A Front Loader That Can Actually Balance a Heavy Load?

[rp2813]

Is there such a thing?

 

I'm seriously aggravated by my Affinity's anal approach to balancing before final spin.  I currently have two rubber-backed bathroom rugs in it, and after trying for upwards of 15 minutes, it simply gave up and was ready to render me a sopping wet mess as the finished product.

 

I watched boot movement and there were numerous opportunities to kick into high speed, but the machine is either too lame or too particular (I say both) to recognize them.  It won't even rotate fast enough to get the rugs sticking to the sides.  Washing one at a time would only be worse, which is why I threw two in there.

 

Yes, the load is heavy, but if the machine would simply take advantage of an adequately balanced load and go into medium spin to extract more water, which is standard operating procedure, it would have an excellent chance of successfully completing a final high speed spin cycle.

 

I am so ready to dump this machine in favor of something that recognizes a balanced load and takes proper advantage.

 

Any suggestions?

 

[launderess]

Have Not Done Heavy Loads In The AEG

However for the Miele have long given up doing thick cotton blankets and such. Big Bertha seems always to get things into a ball, then starts spinning with a clang and bang. Now just take the darn thing out and put it through the mangle. Once that is done back it goes and the fun starts all over again. If Miele won't do a final spin without becoming off balance just take the thing out and put it through the mangle and be done.

 

[frontloaderfan]

Affinity

I also have an Affinity front loader (2012). They do seem very picky about when they spin. I also have rubber-backed bathroom rugs and I find just washing the two of them leads only to frustration, which is why I actually bought another set of cotton bath rugs to wash along with them (I change them out between washes). The machine does much better washing five rugs that just two, even though they soak up a lot of water. I use the bulky setting for this. As long as I wash all the rugs at once, the machine spins them as it should and I don't have any problems with it.

Another reason why the machine used to be even pickier about spinning was the fact that it uses so little water that the clothes become tangled and it can't spread them out over the entire drum as it should in order to balance the load. After I "modified" the water level sensor, it has an easier time of spinning the clothes.

 

[rp2813]

Mine doesn't have a bulky cycle, but I may have to look up the water level increase instructions if I can find them here.

 

[combo52]

A FL Washer That Almost Aways Gets Thing Done

Speed Queen, In nine years I have never had a load come out not the least bit wet.

Ralph, You may want to try washing three rugs in your Frigidaire, I wash anywhere from 2-5 rugs in my SQ and never have a problem.

 

[washer111]

Our Miele (Computerised) handles the bulky loads just fine. It does decrease the spin for "serious offenders," and has not spun at all for a load with one small bathmat.

What it does do with really wet loads is spin up too quickly, overloading the pump. It sometimes thinks it has suds lock, so it stops, flushes water and goes again just fine usually.

 

[cfz2882]

neptune handles it

I have been impressed with some of the heavy,out-of-balance loads my '98 Neptune 3000 has been able to handle

 

[rp2813]

My machine will also run a lower speed spin for "serious offenders" and that's why I couldn't understand why it wouldn't do that today.  It had many opportunities the way I saw it.

 

I'll try John's idea and throw another rug in there next time.

 

I've heard that SQ front loaders are the best thing out there, but they come at a steep price. 

 

Considering that droughts like the one we're in the middle of currently may become more frequent as a result of climate change, I don't think I can seriously entertain the idea of going back to a top loader for a daily driver.

 

[hooverzodiac12]

ASKO!

Hey guys, my Asko was amazing at big heavy loads sometime unbalanced but as a 6kg machine it always took and spun out 8kg loads day in day out without an issue

 

[laundromat]

When you wash small loads or just a few items, you need to put extra items like bath towels in to assure the load will balance properly. Most of the use and care guides supplied with front loading washers tell you not to wash smaller loads with just a few items because they won't balance causing the machines not to spin. Yes,some models are a bit more sensitive then others but,none the less,if its only a few pieces that cant be evenly distributed or so many items especially bulky ones like king size bedspreads,there isn't enough space for them to distribute in tumbling and can't be tumbled properly enough causing the heavier part to block any movement to redistribute and finally go into the spin.

