I wonder if this wouldn't have happened had the indexing tub never been created...
Isn't this sad
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vintagesearch
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omg!
I saw this and wondered about this, thank god more and more washers now have a lid safety switch. I feel so bad for her.
I saw this and wondered about this, thank god more and more washers now have a lid safety switch. I feel so bad for her.
Frigilux
Does your machine stop agitating when the lid switch is activated? I know mine doesn't and it's a 99. Yours is an 06 right? This case apparently happened in 98 so I was just wondering if WCI/Electrolux actually ever implemented the change to the lid switch design.
Thanks
Liam
Does your machine stop agitating when the lid switch is activated? I know mine doesn't and it's a 99. Yours is an 06 right? This case apparently happened in 98 so I was just wondering if WCI/Electrolux actually ever implemented the change to the lid switch design.
Thanks
Liam
brettsomers
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and does her MOTHER take any responsiblity for failing to educated her *9 y/o CHILD* on the proper use of a washing machine?
laundryshark
Well-known member
Washers As Safe As They Can Make Them
Most commercial laundromat machines have the safety switch installed. Our coin operated units do, and the switch is active *at all times,* even when the machine is filling and agitating. Just goes to show, *whether or not user instruction manuals are clear and emphatic,* there is absolutely no substitute for properly loading, setting, and operating washers, dryers, dishwashers, stoves, refrigerator/freezer units, and any other home, shop, commercial, school, and business equipment. Therefore, parents, grandparents, legal guardians, teachers, etc *must* accept full responsibility in keeping younger kids away from appliances, and to train older children on the safe and responsible use of any such equipment. With that all stated, *no matter how prudent, protective, and responsible we do in this arena,* occasional random accidents do happen. I vaguely remember a horrible story or two of a toddler falling into an open washing machine while the machine was agitating laundry in hot, soapy water. Therefore, rather than broad brushing the blame on parents, appliance makers, or *stupid* kids, such terrible incidents should be carefully evaluated on a case by case basis.--Laundry Shark
Most commercial laundromat machines have the safety switch installed. Our coin operated units do, and the switch is active *at all times,* even when the machine is filling and agitating. Just goes to show, *whether or not user instruction manuals are clear and emphatic,* there is absolutely no substitute for properly loading, setting, and operating washers, dryers, dishwashers, stoves, refrigerator/freezer units, and any other home, shop, commercial, school, and business equipment. Therefore, parents, grandparents, legal guardians, teachers, etc *must* accept full responsibility in keeping younger kids away from appliances, and to train older children on the safe and responsible use of any such equipment. With that all stated, *no matter how prudent, protective, and responsible we do in this arena,* occasional random accidents do happen. I vaguely remember a horrible story or two of a toddler falling into an open washing machine while the machine was agitating laundry in hot, soapy water. Therefore, rather than broad brushing the blame on parents, appliance makers, or *stupid* kids, such terrible incidents should be carefully evaluated on a case by case basis.--Laundry Shark
twinniefan
Well-known member
today's society for you
This is just so typical of today's society blame someone else when accidents and problems occur,and run to the lawyers and solicitors to get a squillion dollars out of them.
I agree with other poster why didn't the mother teach her daughter the correct way to use this particular machine,or better still teach her to stay away from it altogether until she was older and a bit wiser.
Does anyone else find it a little bit strange that the mother is still using the machine after she claimed it is a dangerous appliance?,most people I know would get rid of it after an accident like that and get a new one with a safety lid.
Incidentally, my twintub does not have a stop switch on the washtub side but does have an emergency stop brake on the spinner and I prefer this because it is easier to add an item I may accidently forget to put in.
I must say though it was a terrible thing to happen to a small child particularly now she is injured for life.
Cheers guys.
Steve.
This is just so typical of today's society blame someone else when accidents and problems occur,and run to the lawyers and solicitors to get a squillion dollars out of them.
I agree with other poster why didn't the mother teach her daughter the correct way to use this particular machine,or better still teach her to stay away from it altogether until she was older and a bit wiser.
Does anyone else find it a little bit strange that the mother is still using the machine after she claimed it is a dangerous appliance?,most people I know would get rid of it after an accident like that and get a new one with a safety lid.
Incidentally, my twintub does not have a stop switch on the washtub side but does have an emergency stop brake on the spinner and I prefer this because it is easier to add an item I may accidently forget to put in.
