Getting the bug.. Again...

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CORRECT usage habits stop the requirement for "Washer Cleaners." 

From what I understand, the "Affresh Cycle" added to many machines came as a result of the lawsuit filed against FL manufacturers - again as some sort of "cure" for the stupidity that abounds with FL machines (Too much/too little detergent/softener, wrong temperature, leaving the door shut, never clearing the pump-trap).

 

That said, I do like to run a 'maintenance wash' on both our Dishwasher and Miele FL machines every so often - just for security sake. The washer gets to run on a 'boil wash' too, which will remove much of the crud that builds up around the outer tub - if anything does!
 
Also:

 

"Steam" and "Sanitise" are the American versions of what people have been whining about for several years now... Everyone complains about "Dumbed Down Temperatures," well, those cycles BRING BACK hot washing, and allow a "profile wash" as they heat up. 

Whilst ATC is stupid and shouldn't exist (Which is does on FL machines) - these options at least allow the user to run hot - very hot washes for loads that require it (i.e. Bedding,  Towels, Uber-stained loads of whites etc). 
 
I figured it'd be best to blow the dust off this thread instead of starting another one covering the same thing...

I posted a thread about Miele Little Giants... I didn't realize how little the little giants were. I am finding that the only thing piratical with that set is their foot print. My king quilt and shams barely fit in it, my king down alternative comfort will not fit in it... Those two items are what I was the most throughout the year because the cat lays on my bed.

Here we are 215 days from when I originally posted this and I haven't gotten closer to a choice. I should have ordered the maxima set that I wanted originally but I let a sales person's opinions get the better of me and decided to keep looking...

Yes, I know I have researched this to death but I don't want to regret what I buy. I've already been down that road and am miserable because of the set I bought thinking it'd be a good purchase. I hate doing laundry because I hate my set... I don't want to repeat this process when I get a new set.

I had a pair of neptunes lined up but that fell through, I've still got the speed queen pair sitting that my boss gave me but there are more problems with the washer than just the bearings... I don't have the time to invest in that project right now so that pair will sit in storage.. next to the hobart kitchenaid dishwashers I had to have...

I need something that is 'turnkey' and am just afraid of being disappointed... I read reviews and watch product videos for hours each night... I'm past the point of obsession...

I dig through this forum, I read why people like and don't like modern washers, I read the positive things about the machines then we get on to the negatives...

I realize the perfect machine doesn't exist.. If it did, it'd be a Miele Little Giant that would be the size of the Maxima 8000/8100.

Through this little journey I've learned a few things. People are still gun shy of Maytag (with good reason) because of what happened during their decline... LG Seems to make a good product but its not made to last... The most noted thing I've learned? Samsung is horrible at making appliances, that I should steer clear. I've learned that one first hand.

I dunno, maybe I buy into hype or something but I just know with all of the disappointment I've had this year, I don't want to have to deal with being disappointed in my appliances too... I want to come home and be able to start a load of wash... I don't want to have to finagle with this, compromise with that and plead with the Lord in heaven that my clothes will come out somewhat clean. I just want the things to work. Do what they are designed to do. I put a 125k mile warranty on my Lincoln MKX for that same reason. When I get in that car each morning, I expect that things will work when I press the start button. I understand I have regular maintenance and what not but other than that the thing should function the way it was designed to. Each and every morning.

Anyways, I guess I am just venting more than anything because the holidays always put me in a weird mindset... After being with my family all day Thursday, I went home and just wanted to do laundry... by the time I was able to coerce two loads out of the machine, I just wished I could have pushed it out of a window... I gave up and went to bed... I still don't have clean socks for the next week... (OH that brings me to something I've learned... This stupid machine likes to eat ankle socks............) :/

I'm tired of wasting money I bust my ass to earn... Planned obsolescence be damned!

With all of that being said...

Thoughts on the Maxima 8100 set vs something like the Kenmore 41072 or the LG WM8000HVA? Sears has a hell of a deal on the 41072 pair.

I hate the way my samsung set tumbles, I hate that I don't have hot water unless I manually pipe it in and I shouldn't have to rip the thing open and adjust things to get the unit to use water... Will any of those three solve my hate list about my samsung?

Why can't F&P make a front load machine for the American market so I can have a matching dryer that reverse-tumbles? Or here's a novel concept, why can't they make a direct drive dryer with an independent heat module so the dryer tumbles both directions AND has enough airflow to work...

The problem with all of this is the fact that I've gotten too used to commercial equipment.... Our dexters at the laundromat have reverse tumble and have independent drums and blowers... The dexter washers you choose your temps, the thing fills 3/4 with water and away it goes... Simple and quick... Everything comes out clean in 22 minutes... The machines in back have a controller made that allows one to stop the drum and timer as well as advance the timer so if cycle modifications are needed they are easily done.

