Maytag Centennial model MVWC300XW1

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thomasortega

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Hi folks!

When you think nothing can go worse with a Whirlpool-made washer, Whirlpool surprises us with the Maytag Centennial

Starting by the washer has some sort of dementia or Alzheimer's. For every single step, it stops, thinks trying to wonder what it has to do.

You press the start... 10 seconds pause, lock the door.

Then OCD comes, it unlocks the door and locks again (just to double check, you know)

Then it stops and thinks (because it has to remember how to sense the load)
Almost 1 minute later, it starts that boring paused spin to "sense".

Not too long... "only" 9 minutes to SENSE THE F-WORD LOAD!

It starts filling (YAY! finally!) Don't get too excited, it fills 1 inch and starts "sensing" again, not using the agitator (for only 14 minutes)

It finally reaches the "ideal?" water level... Full load, water doesn't even come close to the bottom of the auger.

Ok, here it goes, mangling a full load in "low". Oh, but wait, the wash has two stages, one is concentrated, than it ads more water... a 2-second "spit". 1 minute before the end of the 8-minute agitation. (did I mention it is slower than a DD in low speed?)

Stop for 2 minutes thinking again because it needs to remember how to drain.

It drains, with a pump that is so miserable that it almost looks like one of those desktop decorative fountains.

Here comes the rinse.

Yes, i mean RINSE (before the spin)

After it drains, the drum spins like a microwave plate and it spits water on clothes for impressive THREE seconds (yes, that's the rinse.)

Then it ramps up the spin, you see that white water coming out of the drain hose, full of suds.

As you're not a three hugger, you select fabric softener ON and extra rinse ON

If fill ONE INCH agitates TWICE (I mean, literally ONLY TWO agitator strokes that doesn nothing because the water barely reached the bottom of the agitator.

Then it drains...

Now comes the "impressive" extra rinse.

after taking 2 decades to drain it repeats the rinse sequence (3 second spray).

Goes straight to final spin.

One cycle is somewhat usable...

Bulky items..

It fills all the way up (what a miracle!) agitation is depressive but it somewhat does something (don't ever think about using it for whites or clothes that are too dirty)

then the rinse is also on maximum water level.

And that's it.

But, I can't complain...

It was NEW. covered with dust after 5 years sitting in a garage, but inside it was so clean that I wonder if it was used more than a couple of times.

And the price was unbeatable. Free Dollars and Free cents.

It stays (just to fill a gap in my collection), but it will be the first to go when something more interesting comes.

Pictures later.
 
Post 2010 WP Belt Drive TL Washers

Hi Thomas, for the record I am not a fan of these washers, however there are members here that really like these washers and have them as their daily drivers.

 

The lid locking and unlocking at the start of a cycle is to wake up children in the machine and give them a chance to open the lid and hopefully escape, almost all well designed TL&FL washers do this.

 

John L.
 
Well, I`m actually super used to the VMW platform as in Brazil it`s used for many years.

All "Brastemp" and "Consul" top loaders in Brazil, Eslabón de Lujo and Whirlpool in Argentina among other Whirlpool owned brands use the same platform for many years.

However, it's my very first contact with a VMW that "looks" like a DD.

IDK what Whirlpool had in mind, everything in this washer is just wrong. They tried to make the washer smarter, save water, etc great. It's wonderful when it works... but that definitely NOT the case with my Maytag.

The cycles are dumb, actually, the whole washer is dumb.... 14 minutes to SENSE THE LOAD? really? in 1995 LG had "Fuzzy Logic" and it would take a few seconds (during the fill) to sense the load.

All those pauses.... It finishes filling, 2 minute pause before start agitating. it finishes agitating, pauses two minutes BEFORE draining... it finishes draining, pauses other two minutes before spinning... Total is average 30 minutes WASTED

The water level is simply STUPID. Why have an auger if it doesn't even touch the water? (except for bulky items cycle)

That "thing" called rinse. Really? Does anybody at Whirlpool REALLY believe that a 3-second pee (don't forget the flow restrictor in the fill valve) with the clothes still saturated with suds is enough to rinse?

Oh, but you can select the extra rinse... IT WILL DO IT TWICE, total 6 GENEROUS seconds peeing.

Softener rinse barely covering the bottom of the agitator (not the whole lower agitator) there's literally less than 1 inch of water considering the bottom of the drum.) the idea is that the agitator vanes will "splash" the water with fabric softener on the clothes. What can be more stupid?

Regarding being modular, that's a BRILLIANT solution. the VMW allows zillions of different configurations, it's somewhat dependable (of course it's full of planned obsolescence tricks otherwise it wouldn't be Whirlpool) and I agree they're reasonably easy to fix when compared to older platforms.
 
I have a "Maytag" Centennial washer I bought from the swap shop to replace a Hotpoint rimflow that died.Would so love to have the Hotpoint BACK!!!Hate this VMW abomination!!!!Next go around to the swap shop will get ANYTHING other than a VMW peice of crap.I had to defeat the ridiculous lid lock so I could balance the dammed thing before it tries to spin.Otherwise it just refills adn tries again who know how many times before the load is right-so like with some washers of the old days I have to rearrange the load by hand so it can spin.And the stupid thing takes FOREEVER to Fill!!!As far as I am concerned would love to go thru WP VMW production line with a bulldozer and start going back to the OLD BD or DD designs which were BETTER.The VMW machines WASTE TOO MUCH TIME!!!!!That is a resource YOU DON'T GET BACK!!!!The thing I have---when it dies--want to take it to the range and give it a workover-than goes to the crusher!!!!With it full of holes-the crushers job would be easier!And TOO MUCH plastic in these machines---WHAT AT POS!!!!Rant over!
 
