Tragically, nobody cares.
Modern Whirlpool
- Thread starter reactor
- Start date
Forgot about SQ, but it’s still touting real knobs not robotic touchscreens and diabolical bloops and bleeps, but I tuned down a similar Amana set on its way to the sole survivor of medical controls because those seemed too spartan not offering as many cycles, independent speed combinations or even temperature controls or even an extra rinse as my Kenmore that I now miss…
Probably still wish SQ would not be the last old school because I’m not as big a fan of the American Motors of laundry as I am the Ford, General Motors and Chrysler of, that General Electric, Maytag and Whirlpool once were!
Okay, then I’ll agree…
vacerator
Well-known member
Neighbors behind us get upset when we or the ones two doors over feed the squirrels peanuts. Why? Blue jay's eat them too.
I just want to enjoy life. I don't bother anyone, and don't want to be bothered. I'm in the twilight 20 years of life. The rest isn't worth fretting over. It isn't my problem anymore. Find a reason to seize each day we're given.
I just want to enjoy life. I don't bother anyone, and don't want to be bothered. I'm in the twilight 20 years of life. The rest isn't worth fretting over. It isn't my problem anymore. Find a reason to seize each day we're given.
phillymatt53
Well-known member
The control styling and "touting real knobs"
That's only a styling design, because behind those knobs is quite likely the same fragile electronics with the same types of issues.
A Printed Circuit Board with dozens of components on it.
And most likely it's made overseas in some slave factory with little to no Quality Control.
How many "washer repairmen" know, or have been trained, on troubleshooting or actually repairing something like that?
Of course, you'd need a Schematic Diagram/service manual to even proceed with anything.
You'd have to be educated on logic signals, microprocessors, voltage regulators, etc etc etc....
Instead, the repairman is forced to "just change" the board with another one.
And hope for the best.
It's none of your neighbor's concern...if you enjoy feeding the squirrels, and we know they enjoy it, then carry on, by all means We feed the opossums and stray cats every night.
vacerator
Well-known member
I agree reactor. Their complaint was the peanut shells. They called the city, and animal control agreed with them. They also complained about our neighbors feeding the stray cats. At least we don't have mice, or rats. The city set traps for the cats, which outsmarted them. They neuter and spay them and release in the same area anyway.
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Better to capture the cats and have them neutered ... we don't need more feral cats around. They also capture native birds in numbers not to be believed ... they are apex predators
phillymatt53
Well-known member
There's a stray cat that haunts the neighborhood here.
Last week, it sat on my front patio several times, meowing real loud, even screaming.
The patio is directly below my bedroom windows, you can imagine the noise when trying to get some sleep at 1AM.
I cured that critter real quick..... I kept a large glass of water on the windowsill to dump down on that noisy beast.
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Two things can occur at the same time that have little to do with one another. In the early 70's when oil prices increased the Japanese had the cars that people wanted. Small and fuel efficient. Lot was going on in the early 70's that upended markets -- like the end of the gold standard and the oil embargo. Japan was also operating on different kind of manufacturing, one that grew out of scarcity. The result was the desire for 0% component failure and just in time manufacturing.
It did not matter what US manufactures were going to do in 1975 -- the Japanese could produce what a huge part of the country wanted .. better and cheaper.
The same thing happened to appliance makers. It does not matter how great your top load washers are if they can't be sold because of some new government requirement or consumers no longer want them. Also -- Take an old style direct drive kenmore/ whirlpool washer. Everybody will say "what not just remake that simple unit". The question -- "how much would it cost to make that unit? I can tell you it's cheaper to make a touch panel and control board than to make buttons and mechanical timer. It's like auto climate control vs manual ... you may pay more for the auto climate. It does not = that it costs more to build (it does not)
I'm not a huge microwave user and typically hide it away or place it under a counter in a cubby when I do a kitchen. I recently had to buy one ... no one makes a "nice" microwave. they re all basically throw away products. What would it cost to make a great one ? Who would buy it ?
Same for almost any appliance. I have owned Asko, F&P and Miele dishwashers. I have only bought Bosch/ Thermador or Whirlpool. IMO -- Today as far as performance they are all about the same. I don't like the layout of the new Thermador vs the older Bosch units and of the three euro units I liked the Asko the best. I needed a dishwasher for a second condo I own in SC a couple of years ago. The second from the top 3 drawer Whirlpool stainless front from Costco was $550 installed after discounts -- with a 3 year warranty. I'm wondering how anyone can compete with that ? Was my 2k Thermador worth it ?
Try buying a built in refrigerator today ... not many out there.
Whirlpool is up against a lot of competition and the quest for lower cost manufacture is never ending .. it's the only way to survive. The fact that they have a problem in design manufacture is not a surprise ... it happens to everybody. It's how you deal with the problem.
I am always amazed at some situations. It's one thing in manufacture when designers come and say we have to build in more life to a given part because we can't design in easy replacement ... it's something else when they go cheap with something w/o thinking about if it fails.
It did not matter what US manufactures were going to do in 1975 -- the Japanese could produce what a huge part of the country wanted .. better and cheaper.
