Clothing Spinners & Spin Rinse Results

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whirlcool

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I created a new thread for this subject as the Spinner Commercial thread was getting rather long and we are now discussing the results rather than the purchase of spinners anyway.

We have some 300TC Egyptian Cotton sheets on the bed and we spin rinsed those and we had to spin rinse those four times until we got perfectly clear water, and once again the rinse water in the washing machine was pretty clear to begin with. We dried the sheets on "Knits/Gentle" and the results were very bright white sheets and they are softer than they ever have been! No fabric softner used!
I really like this little spinner. I hope it lasts a long time. Toggleswitch, thanks for being the trendsetter! (:->!
Designgeek, thanks a lot for letting me know the best technique for spin rinsing. I probably would have burned out the spinner by now otherwise!
 
Another Find About Spin Rinsing

I did a load of shirts and pants (colors) today and most of these clothes were sent through the spin/rinse last week and have been worn since.
I used Borax and Fab with some Vernel as a softner. When I did the first spin to clear out the clothes the water had a teeny tiny bit of suds on top of the clear water. When I added more water to do the spin rinse (I found that it works best if you add water and let it sit still for about 5 minutes to soak in good) the water came out perfectly clear! No more suds.
So I would have to guess that the first time I did the spin rinse(3 to 4 times for each load) I washed out the detergent residue build up and there has been no additional build up. So I imagine after we get all of our clothing spin rinsed we will only have to spin once to get the excess water removed.
I talked to a freind of mine in Germany and asked her about this "Wäescheschleuder" (Clothes Slinger). She said that they u sed to be more popular before the FL type machines appeared with the high speed spin. You will also find them in homes that don't have a dryer and they hang their clothes out to dry. She recommeded that I return it and buy a Miele Washer! The way she reacted was the same as if I told her I just bought a wringer washing machine!
Would I return it? Never, I am now hooked on spinning! The benefits are too great!
 
I had an interesting experience this week.. I think it was an encounter with the dreaded Suds Lock.

Used what I thought was the normal amount of detergent, and it seemed there was a lot of foam on top of the load in the wash tub. Finished the usual was cycle, drained the wash tub, moved load to the spinner. Noticed that water wasn't coming out the discharge hose... but... Uh Oh!, was backing up into the wash tub, suds included.

First thought: Darn!, is the pump still working? After the spinner stopped I heard the pump was still running. So then I thought, Darn!, I must have broke a valve or something! So I fiddled with the knobs a bit and pretty quickly the suds in the washtub got slurped out and discharged into the sink with a merry splash. I was sufficiently relieved at this that I forgot exactly what knobs I turned and in what combination, but whatever it was, it worked.

It took about twice as long (spin/rinse cycles and soak/rinse time) to get all the suds out of that load, altogether.

So this is what makes me think I got a case of Suds Lock. Caused by some kind of accidental excess detergent, or perhaps old detergent stuck in those clothes, or something. Does that sound about right, or could it have been something else?

(I have a batch to wash tonight, including flannel sheets; we'll see if this trouble recurs, though I somehow doubt it...)
 
Just a warning

whirlcool:

I have the exact same spin dryer as you and Toggleswitch have. Mine is maybe 1 month old, well just today the entire tub blew out! All I had were 4 towels in it, and well balanced. All of a sudden during the high speed there was a vcry loud crash sound, I turned around and actually saw the machine itself spin around and it ripped the plug right out of the wall. Smashed the metal pan I had behind it to catch the water.

To me it looks like something at the bottom holding the tub snapped. The tub is now pressed against the cabinet, I cant even budge it.

When I think about it now,its actually kind of funny. To see this thing spin around the way it did, looked like something from and *I Love Lucy* episode.

Just be careful around it. If me or anyone else or one my dogs were near it when it happened, they would have been hurt.

Bobby
 
WOW! I kinda suspected....

that something like this was a possibility with this spin dryer.

Was it a contained or uncontained failure (meaning, did parts explode and fly out of the cabinet or did the cabinet and lid contain all the broken parts?) You can tell that there is a hell of a lot of torque being developed inside this unit.

Before I left on this trip, I was spinning 4 heavy linen table cloths and the machines humming noise during the spin was almost deafening. It was well balanced but much louder than normal. My dogs usually are in the kitchen area while I am in there spinning items. I moved them out of there for that spin, just in case.

Are you going to return it as a warranty item and ask for a replacement? As both you and Toggle know that while these spinners seem to be well put together the weight of the parts seem to be just a step above Barbie Doll set quality.

In the meantime, I am going to call DW and tell her not to use this until I get back home. Then I think I am going to relocate this item to our nearby guest bathroom where I can activate it and then leave the room and close the door.... just in case.

