Fisher & Paykel... What's the word?

[bradlyl]

I've FINALLY waded through all the info to make (I think) the decision to get the F&P IWL12 top loader. Can anyone give me feedback on this machine? I read one report(I know, it's only one...)that said it put holes in her clothes, & someone said it's impossible to get a hot wash, does anyone know about these problems, or any others...? It's not too late for me to change my mind for the Oasis non-agitator model...
Thanks you so much for any info!!!

 

[DADoES]

Greetings.

I've owned an IWL12 for about 1.5 years, since sometime in summer of 2004. I had a GWL08 for 5 years prior to that. Nothing wrong with the GWL08, it went to my grandmother.

IWL12 is a great machine for an agitator toploader, very flexible for cycles and options. I've never had any clothing damage (with either GWL08 or IWL12). Well, I take that back. I had an incident this past Sunday. Washed a deep-pocket mattress pad, and got the stretchy/gauzy pocket part caught on one of the upper agitator fins when I was unloading it, poked a little hole. My fault entirely.

A hot wash CAN be had on IWL12, easily, by selecting the Traditional Wash option and hot water temperature -- or hot/warm or warm or warm/cold or controlled-cold or tap-cold. What you heard about a hot wash not being possible relates more to GWL11 than to IWL12 ... but it's also wrong in regards to GWL11, but IWL12 makes hot wash easier).

The non-agitator Oasis may be a better choice if you often have need to wash very large, bulky items such as sleeping bags, king- or overstuffed queen-size comforters, and the like.

Any other specific questions, please ask.

 

[appnut]

A hot wash can be obtained by selecting the allergy life cycle too.

 

[Bearpeter]

.... I would lOVE one of those!!!

What I would do for a F&P!!! (certainly can't be explained on here anyways!!!)
Peter

 

[bradlyl]

Thanks for the info, I'm feeling a little more confident now!

 

[knitwits1975]

What's your opinions on the top loading dryers?

 

[DADoES]

I'm liking my DEGX1 quite a lot. It's coming up on two years old in a few more months, haven't had any trouble. Not as quiet as some dryers I've run across, but certainly isn't objectionable. It has some unusual operational sounds (drum locking and unlocking, tumble reversing every 4.5 mins) but one gets accustomed to them and it becomes part of normal household background noise. There are only three selections for timed drying - 20 mins, 40 mins, or 80 mins - but I rarely use timed drying and the auto-sensor works well. My one "complaint" is that the end-of-cycle signal isn't loud enough. The signal always beeps when a load reaches the "Damp" dryness level (so items intended for ironing can be removed and rest of the load restarted), and it's easy to miss the signal if not paying attention for it.

Interesting thing I discovered on the washer a few days ago. I was wondering what happens if there's a power failure during spin, if the lid immediately unlocks and there's a brief period of potential injury while the basket coasts down from 1010 RPM. So I set it to spin and pulled the plug. The control panel and lid lock *stayed powered* while the motor coasted down. Perhaps the motor acts as a generator while it's still turning? A moment before the end, the display said "Power Cut: Restarting in 8 seconds" then it went blank. I reconnected the power, the display again said "Power Cut: Restarting in 8 seconds" which it did and continued where the cycle was interrupted.

 

[knitwits1975]

Thanks for the input Glenn. We are in the process off getting my elderly grandmother a mobile home and she needs a washer and dryer. She cannot squat anymore and has a hard time bending over, but she wants to be as independent as she can be. I can't help thinking that the Fisher & Paykel washer and top load dryer would be a good set for her.

 

[appnut]

Jason, it would be a perfect selection. The dryer is kinda deep when you're getting that last item at the bottom, so you might wanna have her look at it in person with y'all.

 

[DADoES]

Grabber-tongs might help for reaching a stray sock or washcloth. Reaching down with tongs may be easier for her than bending over or squatting down to get into a frontload dryer.

 

[bradlyl]

DaDoes, We got our IWL12, but it may be going back. It does towels fine (I'm thinking because they're heavier?), but when we do sheets, jeans, t-shirts, etc. the water level (when left on "intuitive") doesn't seem to be enough to agitate the clothes. The same clothes stay in the same positions(no roll), w/the top 1/3 of the clothing out of the water being beat to death by the agitator. I've been able to set a higher water level for individual loads, but I thought the point of paying $800+ for the machine was that it did the thinking for you to save the water/energy... Any ideas/advice?

 

[DADoES]

There does need to be enough water to wash effectively, but don't expect the rollover to always be as pronounced as it is on other top-loaders. Sometimes it's kinda slow and lethargic, with the action being more of a sloshing back and forth than a rollover -- kind of like a vintage Norge.

Give the machine a few loads to adjust itself to your laundry habits. It may come up a bit low on the water level on some loads and then a little too high on others, and will tend to learn and average out the difference over time. The very first load I did in my IWL12 was a set of queen-size sheets (flat, fitted, three pillow cases). It chose the medium-low water level, which was enough but just marginally so. After that first time, it almost always selected medium water level for the same load.

Loading patterns can have an effect. It's not the recommended method, but try wrapping flat and fitted sheets partially around the agitator instead of dropping them in a bunch. A flat sheet around one side, fitted sheet around the other side, with pillow cases filling between. That may put more drag on the agitator and trigger it to use a bit more water. Same for jeans.

Try increasing the water level sensitivity. Press and HOLD either the Options Up or Options Down button until it beeps a second time. Then use Up and Down to scroll through the menu to find the water level adjustment. Water level sensitivity is set at mid-position by default. It can be raised or lowered five steps up or five steps down. Adjust as desired, then press Home to save the change. Or press Adjust repeatedly until the selection is the position *before* the one you want, then press and HOLD Adjust one more time to select and save the choice you do want.