 

[rp2813]

I'm aware of the issues front loaders have with small loads/single items, but the subject rugs were fairly large so I thought two of them would be fine, and that any more would be too heavy.  I think what may have caused the problem is that they were not made by the same manufacturer, and one did seem to retain water more than the other.

 

This still doesn't give the machine a pass.  They should have named it Affinicky. 

 

The machine spins out large single items better than most mixed loads.  King sized mattress pads or blankets are so large that they cover the entire surface of the drum, including the rear, so there's never a balancing act with those, nor does the machine shake much because the load is so well balanced.

 

[roscoe62]

My duet can be just the same

and not just with small loads, but worse at times with larger loads consisting of jeans or sheets, we're talking one cocked up tangled mess, not pretty.
Good Luck

 

[logixx]

Same here with jeans. Loads of darks can take their sweet time to balance, while large and heavy loads of towels are ususlly fine. I don't think mine is quite as sensitively programmed as the US ones, though, and has a stiffer suspension as well.

 

[ozzie908]

Having used numerous fl's

the only two I have had issues with balancing were both 8kg or above load washers and I noticed that LG was horrendous for tangling everything so that it would never balance to spin the other was a Hotpoint Aqualtis that would take forever to balance a load and it was very frustrating due to looking like it had got it sorted then it would re-distribute and make it worse!! Dumb machine....

On reflection I realise both are at the mid range of the market so were not as robust as others.

Austin

 

[aamassther]

I know what you mean about the spin being finicky on the Affinity! The countdown on the display can stuck at "6" for 10 minutes. I learned with the Bosch Nexxt, which was even more anal, that if I set the spin speed to Medium it will spin. Then, if need be while still in the machine, I reset it to a higher spin speed. The balancing doesn't seem to be as picky when it's set for a lower spin speed.

 

[yogitunes]

in my Frigidaires, all loads use to be 'affinicky'(love that term Ralph), and like others here have said, of a 12 minute spin, most of it playing around, lucky to get 2 minutes out of it......once the water level was increased, it now jumps right into high speed....so much better.....

say what you will, but of course the Neptunes never have issues with spinning and balancing....not that I did not experience a few, but you soon learn to adapt, an exmaple is pillows, it just does better with 4 rather than 2....

as for bathmats, and considering size/bulk, certain loads may just have to be adapted to wash with a few other items...

word of caution, carmats, although I have washed them many times in the Neptune, and it took once for it to go haywire and screw up the interior.....since then, certain things are best left to the laundromat..hate to say it, but if their machine gets messed up, not my problem....

most sales gimmicks, like buying FourWheelDrive, people are pushed into believing a FL for home use of bulky items is the same as a commercial unit at a laundromat...not always the case

 

[retropia]

I've not noticed any unwilling-to-spin issues with either of our Kenmore-by-Frigidaire-by-Electrolux front-loaders. Of course, they are smaller capacity than newer machines; I believe they only hold 2.7 cubic feet.

I am able to wash a queen-sized comforter in it, as well as throw rugs. Typically I will wash a large throw rug, say 32" x 50", with a couple of smaller ones at the same time.

 

[rp2813]

I'll give the medium spin speed trick a try next time.  That may be the best solution.

 

Increasing the water level may not be the best route since we're currently on voluntary 20% reductions in water use, which could easily become mandatory if things continue to get worse.  Word is out that by this time next week, we could be getting some wet systems coming through, which means those east of the Rockies will finally catch a break from the weather shenanigans they've been dealing with lately.

 

One thing I've found about the digital readout sitting there reading 2 minutes remaining for more like 10 is if you hit pause or cancel, it will start up again with more time on the clock.  Not that it helps anything.  What really irks me is that if you hit cancel during the spin cycle, the door remains locked and there's no tricking it into unlocking and allowing for an intervention.

 

If anybody knows how to conquer this do-no-enter arrangement, please advise.

 

[robliverpool]

I know a lot of people knock Beko washing machines.... I'm guilty of it in the past but I have a mid range machine and it's great with spinning awkward loads no messing about it just does it.