Cycle design on VMW (Amana mid-level)

[jamiel]

Trying to figure out the cycle parameters of this 4 year old VMW. Has the detented dial with bulky, HD, regular, delicate and casuals. 5 temperatures; and water level switch with deep wash/spray rinse, deep wash/2 rinse, sensor wash/spray rinse, sensor wash/2 rinse. I use a DD in Michigan (softened abundant water; very cold cold water) and am trying to figure out this here in Palm Springs (hard water, water scarcity, quite hot water as the washer is next to the WH; warmish cold water.

I double rinse everything in Michigan (we barely hit our minimum usage monthly so no huge reason not to, plus with the cold water it seems a good thing).

Can someone explain the different cycles? It seems bulky is deep wash/no sensing at all of water level/normal wash length (sheets/towels) heavy duty is deep or sensed wash depending on selector/long wash length, normal is ditto but with normal wash length. Casuals seems to be continuously sensed wash/short wash length...I seem to use this with synthetics. Are there other differences I'm not picking up on? And what's the "clean washer with Affresh"...helloo--it's a TL!

Also dosing--I seem to need about 50% more detergent in Palm Springs to get a hint of suds...any insights?

 

[henene4]

If the differentiator is spray rinse / 2 rinses, that should mean only spray rinse vs spray rinse and deep rinse.

Bulky should alway run a deep rinse and deep wash.

The rest should always follow the setting on the dial.

Wash action - so agitation itself - is probably slightly different on each cycle.
Casuals is more delicate. Bulky is somewhat more gentle aswell.

Normal and heavy duty have different temperature targets since those are regulation cycles.

Deep wash runs basically max water level all the time.

Sensing does sense, but tends to lower water levels in general.

 

[ea56]

Your machine is pretty much the same as my sister ship Roper. You can select deep fill on any cycle. I primarily use the Normal/Heavy cycle for most all loads with Auto Sensing. I almost always wash completely full loads and it fills with enough water to clean excellently and does a deep fill rinse. I never use the extra rinse and never have any detergent residue left on the finished loads. We have very hard water so I use the max amount of detergent with no over sudsing. Since I wash most loads with hot water I only run a clean cycle maybe twice a year. No odor of mold or dirt, just smells like detergent and fabric softener.

People here dis these machines all the time. But i doubt that any of these nay sayers have ever used one. My only complaint is that if I could change anything about it I’d like it to spin faster than 700 rpm. Other than that out of the 23 different washers I’ve owned since 1972 this is one of the best. My favorite was the ‘87 White-Westinghouse FL that I bought new and used for 7 trouble free years. And Consumer Reports always gave this machine low scores, I thought it was great. I’d buy another of these machines in a heartbeat if this one became irreparable.

For the price these machines can’t be beat. I’ve been using this Roper now since June of 2019 with not one single problem. It does just what it’s supposed to every single time I use it with no drama. A real workhorse.

Now I’ll sit back and watch the flack fly.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 2/18/2023-16:06]

 

[jamiel]

yep, that's the exact layout and cycle options. I think it will do fine, there have just been some surprising results (what I presumed was a small load getting a full-fill so being under-sudsed; particularly of concern with the hard water. I'll just have to let it "do its thing" and not worry about the second rinse.

 

[ea56]

Jamie you can get a second rinse if you really feel its necessary, just select either Auto Sensing with Extra Rinse or Deep Water with extra rinse. Personally I find the Auto Sensing works very well, even with loads full to the top. You can order a fabric softener dispenser on eBay or use a Downey Ball if you like to use LFS.

Its really surprising how large a load these machines can accommodate and wash well. I have an extra lid lock that once in a while I’ll put in the lid lock slot so I can leave the lid up and watch the action. With a Deep Fill the turn over is equal to any old school TL, very impressive.

I seldom use the Deep Fill option because of the drought. The Auto Sense option will cover the compressed load with about an inch or two of water just above the surface. Not as conservative as an FL, but not as wasteful as the Deep Fill, and the laundry comes out nice and clean and well rinsed too using the Normal/Heavy. This cycle takes about 70 mins using hot water, which is tap hot, or as hot as your water heater is set. Its the cycle that I use for just about every load.

Eddie