All New Whirlpool Cabrio

[gusherb]

Our Samsungtag (even when it was brand new), a relatives 2009 LG and someone else's 2010 LG FL set I've used all shook the houses they were in on spin cycle.

Is that not a problem with front loaders anymore these days?

 

[murando531]

My only reservation with front-loading machines is that, from what I've seen in person and through several users' videos, it seems that larger loads of laundry seem to just roll in a ball back and forth. I've watched quite a few where the load was by no means oversized, but a few items just stayed in the middle of the "ball" the whole time. I'm also not crazy about how sealed the environment is. They have very high spin speeds, but usually the swirling vortex of air causes little pools of water to collect around the door seal and the window, and then at the very end when the machine tumbles and fluffs the load, that water just gets sponged back up by the clothes brushing against it. If I were to be given a nice FL or got an excellent deal on one, I would most certainly use and enjoy it, but I'd always have a TL as well. The FL would be excellent for comforters and items that just don't move around well in a TL machine.

 

I think the balling up of the load happens more in modern machines that only use enough water to get the load soggy but with not much water to slosh around. Sure, the intent behind these machines is not so much to cause the clothes to move around each other, but to allow the detergent to soak in, but I just prefer and feel more at ease seeing the clothes get agitated. With top-loading HE washers, as long as you follow the manufacturer's instructions and load the machine properly, there is usually no problem with rollover or "blooming" action. In addition to that the load's center of gravity stays close to the driveshaft, which keeps stress on the bearings to a minimum, in my opinion. There's also not really any place for the water to go but down, so any water "pooling" is mainly underneath the basket away from the clothes. In the end I think it all boils down to personal preference, and what pros and cons are more important to a person, because every machine ever made has had and will always have its strengths and its quirks.

 

[murando531]

New Maytag Bravos version live on website

Tis a handsome machine. I miss the amber LED lights though. The impeller here does look a little beefier compared to the WP.

http://www.maytag.com/-[MVWB835DW]-1112428/MVWB835DW/

 

[mrb627]

White Only?

Thought Maytag was the FLAGSHIP for Whirlpool. No colors available on this new model though...

Malcolm

 

[murando531]

WP seems to take their time keeping the sites up to date. Literally yesterday it showed the MVWB880 in the place that this new model has taken. I doubt this is the top-end model, and because there are only three HE top-loaders showing on the whole site, I'm sure the others will soon appear. 

 

I think when they're populating the Features panel under the models that they just hit check boxes on what to display, because the last item is "Extra-Large Capacity -- These 4.3 cu. ft. capacity washers handle your largest loads" when the machine is actually 5.3.

 

[logixx]

I have washed loads so large that most here would probably have a heart attack... and items still moved all over during the wash. I did three loads today and paid extra attention to water pooling on the front gasket. After each cycle, there was a little less than a teaspoon of water on the gasket and even though I pulled towels right over it, none of the water was soaked up. Surprised myself.

As for the new top loaders, Whirlpool's internal product page shows three Maytag models that use the new design: 755, 835 and 855. All the old Bravos models without the dispenser drawer have gone, unfortunately. Also, only the TOL models seem to come in white or silver (and a red Whirlpool 8500).

This is Kenmore's impeller. It looks to be a third of the height of F&P's one.

 

[jerrod6]

The impeller

Looks great while swishing three thin polyester items to the sound of music.

 

[eronie]

????

There is no way ANY of these impeller machines will get 7 of my greasy farm jeans clean in any way shape or form NO WAY these things are just JUNK

 

[henene4]

I guess the impellers are that shallow to allow for ultra-low water washing. The F&P design uses the floating basket if I'm not mistaken, which means overall higher water levels. And as the HE F&P allow for traditional washing, the impeller has a kind of hybrid design.
What puzzels me is the Steam Option. Its selectable at any temperature, and I never saw steam in any of the videos. So I guess its more like a temp boost.
But so far, it seems to me they do a pretty decent job at everyday laundry. The maker of the videos uploaded a video of a comforter which did not turn over at all (but it floated on top, so there was no way). He used the DeepWater option which gave me the impression of a dynamic water level sensing, even with that option.
The wash cycle programming seems half backed to me. There are parts that I really like about it. It does a stepped fill throughout the wash to dillute detergent and dirt stp by step which combines concentrated washing and pretty decent blooming action and to keep the temperature constant, it turns the recirculation on after every fill to mix the fresh water with the water in the drum. Further it balances fairly well and rinsimg seems sufficent to.
On the other hand, some things are just dumb programming. It does short agitation faces after the inital fill with nearly no water at all. That seems pretty rough on clothes. The agitation is pretty one-pattern-ish as well: it always does a fill, fast agitation which gradually reduces over time until the next fill. Further, it uses a simmilar pattern on any cycle he showed so far. The Bulky cycle used pretty much the same cycleing as Normal and Casual. Water levels seemd pretty constant as well.
So, I guess its just a average remodel of what seemd to work for long enough. I'm not dissapointed by it, just not blown of my chairr as well.

