LG Front Load Washer

[mark_wpduet]

well

ON another post...we were talking about how much cheaper the whirlpools look and feel now.....when they added plastic instead of glass, when all the other brands kept glass. It just begs the question if they can't even spring for glass as they did in the past, what else did they cheapen? Add to this Friglux's post about friends of his buying a Whirlpool pair of FL washers recently and the board has already gone out (twice I think, don't quote me). Then, in addition to that, I can't remember if it was Frigilux or someone else that used to have a Maytag FL washer (maybe 4 or 5 years ago) and although I remember they LOVED it, there was a software problem where the spin wouldn't ramp up to the RPM's it was supposed to. I remember there being a post about a few people talking about experiencing that.

That all being said. Every SINGLE thing in my house is Whirlpool. The over the range microwave is as Old as my house and still works (Since Sept, 2004). Same as the Range....The fridge has been replaced, the dryer and the dishwasher. The dishwasher is a Maytag now 7 yrs old. Zero problems. The fridge is 3 ish years old. No problems so far...

But none of that means nothing when companies can completely change over the years.

If I had to buy a FL washer now: It's between 3. Either a SQ, LG with turbowash, or a Maytag FL with heater.

 

[powerfin64]

We Knew This Was Coming......

BRAVO!! Well done!

 

[trappn]

Our 1st impression.......

....is that the washer may be OK, but the dryer probably isn't.

Clothes out of the dryer seem underdone, or overdone. Guess the old Whirlpool spoiled us.

Only way to approximate the performance of the Whirlpool is to run a separate steam cycle on the LG. Then, the clothes usually feel normal to the touch. At the very least, the LG appears to be a first-class steamer.

Over time, we learned to use dryer sheets rather than fabric softener. At the end of a cycle on the LG, we're lucky to find 1/2 of the original sheet.

Oh, well. Live & learn.

 

[powerfin64]

trappn

you mentioned about clothes coming out of the dryer either overdone or underdone

what cycle is being used? Dryer sheets don't mix well with the newer LG dryers,

the sensors on them are sensitive. I don't use dryer sheets for the reasons you

mentioned, but I do use fabric softener carefully dosed. I have used steam

a few times, worked very well. eventually I will use the steam option in

replacement of fabric softener, which is the best choice for static control.

 

[egress]

the steam option works really well. I think the issue with dryer sheets/fabric softener is that it coats the sensors and causes the dryer to percieve the clothes as dry before they actually are dry.

we've never use either fabric softener or dryer sheets. the scents are too strong and honestly, we've never been unhappy with how our clothes feel without it.

 

[panasonicvac]

On our LG, I use the timed setting to dry my towels out because the towels setting on it I feel like it doesn't quite get done all the way even though we don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets. And I always use the extra rinse setting on the washer because I feel like it doesn't rinse all the soap out completely. All in all, I like using the dryer sheets because I can use the old ones to easily clean lint off from the screen.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Glad you like the washer

so far at least. I'm sticking with Whirlpool dryers though.. I've heard bad things about dryer sheets so I stopped using them a LONG time ago.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

personally

I prefer to use fabric softener.

 

[twintubdexter]

extended warranties...

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">For what it's worth, when I was with Macy's California years ago, the most profitable item the entire store sold was extended warranties, particularly on televisions. They made a killing, much to the delight of the greedy upper management. They operated like the late Jack Benny joked about wealth..."it's not that I don't have enough money, it's just that I don't have all of it".</span>

 

[trappn]

We stopped using fabric softener a long time ago, then had great success with the sheets in the Whirlpool.

We'll stop using the sheets in the LG, especially since one already got past the drum seal. Pulled on it, but it ripped. Imagine some repairman will find the rest of it, one day.

So far, have only used the Normal & Bedding cycles on the washer & dryer. I ran a load of underwear & t-shirts that cane out of the dryer wrinkled. Suppose the load could have been spun too fast in the washer; but, a load of sheets came out wrinkled, too. The washer limits the Bedding spin speed at medium, max.

Maybe we'll stumble upon the perfect formula, but the dryer remains a mystery.

 

[littlegreeny]

Check the options on the dryer

The energy saver option is automatically selected so make sure you turn that off otherwise you will have partially dried loads. And you can always change the dryness level to your liking.

 

[trappn]

Energy Saver Option........

.....appears to be turned off by default on our DLGX4201. If powerfin64 has the same model, perhaps he could chime in.

We picked up a small bottle of the Tide With-A-Touch-Of Downy, today. Will see how that goes.

So far, we have washed with one extra rinse on each load.

If incorporating one of the steam options on each of our dryer loads would help, we would not be opposed to that. Thanks.

 

[golittlesport]

dryness level

I typically will push the dryness level up one notch on a mixed load of clothes on my LG dryer. If not, it seems to shut off when the thinnest fabrics are dry leaving heavier items a bit damp. When all items are the same fabric, such a load of sheets, it dries perfectly on the default setting. Once you get used to all the options you have on your machines and which ones work best for you I'm sure you will be fine.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I agree

It takes time with a new setup to figure it out before you start hating it. I vividly remember back in 2005 when I first got my Duet pair. The first few loads I was so bummed out. I remember being horrified by the low water use (expecting laundromat front load action) and the clothes in the dryer were wrinkled too. The wrinkling was mostly the dryers fault, not the washers. I figured out eventually the load size matters, so I eventually got it right. When my Duet dryer died a few yrs ago, I replaced it with a standard whirlpool dryer. I noticed 2 things: The auto dry is more accurate than the sensor dry (for me, anyway) and sheets do not ball up like they did in the duet dryer.

