Help! Speed Queen TC5003WN questions.

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If it was done out of code, leave it as is. If anything it will reduce the probability of water or suds spilling out.

 

 

Can you take videos and upload them? A vid of the cycle on both normal and delicate would let members here verify the machine is draining ok.
 
Have no plans to change it. The hose goes into the standpipe 6 inches. No way 9" was tall enough.

I don't have anything to record a video that long with.
 
TC-5 is the only thing that comes close to a vintage washer. Its the only modern top load washer that can actually wash, rinse and spin well without all the nonsense like lid-locks. 

 

 

Having the pump run in reverse during wash pulls settled detergent back into the washtub. Thats a big advantage Separate pump washers do not do this and even Whirlpool belt drives drained for a second at the start of agitation then closed off the housing with a flapper. No thank you. Real washers have the pump attached to the main drive motor and run in wash as well as drain and spin. 
 
My Maytag was a real washer. It's pump was driven by a belt.

No idea what "having the pump run in reverse during wash pulls settled detergent back into the washtub" means.
 
Someone can explain it better than I can, but detergent poured in the bottom of the wash basket, in particular liquid detergent, can migrate to the lowest point of the washer during the fill - that being the tub-to-pump hose and the pump itself. When the drive motor in the Maytag starts in wash, the pump impellar rotates in the opposite direction from when the machine is in drain, forcing migrated water and detergent back into the machine's outter tub and into the wash water. Nothing is wasted. All washers should have a mechanism to put sump water back into the tub.     
 
Jerome, most vintage top-loaders are the most meticulously, well thought out and brilliantly engineered consumer machines in existence. Everything had a purpose, even what appeared silly or shortsighted on the surface was done for a myriad of pertinent reasons. Most everything was done well beyond basic utility.
 
Delivered.

Delivered abour 4 hours ago. It works, and drains just fine. The tub was a bit dusty/grey, I assume from polishing the tub. So I wiped it out with a rag, and ran an empty load on Eco w/deep fill (19 gallons). I chose hot, and the water was hot. I thought Eco only did cold? Then ran a plain rinse and spin.

Did a load of towels after that, on Bulky - hot, which is supposed to be a 16 gallon fill. Didn't use deep fill, as I did a normal size load for the old machine, and the water was above the towels just on the normal fill. It is larger than the old Maytag, more than I thought. The towels seemed much dryer after a spin than the old one too. So it's working well. Cut drying time by 10 minutes or so.

I wasn't too thrilled with the installer. They didn't level it, said it was self leveling (the back legs are), It was almost a 1/4" low on one side. Fixed that after he left. And when he installed the extension, he only put it on about 1/4 of an inch. The 1/2" wide clamp wasn't even holding anything, as it was mostly on the smaller section at the tip. I mentioned this, and he put a little water in, spun it out, and said "see, it's fine", no leaks". After he left I pulled the hose out of the standpipe, and the end fell off with a very light tug! Wonder how many loads that would have lasted? They just seemed to be rushing too much.

Only needed one piece of that extension kit, and a clamp. Managed to get the hose on the larger part about an inch, with 5 minutes of effort. It ain't coming off now, even without the clamp. The kit instructions don't mention a clamp, and it doesn't include any, so prbably not needed when installed properly. Good thing the service manager gave me the extension. He saw the standpipe, and told me they had nothing on the truck to extend it, and would have to come back. I pointed at the box, and all was fine. He had a couple more washers on the truck, said he had a delivery just up the road - good luck with no extension.

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I also added a couple pieces of rubber I cut off from the unused extension kit hose, to keep that flimsy corrugated hose from rubbing on the cement wall where it touches. At the end off the spin, it starts to wiggle every few seconds, with a slight wooshing sound. Moves about 1/4" to 1/2" back and forth. I think it's pumping out air at that point. Figured it might wear through after a few years.

Later I'll do a load of clothes, not sure which cycle yet. Trying different cycles to see how long each takes. Bulky took about 42 minutes (no deep fill). Is cool better than cold for temp?

Going to wait a few hours since I already did two loads.

I also have to figure out how much soap to use. I used what we used to use on the empty Eco cycle, and had lots of suds. But hardly any on the load with the towels.
 
Good to know, I knew the SQ was 710, had no idea on the Maytag. The Maytag seemed to ramp up as fast, or faster, so I think it was still working fine. Where do you find all this info? I couldn't even find it here.

It is kitten approved, she will be 1 year old in a few weeks. She was checking the noise levels, and vibration. She has to check out EVERTHING. It was actually agitating at the time.

This thing is solid, no movement at all, other than the hose wiggling/breathing on spin. Even that was greatly reduced after I added the rubber pieces. I can't believe some call it loud. Seems very quiet to me. The motor hums when spinning, but that's all I could hear upstairs, and had to mute the TV to hear it. The old machine I could tell when each cycle started and ended. There is no door on the basement.