You can also use the Creasables option to get more water. The machine will go through the water level and fabric sensing routines, then add more water to one level higher for more float-space to help minimize wrinkles. A side-effect is that agitation typically comes up gentler since there's less drag on the fins during sensing with more water, so you might increase the soil level to compensate.

I've found with my IWL12 that it sometimes used a bit too much water for jeans and towels, so I dropped the sensitivity by one position a couple months ago. I always use Creasables for shirts/casuals which goes up the additional level. I may change the sensitivity back to default. Last time I did a load of jeans (7 pairs) it used medium water level, which was a bit tight. Reaching down into the load while it ran, it wasn't as cramped as it looked, there was rollover and the load certainly came clean, but the agitation was pretty aggressive.

 

[Burpalator]

I have noticed that the F&P machines are offered in top and front-loading for the dryer (gas or electric) and then there are two washer models offered with an approximate $200 difference in the price tag. What are the major differences in the washers? If it's basically all a matter of more sophisticated electronics, I think I'd rather go with the cheaper one. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm still leary of all this totally electronic gadetry.

Thanks for any input!

 

[jasonl]

F&P's frontload dryer is a rebadged GE. Steer clear

 

[pontifexmaximus]

Why steer clear of the front loader dryer? I've read nothing bad so far about it online...in fact, all positive. I'm speaking of the DE08.

 

[DADoES]

I ran another load of jeans last night, 5 pairs. Three pairs on the bottom, basically folded in half and arranged evenly around the basket. The remaining two pairs on top, not folded, each 'wrapped' half-way around the agitator. I did not reset the water level sensitivity to the default mid-position. It settled on medium-high water level ... so either it "learned" from the previous load of jeans or the loading pattern was different-enough to generate more 'drag' on the fins during sensing.

Burpalator, the two washer models GWL11 and IWL12 are mechanically identical. The difference comes entirely from changes to the control panel and programming on the controller board. I don't think the more expensive model is inherently less reliable. There are no moving parts on an electronic controller board, and *both* machines are completely electronically controlled. IWL12 has much more flexible cycle selections and options, and automatic fabric sensing whereby it determines the average fabric mix of the load and automatically sets the agitation speed from a wide range of choices. For a typical load one simply presses Power, adjusts the Soil Level if desired, and then Start. No need to select Regular or Delicate cycle, the machine figures that out. Selecting a lower (or higher) soil level will result in both a shorter (or longer) wash period and a gentler (or more intense) agitation action for a given load.

IWL12 also offers
- a menu of pre-programmed LifeCycles to deal with specific laundry situations (stains, shoes, comforters and other bulky items, beachwear/sand, sweaty clothes, etc.) that provide temperature combinations and combinations of wash actions (prewash, soaking, multiple rinses) that aren't possible on GWL11
- differences in the default rinse selection and a couple more rinse options
- fine-tuning of water temperature, and (possibly) higher allowed temperatures
- an LCD panel with a cute smiley-face, text messages and cycle progress icons
- direct access to a full-fill hot wash, which GWL11 "hides"
- a very gentle Handwash option (which may be gentler than Delicate on the GWL11, I'm not sure)
- more choices for delay-start times (no big deal)

The frontload dryer is built in Canada by Camco, which is basically GE-Canada. The topload dryer is native-F&P. I have an older DE04 frontload dryer (1999) that my grandmother is currently using, never any trouble with it and performance is very good ... although I can't necessarily say the same about the current '08.

 

[Burpalator]

Thanks for the info, dadoes. So in the less expensive model, if I wanted to do a big load of white towels, am I not able to select a long "normal" cycle and maximum water level with hot wash and cold rinse?

Does either washer model have a heater?

 

[appnut]

Mark, the only way you can get a full hot wash fill on the GWL11 is to select the creaseables cycle (Perm Press), select hot water wash, make sure the final spin speed is set for high, and then save the combination to the Favorite button. The GWL11 other wise will only partially fill with selected hot or warm waetr; go through the ecoactive phase of the cycle, then finish filling with cool/cold waer.

On the IWL12, you can opt. for a complete standard wash (which is full-tub fill at selected temp. Also, the Allergies LifeCycle does a partial fill on hot; does the ecoactive phase, then finishes filing with medium/hot (120) water. Glenn, correct if I've said anything amiss.

 

[DADoES]

Bob, you are correct, sir!

GWL11 does the EcoActive process in all cycles except Perm Press, which goes direct to a full-fill deep wash at the selected temp .... except that Perm Press is normally limited to maximum temp of Warm (does not allow Warm/Hot or Hot). GWL11 has a hidden setting which works by programming Perm Press on the Favorites button ... and magically allows selecting Hot when done that way. This cycle is outlined in the User Guide and is intended for cleaning the machine of detergent/softener "scrud" but clothes certainly can be washed with it. The drawback is that you then can't use Favorite for anything else while the hot wash is programmed on it .... unless you don't mind reprogramming (which really isn't that big a deal).

No water heater on either model.

My older GWL08 limits hot to 120°F via ATC. I've not been able to find out for sure if GWL11 has that limit, I suspect it does. IWL12 does not, allows full tap-hot (or may be limited to 140°F, I can't test beyond that as my tankless water heater maxes-out at 140°F).

These are the programmed default temps for IWL12, the temps it "wants" to hit:
Cold = tap cold
Cold+ = 68°F
Warm/Cold = 95°F
Warm = 115°F
Warm/Hot = 125°F
Hot = tap hot

An interesting feature of IWL12 is an option that allows a global adjustment of the target temps by -/+ 6°F. Thus, for example, Warm/Cold could be 89°F, 90°F, 91°F, 92°F, 93°F, 94°F, 95°F, 96°F, 97°F, 98°F, 99°F, 100°F, or 101°F.