The only problem is they are a free flow drain that requires a trough and are hard mount... Otherwise one would be sitting in my laundry room.

Anyways thanks for reading through my ramblings.
 
Whilst they are particularly expensive and actually don't rate in our consumer magazine tests, I'd suggest that the only machines that will give you size, RTI and reliability in the US market are likely to be Speed Queen.
 
I also have NEVER used a washer cleaner in my Asko....hot water (140F) coming in plus a booster heater AND white clothes get Clorox ALL the time....add the fact that an Asko is all 100% stainless steel inside tub and outside tub, AND it does NOT have a bellows seal to trap dirt and detergent residue and I've never had any odor or mold issues either.
 
I have a set of SpeedQueens. I just have to put them back together..

I was looking through our product catalogs for the laundromat and came across the Wascomat Crossover.. I'm sifting through some of the posts on here and planetlaundry.. Maybe that could be a contender? I mean if I do 4 loads a week, 52 weeks a year,it would be 72 years for the rated usage...

I wonder what all would fail in that time? :-)
 
If it were that simple they would have been done already... They were stored in a barn, open... Mice have eaten through the boots and wiring...

So a bit more in-depth than just bearings I'm afraid.

Plus I'm not gaining much from the Miele units as far as capacity.
 
I didn't intend my reply to be a snap back.. I was excited when those units came to town... I just wasn't expecting the problems I found when I started taking things apart..

I was looking through the Wascomat Crossover installation and operating manuals and found that default cycle selection, wash and rinse water levels, number of pre-washes and number of rinses can be programmed..

It's a rather simple machine, you load your poopoo undies, select the temperature and press start...

I'm seeing this machine run from 1400-1800.. We're going to inquire and see if maybe I can't get something like this...

If I'm not mistaken, the 3.5 cu.ft. is bigger than what the SpeedQueens would have and is considerably larger than the Mieles..

From what I have seen the unit has a 10 year warranty... With 15,000+ cycles this is the kind of reliability I'm looking for... (The Warranty I'm trying to pin down to a direct answer.)

But the search gets dumb for the fact that I keep looking for a reverse tumble dryer... GE makes a few models that have the tangle assist, electrolux has one but its in the cool down mode only, wascomat makes dryers that reverse but I don't need 40# capacity.. I looked at the GE, then I see the RightHeight washer/dryer pairs and its like why not get that set and be done? But I don't see any reviews or opinions offered on that line... I mean I see a lot of speculation but not a lot of pairs out in houses.. laundry.reviewed has the lower-end rightheight unit, but nothing on the higher-end units.

The question first on my mind is what is the transportation trail of the units? Where does the Crossover come from? The RightHeight units are from Appliance Park, right? The Miele's are from Germany and SpeedQueens are from Wisconsin? LG and Samsung are Chinese made, no?

The next question is what can I buy to avoid planned obsolescence? The crossover seems to be the best contender for the price. How long would the GE's last? The Maytags? LG's? The speedqueens and Mieles will last a long time, thats a given, but look at the cost.

The third question is about water usage in both level and temps. The Crossover is adjustable for level, the manual says the hot valve is open on hot fill, so its not dumbed down by epa guidelines. Speedqueen is the same for temps, right? What about the rest? I mean the idea of using an internal heater doesn't bother me but why pay to heat the water that was already heated to begin with? The biggest thing is I want the clothes to get wet... I want flushed clothes not moist.

I think the crossover might be the best decision for me for the washer, but I think one of the GE dryers with steam and detangle would be the best choice... I just have to get over the fact that I wouldn't have a matched set. It really is too bad the crossover dryer doesn't have reverse tumble.

Anyways I have emails sent out to my suppliers.. We will see what the week brings.[this post was last edited: 11/30/2014-18:02]
 
I think part of the reason behind this current obsession or fixation is that I sell most makes and models of vacuums... I've learned that what review sites and manufacture advertising says generally is no where near the results the product will produce... Before I took that job I sold Xerox...

So in my mind, I see the product we have come in, I see the great quality of some products and the horrible quality of others.. I know what the products are supposed to be, but what they actually are are two different things...

You truly get what you pay for, but there is a point where paying too much isn't worth it, regardless of a persons income.
 
So Pissed I could Spit...

.... Trying to do laundry tonight... actually enjoying using my samsung washer, feeling satisfied that I'm getting wash times that match dryer times (40 minutes each).. Go to move second finished wash load into the dryer, the dryer is still going... WTH? Open dryer, everything is cold and moist... ....?!?!? Start dryer on manual high cycle, the vent tube never warms up... Ok, the dryer has ALWAYS worked... Did the last snow block the vent? Go out to furnace room and unhook dryer vent, its blowing frigid air....

