GE top loaders, why so much hate?

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My sis had one from around 95 or so.  It started leaking oil and was slipping badly when trying to spin.  I bought her a very nice orbital Maytag and she gave me her GE to tinker with.  Found a new trans on ebay and swapped it out.  Sold it for a profit.  On a side note...when I took the basket out, I was shocked at all the Serratia marcescens that was on the outside of the tub in the molded plastic reinforcements.  I doubt she ever used hot water, let alone any Clorox in that washer.  I scrubbed it best I could and when I reassembled it I poured a whole bottle of Pine-sol in it, filled it with hot water and let it go to town.
 
See Reply #1

Ge has not built or sold a durable laundry appliance since around 1995, they have sold a number of machines that perform pretty well, you can always tell how serious a laundry builder is by how well their commercial versions of their washers and dryers are received.

 

Take it from two company's that are in the service business working on laundry appliances GE is NOT a durable brand, and it is NOT and easy brand to do repairs on either.

 

Yes there are lots of people that have had a fairly good experience with GE laundry appliances, just as there were always stories of people that actually had good service out of WCI , Westinghouse and even Norge machines in the past, but it does not make them a good bet and they are not something a reputable company such as Eugene's or ours that we would ever promote and sell.

 

John L.
 
GE's shameful laundryproducts and service

Gee, I never thought how shameful GE's laundry products were, until I read consumer reviews. The hydrowaves were the worst! Until GE returns back to the filter-flo, I will not buy one. Their washers were so violent during agitation that you swore it would cave in on itself dumping laundry detergent and fabric softener water EVERYWHERE! Shame on you GE!
 
I have used a number of Hydrowaves....seriously a decent machine, if I had to live with a GE as my only machine, this would be one of them....had my doubts until I operated one....

very gentle wash action....slow full length strokes...

yes, they didn't not fill to the top, a simple set screw adjustment fixed that...

when it comes to fixing/repairs....now that is another question......

definitely not a fan of their regular machines and appliances.....you find them mostly in new homes as a contractor grade setup....and you will find them by the curb within the first year....not even worth picking up for scrap value
 
I did find out the price of parts vs. say Whirlpool, the clip that holds the drain hose in place was broken, so I ordered a new one... $6.25.. On eBay. Cheapest I found for a small plastic clip. SIX DOLLARS AND TWENTY-FIVE CENTS! Anyway, it should be ready to go as soon as that gets here. I'm really surprised about GE having a poor reliablity record, we have a GE refrigerator from 1999 and it's been in constant use since new, never had a repair whatsoever. All that's been done is the coils vacuumed occasionally.
 
My hate for GE... wishful thinking

My hate for GE washers started when I used the hydrowaves in my dorm. They were coin operated and did a shower rinse. I had to start the stupid thing over again just to rinse the laundry detergent and fabric softener out. I wanted the fabric softener to be mixed in! Same was for the dryer. I had a full load of darks in the dryer. It didn't dry even on high heat/cottons! I wish GE would bring the filter-flos back! I know... wishful thinking. They should've left the filter-flo pairs alone!
 
Serratia marcescens

And you think hot water and bleach would fix that? LOL!!!!!!! (Sorry, not trying to be rude or anything) You are talking to a person who abuses hot water, 150 at the time on the electric water heater. My GE TL was absolutely putrid when I pulled the basket out. There was even some mold toward the top. It was so bad I considered ordering a new basket but did not want to go through the social BDSM of their customer service. But OMG- it was appalling. Up until that point in time I never saw anything like it. The tub is almost scientifically engineered to trap moisture and line. The machines by the dumpsters were not better- actually worse. What first aroused my suspicion was when I would on occasion find grey slime wads on my clothes at the end of the cycle. I could not figure it out until I found what I was better not seeing.

As you might guess my hatred toward GE started with a 97 GE top-loader that I was forced to use for several years.

The dryer was another bummer. It was quiet, but on PP it would shut off prematurely even when set to max needing to repeat the cycle 3 times on average (yahh 3), and on Regular it would just bake the clothes. I remember looking at the tech sheet and apparently there are a half dozen cycling thermostats and some complex heater lead/lag concept. For the love of God, its an economy dryer. Just use one heater, one cycling state and one bias. Add more time on the PP. ITs not hard. (And there is already a biased thermostat in there mind you LOL.) I mean its what BOL Whirlpool Roper dryers did without issue. I swear GE is a mix of ego, to smart for their own good and a lack of common sense.

@dustin92: Their Fridges from the 90s/2000s weren't bad in terms of longevity. I saw very few by the dumpster. Ranges even less unless they were dated and being thrown out due to a unit reno. About the only issue was the bottom shelf braking to which GE came out with a reinforced one which held up well. In fact it was the older self defrost fridges from the early 80s that made up 98% of the refrigeration pile. Common failure mode was refrigerant leaking. Where I don't know, but the evaporator plate coil (it would make up the floor and surface of the freezer) would be absolutely gnarled up. Looked like people were maybe scrapping the frost off. Probably were. Those things took like 12 oz of R12 btw.

As for Ranges they are better than Whirlpool if you ask me in many key areas. I currently have a GE range and I am very pleased with it.
 
And Oh...

One thing that I want to share/vent on here since I know you guys will get what I am talking about... It was GE and code making panel members who work for GE which put GFCI protection for Dishwashers into the code. The ROPs cited end of life failures and potential fire... So now the NEC basically mandates that we pay to correct poor engineering.
 
One more positive comment here. We bought our new GE toploader in Jan. 2004 (wife's choice.) It is not a hydrowave. It has been in full service since that time with no repairs whatsoever. It does feel and sound cheaply made but everything has always came out clean. I never expected it to last this long when we bought it! I picked up a matching dryer about 2 years ago and thought for sure that having a matching set again would mean certain death for the washer! Now that I've bragged on the service of this washer, it'll probably die tomorrow!
 
my part of the story

from my memory I know I have wash laundry in a ge filter flo and that was back on 1998 after the big ice storm was on vacation with my mom they forgot or suitcase so once we where check in the rental home had to do laundry and the washer dryer was a ge filterflo I wish I could go back in time tro when my mom and I move I would of suggested to my mom to buy the ge filterflo but can not go back in time lol
 

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