Speed Queen temperature question

[teknikleespekng]

Hi All! Im Lisa and new to the forum, but have been lurking for a few weeks.

I currently own a 2001 Fridgemore FL'er. Its a 2.7cu.ft. with ATC option. I have been researching a new machine because my bearings are going. I really wish I could fix the machine (while I am technically inclined, I'll admit this job is a bit too much for me) because its the perfect size and it still has the mechanical dials on the rear deck.

The only machine that has come close is the AFN50R. Its a shame that SQ has dropped the model with the onboard heater. Its not a cheap machine, but you get what you pay for.

So here's my question. For those of you in colder climates, how do you manage with the water temperatures? My current machine has an ATC option for WARM/COLD and COLD/COLD that will adjust to the temperature of my tap during the colder weather. The HOT comes straight from the tap (as hot as I keep my water heater). Now, from what Ive researched on the SQ, it doesnt seem to have *any* temperature controls. Im concerned about wash performance in cold water, and would a WARM setting actually be cold due to the tap water?

Thanks!

 

[lebron]

For those of you in colder climates

Well I can chime in on this one, you would be correct in saying that a warm wash in the winter would produce more of a cold wash than anything else. You could alleviate this by washing a load of whites first in hot, but even then you may run into problems. As far as SQ models with the heater, I'm sure you could still purchase a new or slightly used unit somwhere.

 

[qualin]

I live in an area with very cold water. The water temperature is about 5-10 C right out of the pipe.

My Huebsch is the same as a Speed Queen, Hot is tap hot, warm is both tap cold and tap hot together and hot is just tap hot. It's pretty simple. To the best of my knowledge, there isn't any automatic temperature control. It would be nice if they had put one in though.

I find that the warm setting makes the water barely lukewarm, kind of like the "cool" setting on some machines. (But not the cold setting.) Of course, this is if I don't "temper" the machine first. If I temper it, it is a bit warmer, but that's because the hot water line is producing much hotter water.

My TOL GE toploader has to constantly cycle the hot water solenoid on and off when set on the cold setting. It's definition of "Warm" is a bit warmer than what my Huebsch produces.

I personally don't notice any decrease in washing performance as a result of this.

I suppose if I really wanted, I could hook up a "Y" valve to the taps and adjust the taps so that I could get what would be passable as "Warm", then hook up the washer again... but in all honesty, I don't think my clothing cares.

Oh, FYI.. I set my water heater so that the water temperature is 60 C when run hot, or about 140 F. This can be dangerous if you're not careful. Since we don't have children, it's no big deal. Supposedly, it's recommended to keep the water heater at about 120 F as there's less of a scalding risk, especially in a house with children in it.

 

[combo52]

New SQ FL Washer

In a FL washer you should be washing 90% of your laundry in hot water anyway. On my 7 year old SQ FL washer I don't think I have ever used anything but the hot setting. Using the cooler temperatures in FL washers for the wash cycle in one of the main reasons for getting a build up around the main seal and having the bearings fail as your current washer has done, so I would be thinking about doing something different with your new machine so you don't repeat history.

 

[pierreandreply4]

me i mostly wash in warm or cold water as i never use the hot water temp if i do use hot water its mostly for bedsheets and depending on where the water heater is located and where in your home the washer is located if its far from the water heater the water may enter cold at first like for me in my case i have a whirlpool duet washer thats located on the second floor in my home with the water heater in the basement the water when i first start my water tends to enter cold as it takes a long time for the hot water to go up the pipes.

 

[teknikleespekng]

"As far as SQ models with the heater, I'm sure you could still purchase a new or slightly used unit somwhere."
The dealers in my area are out of stock on the model with the heater.

"I personally don't notice any decrease in washing performance as a result of this. To the best of my knowledge, there isn't any automatic temperature control. It would be nice if they had put one in though."
I wash my colored clothes in cold. I guess I could "trick" the machine by starting on cold, then selecting warm to include some hot water. But I have really enjoyed the ATC as I can set and go. KWIM?

"Oh, FYI.. I set my water heater so that the water temperature is 60 C when run hot, or about 140 F. This can be dangerous if you're not careful. Since we don't have children, it's no big deal. Supposedly, it's recommended to keep the water heater at about 120 F as there's less of a scalding risk, especially in a house with children in it."
I have a young child in the home, so my water heater is set to 120 degrees. What I usually do is run my hot cycle after a shower and then run the tap at the utility sink next to the washer so it pulls the hot through the pipes. My run from the heater to the machine is only about 15'.

