Amana NTW4516FW washer has officially been discontinued???

[whirlpool862]

It seems like this model has finally been discontinued by Whirlpool, as the Amana website has it indefinitely out of stock as it was out of stock for a while. How do you feel about this? I believe the NTW4519JW is still active. Other sellers of the item will probably not have it restocked once it’s out of stock. This model has been made for about 9 years but they did revise it over the years. The early models filled to the top on every load.

The traditional style VMWs with the porcelain tubs seem to be getting phased out in general. But I think the WTW4816FW is still active but it’s only at Lowe’s. The WTW4616FW and the Roper equivalent to the Amana I believe is also active but no big box store carries them anymore, it used to be sold at Lowe’s. How do you feel about this? The stock is low on the other model but it will probably go back in full stock.

Link to Amana website

 

[johnb300m]

Hmmmm, I guess this doesn't surprise me.
I'm actually surprised the porcelain coated drum lasted this long.
Nobody wants to porcelain coat anything anymore.
It's "dirty" and "takes too long" in the assembly process opposed to just stamping and welding a stainless steel ring with plastic end caps.

 

[whirlpool862]

But Whirlpool still makes the porcelain tubs for these but I think some of the older stainless ones were discontinued.

I personally like the stainless and even plastic drums over the porcelain coat ones since they held up better over time and didn’t rust, although no drum material is really terrible.

The plastic inner and outer tubs are not as bad as people estimate, I’ve never seen a plastic GE drum explode or break unless they put a firecracker in the washer or something. Who puts firecrackers in washing machines to begin with? The plastic outer tubs weren’t bad they did feel different but they used hard and durable plastic, not the same plastic used in children’s toys. The plastic tubs weren’t the bad thing about the older GE’s.

These days it seems like both the porcelain and plastic tubs are being phased out.

 

[combo52]

I’m not surprised whirlpool kept the porcelain wash tub so Long whirlpool had a huge investment in making these porcelain wash baskets and they were actually very cheap for them to build.

A lot of customer is looking for an older style traditional washer also liked seeing the porcelain basket cause they felt like it was more like their old washer.

But the stainless steel is certainly more durable. I’m glad they’re not using a lot of plastic wash tubs even though they held up fine. They’re just not very recyclable. It’s bad enough that they have plastic outer tubs.

That’s the real beauty of the more expensive Speed Queen’s at least the machine is very recyclable at the end of its useful life. There is just about no plastic in a Speed Queen top loader or front loader. I’m sure it’s the lowest in the industry that’s for sure.

John L

 

[whirlpool862]

In general, wash tubs are pretty durable regardless of the material. It’s usually the splines or the bottom of the tub that fails. The porcelain coated tubs were the most problematic but they did hold up, they just sometimes rusted over time.

 

[johnb300m]

In general, wash tubs are pretty durable regardless of the material. It’s usually the splines or the bottom of the tub that fails. The porcelain coated tubs were the most problematic but they did hold up, they just sometimes rusted over time.

I’d agree.
While my experience is limited, the only porcelain tubs I’ve ever seen rusted were in very old machines. Like 15+yrs old back when I was a kid when those tubs were more prominent.
Maytag porcelain tubs seemed the most durable.
The worst porcelain tubs I saw were in Speed Queens. The black ones. But those were in a couple apartment buildings where they saw more abuse.

 

[whirlpool862]

I thought Speed Queen always used stainless drums

 

[agiflow]

I’m not surprised whirlpool kept the porcelain wash tub so Long whirlpool had a huge investment in making these porcelain wash baskets and they were actually very cheap for them to build.

A lot of customer is looking for an older style traditional washer also liked seeing the porcelain basket cause they felt like it was more like their old washer.

But the stainless steel is certainly more durable. I’m glad they’re not using a lot of plastic wash tubs even though they held up fine. They’re just not very recyclable. It’s bad enough that they have plastic outer tubs.

That’s the real beauty of the more expensive Speed Queen’s at least the machine is very recyclable at the end of its useful life. There is just about no plastic in a Speed Queen top loader or front loader. I’m sure it’s the lowest in the industry that’s for sure.

I’m not surprised whirlpool kept the porcelain wash tub so Long whirlpool had a huge investment in making these porcelain wash baskets and they were actually very cheap for them to build.