Ran a load of darks on cool, seemed luke warm to me. But turned out great. Made a little larger load this time, and used a bit more detergent. Turned out great, rinsed well. I may even try a load on Eco eventually. But all caught up on laundry now.

And absolutely no sudsing. So it can pump 76" easily.

Does this machine sense when the water is out, or is it a timed spin? Seemed it spun longer than it needed to, I couldn't hear anymore water draining for at least a few minutes of the spin. My guess is it's timed.
 
overthinking the drain hose

I don't think so. Plastic corrugated hoses are cheap, and they are more prone to crack eventually. Seems an odd choice for a $1479 washer that is supposed to last 25 years. It also connects internally and is routed through the machine. If it gets a pinhole leak in it, you have to open up the machine, to replace and re-route the hose. It's really the only thing I don't like about the washer, but like you said, they ALL use them now.

At least with some other brands, they connect externally on the back of the washer, so you can replace it easily, and it won't leak on anything electrical inside the machine. It would probably cost SQ less than $2 more to use rubber and terminate externally.

I also don't like the way they require a plastic brace to insert into the standpipe. This one measures a hair over 1.75", so once it's in the 2" standpipe it blocks most of the opening, leaving no room for the softener and condensate drain lines I have to put in mine. So even if the hose were long enough, I would have still had to modify the end like I did for it all to fit.

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Congratulations!

I think like many of us here you will discover that Speed Queen will exceed expectations, even that of your old Maytag. Please keep in mind there are few washers ever built that rival the TC, and absolutely no washer built today (except for maybe a commercial hard mount) that comes even close to your Speed Queen. You have the creme de le creme, the ne plus ultra, the best modern washer money can buy. Don't look back, it will only get better.

 

Spin is timed, and it is purposely set to take worse case loads into account which is good. Maytag had one flaw that resulted in decades of sales loss: their cycle times were to short. Wash, rinse and certainly spin were often to short for the oscillation per minute, turn over and RPM. Speed Queen does not have these limitations. Ample wash time is offered if needed. Rinses are thorough, and the final spin is long enough to realistically remove water from all loads. You're clothing will be cleaner now.

 

The auto fills on Speed Queen are IMO the most accurate of any washer. Most others are hit or miss, or always result in water below the clothing. Not Speed Queen, you can load and set with confidence.

 

I'll let smarter and more experienced members handle the drain hose, but in my humble and weak opinion I think with the proper clamps it will be ok as is.
 
Speed Queen in AU has had those plastic hoses since they landed here in the 80s. I’ve never seen one split. Whirlpool from 1990 till 2013 had the plastic hose with a rubber gooseneck, again it never broke. The two did whirlpools we’ve had wore out in 15 years and the hose was still fine.

Your missing the big advantage over the old rubber on the Maytag, these are impossible to kink and you’d have to really be trying to crush it.
 
New Speed Queen TC five top load washer

Congratulations William. I’m glad this is working out for you.

You do tend to overthink things about. I told you long time ago that the pump would work fine at that height. We’ve sold more than 1000 of these machines over the past 15 years in fact, I sold another yesterday

This washer isn’t every single way better than the Maytag it replaced except the Maytag had a porcelain finish on the top and lid. That’s the only thing I miss from the Maytag this machine in every way is better build quality and going to be more reliable than what you just replaced. It also works a little bit better

Started using corrugated drain hoses about 1970 whirlpool experimented with them in the early 70s and went to them completely by the early 80s.

There are very few problems with the corrugated drain hose and they save the manufacturers a ton of warranty calls because the rubber hoses could kink easily That came with washers the corrugated hoses resulting in costly warranty calls and performance problems. It’s also better to use a one piece hose less connectors less chances of leaks. That was a very common repair on Maytags when that plastic connector at the check valve at the back would break when the machine was moved, Maytag went to corrugated Drain hose on the lighter version of your machine machine and I never saw any problems with them. It was a lot better than what they had before.

As I said, we’ve sold a lot of these machines and it’s a good machine for somebody that wants a no nonsense machine and doesn’t wanna learn anything new, however, we are starting to get a lot of these Speed Queen back now when the older people that we sold them to sell their homes and younger people are buying the homes and they’re just horrified by how poorly these old top loaders perform. We just did one a month ago. We took the Speed Queen washer back and sold them a new Speed Queen front load washer Because, this young couple in their 30s had had a front load pair in their previous house and they couldn’t believe that nothing was getting clean and how long it took to dry clothing when it isn’t spun at 1200 RPMs.

And even though I’ve sold over 1000 of these machines, my own laundry room which has nine washing machines will never have a new Speed Queen top load washer in it it does have two Speed Queen front loaders and two other brands of front load washers.

The electrical water and hot water efficiency of a new top loader is just superior to any top loader especially these Oldschool ones and the final results are much better as well. It’s not like I’m giving up anything, I can stuff the largest comforters in these front load washers and have them done perfectly wash pillows all day, long, etc. nothing loads of 10 pairs of blue jeans, etc.

I’m sure you will enjoy your new Speed Queen. It should last a very long time with a few problems.

John
 

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