When did Whirlpool start go to bad?

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as a kid,thought Whirlpool was on it's way down when they started "welded" plastic pump covers about 1978 instead of the earlier clip on ones...:) About the same time,WP went with all Emerson motors vs GE/Emerson mix.
 
Didn't Whirlpool improve the new direct drive washers with a new drive type after the older Cabrio full size models? Those had The F.P. type induction rotor/stator no? Do they still make the crappy VMW belt drive?
 
#31.

Don't know if I say I can agree with that. Been using direct drive washers for 37 years and I can compare them directly with the two belt drives I have.

It's funny isn't it? Frigidaire pulsator washers didn't really flex the clothes but just kept them spinning in the same spot continually and yet they were supposed to be some of the best cleaners.

I know one thing that the direct drive can handle unbalanced loads better then the 74 Kenmore Jumbo tub I have .
 
agiflow said:
#31.

Don't know if I say I can agree with that. Been using direct drive washers for 37 years and I can compare them directly with the two belt drives I have.

It's funny isn't it? Frigidaire pulsator washers didn't really flex the clothes but just kept them spinning in the same spot continually and yet they were supposed to be some of the best cleaners.

I know one thing that the direct drive can handle unbalanced loads better then the 74 Kenmore Jumbo tub I have .
Click to expand...
Whirlpool must've had the most advanced technology back then when the DD came out.
 
agiflow said:
Well Jerome Whirlpool definitely ushered in a pretty radical departure from what they had with the L.E.A.P. design that everyone knows as the direct drives. They revolutionized the industry with those machines.
Click to expand...
They were high-tech compared to the GE filter-flo, and from what I read they were built off a computer-driven assembly line.
 
What do guys think about a Kenmore (whirlpool) compact apartment sized model 110.8441100 (direct drive heavy duty)
I figure it's about a mid-80's model, with the corkscrew 2 section agitator.
I got it cheap in the 90's to use in my apartment back then, and all I ever had to replace are those ratchet dogs in the agitator.
And man!... that agitator moves like a hyper animal!
I also got a replacement motor-to transmission coupler, but it never needed it.
It served me well for the whole time, until I moved and aquired a full size Maytag set, but I kept the machine as a spare.
The one thing that I liked about the Kenmore, is the warm wash/rinse option.
 
phillymatt53 said:
What do guys think about a Kenmore (whirlpool) compact apartment sized model 110.8441100 (direct drive heavy duty)
I figure it's about a mid-80's model, with the corkscrew 2 section agitator.
I got it cheap in the 90's to use in my apartment back then, and all I ever had to replace are those ratchet dogs in the agitator.
And man!... that agitator moves like a hyper animal!
I also got a replacement motor-to transmission coupler, but it never needed it.
It served me well for the whole time, until I moved and aquired a full size Maytag set, but I kept the machine as a spare.
The one thing that I liked about the Kenmore, is the warm wash/rinse option.
Click to expand...
Is the Maytag set belt drive or direct drive? Whirlpool seemed to be ahead of their time ahead of everybody else, including GE as far as their direct drive is concerned.
 
gelaundry4ever said:
What did you think of their design versus GE and Whirlpool? Who's design do you think was way ahead of their time?
Click to expand...
Well, that old Maytag is still running flawlessly after all these decades, no problems at all.
The DD Kenmore is also a tough one, so from a reliability stand, I'd say both machines would outlast me.
Ge's stuff seems to have trans issues and leaks.
 
phillymatt53 said:
Well, that old Maytag is still running flawlessly after all these decades, no problems at all.
The DD Kenmore is also a tough one, so from a reliability stand, I'd say both machines would outlast me.
Ge's stuff seems to have trans issues and leaks.
Click to expand...
I've heard the filter-flo platform was outdated and then they went to the model T. from a design standpoint, who's was the most advanced technologically in your opinion?
 
It would be interesting to know when Whirlpool actually started on the LEAP design. I think there is a post that John combo52 said those machines were already in the works by the early 70s ?, which makes me think that was why there were some early 70s belt drives with plastic outer tubs....real world testing in the field maybe ?

It seems very plausible. So Whirlpool was already innovating at least a decade before the first direct drive was released. I know by the late '80s and early 90s consumer reports were consistently rating Whirlpool made DD top loaders at the top of the ratings.
 
agiflow said:
It would be interesting to know when Whirlpool actually started on the LEAP design. I think there is a post that John combo52 said those machines were already in the works by the early 70s ?, which makes me think that was why there were some early 70s belt drives with plastic outer tubs....real world testing in the field maybe ?

It seems very plausible. So Whirlpool was already innovating at least a decade before the first direct drive was released. I know by the late '80s and early 90s consumer reports were consistently rating Whirlpool made DD top loaders at the top of the ratings.
Click to expand...
That may explain Whirlpool's aggressive agitation removing tough, ground in dirt better than GE did. In theory.
 
I think Whirlpool found the right balance when they released the KitchenAid washers with the bigger base agitators. They really should have done that with all of their brands. In 37 years I never had clothes damaged by any direct drive I've ever owned.
 
Whirlpool started on a new top loader design in the early 70s. It was obvious to them and probably anybody else that they couldn’t keep building the belt drive design that much longer. It was way too complicated. It was very difficult to do major repairs on.

Whirlpool being the supplier of Sears Kenmore, laundry equipment, and Sears having the largest repair Organization in the country consisting of thousands of people they knew they could not continue to have that many people working and have an economical product that they could sell and actually service, if whirlpool had not gone to the direct drive design when they did, they would’ve had a throwaway washing machine like most other companies Because major repairs were too expensive.

Whirlpool started to use a plastic outer tub in the early 70s because it was a big quality improvement, but it cost more to make that a metal outer tub, the plastic outer tub did not happen because of the oil crisis in the 70s and it was too expensive to be competitive so they stuck with the cheaper to make metal outer tubs.

Ironically, it was great planned obsolescence the majority of whirlpool Drive machines were thrown away because the outer tubs ultimately failed and it was too expensive to replace them in a 15 or 20 year-old machine.

This thread has a ridiculous name. Whirlpool did not start to go bad at any particular point. It is also in any objective sense building better laundry appliances now than anytime and it’s history. They are still the largest builder of washers and dryers in the world.

You guys should get out there in the real world in the last two weeks. I have encountered about 11 VMW top load machines that are working perfectly in the field. People are happy with them , one service call I did this week was on a pair of them. The pair was six years old in a family of seven they wash clothing constantly and the reason I was there was the 29 inch dryer that was paired with the washer, stopped drying the family had gone away for a vacation and the mother-in-law was there doing laundry and cleaning up the house and she didn’t know there was a lint filter on the dryer and she dried about eight loads without ever trying to clean the filter and when they got home and pulled the filter out, the lint rolled off the screen and blocked the lint filter housing requiring disassembly of thoroughly clean.

The matching washer had never had a problem and was in perfect shape still as was the dryer, but I took the dryer completely apart, cleaned, and oiled it given the heavy use it gets of more than 15 loads a week

John L
 

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