A lot of customer is looking for an older style traditional washer also liked seeing the porcelain basket cause they felt like it was more like their old washer.

But the stainless steel is certainly more durable. I’m glad they’re not using a lot of plastic wash tubs even though they held up fine. They’re just not very recyclable. It’s bad enough that they have plastic outer tubs.

That’s the real beauty of the more expensive Speed Queen’s at least the machine is very recyclable at the end of its useful life. There is just about no plastic in a Speed Queen top loader or front loader. I’m sure it’s the lowest in the industry that’s for sure.

John L

John, even LG and Samsung use full stainless steel tubs in their higher priced top loaders... How many failures has Whirlpool had with that hybrid stainless steel plastic bottom wash basket?

 

[johnb300m]

I thought Speed Queen always used stainless drums

Nope.
The old Speed Queens I had in my old college apartments were black speckled porcelain drums.
They were very thin and the coating was often worn through around the agitator find level, on most of the machines in the laundry rooms.

Oh also (core memories coming back) my college dorms all had Speed Queen front loaders and dryers.
There were 10 of each in my wing’s laundry room.
At any given time, at least TWO washers were broken.
The dryers were fine but they ran so hot that my dad commented a few times “you smell burnt.”

So yes this is my life SQ experience.
This is why I do not like them at all Sam I Am.

 

[DADoES]

John, even LG and Samsung use full stainless steel tubs in their higher priced top loaders... How many failures has Whirlpool had with that hybrid stainless steel plastic bottom wash basket?

I've had no failures with the "hybrid" baskets in any of my F&P toploaders, although of course my report is only anecdotal, not scientifically qualified. One machine bought new in 1999, another in 2004. Five were obtained used, ranging in serial date from 2005 to 2010.

 

[panasonicvac]

I noticed that the Maytag Commercial model isn't being sold through Lowe's anymore. And according to Home Depot especially on Maytag's website, it's currently on backorder unless if Whirlpool decided to gut them. Honestly if that's the case, I'm glad they finally did so because they were problematic.

 

[whirlpool862]

The Maytag Commercial’s are better than the regular VMWs they have a better quality control board and I don’t usually see the suspension or bearings fail on these either. The coin slot ones with the porcelain drums definitely are known for suspension issues and those are a different story. Commercial VMW’s are decent, but they are nothing like Speed Queens.

The main problem with the Maytag Commercial units is the drive hub, I don’t know what Whirlpool was thinking when they put a plastic hub on a “commercial” unit. They definitely seem better than the commercial GE’s which are literally residential GE’s with a different control panel and a ribbed lid. Whirlpool should just stop using the plastic drive hub on their machines.

The really big VMWs and the VMAX machines use a spanner nut at the bottom instead of a hub.

Again, people often overload these machines which causes the drive hub to fail prematurely, if you use it properly you can get like 7 years out of it (even if it uses the plastic one). If a machine lasted only three years before the drive hub failed for example, it is very likely that they overloaded it.

 

[combo52]

I have never seen a failure of the stainless steel top load hybrid, plastic wash tubs in any whirlpool product, and for that matter, I’ve never seen the failure of the tub in any whirlpool front load washer.

Of course that’s not entirely scientific. I only see several hundred a year.

We do replace porcelain wash baskets in direct drives every year probably two or three at this time, they usually rust in the column under the agitator and break loose, we also occasionally replace one where the customer gets enough rust on it that they want it replaced that’s less often anymore.

We have the ability to look online and see what the stock of any given tub is for a whirlpool or any other product or parts distributor has about 40 stores scattered up and down the East Coast. If you look there almost no wash baskets for these new VMWmachines so it can’t be a very frequent problem. That’s for sure.

John L

 

[runematic]

The 4516 is way more expensive than the 4519. Why would anyone want that? It's smaller & has less options. My dealer site shows the 4516 due in September, but I did see that the WTW4616FW is listed as discontinued so it may be as well.

We too have replaced a lot of hubs.

 

[agiflow]

The 4516 has a real agitator for one and actually moves the clothes around. You could load that thing and utilize the whole basket and get good action. You're not going to get the same with that wash plate with a pole. I so wish Whirlpool would stop this trend with these nonsensical speed bumps with poles. They suck and they suck real bad.