Loudest and Quietest washing machines

[qualin]

One distinctive thing I remember about my parents old Filter Flo was how it made a really loud "KA-BANG!!!" sound at the end of the spin cycle before the tub brake engaged. I recall that this was a very signature part of the Filter Flo design and Consumer Reports always complained about it while they were making them.

Since we could hear it throughout the entire house, we knew the wash was done and to carry the clothes across the basement to the Whirlpool dryer.

I kind of miss that sound...

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I'm sure a Kitchen Aid would really be the quietest! ("Whisper Quiet", as I would hear...)

Next-quiestest would most likely be Whirlpool, Maytag and Sears Kenmore...

The GE, Hotpoint, Norge, Mont. Ward, and Frigidaire (during its "pulsating" agitation) would be the loudest, I would think...

Other brands like Frigidaire, (during other phases of its cycles) Gibson, Westinghouse, Kelvinator, etc. would at least be average...

-- Dave

 

[bajaespuma]

By far the loudest machine I have ever known was our 1962 Filter-flo. There may have been something wrong with the mechanism because early on it lost the ability to shift from Normal to Slow speed, but when it began to run, in both agitate and spin modes, it let out a loud low whine that you could hear all over the house. I'll be curious to hear Robert Seger's report on his brand new version of that particular V-12 when he runs it for the first time to see if it is anywhere near as loud as ours was.

 

The quietest machine I ever knew was a friend's Mother's Maytag also of the same general vintage. I remember lifting the lid many times to make sure it was working and discovered, for the first time, that the Maytag safety switch stopped the machine dead no matter what it was doing.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

One thing I remember about my grandma's Filter Flo was the vibrating cabinet every time it Spin!

There was always a shimmer in the sheet metal on the front of the machine during the Spin Cycle, even though it wasn't unbalanced or anything...

-- Dave

 

[yogitunes]

GE FF are fun machines.......the loud bang of the brake, even the rough vibration while agitating, you knew which direction the stoke was going in, mainly because we had it in the kitchen on a wooden floor, and you weren't leaving the lid open on a half load without getting soaked......

although if anyone can recall, in a laundromat version of Maytags, there was no lube on the brakes, wich allowed for a super quick STOP, and the squeel those machines would make all across the laundry, would raise the hair on the back of your neck....like chalk scraped across the chalkboard!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

That's the thing about Maytag washers! They took the longest to stop spinning when their lids were opened... (Makes me wonder if the horror story I read about or heard about of a man losing his arm reaching into a spinning wash tub had been a Maytag, A0-of some sort!)

As for Norge & Norge-made washers, somehow the fastest stopping they had when their lids were lifted during the Spin Cycle was something to brag about, in that CR seemed to praise that feature...

-- Dave

 

[cfz2882]

my "imperial"automatics

from loudest to quietest of imperial era automatics in my fleet:
-81 GE filter flo(quite loud):motor groan,suspension squeak,tranny gear whirr,
sheetmetal rattle,scuffing noise from clutch during spin runup,the clunk-sometimes
double clunk at end of spin.
-80 hotpoint rimflo two speed:somehow a little quieter than the GE-might be the
far lower "milage"or the two speed clutch...
-77 24"KM BD: fairly loud motor hum from GE motor.
-84 24"KM DD:chugchugchug of frantic agitation at lower water levels.
-80 24"KM BD: emerson motor quieter than the GE in the '77
-84 SQ "marathon"GE motor:a little motor hum,tranny groan,pump whirr
-84 SQ "marathon":same as above except quieter emerson motor in this one...
-89 monkey franklin:cavitation/water thrashing sounds from pump running in reverse
during agitation,a little tranny gear whine-RRRRrrrrRRRRrrrr(from the indexing)
GE motor actually quiet in this one.....
-81&86 KM BD "70"s-just the classic BD music and quiet emerson motors...
-65 maytag:tranny groan

 

[washerlover]

I'd agree that GE, Norge/Wards and Frigidaire 1/18's are the loudest.

In my humble opinion quietest would be Maytag and Kenmore.

 

[swestoyz]

Loud - Robert's 'Pig' Wizard

Quiet - anything broken and still awaiting restoration.

