Brand NEW Electronic Speed Queens

[intuitive]

Hi All
I have just had two touch control Speed Queens installed in a shared laundry at a block of units i manage. They are stunning machines. I am so tempted to buy one when Fanny Fisher Paykel does her final load. These machines are absolutely stunning, quiet and so desirable!

 

[mayfan69]

Very nice!

Hi Jon,

Very nice indeed! I've sent you a private email as i'm keen to know more about these models here in Australia.

I was under the impression these were not going to be sold here for a while.

Are these domestic versions or the home style laundromat machines?

Cheers
Leon

 

[combo52]

Nice No Nonsense Machines For Sure

But if you really want to see a washer that is built like a tank and runs like a clock check out the NEW SQ Front Load washers, we have been selling and installing a few every week lately and they are amazing. In this last quarter of the year we have actually sold more SQ FLers than TLers, it seems that many customers will still pay for a quality washer that for most of our customers will be the LAST washer they ever have to buy.

 

One lady told me she was leaving her SQ FL washer to her Grandson in her will, LOL.

 

[askolover]

Hey John,

do you know what material SQ uses to make the spider?  Is it aluminum or stainless or something else?  I'm just curious because I've never seen a SQ FL taken apart.

 

[combo52]

SQ FL Washer Spiders

I just took apart a 2009 SQ FLer this past weekend, the spider is cast aluminum but it appears to be about twice as strong as any FL washer spider I ever saw. I will try to remember to take and post a picture.

 

About 2 years ago we bought 24 SQ FL washers that had been used at a US goverment youth training facility. I do not know why they replaced them after just 3 years of use, and we have sold all but about 5 of the machines. The biggest problem we found with these washers were the kids ID cards drivers licenses etc stuck in the outer tub blocking the drain outlet.

 

Some of the washers were pretty beat up from the folks that moved them and as a result we took so many parts off one that I stripped what was left. All I can say after taking one completely apart is there never been a better built washer that one can buy for home use EVER in US automatic washer history. As I dissembled this machine I was impressed over and over again at the construction quality. I suspect you would really have to set up some pretty bad conditions to ever get a SQ spider to corrode enough to EVER break.

 

John L.

 

[repair-man]

Actually the previous generation of Alliance front loaders did not hold up all that well in the vended laundry business. Go into any laundromat that has them and spin the baskets, I would bet you will find a noisy one or two. Alliance gives the front load machines the same life expectancy as the top load. 10K cycles, and that seems to be about right. The new (current) models have a improved seal and bearing system as well as several other upgrades. I do think they are a good machine overall for the money. Cost about 40 % of an equivalent hard mount machine and have a larger capacity. Top loads in the laundromat business are money losers by comparison.

 

[combo52]

Speed Queen FL Washer Life Expectancy

We were told by SQ trainers that the FL washers had a life expectancy of 25,000 loads. If you look at the construction of the TL washers compared to the FL machines there is no way in hell that the FL machines will not last 2 to 3 times as long a the TL washers.

 

The TL SQs have low durability sleeve bearing motors, very short lived belts and idler pulleys and plastic main drive pulleys, as well as a high wear aluminum transmission with oils seals top and bottom, the top one exposed to water and the bottom one exposed to metal particles from the aluminum transmission. You also have the constant stress on the plastic agitator drive cone, a porclean outer tub that will rust and cheap timers.

 

Yes I am well aware that there have been some seal and bearing failures in the earlier FL washers, BUT the seal and bearing assembly is easier and less costly to replace in the FL washer than putting a transmission and main seal and bearing in the TL machines and far more worthwhile.

 

In the years we have been dealing with SQs we have seen only two seal and bearing failures, the first was in a washer that was in a condo building in NW DC where there were 30 condos and every body had free use of the machine. When the main bearing got noisy at around 5 years we gave the association an estimate to fix of around $450, they said just bring us a new FL SQ. We rebuilt that machine about three yaers ago and sold it to a community housing association where it is one of two FL washers for 60 apartments. The only other machine we saw with a noisy bearing was the machine I mentioned in my earlier post that I stripped, it was the only bad one we found out of 24 machines that had been in commercial use.

 

We had one of the residential SS pairs at the Jefferson Hotel for 5 years doing 20+ loads a day, we installed 2 pairs after we replaced the SS pair. The orignal pair did over 35,000 loads and was going strong. We serviced the orignal pair and sold it to a good customer a few years ago and it has had no problems. While it was at the hotel it had a new inlet valve, new door lock, new door boot, when we reconditioned it we changed the motor because the bearing were getting a little noisy. The machine is still going strong on the orignal bearing and seal.

 

[intuitive]

SQ Front loader...

I would not install them into Aust unit common laundries. Tenants dont respect the machines and the SQ FL i do have installed block all time. Stuff not taken out of pockets etc!

Saying that... iam tempted to get one for home

J

 

[joeypete]

The only experience I had with SQ FL machines was in an apartment I lived in a few years ago. They were awful! Constantly getting off balance and stopping....you didn't find out until you go down to pull the clothes out. The dryers were bad too...they cycle would stop and everything would still be wet. I had to call weekly to get credits on my laundry card. I wasn't impressed at all. Hopefully they are better now.

