Frigidaire FFTW1001PW - Repair vs. a New TL?

[niclonnic]

Our Frigidaire top-loader is having issues again.

About a month or two ago, I noticed that the washer was leaking a tiny amount of water onto the upstairs laundry room floor, mostly beneath the machine. When that happened, I thought nothing of it, considering that my dad had screwed the drain pump, which had somehow become loose, back onto the machine and replaced the drain hose. The washer had been working trouble-free for about 4 years, up until now.

The other day, I washed a load of towels, and the washer leaked out a small puddle of water in front, right on the floor. So I suctioned up the excess water with our Dreame mop vacuum, and slid a towel underneath to soak up what was left.

What's weird is that prior to washing the towels, I did a couple loads of my bedding, and the washer didn't leak very much. It wasn't until I did the towels that the machine started leaking a lot more. And this was just a normal load of towels.

So today, my dad pulled out the washer and promptly found out what the issue was. The drain pump had gotten loose again! And, to make matters worse, the plastic bracket on the pump broke, so now it is forever loose and leaking a lot more water than usual, thanks to a stripped screw hole.

He looked into buying a new drain pump online, but it costs around $250, which is just outrageous.

So, for a roughly 8-year-old machine, is it worth it to buy a new pump at that price? Or, if we were to replace the washer, what new top-loader should we buy? Here are some details on if we were to keep the existing Frigidaire:

- Washing performance is not the best; clothes just get swatted around on top with no rollover whatsoever
- Tends to leave white, linty residue on darks after a cycle
- Rough on clothes; leaves some flyaway strings on laundry
- LONG cycle times (about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a Normal cycle)

On the other hand, here are the details if we were to buy a new washer:
- It MUST be a TL with an agitator
- Front-loaders are out of the question; my stepmom does not like them
- What machine gets the clothes cleanest with the least amount of wear and tear?
- Does there exist a model with good rollover?

I'm looking forward to your advice. Fortunately, my sister has a Frigidaire laundry center in her mother-in-law suite downstairs, so in the meantime, my dad, stepmom and I can do our laundry in that machine until we can get this issue resolved. This'll save us from having to go to the laundromat.

Here is a pic of the puddle that gets leaked out. This leaking occurs all the time, no matter which part of the cycle the machine is in.

 

[combo52]

Eight-year-old Frigidaire top load washer

There are a number of drain pumps available for this machine used on eBay for well less than $100. If you wanna consider fixing it, I don't think it's really worth over $200. It's a miserable machine as your laundry results show. Even as a repair person we almost never see these Frigidaire top load washers, except in their top load stack combination and they do not hold up well.

We love our mother-in-law's and the best way you could love her would be to explain why a front load washer is superior to any top load washer built today if she cares about her clothing especially.

The best top load washer you can buy for durability and gentleness on your clothing is a Speed Queen TR series machine. It does not have great turnover, but the amount of water it uses allows it to wash clothing pretty well.

You could go to a Speed Queen TC machine, but it's likely to be a little harder on clothing and leave some lint residue.

John

 

[panasonicvac]

I agree with John. We used to have top loaders, good ones. But ever since we switched to using front loaders, we've never looked back. In fact, I was able to recently a few weeks ago talk my uncle out of getting a top loader and stick with front loaders for the cabin my grandfather owns and we just got a brand new Speed Queen front loader that is supposedly like one of the best washers on the planet today. That being said, if I had to get a brand new top loader today, my only option would be Speed Queen. I like the TR7 but my preference would be the TC5. If the TC5 is too aggressive, luckily there is a delicate option that isn't as aggressive. I'm not impressed with the other brands and models that are on the market currently but honestly, top loaders are a thing in the past nowadays in my opinion.

 

[niclonnic]

In the end...

My dad has come to a conclusion: we are replacing the Frigidaire with a brand new machine. Today he ordered a...

FRONT-LOADER.

You heard that right! After extensive research, my dad found out why FLs are so popular: their tumbling wash action provides superior cleaning results, all while being a lot more gentle on clothes. He ordered a GE Smart FL from Home Depot; it has a 5.0 cu.ft. capacity, which sounds HUGE. This washer has a slew of features, including steam, built-in Wi-Fi, an "UltraFresh Vent System" and Microban technology. Hopefully, this is a good, reliable and quiet machine!

Not only that, but we are getting the matching dryer as well. It has a steam feature, which can get wrinkles out of clothes without the need for a full wash. He ordered them both for $150 off, as part of a Black Friday deal.

It's a good thing we're not going down the repair route, considering just how "miserable" the Frigidaire is. Even then, there are a couple more issues I forgot to mention: "hot" water temps get dumbed down to "lukewarm," and the machine is just plain noisy. The ineffective agitator makes a characteristic "whomp" during operation, which gets rather annoying after a while.

Although there's absolutely nothing wrong with the matching Frigidaire dryer, lint gets built up UNDERNEATH the lint filter. So if this one inevitably dies, the new dryer will be more future-proof.

The washer will be here on Friday. Once both appliances arrive, I'll make a separate post about them, since this thread's topic no longer applies. It has been 5 years since I last used a FL (my old house had an LG WM2650HWA, which was a workhorse), so this'll be very exciting.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-5-0-...and-Microban-Technology-GFW655SSVWW/326536621

 

[panasonicvac]

Congrats

I'd be curious to see how much water the new machine uses. That's one of the reasons why I got a Speed Queen because the water level is pretty good.

 

[kalanikaau1]

In the end...

The point is moot now that you've purchased a front load machine, however the clear choice for a top loader is the Speed Queen TC5.

Many people will balk at it's high price, until they've bought (and pushed to the curb) potentially 5 other brand machines in the time the SQ will last...

 

[niclonnic]

panasonicvac

Yes, I'm also curious about the water usage of the new GE. My old LG used a very minimal amount of water during a Cotton/Normal cycle; the rinse water level was lower than that of the main wash level, which led to insufficient rinsing of our clothes, not to mention PODS that wouldn't fully dissolve. For these very reasons, I hope that the GE is able to use more water for better washing and rinsing.

 

[panasonicvac]

My LG uses quite a bit of water, it appears that they use the most out of all the other front loaders on the market today. And if it's not enough, there is a way to adjust them to get more water. One of the other reasons why I didn't get an LG and got a SQ instead is because there was no local service tech that could work on one if we ever needed a repair done.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

my vote

My vote goes to Speed Queen Classic.