I must say though it was a terrible thing to happen to a small child particularly now she is injured for life.
Cheers guys.
Steve.
Playing the washer and lost an arm, she won't do that again. Accidents happen, especially with children that have boundless curiosity. Three million dollar settlement and still no arm. It's not that I don't have sympathy for a little girl who lost an arm, but I don't think it's necessarily WCI's fault she lost the arm. The media isn't filled with reports of lost limbs, boobs and scalps because people are getting them caught in washing machines - not like it was 50 years ago with wringer washers.
Now, where did they find that 1976 Kelvinator with the porcelain tub? The fact that it's still working should have been the "hook" in the story! ;-)
Now, where did they find that 1976 Kelvinator with the porcelain tub? The fact that it's still working should have been the "hook" in the story! ;-)
exploder3211
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I agree with others.. BTW i like the older one better.. Didn't mommie know to cut off the timer knob before adding cloths?
whirlcool
Well-known member
Our 93'WP TL only stops the spin cycle with the lid up. During the wash cycle you can see the action.
Our freinds 81' Maytag (LA710) stops everything, including filling only when the lid is lifted up.
The girl said she was putting in towels when the accident happened. I can't see how she could have gotten caught up in the works doing this, unless she was pulling them underwater.
Our freinds 81' Maytag (LA710) stops everything, including filling only when the lid is lifted up.
The girl said she was putting in towels when the accident happened. I can't see how she could have gotten caught up in the works doing this, unless she was pulling them underwater.
I doubt anybody will ever know ..
I saw this video a couple weeks ago, don't recall how I ran across it. Maybe somebody linked it in another thread here? Or was it on THS? I think there may be more to the story than what's being revealed in the video. I'm *surely* not discounting that the girl suffered a horrible accident because clearly she did, but how many of us here have reached down into an agitating machine (both as adults and as children) with no such resulting trauma? I know I've done that with several different brands of machines and methods of agitation (Whirlpool, Kenmore, GE, Maytag, Frigidaire, etc.). A young child, not having much physical strength, could conceivably get an arm caught and pulled by the rollover/agitating motion of the clothes, but she'd have to be tall enough to reach fairly deep down into the water while standing, or be sitting on top of the machine.
I saw this video a couple weeks ago, don't recall how I ran across it. Maybe somebody linked it in another thread here? Or was it on THS? I think there may be more to the story than what's being revealed in the video. I'm *surely* not discounting that the girl suffered a horrible accident because clearly she did, but how many of us here have reached down into an agitating machine (both as adults and as children) with no such resulting trauma? I know I've done that with several different brands of machines and methods of agitation (Whirlpool, Kenmore, GE, Maytag, Frigidaire, etc.). A young child, not having much physical strength, could conceivably get an arm caught and pulled by the rollover/agitating motion of the clothes, but she'd have to be tall enough to reach fairly deep down into the water while standing, or be sitting on top of the machine.
My '06 Frigidaire doesn't agitate when the lid is open. Like most people here, I've defeated the safety switch, but I don't have kids in the house, either. The uneven agitator stroke and indexing tub do make it more dangerous than a 'regular' top loader. It's easier to get your hand/arm pulled in.
irishwashguy
Well-known member
We are missing some information.My mom's old Maytag's lid switch stopped working, no thanks to me for playing with it and none of us are missing limbs, esp me, I did lots washing at our house from the time that I could reach the knob. I agree with everyone, that the indexing tub is much more dangerous that lets say a Speed Queen or a Maytag, they also stop when the lid is raised. It boils down to the parents, as everyone has said, to educate everyone how to properly use the washer and for that matter, the dryer, just imagine what would have happened had she been caught in that while horseplaying.In the Maytag instuctions for both Maytags we had growing up, the company has warnings on the instructions, that say the folowing-------Children should never be permitted to play on or around washer or permitted to operate washer-----When I was a kid reading it, I thought, HEH! I am responsible, and I was really careful, well as careful as a kid knows to be.. To most people, this case would be circumstantial, no one witnessed this and has a first hand account, The new Fisher and Paykel lid locks when it is operation.
PS---So i have a little bit of clarification, was washer really from 1976? the agitators did not look like that..........My Aunt Betty up till reciently had a Mongomery Ward version of the White Westinghouse, from the early 80's, it was completely different, plus it has a lock spin. I believe that Ross has a WW similar to the one that my Aunt had, just a little older with the Blue agitator. The one in the report looked like the ones that my Mother and I looked at in the 80's, and the were the ultra cheap Gibson machines, my Mother said ooh Ik, and bought another Maytag.