My duet's max spin is 1000 rpm....so 1300 might make a huge difference in wrinkles. I'm not sure.

 

[powerfin64]

Power Saver Option

Yes I have the same model WM4200. The Energy Saver Option is used on the

Normal cycle only, can not be used with any other cycles. I have not used it

and most likely never will. I have used about 95% of all the cycles included

the downloaded cycles on the washer, about 1/4th of them I use regularly. 1/3rd

on the downloaded cycles on the dryer I use regularly. I used the highest spin

speed that is allowed for the cycle, and on the dryer use the default dryness

level with no problems so far.

 

[trappn]

Auto Dry?

Our 28-year old Whirlpool is equipped with the DRY-MISER sensor in the drum. Didn't realize the Auto Dry's were still made.

One thing to remember is the dryness level on this dryer is adjusted with the timer knob, with no detents. Theoretically, seems like you could fine-tune the dryness level a little more with the knob, rather than the 5 settings on the LG. Once we found our sweet spot with the knob, the dryer never seemed to fail us.

Newer isn't always better, but we sure do like the steam functions.

 

[mark_wpduet]

auto-dry

I went over this confusion a couple of years ago when I got my standard Whirlpool dryer. Those have had auto-dry for decades, haven't they? However, I never paid attention in the past. When I got my duet front load pair, the dryer had "sensor" dry with strips inside the drum to detect moisture. I didn't know the difference until someone here explained it to me. At any rate, I never felt like the sensor dry was nearly as accurate (believe it or not) as this auto-dry on my current whirlpool. It's not perfect, but mostly if I hit the dial between normal and more dry, the load dryness is almost perfect. You can tell they didn't keep tumbling while bone dry because I can feel a wee bit of moisture in certain spots that are thick (even those spots are dry enough to put away)

If I have a really heavy full load, it's a different story. I have to move the dial well above more dry or it will end the cycle with clothes still too damp for me. I'm not sure why this is. I can put a medium load no normal and it's perfectly dry.....but a heavy full load on normal isn't. But I've figured about where to turn the dial for it to end up being dry without over drying on those big loads.

There have been a couple of times where I went to check the load as it was drying and they were bone dry and the dial still hadn't even made it to less dry yet...At this point, I can almost use the timer instead because I know how long it will take based on the load contents or size of the load.

 

[vacerator]

I don't know about now, but

it used to be there two types of auto dry systems. The lower end type was a sensor in the exhaust flow, and sensed the dryness of the exhaust air. Higher end models included an/or/and, an additional in the drum sensor sensing dampness in the clothing.

 

[DADoES]

 
Interesting, the disconnect between "auto dry" and "sensor dry" ... they're the same concept (the machine automatically varies drying time based on the characteristics of moisture evaporation on individual loads), handled via different methods (indirectly via temperature or directly via contact with the fabric).  Moisture-sensing auto dry isn't all that new of a thing, been offered for more than 55 years.

 

[henene4]

Big load issues on AutoDry dryers

They rely heavily on everything being accessible to all the air.

If everything can heat up continuously, no cold spots or such, the triggering of the thermal setpoints will happen at a correct point of time.

AutoDry is more of an adaptive drying system then a true sensor system.
Keep in mind it's just the timer running like a timer - just with interruptions.
The time you set is basically "How long do these need to run at a certain temperature".

On the small end of the load size range, the 5kW of heating can bake moisture out of your load really quickly.
The time the timer needs to run from normal dry to cool down would equate to much more evaporation possibility then on larger loads.

On the large side of loads, even after being heated up to temp, there is still a lot of evaporation to do compared to a very small load.
But the timer is already running.

Further to this, on large loads, it can happen that at a certain point some areas get less airflow then others.
So damp patches can't drag down the temp enough to get long enough pauses of timer progression to be dried.
Same with thick items: The surface drys quickly, thus AutoDry advances quickly, but moisture can't get from the inner parts to the outer parts fast enough.

AutoDry basically does educated guessing based on how much drying you think a load needs and certain setpoints it knows to interpret.
Best example: Some very early AutoDry systems just set a cutoff point at a very high temperature. Basically assuming that once it got that hot things had to be dry (or have already burnt to dust).

Sensor drying like we used to have it over here and now only have it in 1 case was a very on point system.

The theory is that electricity travels the path of least resistance.
So no matter where a damp patch is in the laundry, if the current has to travel all the way through, it will always show a reading there is still moisture.

Very good dryers used to very dynamicly adjust target temps based on these readings dropping heat output very low towards the end of certain cycles.
Mieles Novotronic and Txxxx series dryers were amazing at it.

Cost cutting or like in the case of US dryers just plain construction criteria made a big change to sensor drying systems.
Over here they used to consist of 2 carbon brushes running along 2 bands on the outside of the drum. One was connected to the drum, one to the drum paddles. The current path was from the paddles to the drum and since dry cotton has an insane resistance, that would sense even deeper moisture pockets.
Now the path is just between these 2 strips and since the distance is very small, it can very easily happen that moisture is just missed.

Add to that that dryness targets have been moved down due to energy labelling and unsatisfactory results are common.

I don't think that either technology is inherently better if either is done right.

A good sensor system will be much more accurate even fringe situations while in most laundry tasks auto systems will do just as well if not better and usually a lot simpler and cheaper.

Some manufacturers claim to use a combination of both but yet have to see proof of that.