"Using the cooler temperatures in FL washers for the wash cycle in one of the main reasons for getting a build up around the main seal and having the bearings fail as your current washer has done, so I would be thinking about doing something different with your new machine so you don't repeat history."
I have never had build up in the machine or problems with mildew or mold. Honestly for the model I have (which has some bad reviews for premature bearing failure long before mine), almost 11 years isnt too bad.

Thanks for the replies

 

[teknikleespekng]

Current cold tap temperature & Q about Miele

I measured my cold tap today - its 54F/12C. Its now late March and we had a mild winter. I am sure it gets MUCH colder during a typical winter. I really dont think any detergent (JMHO the cold water detergents are more gimmick than science) will clean effectively in temperatures under 60F/15C.

Ive been watching Dan's videos. It almost makes me want to go back to a top loader! And those old Kenmores? My parents had one of those! Yeah, that softener dispenser wasnt easy to pull off for cleaning.

What do you all think of Miele? There's no question they are great machines. I worry about the electronics. I also dont need the larger capacity of the W4842 and the W3033 is even more expensive. Then there's the warranty differences and the availablity of parts if you need them.

I know I am obsessing about this whole ATC thing. In the end, I just want clean wash.

Thanks!

 

[mrb627]

Cool Water

If price were no object, I would look into the Miele or the Asko machines. Asko machines are not quite as expensive as the Miele machines. The quality may not be up to Miele standards. But quality is all relative if the price is unrealistic for your situation.

That being said, I have the Speed Queen FL machine without the built in heater. While I initially thought I would regret not having it. I have learned that the idea that you simply must have it is nonsense. For instance, if I am hellbent on having a true hot wash, I simply load the clothing, set the control for hot and start the machine. Once the machine has filled with water, switch it to SPIN ONLY and pump that water away. Then return to my cycle and start the fill and boom, I have a hot wash. Plus, the water that flushed the system was a short cool pre-rinse for the clothes.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Speed Queen of any type.

Malcolm

 

[combo52]

Speed Queen Front loader

Is about the best machine out there if you want good performance and a durable machine that has a potential life expectancy of over 30 years. Malcolm said it best if cost is no object consider a Miele or Asko and I will add in Bosch, as all washers will break down and require repair or replacement and you will differently pay for a Miele, Asko or Bosch more than once, Think Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Price does matter

Im already stretching with the SQ FL'er. My parents told me to always buy the best you can possibly afford. I started my FL'er search with the Maytag Performance Series (MHWE301YW) and the LG (WM2350HWC). After much research I became really disgusted and disillusioned.

I bought my Fridgemore based on feedback I read on THS back in 2000/01. The H3T's were just hitting the market and decided to stick with a machine that already had a track record, and my particular model (compared to its Frigidaire model) had the ATC which wasnt available on other machines at the time. I paid just over $600 back then, but got rebates from my utility company so it brought it down to around $550.

Then I found AW and SQ. It's really just what I want. I dont need bells and whistles, spend weeks tweaking cycles to do what I want it to do, and I dont need it to play me classical music when its done.

Malcolm, I agree not having an onboard heater is not a deal-breaker. Ive been managing all these years without. As I posted earlier, I have a short run from my water heater and have a utility sink right next to the machine. I run that tap till the water comes out hot so there is only 2 feet of pipe that might have standing cool water in them. Hmmm, never thought of letting the cooled water in the pipe be a "prewash" for the whites. I will keep that in mind from now on!

Combo, good reminder! I think that's why I steered away from the Miele in the first place, the cost of repair parts.

Now if you'll indulge me further (please say you will!) the controls on the machine- The dials just turn, correct? No more push/pull. Do you have to hit the start button to stop the machine or just turn the dial to off? Also, can you stop the machine to add an item (when I drop that sock on the stairs that I dont see till I go upstairs)? I did download the user guide.

 

[qualin]

Yeah, that's one thing I really love about my Huebsch, it has "real" dials you turn to select any function on the machine. They're not wimpy either, when you move them, you really feel like you are using a quality built machine. That was the first thing I noticed about this machine compared to the other ones on the market, the controls look like they could take a lot of abuse.

All the dials turn, there's one switch you can flip to add an extra rinse, which gets increased from two to three rinses and a decently sized start button to push. You are right, no push/pull.

To stop the machine, you just move the cycle dial to "off". The only problem I've found is that by doing this, the door stays locked for two minutes before it unlocks. I'm assuming this is because the engineers made sure that if the machine was in the middle of a 1000 RPM spin and the dial was moved to "off", it would have enough time to come to a full stop.

