I got a Speed Queen Imperial!

[volvoguy87]

I took up Lorainfurniture's offer regarding new Speed Queens, sort of. I bought a washer from him, but not one off of his showroom floor. I bought the very last Imperial available from his distributor. This is. The fancy TOL model with the stainless steel cabinet which was discontinued a few years ago. The new SQ front loaders are better in most every way, but I really like the easy-to-use control knobs on the older generaltion. What follows is the us-boxing of my Imperial once I got it home to Cincinnati.

Please bear in mind that I had just finished a Tweed Bicycle Ride on my 1952 Raleigh 3-Speed prior to un-boxing the Imperial!

 

[brucelucenta]

If it works as good as it looks, you got a great machine!!!

 

[rp2813]

I'm a Staunch Knob and Dial Loyalist!

Excellent score!  I'm impressed -- the red inserts come standard!

 

[mrb627]

Blue pedestal

Looks amazing. I went with black...

Malcolm

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Nice. The new ones can also be ordered in Stainless but seem to cost quit a bit.

 

[volvoguy87]

It's pretty great.

This one has some growing pains.

The blue pedestal was not my first choice for color, but it was the only option left. The base is made of some seriously heavy gauge steel. The pedestal is heavy, strong, and I think you could park a car on it.

This washer is very finicky with regard to being level and balancing on spin. I put it in place, leveled it, tightened the lock nuts on the feet, and the first few loads were great. The third load went wildly out of valence and the washer danced halfway across the room by the time I got downstairs to tend to it. I moved it to a different spot, re-leveled it, and all was well for a few more loads, and then it went for another dance. The more full I pack it, the better it balences, but the worse it washes.

This washer's performance could be significantly improved with a little more water! As is, it doesn't quite wash out all of the starch (I use seriously heavy starch). It uses so little water that the hot wash is tepid at best because the cold drums absorb so much heat. I may insulate the outer tub.

The build quality is fantastic, the controls are simple and easy to use, the cycle time is short, and with a little tweaking, it may prove to be amazing.

Dave

 

[sbond22]

That's a beautiful thing.

But I'm still torn between photos 15 and 16.

 

[mrb627]

Hot Wash

Load your laundry. Start on hot fill. Once filling stops, set to off, then spin. Pump the water out. Go back to your wash cycle and repeat. In the winter time, I would do this twice before adding detergent and letting her roll. Not only does it get the hot wash you want, but it pre flushes loose soils down the drain.

Malcolm

 

[brucelucenta]

It's a shame Speed Queen doesn't boost the heat for the water and increase the capacity the machine will take. If they did, they would have it ALL.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations!

I hope you are happy with it. There are instructions posted here somewhere on how to raise the water level.

 

[lorainfurniture]

It was awesome meeting you, and that cool guy electric dolly that you have.

Those anti vibrating pads will help keep your unit from walking. Really any thin piece of rubber would be ok.

I really like the looks of that machine. I wish they could have improved on that platform and make a dryer that would stack on it.

 

[streakers]

VERY

Nice Machine!

I'm down in Cincy quite a bit with work! Would love to see this beauty in the metal if you ever want to show it off! Would love to get a pair of these to match my Speed Queen toploaders (which I still haven't connected) as I think these would be the perfect laundry pair.

I'm wondering if the woes you're experiencing Dave could be fairly easily resolved by placing the machine on a heavy duty rubber mat from somewhere like rural king or tractor supply co to help keep it in place - avoid the dancing across the basement floor and achieve the 'perfect' level. Then, with the water level, I also wonder if these have the same water level switch/sensor as the top loaders? If so, a very simple adjustment will help you achieve the results you're hoping for...

Again, congrats on a beautiful machine!

Cheers
Steve.