Well I pulled the trigger
Went to two places, one wanted over $800 which I thought was absurd, the one place closer had a "sale" for $679.00. Free delivery, take the old one, and I got them to throw in a new cord, not that the old one was bad but might as well go new all the way right?
I picked out the ADE4BR.
This place services what they sell (they also handle Maytag).
I had the sales guy show me the rollers and the heater assembly. The heater assembly was 4 (maybe 5) coils mounted on a galvanized metal piece that looked to be pretty sturdy (and made in US). I forgot the KW rating, I would assume comparable to other makes and in line with what a standard 220v circuit can safely carry.
The blower fan is plastic (aren't they all these days) but it was a nice kind of plastic. Very weighty and the fins were stiff and unbendable. It also stated on back something about 20% talc added. Not entirely sure what this means. The only talc I have known comes in powder and is used to keep a baby bottom dry. Or prevent diaper rash.
The rollers were large kinda hard rubber with pins held in place with a circlip. Again, they looked pretty beefy. This dealer stocks all commonly replaced parts on SQ dryers. He said if there is any weakness, it is the timer module.
The cylinder has a felt(I guess) seal front and back. Has a drum light also. It will be standard rear discharge like the GE, no adapter kit needed for this install. Tipping it forward required a bit of muscle. In fact, it took us both to move it out so I could look at the business end of things. Yes, we all but took it apart but I wanted to know as much as possible before I parted with my hard earned money.
To be fair, or as fair as I can be, yes I looked at some other brands.
GE lost even though I was partial to GE due to the good service I got from mine. It lost because it was soooooooooo effing light, I could tip it easily with one hand and no effort. That made me wonder, how much was taken out in terms of metal and replaced with thinner metal or plastic? Then of course was the paltry 1 year warranty.
Maytag lost because well, it too seemed rather light on its feet. In addition, the drum was smaller but not by much vis a vis the SQ. The models I looked at had cheap feeling knobs and the drum itself responded with a light ping when tapped with my knuckles.
LG lost because I am biased towards buying American whenever possible and when it makes sense in terms of product quality and features.
Same thing for Samsung.
Frigidaire (sorry frigilux) lost because it looked and felt like a barely assembled grab bag of nuts and bolts. The door opening was small and the door itself felt like if you slammed it one time too many, it would collapse. And it was made, not assembled, in Mexico. Big time deal breaker here!
So all in all, I hope I made the best choice. A dryer is a basic device, just blow warmed air over and through clothes, shut off when dry. Not too complicated here.
At no time did I venture to Sears, Lowes, or HD. I already knew what I would find.
The only twerk is even on the TOL dryer, SQ stopped supplying a dryer rack. Bollocks! I emailed them so we'll see what happens on this. After all they sent me a hat, laptop bag, and cup so maybe they'll send me a rack. Not going to pay $30 for some bent/welded wire. Hell, I can probably fashion one from some steel rod.
And no, I doubt I will put vids on youtube.
