool dryer is 23 years of heavy use without a single issue.

 

[jjeff]

I would ck that statement on “made in USA”? It’s prob assembled here, but all of the parts are made in crapsville China inc. You might even want to ascertain where the raw materials originated?

Wonder if in my lifetime I'll see labels "Made in China with US components"

 

[Raul-02]

Can you believe it???

I had to reppalce the ice maker on my semi-high-end thermadore. I know Subzero owners who complain about having to repair their fridges too.
Marketing is the evil that makes this happen. Marketing people run all the large corporations now not the engineers who built them. Marketing tells engineering what to do. I trained engineers fresh out of school and they all told me that they were taught that in the hierarchy of the workplace marketing was above them.
Marketing tells them to make appliances that last ten years.

 

[tstex]

Interesting....the 106 code in the model number on the 72 yr old freezer means it was built by Whirlpool....different times.

herring, can you pls expound on this and provide the resource you used to determine the manufacture? Thanks in advance!

 

[MossRoad]

Some interesting things about Whirlpool in this Wiki article.

Whirlpool Corporation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Whirlpool headquarters is located about 30 miles north of my in Benton Harbor, MI. When I was a kid, they had a huge factory there, now long gone and torn down. But their corporate headquarters is still there.

 

[jjeff]

They have quite the monopoly including in my kitchen.

 

[kenmbz]

I replace the motor inverter board on my washer every few years. I get them on ebay now.
Seems a lot of washers use the same poorly made board.

I see on one of the online sites, that if I want to buy a case of these boards they are $6.95 each. So quality last would be my guess.

Why does a washer need a continuously variable drum rotation speed?

It looks like Samsung is going to lose the class action suit on their refrigerators. They already have thousands of people signed up for the suit.

 

[scaredychicken]

We bought the Top Of The Line MAYTAG "Neptune" frontload washer / dryer set about 15 years ago - large capacity, heavy duty. That was $2800.00 Cdn (ouch), but we wanted longevity and quality. Sears was always great.

we live in the country, hobby farming, and had three children in numerous sports

we thought that this was the best value for our money, but it was terrible. Within 16-18 months, both units crapped out, left all of the freshly washed clothing with a terrible stench. As though no detergent had been used, and the clothing festered in dirty water (that is exactly what happened, drainage issues). Some clothing was tossed out before we realized the problem. The items were under warranty, so we pursued that for replacements, having already paid the Maytag Repairman several service bills.

Maytag sent us their REPAIR KIT (3x) ... that was nothing more than an instruction booklet and a small bottle of liquid detergent and detergent pod package. Did absolutely nothing.

My wife, a stay-at-home mom, who was trying to manage a busy household was devastated, cried on the phone several times, while explaining our plight to the Maytag service reps.

Unsatisfied, we Eventually, were told that the ONLY option was to join a large-scope Class Action Lawsuit, that was North America Wide, with Regional settlements. We were forced to join the lawsuit OR receive nothing. The regional settlement (I think in Canada, or at least most Provinces) was that Maytag replaced our high end front load set, with their entry level regular capacity top-load units. NOT comparable at all. And we had to dispose of the original problem units ourselves. This made us angry.

By that time, MAYTAG was then / is now under the WHIRLPOOL ownership ... we will not buy from either company in the future.

There was a lot of frustration with this result, so what is a cathartic redneck solution, that would make us feel better ??? I took the ATV out, chained the units one at a time to the hitch, and drove full throttle down the paved road. Wife took first ride, washer bouncing down the country road, returning completely mangled. Then my turn with the dryer. That felt good. Loaded units into the truck, and delivered to the dump.

We were not happy with the replacement units either, and sold them within a year - those ones functioned fine, but were not adequate for our needs.

PS - in other news...
my parents were married in 1958, they bought a USED full sized heavy (Sears ?) Freezer. in 1988 I bought a house and inherited that Freezer. In 1996 we were married, we moved in 2001 and dragged that Freezer with us, about 600 kms. That same Freezer remains in use in our garage. it is the best appliance that we have, still running strong at more than 65 years old.
They don't make things like they used to. We don't buy products manufactured in China, because when quality is needed, we'll pay the difference.

(I feel better)

 

[tstex]

Some interesting things about Whirlpool in this Wiki article.

Whirlpool Corporation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Whirlpool headquarters is located about 30 miles north of my in Benton Harbor, MI. When I was a kid, they had a huge factory there, now long gone and torn down. But their corporate headquarters is still there.

They don’t make anything here.

When the raw materials are mined from China, melted down & molded in China, then stamped out in China, it’s China xxxx ! Where the parts & components are assembled is really irrelevant. It all comes down to the quality of the materials…of course they have to be assembled properly, but testing & QC are things of the past and there are no QC books or chapters in China..

 

[jjeff]

Lol did something similar to a newer pile of junk home good after ordering and replacing a few parts continuously, except it involved a steel track skid loader, a 12 gauge shot gun, a 1/2 gallon of gas and four letter words. The destruction of my headache was worth every minute.