 

[volvoguy87]

Dryers.

Most of the time when dryers don't dry well it's not the fault of the dryer. A dryer requires heat AND air flow in order to work properly. If one of those two things is lacking, your clothes will be wet. Most folks don't properly maintain their dryer exhaust ducts and vents, especially in shared laundry rooms.

Joe, I'd be willing to bet my lunch that the dryers you experienced were connected to exhaust systems with restrictions as a result of excessive lint buildup. I wish more landlords and property managers would clean out these systems, it would save energy, time, and give tenants/customers a far better value for the money.

I wonder how much time, money, and energy could be saved on a national level if folks would just clean out their dryer exhaust hoses, duct-work, and vents?

Dave

 

[joeypete]

Probably...

had something to do with it, but it was very sporadic with the dryers, so I'm not sure it was the venting. I def had more issues with the washers. They were out of service quite a bit. But ya, especially in rentals, people don't pay much attention to taking care of machines. LOL

 

[johnb300m]

tubs and queens

What's with all the scorn for porcelain outer tubs all of a sudden?
I don't think I've EVER encountered a porcelain outer tub that's ever rusted or failed. Granted I'm a private user and not a repair man.
But still, I've never heard of it happening.
I can see, and HAVE seen porcelain inner baskets rust from chipping and scratches from wear and use. But as long as the coating is in tact on the outer tub, why would it ever rust? Something would have to go over the edge of the basket and lodge in the outer tub and score it up, right?

We had Raytheon FL Speed Queens in the college dorms. They were ok.
They used a lot of water which was nice.
The student body was ALWAYS suds locking them.
Many machines would be broken and not drain.
And they would have issues balancing.

Between college and apartments.....and I know people beat on machines that aren't theirs (or sometimes they do), I was never really sold on the GOLD STANDARD of reliability of these Commercial Speed Queens. I can't tell you how many tens of dollars I've been robbed of, with broken SQ washers and dryers.

Truly, the most reliable, trouble free commercial laundry units I've ever used, were the old Maytag sets of Orbitals and Neptunes at this laundromat I used to go to.

Again, just my own anecdotal experience.

 

[DADoES]

 
There have been numerous restoration projects documented here that involved rusted-through / leaking porcelain outer tubs on various brands.

 

[combo52]

Rusting And Leaking Porcelain Outer Tubs

Are about the most common reason that Belt Drive Whirlpool and GE Filter Flow washers are discarded even to this day, rusted outer tubs are also often a problem on any machine that ever had them, plastic and SS tubs are a huge improvement in almost all cases.

 

There is a thread going on now where the owner of a 2007 SQ just had to replace the outer tub in his machine.

 

[jerrod6]

Heaters?

Do these have onboard heaters?

 

[fordiesel69]

I can tell you the outer tubs can rot out. I am not 100% why my 07 did. I am going to tear down my 2013 model is see if it is starting to. I will say it simply, SQ is the best top loader you can buy today. It is not perfect by any means. There a lots of design shortcomings that even I could improve on. Like raw metal plates touching the tub = rot. How about some plastic or fiber shims like the maytag dependable care. Bearing design could be much better. All the load is on the tub bottom. Others are not.

Sleeve bearings are not always evil! Depends on the load thew manufacture puts on it laterally.

Think of your furnace, most blowers can make it 20+ yrs on oil-less sleeve bearing motors. Only the newest ones can't.

 

[tolivac]

The plastic drums were NOT an improvement-the ones I found in WP/KN DD machines that were in the swap shops discard pile had fine cracks in them-and of course leaked.And if the inner drum stuck the outer plastic one(Broken outer tub.That happened to me.Machine was repaired under warratee from Sears at a time when they would help you if you had a problem.I did trade the machine to the swap shop for a BD WP Imperial 90-MUCH BETTER!!!!!Still using it today.

 

[jetcone]

Well also

there's porcelain and then there's porcelain. I've not yet seen a 1-18 machine rust out the outer tub and I've been through quite few. The porcelain on those is thick. Maytags & WP with a thin dusting of porcelain rust out just looking at them. 
The worst was a 'bonderized" tub like in the early ABC's and my 1970 BMW. Once you get a crack all the salt and water in the world pile up under there and soon you are dealing with tissue paper with what looks like a smooth plastic coat over it. You never see it till you put your foot through it!

 

 

[gansky1]

Here is the outer tub (also the cabinet) of the 64 Hotpoint I just parted out - it had been repaired numerous times by myself and before, Robert, when he found the washer, to keep ahead of the rust. Yup, that's an orange sherbet container - it worked perfectly

I have yet to see a Maytag with a hole in the outer tub, Mr. Jetcone, so hush with that but I have fixed many a hole in a GE/Hotpoint, mostly from the basket rubbing away the porcelain where it hits in an unbalanced spin. The non-porcelain tubs in some unfortunate machines were the worst. The outer tub in my 150 Blackstone is a painted wonder that hasn't a speck of rust or corrosion anywhere, even after all these years (1950) but Roger had to replace the outer tub in his 350 as his was in terrible condition. Some were better than others at keeping water from standing in the tub after the cycle was finished, GE always has a small amount of water standing around the drain port, especially if the machine isn't level.