Interesting US washing machine

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

.
They have been on here. And from what i've read, the early ones at least, had reliability issues.

One of dozens of threads wherein Staber is the topic, or is mentioned, is linked below:
(See search function on this site, enter keyword "Staber")

www.automaticwasher.org

Staber

Does anyone have a Staber brand of washer? What do you think? I'm deciding between it and some much less expensive washer (eg Whirlpool Duet Sport or the Kenmore equivalent)
www.automaticwasher.org www.automaticwasher.org
 
considering it's a horizontal-axis top loader I'm surprised more people haven't been talking about it since they aren't all that common around here
 
I once seriously considered purchasing a Staber machine.

However, they have a very serious design flaw. To save costs, they just bend the inner tub into an octagonal shape instead of using baffles.

The theory is that the squareish sides of the tub will act as an agitator and in theory it kind of works.

The problem is that when the washer goes into spin, the clothes want to bunch up in the corners of the tub, causing the tub to easily go out of balance. The machine can't ramp up spin speeds as a result because it never balances and the clothes come out wet.

I think once they get their heads out of their posteriors and realize that the octagonal tub design simply doesn't work and that they should go back to using a round tub design with conventional baffles, they would probably sell considerably more product.

Part of me hopes that maybe Alliance will acquire them so they can finally design and built an H-Axis top loader that doesn't suck and they can tie their products into an existing service network.

Also, on a side note, I considered as well buying one of their drying closets, only because my wife dries a lot of clothes on a clothes rack. Unfortunately, I believe that they're quite overpriced for what they are, but I guess they've got the market cornered.
 
These were on an episode

of "How it's Made" a long time ago. I remember scheduling it to record because in the description it had "washing machines" so I just had to record it. When I watched it, I was like WTH??? It is American, but I had never heard of it until that episode. So I started looking online and found Staber and reviews were very mixed - one extreme or the other.
 
Staber Washers

Have been made here in Ohio for more than 20 years, my friend Bob Salem and I sat down with the brothers at their factory almost 15 years ago and discussed this machine and had a tour of the factory as well.

 

Yes there have been some design and reliability issues, however Bob and my brother Jeff have been using these washers for almost twenty years now. The washing action with five sided drum is excellent [ the drum was not built this way to save cost and in fact that all heavy SS drum is about the most costly part of this washer to build ] and there is no balancing or hi-spinning problem at all with this design, overall this washer performs very well.

 

My only real complaint that I have is the washer tub should be about 50% deeper front to back as it is only about 2 1/2 cubic feet in capacity, they could easily fit a bigger outer tub and drum in the cabinet but the retooling cost would be high [ I suggested this to them in our meeting 15 years ago ]

 

My only other real gripe with them is they failed to set up service companies for their machines saying that their machines were so simple to fix that customers would fix their own machines, this was their biggest down fall, most people that buy a expensive machine DO NOT want to fix it them selves. So when service problems occurred many customers became disenchanted and had to give up on these cool washers.  

[ We [ Alco Appliance ] offered to run service calls for them in the DC Area over 20 years ago and they said that it would be completely unnecessary to have a service company. ]

 

My Brother Jeff will have his Staber on display and running at the Wash-In event on Friday evening.

 

John L.
 
The small drum in relation to the large outer cabinet was the first thing I noticed many years ago. The inner drum should be replaced by a circular one with baffles, the one they use is less efficient than a circular one because there is too much space between the inner and the outer drum. A spin right after the was would be an improvement, just like a higher spinspeed.

I also think their products are overpriced, but I guess they can't make them any cheaper because they don't sell too many of them.

There is more information about them on the Gardenweb (Houzz).
 
This is Jeff Lefevers Staber.

 

 

I got to play with it during the Oct 2010 wash-in.   I thought it was odd there were no "baffles" or paddles in the tub, but it didn't seem to effect the wash action.  PLUS <span style="font-size: 12pt;">baffles </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">would make the already small capacity, even smaller.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I agree with Tom, I didn't like how it would only drain then refill (no spin) after the main wash (like Maytag Neptunes).   Also the spin speed didn't seem to be very high (maybe 650 rpm?).   I also didn't like you HAD to use liquid detergent (I prefer powder).</span>

 

I just looked at their website.   It shows capacity is 2 cu ft (or 16 to 18 lbs of clothes?!?!?!)  Wow that is quite a claim!

 

revvinkevin-2016081810270300843_1.jpg
 
You can put powder on top of the clothes before you close the drum. Many people do that overhere with H-axis toploaders. With a machine with baffles (European H-axis toploaders have them) you can also turn the drum so one of the baffles is on top and put the detergent in the hole of one of the baffles. I used to do that with my Philips.
 
Think reason we don't see anyone rushing to introduce top loading H-Axis washers is simply related to capacity.

Americans in general have pushed for larger "front loaders" than the standard 5kg capacity found in Europe. You may be able to get an H-axis top loader up to 6kg or 7kg, but something to equal the capacity of a SQ or any of the larger front loaders could be a challenge.

From the group archives: http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?14085

Have had a soft spot for top loading H-axis washers ever since using one in Paris, France many years ago. They seem the most logical choice for small living quarters, which IIRC is one reason why they sell or sold very well in that country.
 
5kg capacity

Lets say, we upgraded as a continent since then. Even though we have verry exagerated claims of capacity (up to 13kg in a standard EU&#92compact US form factor), we do have washers with 70l/2.5cuft drums, thus a realistic load capacity of 7-8kg over the common 50l 10-15 years ago.

However, I don't quite see why a H-axis machine would be limited in capacity. Taking of the top of a usual FL reveals there is mostly only 1-2 inches between the top lid and the outer drum. Just move the opening like on the EU TL H-axis machines, use a simmilar rubber seal as these designs and basicly keep everything else. Then buy the Fisher&Paykel TL dryer patents, redesign it so it hits the safety standards again, and boom, you've most likely got a significant market share.

And then, do it like GE with their RightHeight FLs and make them higher, and use the additional space for a heatpump drying unit. And boom again, highly efficent, well usable washer-dryer combo that could dry reasonably well on a 120V supply.
 

Similar threads

D
Colorado Washing Machine Museum
Replies
2
Views
24
DADoES
DADoES
launderess
The Great Washing Machine Scam
2 3
Replies
44
Views
45
kalanikaau1
kalanikaau1
M
Repairing more washing machines
Replies
4
Views
146
johnb300m
johnb300m
M
Whirlpool H.E. washing machines
Replies
2
Views
14
combo52
combo52
jamiel
interesting Canadian ad 1963
Replies
17
Views
18
ragnboneman
R

Latest posts

Back
Top