PS---So i have a little bit of clarification, was washer really from 1976? the agitators did not look like that..........My Aunt Betty up till reciently had a Mongomery Ward version of the White Westinghouse, from the early 80's, it was completely different, plus it has a lock spin. I believe that Ross has a WW similar to the one that my Aunt had, just a little older with the Blue agitator. The one in the report looked like the ones that my Mother and I looked at in the 80's, and the were the ultra cheap Gibson machines, my Mother said ooh Ik, and bought another Maytag.
That is absolutely HORRIFYING!
I can't even imagine how that could have happened. My worst (read: best) experience with a washer as a child was accidentally (heh) putting a box of detergent in. The resulting foam bath, ala Brady Bunch, was a HOOT!
I can't even imagine how that could have happened. My worst (read: best) experience with a washer as a child was accidentally (heh) putting a box of detergent in. The resulting foam bath, ala Brady Bunch, was a HOOT!
mayken4now
Well-known member
Thanks for posting Jamie. I had not see this.
Sorry for the daughter. Hate it for WCI, not thier fault.
Steve
Sorry for the daughter. Hate it for WCI, not thier fault.
Steve
If I'm not mistaken, that washer has a LID LOCK! How on earth was that defeated by a 9 year old!!! This is almost identical to my neighbor's Frigidaire that he used to have. When we were attempting to test it, defeating the interlock was not easy task. The lid has to be up, and then a kitchen knife or other flat object placed down in the switch and HELD there for the machine to run for about the first 2 minutes at the begininning of agitation or spinning. After that, the machine will operate with the lid up. The lid lock engages immeditely upon closing the lid the first time once an agitate or spin cycle has begun. The only way to unlock it is to pull the timer knob out and wait approx 1 minute for the lock to release (and the tub to stop spinning...they don't have a brake!!!)
I am trying to figure out how on earth this girl was able to go through all of that trouble and get the washing machine to actually run with the lid up. It took a diesel mechanic and an electronics engineer about a hour to figure out how to make it do this!!! I imagine the TV newspeople also had to go through the same effort to pull it off on their machine.
I am trying to figure out how on earth this girl was able to go through all of that trouble and get the washing machine to actually run with the lid up. It took a diesel mechanic and an electronics engineer about a hour to figure out how to make it do this!!! I imagine the TV newspeople also had to go through the same effort to pull it off on their machine.
The lid lock on the particular machine may come into play only during spin. The implication is that the accident occurred during agitation while she was adding towels.
Those were the agitators in the Kelvinator WCI machines, I had one built in 86 for a while and other than a plastic tub in mine, it looked the same. The early 70's Kelvinator I had last summer that was built before the WCI name changeover in the mid-70's had the same, but larger version of that "angel wing" agitator. It really was a worthless agitator - too much splashing at the top and not enough fin at the bottom to roll and wash the clothes. When it was loaded to capacity, the clothes went around in circle with the indexing tub (on WCI machines, they didn't index prior to the mid-70's) and nothing rolled at all. White-Westinghouse and Mont. Wards machines used a straight vane or spiral vane agitator that was much better at moving the load.
Lid Lock
My 99 frigidaire only locks during spin, It does not lock during fill or agitation. I do think though that she must have been doing more then just loading towels. She must have stuck her arm right in there for the machine to have pulled her in and removed part of the lim. This is indeed a sad case however there are many brands of washers that agitate with the lid up, whirlpool and all it's sub brands come to mind. It does seen like people call the lawyer before they call the doctor these days. we could legislate our selves into a padded sell if we're not careful. Have you looked at the warning labels on a new ladder lately?
Liam
My 99 frigidaire only locks during spin, It does not lock during fill or agitation. I do think though that she must have been doing more then just loading towels. She must have stuck her arm right in there for the machine to have pulled her in and removed part of the lim. This is indeed a sad case however there are many brands of washers that agitate with the lid up, whirlpool and all it's sub brands come to mind. It does seen like people call the lawyer before they call the doctor these days. we could legislate our selves into a padded sell if we're not careful. Have you looked at the warning labels on a new ladder lately?