You can stop the machine to add items, but then you have to start the wash cycle all over again, unfortunately.

By far though, I love the simplicity of the controls.. Just select temperature, extra rinse and cycle, hit start and that's it. There isn't any stupid marketing "Cycles" or "Features" to select. You can wash at any temperature with any cycle.
It's all "Business" and no messing around.

You know, I considered Miele and Asko machines as well before I bought my Huebsch, but Alliance-Built machines just give you the best value for the money IMHO.

If cost is an object, their top loaders are great machines but that doesn't sound like an option.

 

[qualin]

I thought I should break up my post just a little bit.

> What do you all think of Miele?

I think Miele makes great machines. They're also built to last, but they carry a huge price premium and they have a very limited service channel. In other words, if I had an issue, I'd have to get a dedicated Miele service rep to look at the machine. I was also worried about the availability of parts. I've heard horror stories from salespeople where a machine was out of commission for six weeks while the parts had to be shipped in from Europe. They certainly are the BMW/Mercedes-Benz of washing machines!

Apparently, Miele rates their front loaders to 10,000 cycles, whereas Alliance rates theirs to 25,000 cycles.

When I looked at buying a demo W4842 set, a 1 year old set was $4000. Whereas a brand spanking new Huebsch set was $1250 cheaper. It didn't make much sense to me to pay more for machines with half the rated longevity.

> I worry about the electronics.

Surprisingly enough, there isn't a lot of electronics in the Huebsch/SQ machines. I believe there is an inverter board and a motor controller and that's about it. Everything else consists of transformers, solenoids, switches and wiring.

In some ways, I think it's kind of amusing that here I am, working in IT, yet when it comes to a major appliance like this, I don't want something with all of the gizmos, gadgets and fluff.

>Then there's the warranty differences and the availablity of parts if you need them.

This is the big thing that really sold me on their machines. It made me kind of angry that a company like Miele expects someone to spend $4k on their machines, but they only will stand behind them with a 1 year warranty. If you want an extra year, it's $500 more.. Want to extend it to 3 years and it's another $500.

To me, that really makes me wonder how they stand behind their machines. I mean, seriously... why the heck wouldn't they throw in a 3 year warranty if they're confident in the longevity of their machines?

The salesperson for the Huebsch product told me that there are certain components of the machine which have a "lifetime" warranty, the rest is 3 years parts and labor and the motor is rated for a 5 year warranty. These machines also look really easy to work on, but then again, I build computers as a hobby.

So, for a machine which is 3/4 the cost of the Miele, 2.5x the longevity and has 3x the warranty, it's practically a no-brainer.

Another thing to think about.. by buying SQ, you are supporting a domestic industry. Even though I'm Canadian, I'd rather get my parts from Ripon, WI instead of South Korea. (No offense to South Koreans.)

 

[teknikleespekng]

Qualin, thank you so much for your input. It really helps to get input from someone that owns the machine. I really wish I could see one in person, but I honestly dont think it would keep me from buying "sight unseen"

My FL'er will unlock within 15 seconds if I push the knob in when its in the first-wash cycle. After that it takes a long time to unlock (probably a few minutes as you describe for the SQ). If I find an errant piece of clothing I usually only add it if its in the wash part since you dont want to add it after the water drains for the first of the rinses

Ive read where you talked about the machine sometimes running a little unbalanced. I like the idea of the machine not ramping up to 1000rpm if the load is unbalanced. Do you think there's any undo wear on the bearings when it does spin unbalanced? If its really REALLY unbalanced, does it try to tumble the clothes to get it better balanced or does it just go for it? My current machine tries to redistribute and if it doesnt like the balance, it wont spin and the timer advances to the end of the cycle and shuts off.

As nice as the top loader looks and priced at 1/2 of the cost of the front loader, I dont think I could go back. Just my preference. It is tempting though!

I like simplicity too. Im a tech-ie gal. My Dad says, "keep it simple". He's a retired mechanical engineer. I used to work on cars, Im handy with tools and fix stuff around the house. Im into computers and enjoy electronics. But I am not impressed with some of this fluff stuff. I think in some ways it has really dumbed downed things and made them more complicated at the same time! Its crazy!

Im just waiting on a friend who is a plumber to replace my water valve for the machine. The old one needs replacing and I'd like that done before putting in the new machine.

Oh and how do you like the hoses that come with the machine? How long are they rated for? 5 years? Do you get the new hoses from SQ? I currently have those metal braided hoses for my inlets. Of course I would replace them with a new machine. And do the hoses mount flush with the back or like on a machine I saw posted here, its on an angle sort of recessed?