I wonder if this was a fatigue failure like that 737 over Hawaii where the roof blew out......

Toggle: Your impressions?
 
Boschowner:

I imagine that while it did it's out of control spin (where it pulled the plug out of the wall) the top flipped open a few times and slammed back down. It probably looked more like the cartoon of the Tasmanian Devil than anything off of I Love Lucy....with a sound to match!
When the unit failed, was the sound a "crashing" kind of sound or a "cracking" kind of sound? Or maybe even a "grinding" kind of sound?
 
Mike: I use Seventh Generation, which has a mild orange scent. I think you're probably right about me fiddling with the valve while the unit was in operation, I may have switched it over just after the cycle started (d'oh!). In any case the problem didn't recur and everything seems to be in order.

Boschowner:

My guess is that the bearing siezed between the spinner and the outer tub. Bearing failures are rare on modern machinery and appliances. Guess #2 is that the brake (the one that is applied when you open the lid) failed in such a manner that it jammed in the works, with the same result as a bearing failure, i.e. the spinner siezed up suddenly. That could be a design issue, and it could occur if the brake is under tension such that opening the lid releases it into place via spring tension or something of that kind. In that case, failure of the lid linkage could cause the brake to apply suddenly, and a materials weakness could cause it to break loose and jam in the works.

Mike, I don't think this was caused by the plastic chassis. And in any case, machines made of metal castings and/or fabricated assemblies have a similar potential risk factor, if my guess about bearings or brake assembly is correct.

The reason the machine spun around on the floor would have been that all the inertia from the loaded spinner was suddenly transferred to the entire unit. Yes, that's a replace-under-warranty; call the place you bought it, they will almost certainly apologise and offer to send you a new one for cost of shipping.

Good to have us all on warning about that problem. I wonder if anyone else has ever had it happen or heard of it, whether on a stand-alone spinner or on a twintub spinner? This is the first instance I've ever heard of. On a twinnie there's less chance of the whole unit spinning around on the floor since the spintub is at one end of a rectangular cabinet that's got about another 50 to 100 lbs. of weight distributed throughout.

And also this serves as a good warning about never sticking one's hands in there while the power is on. Yes it can take your hand off, but so can a large fan. All machines have inherent hazards; even hand-tools have hazards; that's the flipside of the benefit they provide.

BTW, don't come down hard on the folks who sell these; they would have no way of knowing there's a problem until it gets reported by customers, and they almost certainly have an interest in staying in biz by getting good word-of-mouth. If we hear of another instance, we should report that as well; one case could be an anomaly, but two cases would point to a series defect that the sales organization should know about so they can take appropriate action.

Last but not least: Frigidaire, eh? Way cool. Did they sell those in the US as well as in the UK?
 
Wow! I have never seen a Fridgidaire spinner before! Thanks for posting that photo.
The basket on the spinners we have is plastic. I would not be surprised to find plastic parts throughout this machine. On the other hand, I would venture that Miele and Fridgidaire spinners have SS baskets and metal main parts.
 
Whirlcool / Allen:

I'm not getting the impression that mine has "longevity" as its middle name, either. Barbie-doll quality? You are WAY TOO KIND.

I do tend to leave it running unattended while I excuse mself to the next room "just in case"

If it lives to 2007, in light of the above news, I will consider it a miracle.
 
So I'm not the only one...

who "goes into hiding" when these Pakistani spinners are running!
I'm interested as to what failed in this failed spinner to determine if the outside cabinet is strong enough to contain any debris should a catastrophic failure of the drum occur.
Only time will tell, I guess. The website indicates that the product is in stock and available.
 
well i had that falt with my hoover spinner and when i was sitting on it and it was fun i think i will just go and do it again
 
Any updates on what the diagnosis was for the problem?

(Personally I am such a wimp about leaving anything on while unattended, even a fan in the attic hatch! The fridge is the only real exception here, aside from the comms infrastructure.)
 
Good Idea!

We haven't discussed the spinners in awhile. Is everyone still happy with theirs? Toggle, your's still running?

We use ours weekly, everything gets spun before drying. Clothes look a lot better and drying time is much faster than before without it.

However, the spinner seems to be getting noisier. I think it is a resonance problem. The outside panels start vibrating and make quite a racket. I put the spinner on a rubber backed carpet runner and it quieted the unit down considerably. I also have it located in the restroom so in case it does fail, nobody will get hurt.
Just about all of our clothes have been spun at least once, so when we spin them now we very rarely see any suds in the spinner rinse water. I think we finally got rid of the detergent build up that was on our clothing.
Now if it only will last....
 

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