Door Seals

[bingwsguy]

It seems that all Front Loaders have a door seal that is the "bellow" style with the intruding glass door/window...ASKO is the only one that uses a flat rubber seal with a flat glass door/window. The ASKO design seems so much less complicated and simple to repair if need be...so why does no one else use that design? Is it because of the "independant" tub from cabinet design or is there more to it?

 

[launderess]

No, not all front loaders use the large rubber door seal. Even some commercial front loaders use the gasket around glass door window you describe, or other methods to do away with the seal around all together.

L.

 

[bingwsguy]

Come to think of it the WASCOMAT machines at the laundromat do have that flat seal......so why do so many use that "big" seal?

 

[launderess]

Sure others who know better will give input, but must say IMHO the gasket around the door as opposed to glass gives a better and longer water tight seal. Some of the SQ front loaders at our local laundromat have begun leaking from their doors, despite the units only being a few years old.

L,

 

[mixfinder]

Door Seals

You be like Maytag Neptune Front Loader and use so little water you don't need a door seal.
Kelly

 

[tomturbomatic]

The reason for a movable bellows-type seal is to allow the door to be part of the cabinet while allowing the suspended mechanism to move on springs, dampers and shock absorbing struts to isolate vibration. Large commercial machines where the door seals right to the cylinder are like the first Bendix where the door sealed right to the cylinder; neither have suspension systems and must be bolted down to operate. They actually have two seals on the door, one that seals against the lip of the revolving drum to prevent items from escaping and then a more flexible water tight gasket that seals the door against the outer tub. Non-suspended washers usually cannot spin as fast so in a commercial laundry, the laundry gets put through an extractor before drying or ironing. Your ASKO has the inner door to seal against the suspended mechanism and the outer door that is part of the fixed outer cabinet, sort of like the first Westinghouse Laundromats in the 1940s here.

 

[neptunebob]

I remember when Consumer Reports tested an Asko washer, with its unique door seal, how there was a gap between the (stationary) outer cabinet and the (moving and vibrating) inner drum (where the door closed) that there was a gap that could pinch fingers, especially if the washer was spinning. The outer cabinet also had an outer door, but perhaps other manufacturers are afraid of lawsuits from people pinching their fingers in this gap.