Thanks again for all your help

 

[logixx]

I had a similar "problem" with wash temps when using the on-premise Speed Queen front loaders at a dorm. The cold water was so much more powerful that hardly any hot water would make it into the washer - it was like 80% cold in the mix. What I did was to first set the cycle to warm and let it fill for a minute or so and then change the cycle to hot. The commercial models would only let you change the temp during the initial fill, don't know about the home models. For a truly hot wash, I also ran a pre-wash like Malcom. Not really what I consider an automatic washer but better than nothing.

Alex

 

[teknikleespekng]

Alex, thanks for the tip! Im testing out the mix and temperatures both with the ATC and without - just for reference. I just did a load of jeans and let it use tap cold for the rinses and its not horribly "cold".

Perhaps qualin can chime in on whether you can change the temperature during the first fill.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

P.S. FTR, I know there are worse things in life than babysitting the machine for the first fill, trust me.

 

[qualin]

To answer your questions:

>I've read where you talked about the machine sometimes running a little unbalanced.

I think that's normal for any front loading or top loading machine.

> Do you think there's any undo wear on the bearings when it does spin unbalanced?

Hard to say. These machines are designed to take abuse, so I suppose there is some wear, but I would say that the bearings on these machines are designed for it. I think that unless you plan on washing bricks with it, or you heavily overload the machine with an obscene amount of clothing, it shouldn't be an issue.

> If its really REALLY unbalanced, does it try to tumble the clothes to get it better balanced or does it just go for it?

Well, the machine does a distribute before it does any pulse spins. I've seen my machine go into redistribute after three very unbalanced pulse spins. I've also see it redistribute after an unbalanced initial distribute.

I haven't seen it "Give up" yet, but then again, I've only owned it for two months. I have yet to provide it with a load that it can't spin.

> How do you like the hoses that come with the machine?

They work. What else can I say. They were a bit smelly for the first two weeks or so, but then the smell went away. My old GE's hoses were the same way.

> How long are they rated for? 5 years?

I believe so. I think that's pretty much par for the course for any hoses.

> Do you get the new hoses from SQ?

Yes, they included the washer hoses. It was nice not having to buy a set.

> And do the hoses mount flush with the back

No, they jut out a bit. That would have been another nice feature, but in all honesty, we really don't need it because our washer/dryer is in an unfinished basement. There are a lot of other things down there that don't look as pretty!

 

[combo52]

NEW WASHER HOSES

The hoses that come with new machines should last at least 20-30 years if not abused by excessive abrasion, water pressure and hot water temperatures. The manufactures are only suggesting that you replace them every 5 years so they can say I TOLD YOU SO if anything ever goes wrong.

 

That said if your machine is installed in an area where a burst hose would be a real disaster, you may want to get some premium high pressure hoses. Skip the ones that Home Depot and others sell that have a surge shut off feature built into the inlet end of the hoses. We have seen nothing but problems with these shutting down for no reason, and I have made a few thousand dollars by now running service calls on washers, DWs and ice-makers that suddenly stop working only to find that the STUPID hose was the problem. I replace it with a regular hose and send the customer back to HD for a refund, some customers have also gotten a refund for the service call cost.

 

The built in surge cut-off feature could only work if the hose was chopped in two by a malachite as a small leak up to and even above the flow rate [ 2-6 gallons of water per minute ] of the machine filling will not normally trigger a shut down of water flow.

 

[qualin]

Oh, to answer your question, I haven't ever tried switching the temperature while it was in mid-fill. I'm not sure what would happen, but I suspect it would just change the temperature, like any other machine.

I can certainly say that if I flip the extra rinse switch from off to on after I start the machine, it won't do it.

 

[logixx]

What I wanted to say is that the first fill was the only time I could change the temp. Once the fill finished, the cycle was locked in. This was only important to me since I always ran a pre-wash on the commercial Speed Queens to get a longer wash.

For a really hot wash (close to 140F), I would let the washer fill with some cold water for the pre-wash to avoid setting in stains and the switch over to hot for the rest of the pre-wash and wash fill.

For a warm wash, I let the machine fill almost entirely with cold water for the pre-wash and then hot for the main wash. The trick was to switch over to hot water *just* before the end of the pre-wash fill. If I missed that moment and the fill ended before I could switch over, the entire wash cycle would have been just cold water.

Yeah, there is worse that babysitting a washer for its initial fill. But I'm just spoiled, I guess, by living over here and being able to set my Whirlpool Duet to 68, 86, 104, 140 or 203F and let the heating element do the rest.

Alex