GE Hydrowave with Infusor

[pulsator]

Any idea what's going on with these machines? My sales person at a local appliance store said that no one anywhere near us has one and they aren't available for order anymore... Has GE yanked them already for some reason? Also, any idea if it's possible to GET one of those infusor things? I wanna see how it does in my current Hydrowave machine!

 

[mayguy]

Huh? We have them at Home Depot. A co-worker sold a set yesterday.

I'll check this afternoon when I go into work and see if something changed since yesterday.

 

[whirlcool]

What is the concept behind this machine? What does the "infuser" do exactly?

 

[pulsator]

It's pretty much a Whirlpool Cabrio/Kenmore Oasis/Maytag Bravos clone.

 

[thomasortega]

What is the concept behind this machine? What does the &quot

Concept: A machine that doesn't spend too much water, doesn't spend energy, doesn't spend too much detergent and also doesn't clean.

What does the infuser do?: It tries to warn the consumer before he/she buy the machine. (subliminal Biohazard sign)
If the consumer buys the machine, it will try (unsuccessfully) to clean the load, making an inverted rollover (if you wash a load of non colorfast greens it will look like one of those horror movie lakes with a monster under the water)

Also, the infusor has an excellent utility as "tangler". With this great machines you can transform your 100 counts cotton sheets into very resistant ropes. LOL

 

[lebron]

subliminal Biohazard sign

 

[mayguy]

I looked at our computer tonight,and shows they are on back order till first part of May.

 

[whirlcool]

In that photo of the machine, the infuser looks like its nearly at the top of the wash tub. Not much room for clothes. Does it descend into the washtub to actually do the washing? Or do you remove it and then place the clothing inside of it?

 

[DADoES]

Allen, it's an HE machine. The Infuser is a wash impeller, essentially the same as the Oasis/Cabrio/Bravos. It just looks taller in the picture. I saw one at Home Depot in Rosenberg this afternoon. There's an Auto selection on the water level control, or manual range of Small to Super. The instruction manual advises that Super fills to top of the Infuser, not to top of the basket as previous users of agitator machines may expect.

 

[gregm]

override that fill ?

Is there any way to get it to fill to the top ? There is a vid on you tube of it washing, it doesn't seem "that bad"

 

[mayguy]

Correct, you can change the settings for water level if you want to use more water than what the Auto setting would do.

 

[pulsator]

The Infusor is a lot taller than I expected, and apparently the instructions say to NOT put anything over the top if it... Kind of defeats the purpose of not having an agitator column there?

 

[gregm]

yea, but ?

I know there is a auto vs manual fill settings on the console but at its "fullest" setting the lid diagram shows that it only fills up halfway ?? I was wondering if you could get it to fill up MORE ? and yes "pulsator" I wondered the same thing, why claim with no agitator that you now have 4.1 cu feet of space that you sorta can't use ?? because your not suppose to cover the column ? what about throwing a queen size comforter in there ? can it handle it ?

 

[DADoES]

The instructions say not to place LARGE items (sheets, blankets, towels [I assume meaning those very large bath sheets and such ... unlikely a hand towel would be a problem]) over the Infusor™

It also advises that the highest Super water level fills to just above the top of the Infusor™.

The wash action apparently is a reverse rollover, similar to the Oasis/Cabrio/Bravos.

 

[pulsator]

Interesting, perhaps they thought that leaving the center column in to keep the load separated would reduce tangling unlike the Cabrio/Oasis/Bravos machines?

 

[gregm]

hmmm

seems like a lot of "wasted space" if you can't wash a comforter in there ......... I don't understand the point of such a big tub if you can't utilize it

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Maybe it could be a trick to get consumers to buy it, knowing that they would try to use it as a conventional washing machine.

 

[DADoES]

Appears there's some confusion happening on this machine. The instructions say to load large items around the perimeter of the basket, not in a bundle atop (the centerpost of) the Infusor™-agitator. There's no statement advising that comforters and such can't be washed at all.

 

[estesguy]

Forget this machine

,,IF,,you want a machine that has the Hydrowave system, and is a TOL, and STILL fills to the top, and has a deep 2nd rinse, with a conventional agitator, the ONLY machine that does this from GE is the NON-Energy Star model WPRE6100GWT. Go buy one while you still can, before its gone. Do NOT confuse this model with the either one of the WPRE6150 models that are Energy Star rated and will not fill to the top of the tub.

 

[pulsator]

I already have the non energy star version with the conventional agitator... It's ok, does a good job, but I want to make it a little more.... odd? While I do love a conventional agitator washer, it's the washers that are anything but conventional that interest me most! Thus, I want to try the Infusor in my non energy star Hydrowave! I'll be able to fill it to the "Super" setting for the HE machines, aka just over the post of the Infusor and have an "energy star" machine or I can try the Infusor as a conventional non energy star agitator, I wonder how it'd do?

 

[gregm]

to the top baby

I would love to see that machine filled to the top with clothes and see the vid of how it handles it !!!!

 

[davek]

Pulsator, I believe that your washer filled to the top with an infuser instead of its agitator would be like a Kenmore with worn agitator dogs. No matter how much stirring it did in the murky depths, it wouldn't move the stuff up top.
+

 

[pulsator]

Well, still, it'd be fun to see!! lol

 

[gregm]

i agree

make it happen, make it happen (grin)

 

[pulsator]

I'm trying, I just need to find a place that has the Infusor! Repairclinic.com doesn't even recognize the model number for the Infusor Hydrowave machines... I'm going to try an appliance repair shop on monday... We'll see!!!

 

[davek]

Ok, here's the link. It's over $120.

http://www.partselect.com/PartDetail.aspx?Inventory=961143&SourceCode=5&ModelNum=WPGT9150

 

[pulsator]

Nope, that's not it, that's the pulsator disc for the Harmony washer.

 

[frigilux]

While its always exciting to see new technology in washer designs, none of these wash plate/infusor-style HE toploaders tempt me at all.

I cringe at the thought of how a wash plate/infusor would, for instance, tug at shirt-buttons as it tries to roll-over a big load in so little water. It seems there would be a lot more friction compared to a properly loaded traditional agitator-based TL'er or a tumbling front-loader.

Wouldn't loads of sheets or other items prone to balling-up would cause unbalanced load scenarios more frequently in these washers compared to traditional top- or front-loaders?

These machines certainly receive very high scores from Consumer Reports, but every time I see a YouTube vid of one in action, I shudder a bit. Maybe I need to see one live-in-action.

 

[norfolksouthern]

I spoke to a friend regarding to these machines, and he said to ignore Consumer Reports. In fact, he warned me to steer very clear from the ones that get top ratings! Do you feel lucky?

NorfolkSouthern

 

[whirlcool]

We stopped by Home Depot today and lo and behold we encountered the same nice HD lady that sold us our kitchen appliances. She even remembered our names!
I asked her if she had any of those GE infuser machines and she said they do. They were on the front end cap at the entrance to the appliance sales area. I told her it reminded me of the Calypso, and she agreed. She said a few customers have also told her that the design on the infuser looks like the biological hazard logo as well! She said she has not been pushing these machines as several of the ones that have been sold have been returned. She also pointed to the warning in the lid not to put clothing in top of the infuser. She said a lot of people don't like that idea.

In perusing the appliances I noticed many more LG appliances than any other brand they sell. GE was second and Maytag was third. It seems Lowes has HD beat in the selection of major appliances these days.

She also has a returned LG Washer/Dryer in one unit machine that is now priced at $1249.00. She said the people said it cleaned and dried properly, but it takes almost 4 hours for a load to be completed! So they returned it. Could be a deal for someone looking for one of these machines.