We are an hour into an air fluff cycle because there is no heat... The towels are nearly dry, but am staying up longer than normal because my work shirts are in the wash....

I'm gonna go to the other side of the shared house in the AM to see if my breaker is tripped for the dryer (tenant is sleeping).. Though that wouldn't make sense unless only one leg tripped, but that really wouldn't make sense....

If the heating element went out, I'll have the unit serviced, after I have this pair removed. I'd rather sit with no units than have to look at them... They can sit in my storage unit till I can sell them. I've done less than 150 cycles on this pair in 3 years...

I'll start the shirts on a fluff cycle, the rest of the laundry can wait till the weekend when I'm working at the laundromat and can use the machines for free.
 
Not wanting to deal with the evil samsungs I decided to sneak over to moms while she was taking a nap!

It would have been too simple for the guy to sell me my pair when I found that used set. :/

I do think I'm going l change moms hoses. They are the same ones from when the set was new. Three houses and two states ago. [this post was last edited: 12/14/2014-15:42]

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Bought an element, followed the repair procedure... Still no heat.. I'm gonna grab a multimeter and see if the high limit switches are working or not.. :/ Oh well, this element is of better design and allows for more air flow (supposedly).

I did decide to go with the 4.3 LG combo for the replacement... The Miele's were too small and too expensive for what I'd need, The new design speed queens will be better suited for when I'm in a house, and I'll wait for them to be on the market for a while to work out bugs...

The maytags, I'm not too keen on the touch-sensitive buttons. I hate them in my lincoln, and I used a friend's 7000 pair for a weekend and didn't like them on that either.

The GE pair I can't really seem to find any opinions either way... I see the reviewed.com article, but no one I've talked to owns a pair of GE rightheights.

The thought with the LG combo is that I could put it out in the furnace room where my KDS-58 is, and I could take the KDS away so I'd get my walk-in closet back.

I've messaged a few people on youtube that own the larger LG combos and they have no problems with doing bedding in them for a full wash/dry cycle. The thoughts behind the combo are mainly I'd have space back again and could start a load in the AM on the way to work and have it finished dried when I come home from work. A decent bachelor type setup... If needed, I can purchase a matching dryer to stack on top... Plus this will let me play with LG for a bit.

They are going to haul my Samsung Pair to my storage shed as soon as the LG comes in.. I'm gonna have the dryer fixed so I can sell the pair.

The only thing with the LG that I can't seem to find an answer to... Where does the lint go?

Anyways, have a good night everyone.
 
I Gave in...

I couldnt put my new pair where I wanted to I figured I'd try this. In front of the washer on the left is the water main. The contractor wouldnt listen to me when they added the little laundry room on so I was stuck using a stacked pair catywompus in the corner.

Im hoping this will be an enjoyable pair, I'm thrilled I dont smash the doors into anything when I open them.

Doing some bench rags from work as my first load. Hot is freaking hot. Fills the entire time with hot but will kick cold in and out. Ill get a thermometer and check temps. [this post was last edited: 1/19/2015-18:16]

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Not sure what I'm thinking of it yet...

I do know I got a bit over zealous with my first bit of bedding.. I loaded two thin quilts, a bed skirt and two shams... ... Definitely won't do that again.

It seems to do small items, like lots of rags, socks, undies etc.. very well... Not sure on other things yet.. I kept fighting with a few things trying to understand how it works...

I love the dryer though... But maybe thats because it works.. :/

One of the neat things is how you can adjust any and everything in the middle of a cycle on the washer.

I'm scared of doing pillows... I may have to get that combo unit down the road anyways just to do the bedding...

It doesn't seem to be a machine that can do.. large amounts of things.. But I have to play with it more... I've only done 5 loads today.. :-D
 
"I loaded two thin quilts, a bed skirt and two shams... ... Definitely won't do that again."

What happened? Why are you worried about washing pillows? If you use two same sized pillows with the same filling it shouldn't be a problem.
 
When I over-loaded the bedding, nothing moved lol.

As far as the pillows, besides floating in a deep basket of water, I'm not sure if there will be much wash action and the machine will probably go off balance.

I'll try it though.
 
I thought this machine was designed to handle huge loads and bulky items like pillows, quilts etc.? They advertise fancy wash moves, which involves the tub as well. I'd do it for the sake of it.

I wash my pillows in my SQ top loader. It involves lengthy soaking and me pushing the pillows under water at various time, but in the end the machine does all the work and they come out fine.
 
I posted a video of what happens on the bulky cycle, and the various options under this thread:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?58032

I'm gonna do a thin quilt and a set of sheets tonight and see how it handles. I've found I can record with my old Droid X and it records in a way that I can upload.

After I get the bedding done, I'll throw some pillows in and see what happens. I'll post the results in that other thread.
 

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