 

[logixx]

Here are those comforter videos

Part One - Pre-Washing a king size comforter on Bulky/Sheets - Deep Water.



 

Part Two - Pre-Washing a king size comforter, continued.



 

Part Three - flipped the comforter over to wash the other side



 

Part Four - end of wash and rinse

 

[henene4]

Danke!

Just to lazy to link them myself, and I knew Alex would help
3 Things:
1. At some point he calls him self laundry enthusiast (I think he used these words), but isn't on this side. Maybe I should change that...
2. He calls him self laundry enthusiast, but did not have the freaking idea to push that comforter down into the water. That annoyed me like hell while I watched that video.
3. He called him self laundry enthusiast, but throws clothes and other items in and covers the impeller. Thats HE TL 1-O-1: Do not cover the wash plate!

 

[mrb627]

Funny...

I found a couple of the things in his videos get me to head scratching.

Why does he feel like he needs to do a manual prewash of clothes before starting the main cycle? I think he made mention of the machine needs to be 'tricked' once or twice. I suppose he thinks it isn't using enough water.

Why would you spend the money on a machine that requires so much user intervention?

Malcolm

 

[logixx]

Prewash

He mentioned watching a video of our very own Jamie, in which he explains that wetting clothes before the load sensing process can result in higher water levels during the wash. That's also why he adds the Oxi Dispense option to many cycles.

Henene - the steam option just turns the heater on to maintain and maybe boost the temp a little.

 

[gusherb]

That machine is driving me insane! 20 minutes just to fill and "sense", seriously?? My SQ is already finishing the rinse cycle by then.

With the way that machine was "washing" that comforter, one may as well have filled the bathtub with water, dropped it in and stirred it around with a paddle. At least then there would be some agitation.

I would laugh if the bottom of that comforter came out shredded in the end.

 

[henene4]

I'd like to see a SQ handle that kind of comforter.

 

[gusherb]

Perhaps not a king size

But I have a full size comforter that looks much like the King Size in the guys video that I ran through the SQ last week and it handled it with ease, and no problem with turnover whatsoever.

 

[henene4]

That comforter would probably never even fit in the SQ. It filled the 5.3 ft³ tub to about 3/4s. The SQ is 3.3 minus agitator. Even if it would have fitted, there wouldn't be to much rollover.

 

[gusherb]

That comforter probably wouldn't do so well in many front loaders either. But that's not the point, this machine technically can fit it but the results are (obviously) terrible. Seems like false advertisement to me, to market such a big tub only to find out you can't fill it all the way and can only put certain things in it. A TL agitator machine, or FL can at least be filled up and you will still see results.

 

[tolivac]

While trying to watch the videos-machine is pretty lame-hardly any or no agitation at all--Just "Whir-Whirr"Fill,and so on-just a gentle rocking of the tub and no rollover whatsoever-You have to LIFT&TURN the Heavy,wet,comforter yourself to do the other side?--Might as well take the comforter to a laundry service and have them do it.Would be worth it.Won't be in the market for a Cabrio type machine.Just an agitator TL that fills with water and gets the job DONE-No manual "turning"!And yes,as another member pointed out-push the comforter into the water to squeeze out the air bubbles.But,again the machine should do that for you!!

 

[liberator1509]

Missing an opportunity?

Interesting thread - I own a Fisher & Paykel 8kg Aquasmart II and think it excellent. Normal washing works very well - the laundry turns over and cleans, and a full capacity loads produces great results. Bulky items require a full-tub of water, giving lie to the HE bit, but then again the non-test cycles on FL washer aren't necessarily high efficiency!

I love the styling of the Maytag Bravos XL, and (as a European obsession) the option for a heater. I can't help thinking that both F&P and Maytag-Whirlpool have missed a beat in their programming of these machines. Most have re-circulating pumps (at least the F&P machines do), yet these seem only to function for part of the wash cycle, if at all.

I would suggest a system where the laundry items are just saturated, and then have a period where the machine ramps up to spin, wringing the water through the clothes, and then showered over by the recirculation, and repeat. Add in a profiled temperature rise from the heater, and I would think this an effective first phase for a wash (UK FL fans will recognise this as similar to the Zanussi Jet-system action). Then follow the F&P pattern by topping up with cool water for an agitation phase, but keep the recirculation going throughout the wash action. Adding a lint filter to the latter would be good too.

I suspect that F&P's 'vortex' FL wash works on this basis - I wonder if there is a reason why they don't make more of the recirculation potential in the TL machines?