Maytag VMW Washers

Hi Rex, but you didn't tell us if you liked the washer, LOL

 

Overall I agree with your assessment I have used these in the shop and to put it mildly they take all the fun out of doing laundry.

 

WP has ironed out some of the faults in later models and we even have members on the site who like these washers but I can see no reason for any appliance enthusiasts to subject themselves to these awful machines, going through this type of grief makes the nearly $2000 price of a new SQ FL washer look like a bargain.

 

John L.
 
Not too surprised with this, I also know people who have these washers but find that they are largely indifferent to most  appliances anyway and could care less about the cycle sequence.  If the load is wet and stuck to the sides of the drum when they open the lid/door, the task has been completed and little more thought is required.  

 

John, is there a top-load washer on the market that you recommend other than the SQ if a customer insists they won't have a front-load?
 
2010 cabrio

I have a '10 VMW Cabrio in the collection,reverse bloom washplate machine,it actually does a very good wash job on certain very dirty loads if load size is just right :)but what a PITA when it gets stuck on rebalance routine...Also these are hard on clothes-converting them to lint.
 
I used a Whirlpool VMW when I was taking a vacation to the east coast at my grandma’s house in Delaware. It did okay but it either fills with the amount of water it’s supposed to or fills the tub up to the brim, and I selected a extra rinse just to be sure my clothes were rinsed throughly. Even if Maytags back in the 60’s weren’t the best at rinsing, my laundry felt much cleaner after I got back home from my trip and ran it through my 1973 Maytag A606 back in 2019.
 
No,I HATE the VMW machine!!!!Also has another issue--many times items wrap and tangle around its what I call the Roto-wrap-Tangle agitator.So--before the machine spins have to untwine items from around the agitator-yes I load it according to the directions on the bottom of the lid.Items like sheets,towels,trousers get wrapped in its agitator-Dual action kind-NEVER had that problem with other washers that have DA agitators.Just this one.Too many unneeded pause cycles adn the drail part goes on and on gurgle-GURGLE!!!!Wasting time!!!VMW Such a STUPID IDIOTIC design!I am so hoping a thunderstorm blows out its control board!Leave it plugged in with high hopes!We can get lightning any time in my area.
 
Shipping from Canada NOT practical.Will let the horror I have die then see what the swap shop in Ayden,NC has.They are about a 15 min drive from my house.They have free delivory of the machine you buy and pickup of the old one.At the time wanted to try a VMW type machine-NEVER AGAIN!!!!Will go for a DD "clothes blender" or some other machine.At least you can run the DD at a lower speed.Less clothes puree!Yesterday-was weird with the Maytag Craptennial!-Had to hold the outer drum while the machine rampted up in speed-spun just fine.Before while I was eating breakfast heard commotion from my laundry room-the VMW washer was doing something new-----the SHAKE&Spin!!!It so wanted to dance and shake!!Tried restarting the spin and held the outer tub and it was fine.These have to be WP WORST washer design EVER!
 
The Maytag mvwp575gw & maybe the GE Commercial are VMW, but

they might be an option for those who prefer top load and cannot find the Speed Queen TC5 in their area. In some areas, there is a waiting list to get the Speed Queens TC5 models right now. Also, some places are charging above retail for them. I personally wish Speed Queen would blacklist those scalpers, but...

I have the Maytag mvwp575gw, and it will be 4 years old this summer. No issues yet. Knock on wood. It is basically Maytag's commercial model designed for residential use. With that said, I don't think it would stand up very long to true commercial use, but it is build a little better than the typical residential washer with a thicker belt, 1/2 instead of less HP motor, higher watt capacitor, and "premium" bearings. Mine came with rubber hoses and a 5 years parts AND labor warranty vs. the standard 1 year warranty. I've used in a pet/kid friendly home. There are some times I have even ran it all day like when the kids come home from college break. It has tap hot for the main cycles too! Doesn't seem to have flow restricters either. My washer fills in 5 to 6 minutes.

Both Lorain Furniture and Kirk Rivas have some good reviews on them. They fill with water, have good agitation (dual-action agitator--turnover is great even for larger items like quilts and comforters), and full tub rinse too. The Normal "Eco" cycle on this washer is useful for doing lightly soiled items or for quick washes as long as the clothes don't require a delicate setting or tap hot water (there are ways around this).

Another thing to consider is it is sometimes easier to get parts for VMW models because they share parts with other models. It is getting really hard to find some items/parts right now :-(. I believe I've seen the gear case for around $200. Some consumers might be able to replace even that part themselves if needed.

I am guesstimating this washer used PROPERLY may last the average consumer around 8 to 10 years without having too many issues. Only time will tell as I think this washer was released in 2017?? to the general public. The washers I grew up would have easily lasted twice as long with no or minor repairs. If you want new, though, take a look at the Maytag mvwp575gw.
 

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