Is Whirlpool making COMMERCIAL belt drive washers?

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New Commerica Whirlpool Belt Drive Washers

Manufacturers can justifiability use the term Commercial Quality on the control panels of residential machines if they are using basically the same machines in commercial applications.

 

Whirlpool is going to STOP building DD washers and they SHOULD, the design is now over 30 YEARS OLD and while it is probably one of the best TL washers designs ever it just does not spin fast enough, uses too many raw materials to build and the newer design is much easier to repair and will likely be MORE RELIABLE in the normal life of a washer 12-30 years.
 
The spin speed hasn't been much improved. It went up from 640rpm to 700rpm. That's even slower than the TOL Amana's did and the SQ's do nowadays. GE sold machines with 800rpm years ago and the GE Harmony spins at 1010rpm. I don't think Whirlpool changed the world with the slightly more rpm's.
 
Lets face it...

These machines do not turn the clothes over the way they should so clothes end up coming out fairly dingy, they do not rinse the way they should which makes your skin itch with leftover detergent and lastly the spin speed is not very fast. I have done loads of laundry in a belt drive washer and it still took almost an hour to dry in the matching dryer while Washing in my norgetag takes the same amount of drying time for only 620 max rpm spinning and the rinsing is far better than spray rinses. I know most of you don't like norgetags but i would assume they work similar to a direct drive, doing full rinses and all. I know we can't avoid spray rinses because energy standards are forcing the manufacturers to do so but Whirlpool did not do a very good job creating a washer that could rinse out the clothes well with spray rinsing partly due to the fill flume if you ask me. And don't even get me started on the fill times because last time i did a load in a belt drive washer it took almost 20 minutes to fill so if its taking that long to fill imagine the lack of water that gets dispersed through the clothes with spray rinsing!!!??? If my friends Kenmore belt drive clunks and smells of burning after 2 years of not even average use what does that tell you about how they would handle 25 loads a day at a laundromat!!! the motors in these will be burnt up so fast in a laundromat that it would make your head spin. @combo52 im sorry if what we are saying about these washers is offensive to you but in all truth they can't currently handle 2 years of home use so they are not meant for laundromats. Guess laundromat owners will just have to sit around and wait until Whirlpool ''works out all the bugs'' while there laundromat has only 5 working machines after less than a year of owning them, at least that's how i see it turning out. If i ever see one in a laundromat i will be leaving and finding somewhere that has Maytag's, Speed Queens or direct drive Whirlpools.
 
from my experience

I see far too many of these machines (VMW) considering the short time that they have been sold. Some problems are a simple fix. For example I have seen many that will not start the cycle because a small article of clothing is stuck between the basket and the tub. As was said earlier the motor is sensitive enough that even the smallest item (i.e. baby sock) will stop everything. Also the mode shifter (switches between spin and agitate) are also very weak. Not a major repair but unacceptable to the degree that it occurs. It's the cheapest built looking part imaginable. But the worst is a board failure. Not nearly as common as the other two problems but just too expensive. The customers response is almost always the same. And this I believe is the most telling part of the story. The customer usually decides that it is not worth putting a ~$200 part in a $400 - $500 washer that they never really liked anyway. So I have seen a few go to the trash already. Ed
 
also

I have to ask why it is thought that Whirlpool should stop making the direct drive because the design is now over 30 years old. And as much as considering the raw materials used in building a product should we not also consider the impact of building 2, 3, or even 4 or more products just to equal the same time of using ONE well built product ? This argument applies to all new appliances. As I have said here before, you will never convince me that I am helping the environment by buying a new energy star refrigerator that has an 8 to 10 year avg life when the manufacturing, warehousing, merchandising, delivery, removal and disposal cycle is repeated so frequently.
 
just one more though

I am not absolutely deeming the new VMW machines a total failure. Any new design can have a few unforeseen weak spots that can be changed to build a much better machine. BUT, Whirlpool will need to make performance changes as well. I only fix the things so I don't pretend to be an expert on what people look for in an appliance. But my job does put me in a position to have a lot of conversations with customers about their appliances. My overall experience is that customers do not like lock down lids and cycles that waste time. Even if it isn't true customers equate cycle time with energy use and people are busy and want to do laundry fast. I can honestly say I almost never have a customer tell me that they bought a particular machine to save water.
 
Were onto another topic now but...

I get what your saying. Why do they call modern day appliances energy efficient and all that when they don't last more than a few years? they're certainly not helping the landfills much! sure they use less water and power but after a few years you have to get a new one and put the other one out to the curb, so wouldn't it be worth it if washers still used around 630 kwh a year and filled up the full way on both wash and rinse cycles if it meant longer life? then people would be able to buy a washer that costs around $500 and have it last at least 10-15 years. I think that is much more cost efficient in the long run.
 
agipeller

wonders if this washer works liek the regular agitator models with 90 ans 180 degree arcs or 360 arch wash action i would buy a agipella and test in my wtw4850 o see if it works there as that wash is auto water level as well
 
sad thing is that here were i live i have not seen ANY direct drive washers being sold and i think the motor is going out on ours (lets hope not).i dont wanna replace it with soemthing grabagy like this, theses are to weak, sensitive, and defnelty delicte to handle. seems like one unbalenced load got destroy the whole washer.
which reminds me:
 
VMW failure

honestly i have a wtw8450 that the auto load sensing one
the sensing works 80% of the time any small load will wash @ extra small since the washer does not detect it well unless one or 2 heavy items are in the tub ...
as for that i agree with NorgeCheff clothes do come out digy 2 times if it does not get a long wash cycle or if the water level is to low for roll over .... ....
a low water level and agitator will not wash clothes an maybe the agipeller design will be better for this washer and will make the close move in bloom action so @ least there is roll over.

the fact that there are no real live images of the agipeller design makes me wonder
the whirlpool digital library only have control panel and washer images for the new models hmmmmmn

as for spin speed 700 rpm does not do much and since the tubs in those machines are porcelain coated i think 700 is the max i can spin without causing it to crack or sum-thing .... the price os stainless steel is cheap i mean whirlpool cant just make all their drums stainless steel these washers should have stainless steel baskets and 900 rpm spins with the wash plate variant having spin speeds of 1000rpm
also whirlpool need to change their agitator designs the one on the cabrio was kinda nice and futuristic and it looks like that agitator was suited to auto load sensing washers like what i have
 

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