Ben

 

[philr]

As I think about it, the noisiest washer I have heard was my Frigidaire GMini with an Agitub. When I got it, it had a bad pump bearing and it made an incredibly loud noise. I don't think anybody who'd hear that would try washing clothes with it, but it worked!
With the bearing replaced, there's still a humming noise from it's 2 speed GE motor but it's not bad at all! But I'm wondering how many GM Laundry Centers have bad pump bearings and are still used in this condition! I'm wondering how many are still used regularly. I thought there should be very few, but last week, a friend of mine saw this in his neighbor's trailer home in Florida!


And I don't know if it's a common thing to all GM Agitub washers but the tub brake on mine is incredibly quick. See the video in the link below at about 1:40
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[this post was last edited: 12/11/2011-23:24]

 

[ryanm]

I had a NORGE LWA9120 from 1984 which was loud, BUT my Aunt had a Harvest Gold Frigidare from GM that made so much noise you could hear it all over the house when it was washing, but I have to say it was an atractive machine. That was by far the most noisy machine I have ever heard!

 

[norgeway]

NORGE!

The loudest...and BEST!!

 

[toploader55]

Hans,

I agree with you totally.

I was "in charge" of the Laundry when I was 10 years old at a Cottage Colony here on the Cape through a friend. I was "in Charge" of washing the Mattress Pads and Sheets of 6 cottages in this compound and was using a Norge Time Line.

When washing the Mattress Pads in this small Solid tub, the water would wisk out over the OverFlow at the top of the tub and towards the end of the Wash Cycle, it would be swishing the Mattress pad back and forth with each stroke of the agitator.

My God, what a Strong Transmission. Not to forget the Loud Clank of the Solenoid changing it in to Spin.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Yep, you can hear it's a Norge!!

My Maytags are really quiet (my MAH7500 is totally silent after the motor upgrade...) and I have to agree that the Norge/Wards is pretty loud... BUT... it's really fun to use and stops just like a hockey stick thru the front spokes on a bicycle! Kevin now has mine but here's some video of it...

RCD
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[tomturbomatic]

Maytags taking a long time to stop from spin!?!

What type of Maytag are you talking about? All of the ones I've seen or used would almost wrench the tub to the side because they stopped the spin so fast. It's true the Helical drive machines braked a little slower than the AMPs, but they were all fast stoppers.

 

[macboy91si]

Maytags Braking

Both of mine gently but quickly coast to a stop as well, the Super Highlander a little quicker than the A407 though with a hint of jerk.

 

-Tim

 

[tomturbomatic]

I remember a neighbor's AMP. You couldn't see that machine do a damn thing. By the time the lid was lifted, it was stopped, even from spin, just sitting there there like, "Whatcha looking at me for?" The next thing you expected to hear was an officer telling you, "Keep moving; there's nothing to see here," which, unfortunately, was very true. Talk about an absolutely non-participatory laundry experience!

 

[macboy91si]

Nothing to See Here...

It's odd to me that Maytag took this approach, since they seems to keep other traits from the wringer like the general agitator design and things, they made the automatic so "hands-off". I would think that, in tradition with their heralded conventional machines, that they would have at least made them run with the lid up. It would seem like women who were used to adding the soap and items after the wash action started and what have you would not have taken to this very much. In my opinion you need to see a Maytag run for a few seconds to check that it's not overloaded. I do like my Tags, but I will have to concede that they load lighter than the GE or KM. Loosely to the top row of holes, it's printed on the machine

 

 

-Tim

 

[kenmore71]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that all post-AMP machine used basically the same brake and that the brake is designed to bring the tub to a stop within 6 seconds of the motor stopping. I've never experienced a Maytag brake that was particularly "brutal" in its stopping action.
To be honest, though, the Maytag system almost always slowed the tub down more quickly that the BD WP design. With that design if you opened the lid at JUST the right (or wrong depending on your perspective) time to have missed where the solenoid pin disengages and pushes the spin cam back to neutral it can sometimess take almost a second for the tramsmission to be shifted and then a few more seconds for the brake to do its magic. At least in the maytag, by the time the lid is lifted all power is dead and the tub is already in the process of braking. With a WP BD there could be a 1/2 to full second of the basket spinning under FULL POWER before it shifts and starts to slow.

 

[ingliscanada]

WP/Inglis Pump

Some early WP washers had a very loud pump. My parents' early 60s Inglis had a pump that howled, and was heard throughout the house!

Gary