Liam
The newer WP's do not agitate with the lid open. Probably due to cases like this. The newer Fishy-Pickles don't even fill with the lid up and they have a lock for spin.
I am surprised the trans hadn't failed or the trunnion bolt heads didn't shear on the W-W. What a POS! I'll be glad when they finally stop making those.
I am surprised the trans hadn't failed or the trunnion bolt heads didn't shear on the W-W. What a POS! I'll be glad when they finally stop making those.
I think the thing that's missing here is that "normal" agitation (reciprocal) isn't quite the same as having an action with the constant tub-turning of the WCI machine which doesn't have a dead-man/interlock. Since spin switches became mandatory in the 60s, the action which you could see was reciprocal, not single-direction.
Okay parental controls
were not in place here that's obvious.
How could she be allowed to add towels and pass out on top of the machine as she stated? Only if she was unsupervised and even at her age she should be supervised around heavy machinery. Unless someone held her arm down between the agitator and tub??
It just doesn't add up the way they are telling the story.
It is a horrible occurance for her but like Dadoes says:
"A young child, not having much physical strength, could conceivably get an arm caught and pulled by the rollover/agitating motion of the clothes, but she'd have to be tall enough to reach fairly deep down into the water while standing, or be sitting on top of the machine."
2+3 don't = 4 here. There is more to the story than what has been told.
Those washing currents aren't that strong,heck a babbling brook has stronger currents. The indexing tub however between the tub base and agitator base is a nasty spot. But say she got her hand caught there or her hand was held there, the most that could happen is to loose a finger or two not the bottom third of her arm. That "might" make you pass out but you sure as hell would be screaming long before that so where were the parents?
If it took her arm, the machine would jam on the arm bone or she'd be wrenched back out on one of the opposing strokes.
Something doesn't add up here.
It would take a Unimatic at full spin to wrench an arm off.
A horrible thing whatever happend. Poor kid.
were not in place here that's obvious.
How could she be allowed to add towels and pass out on top of the machine as she stated? Only if she was unsupervised and even at her age she should be supervised around heavy machinery. Unless someone held her arm down between the agitator and tub??
It just doesn't add up the way they are telling the story.
It is a horrible occurance for her but like Dadoes says:
"A young child, not having much physical strength, could conceivably get an arm caught and pulled by the rollover/agitating motion of the clothes, but she'd have to be tall enough to reach fairly deep down into the water while standing, or be sitting on top of the machine."
2+3 don't = 4 here. There is more to the story than what has been told.
Those washing currents aren't that strong,heck a babbling brook has stronger currents. The indexing tub however between the tub base and agitator base is a nasty spot. But say she got her hand caught there or her hand was held there, the most that could happen is to loose a finger or two not the bottom third of her arm. That "might" make you pass out but you sure as hell would be screaming long before that so where were the parents?
If it took her arm, the machine would jam on the arm bone or she'd be wrenched back out on one of the opposing strokes.
Something doesn't add up here.
It would take a Unimatic at full spin to wrench an arm off.
A horrible thing whatever happend. Poor kid.
Right there
The mother said it happend in 1998, almost 10 years ago, say that girl is at most 16 so she would have been 6. Too short to reach the bottom of the tub without having her head in there and drowning. How could a 6 year old decide to do wash and reach up and turn on the machine with out a parent there?
If she climbed up was she smart enough to know where to set the dial for wash especially when she couldnt ever see the dial? I think if she was totally alone then somehow she climbed up and with the lid not in a locking position managed turn the dial to spin not wash and with the lock defeated she got her arm caught in spin not wash. That would mean the saftey was manually defeated and then the parents would be responsible not the manufacturer.
This story does not hold together well at all.
The mother said it happend in 1998, almost 10 years ago, say that girl is at most 16 so she would have been 6. Too short to reach the bottom of the tub without having her head in there and drowning. How could a 6 year old decide to do wash and reach up and turn on the machine with out a parent there?
If she climbed up was she smart enough to know where to set the dial for wash especially when she couldnt ever see the dial? I think if she was totally alone then somehow she climbed up and with the lid not in a locking position managed turn the dial to spin not wash and with the lock defeated she got her arm caught in spin not wash. That would mean the saftey was manually defeated and then the parents would be responsible not the manufacturer.
This story does not hold together well at all.
whirlcool
Well-known member
Warning labels on ladders, you say?
Watch this clip and listen to the host trying to recover gracefully!
