Speaking my mind unfiltered...
These are unequivocally, and by far, the worst washers ever put into existence. I absolutely despise model T washers for everything they are and all that they lack. There is soooooooo much wrong in them. To the point I feel they are a <span class="yKMVIe">presumptuous </span>insult to basic human decency. If everyone was like me when these washers were first released the streets would quickly resemble the Nahel Merzouk protests in France, but on a much more expansive scale with over 200 million and growing participating. GE would have quickly discontinued the model T with the filter flos put back into production. Any washer that follows would rival Speed Queen or a Maytag dependable care. Given the engineering, tools, knowledge, physics, computing power and unlimited data available to GE they could easily produce a washer that could beat the Maytag Dependable Care or a Whirlpool DD if they really wanted to.
In an ironic twist it actually the model T which radicalized me, changed my world view, and caused me to never take anything for granted. I not only had the misfortune of using one of these washers in the early to mid 2000s, but when I for the first time saw the front cover off a model T side by side with the back fiber board removed on an 80s GE FF I was absolutely gobsmacked that two machines could ever had been produced by the same company or have taken such a complete turn. The difference so stark it is my default image whenever I hear "things aren't built like they were used to"
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From what I remember about my grandfather's machine, it had an all white control panel with grey lettering, slightly yellowed control knobs (maybe they were just dirty), and a big red triangle as the timer position indicator. That sounds very late 90's to me, maybe 98 or 99, but I know nothing about this washer platform.
<strong>Late 90s early 2000s would be correct. My first model from 98 had the red triangle on the timer indicator.
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I thought it was interesting how the tub always indexed like an inch or two almost by design. I thought that coupled with the chugging noise gave it almost a harmonious quality. I also remember being blown away by how quickly it spun up to full speed. Maybe by very young brain was exaggerating the spin acceleration, I don't know.
<strong>You're brain has not deceived you. Model Ts, especially clutch models, accelerated way to fast. This caused slightly off balance loads that would otherwise not be a problem once most of the water was removed to violently bang the the top of the outer tub into the cabinet for the first few seconds of spin. This was not the result of broken tub straps as common with these machines but rather a severally under-damped suspension, rapid acceleration and sucky balance ring. DDs and other washers accelerate much more slowly, heir clutches have far more slip, as they should. </strong>
<strong>The inner tub is not whats indexing, but the entire inner, outer tub, motor, and suspension. Stupid, as that would often cause the tub straps to break resulting in the outter tub knocking into the cabinet during an average spin. Also, the violent back and forth during agitation would cause the suspension rods to growl in their sockets while the whole frame would just squeal. Late 90s models were far less audible, but early and mid 2000s models were many times worse. I remember on the HD sales floor if you just slightly moved the tub the washer would emit unpleasant, unfriendly sounds.
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How was the performance on these things compared to other washers at the time like the DD, Maytag DC, Performa, and Atlantis? Were they easy to service? Were they reliable and long lasting?
<strong><strong><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><strong><span style="color: #ffcc99;"><span style="color: #000000;">Believe it or not on the lowest water level setting these washers had good cleaning and excellent turn over. But I remember on large loads the agitator would just shred the clothes in the middle while the rest of the garments would shake back and forth at the same rate as the inner and outter tub not moving up nor down. So cleaning over all was very poor in the so called power soaker. Lint was through the roof, just obscene. Clothing wear high, tears that I never have with my current Speed Queen were somehow a common occurance. Black gunk specs on clothes was also not unseen of due to the boxed reinforcements on the other side of the inner tub which held and trapped absolutely everything- lint, hair, water, softner, residue, ect. </span></strong></span></strong></span></strong></strong>
<strong><strong><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><strong><span style="color: #ffcc99;"><span style="color: #000000;">I have the ability to go on but I'll just say the apartment scrap pile was overflowing with these washers most only a few years old all of them with various failure mods like broken air bell drive blocks, locked bearings, noisey bearing, bad timers, bad pumps (the Italian ones seemed trouble prone), broken tub straps, seal leaks, bad transmissions, basically everything under the sun that could go wrong went wrong.</span></strong></span></strong></span></strong></strong>
<strong><strong><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><strong><span style="color: #ffcc99;"><span style="color: #000000;"> Maytag, Whirlpool ect performed on orders of magnitude better, Atlantis I dare say held up a bit better with DDs and Dependable Cares being light years ahead in longevity, durability and reliability. You simply can not compare a model T to any other washers. Model Ts were essentially GE's greedy vengeance for the success of the FFs.
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</span>Their clothes always reek of the detergent being used due to poor rinsing.