Watch this clip and listen to the host trying to recover gracefully!
peterh770
Well-known member
I want one of those TAPPON washing machines! It absorbs the dirt away!
Mom stays at home to teach her kids, and taught her daughter that you start the washer, put in the detergent, wait for it to start washing to dissolve and distribute the detergent, and then load the clothes. I'm with Jon: if this happened in 1998, how old was she and how far away was the mother?
"I blacked out and fell into the washing machine." She will probably also black out while driving and hit someone and then sue the car manufacturer. Black out in college and sue the school for failing. Black out and suddenly become pregnant...
Mom stays at home to teach her kids, and taught her daughter that you start the washer, put in the detergent, wait for it to start washing to dissolve and distribute the detergent, and then load the clothes. I'm with Jon: if this happened in 1998, how old was she and how far away was the mother?
"I blacked out and fell into the washing machine." She will probably also black out while driving and hit someone and then sue the car manufacturer. Black out in college and sue the school for failing. Black out and suddenly become pregnant...
Black out and suddenly become pregnant...
LOL HAHAHAH!!!
oops on that one!
LOL HAHAHAH!!!
oops on that one!
Are you kidding?
"I don't know how this could have happened in our home..."
Yeah, me either. If she had her hand pulled down by this machine, it'd be the first thing in history in those indexing machines that got pulled-down and turned over.
Plus, if they're sincere--the kid blacked-out and ended up in the machine--then what's really responsible for this incident?
I feel sorry for the kid, but this is fundamentally ridiculous. I feel sorry for the company, because they'll probably settle to keep things polite.
In the end, it goes to show that yes, there is such a thing as plain-old bad luck, and no, no one is under any obligation to compensate you when it strikes. Just because something unfortunate happens to you doesn't mean that it's due to negligence on someone else's part. It's a very sad story, but I don't see where what happened to this kid is WCI's issue. It's just a freak accident.
Conversely, it's not like a bad parent thing. Accidents happen, and kids of any age have their moments when they're fully engaged in looking for new and interesting things. Sometimes you don't catch them, and sometimes they get into trouble.
I think the issue here is that it's not the parent's fault, not really the kid's fault (if it played out like she says it did), and certainly not WCI's fault. You can't engineer the world to make certain that nothing bad ever happens to anyone due to any circumstance, no matter how remote. I mean, seriously. Are we going to design machines to protect someone from blacking-out now? Maybe pad them so you just bounce off when you pass out? Or, perhaps supply a nice cushion for the floor in front of the machine to catch you when you land? Wouldn't a truly thoughtful, safety-conscious manufacturer think of all those possibilities?
It's an accident, people, and it's sad. But it's nobody's responsibility to shell-out $3 million to make the family feel better when you had an okay washer and an apparently defective kid.
"I don't know how this could have happened in our home..."
Yeah, me either. If she had her hand pulled down by this machine, it'd be the first thing in history in those indexing machines that got pulled-down and turned over.
Plus, if they're sincere--the kid blacked-out and ended up in the machine--then what's really responsible for this incident?
I feel sorry for the kid, but this is fundamentally ridiculous. I feel sorry for the company, because they'll probably settle to keep things polite.
In the end, it goes to show that yes, there is such a thing as plain-old bad luck, and no, no one is under any obligation to compensate you when it strikes. Just because something unfortunate happens to you doesn't mean that it's due to negligence on someone else's part. It's a very sad story, but I don't see where what happened to this kid is WCI's issue. It's just a freak accident.
Conversely, it's not like a bad parent thing. Accidents happen, and kids of any age have their moments when they're fully engaged in looking for new and interesting things. Sometimes you don't catch them, and sometimes they get into trouble.
I think the issue here is that it's not the parent's fault, not really the kid's fault (if it played out like she says it did), and certainly not WCI's fault. You can't engineer the world to make certain that nothing bad ever happens to anyone due to any circumstance, no matter how remote. I mean, seriously. Are we going to design machines to protect someone from blacking-out now? Maybe pad them so you just bounce off when you pass out? Or, perhaps supply a nice cushion for the floor in front of the machine to catch you when you land? Wouldn't a truly thoughtful, safety-conscious manufacturer think of all those possibilities?
It's an accident, people, and it's sad. But it's nobody's responsibility to shell-out $3 million to make the family feel better when you had an okay washer and an apparently defective kid.
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