The same thing happened to appliance makers. It does not matter how great your top load washers are if they can't be sold because of some new government requirement or consumers no longer want them. Also -- Take an old style direct drive kenmore/ whirlpool washer. Everybody will say "what not just remake that simple unit". The question -- "how much would it cost to make that unit? I can tell you it's cheaper to make a touch panel and control board than to make buttons and mechanical timer. It's like auto climate control vs manual ... you may pay more for the auto climate. It does not = that it costs more to build (it does not)
I'm not a huge microwave user and typically hide it away or place it under a counter in a cubby when I do a kitchen. I recently had to buy one ... no one makes a "nice" microwave. they re all basically throw away products. What would it cost to make a great one ? Who would buy it ?
Same for almost any appliance. I have owned Asko, F&P and Miele dishwashers. I have only bought Bosch/ Thermador or Whirlpool. IMO -- Today as far as performance they are all about the same. I don't like the layout of the new Thermador vs the older Bosch units and of the three euro units I liked the Asko the best. I needed a dishwasher for a second condo I own in SC a couple of years ago. The second from the top 3 drawer Whirlpool stainless front from Costco was $550 installed after discounts -- with a 3 year warranty. I'm wondering how anyone can compete with that ? Was my 2k Thermador worth it ?
Try buying a built in refrigerator today ... not many out there.
Whirlpool is up against a lot of competition and the quest for lower cost manufacture is never ending .. it's the only way to survive. The fact that they have a problem in design manufacture is not a surprise ... it happens to everybody. It's how you deal with the problem.
I am always amazed at some situations. It's one thing in manufacture when designers come and say we have to build in more life to a given part because we can't design in easy replacement ... it's something else when they go cheap with something w/o thinking about if it fails.
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- 33
I was speaking to a guy at a party a few years ago and mentioned that I had a family of fox in my yard for the first time ever and I have owned this property for 30 years. I told him I had an eight pound Pomeranian now and she just looked at them (mother and kids). He happened to work for the state of NJ in wild life conservation and I was wondering why they were now around etc. I also mentioned we have fewer stray cats around (my property backs up to a large conserved park) ... he told me coyotes. He them said they entered Camden NJ and eliminated the stray cat problem. They will go after a cat and the fox being native are smart enough to move awayThere's a stray cat that haunts the neighborhood here.
Last week, it sat on my front patio several times, meowing real loud, even screaming.
The patio is directly below my bedroom windows, you can imagine the noise when trying to get some sleep at 1AM.
I cured that critter real quick..... I kept a large glass of water on the windowsill to dump down on that noisy beast.
phillymatt53
Well-known member
Water is pretty harmless always works best on loud cats, even if it's two toms fighting over a female in heat. (I think they're just thirsty...) Works on my neighbor's yappy little rat dog, too... one glass over the fence and he's quiet as a mouse. Now I just have to ask him if he wants a drink...
vacerator
Well-known member
My mom didn't like cats and always threw water on them.,
vacerator
Well-known member
My mom said warm not boiling water. By the time water boils, hopefully the cat went scat.
PETA People Eating Tasty Animals
vacerator
Well-known member
PETA; people engaged in, pick the T yourself, A= draw a circle or a pit.
phillymatt53
Well-known member
I can complain a lot about some of MY neighbors.
Renters, SLOBS, Ignorant, Disruptive, No Consideration for others.
I'm moving, so getting new neighbors. Seems like a nice area, but I've been hanging around with the current group for about 11 years, we're pretty much all high functioning alcoholics! Saw an interesting tee shirt a while back... "There's room for all God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes on my plate." (no, I don't eat cats... knowingly!)
whirlpool862
Well-known member
What happened to Whirlpool now reminds me of what happened to Maytag in the early 2000s. Maytag used to be great and reliable, but in the early 2000s and late 1990s, Maytag started significantly declining. Rebranding Norge units and Amanas under the Maytag name, launching the Neptune in 1997, launching their worst unit (the Neptune TL). The line of Maytag dependable care machines also got more narrow in the 2000s, and the Norgetags and Amanatags (which had far more issues) were significantly more popular in the 2000s.
Whirlpool’s first decline was launching the VMW, although their older VMW’s were more reliable than many of the other brands of high efficiency machines (such as the HydroWave). They still had more issues and failures than the direct drives. In 2018, Whirlpool started putting smaller balance rings on their 3.8 to 3.9 cu ft units, and in late 2019 they put it on the bigger machines.
In 2023, they had their most severe decline, and now, all their smaller VMW machines have control board issues. The bigger ones have major issues with the pump wire and they tend to vibrate on the spin cycle when new.
Some of the Whirlpools are literally having the control boards fail in under a year, it’s only December and new threads and posts show people reporting constant draining on models made on early, 2025, so Whirlpool isn’t even fixing the issue.
If Whirlpool goes bankrupt in a couple years it’s well deserved, they’ve been making everything worse on their machines. It started off as reducing the balance ring size on the 3.8 to 3.9 cu ft VMW’s with the stainless steel drum, in 2023 they began using the worst transducers ever on their traditional style VMWs, at least those are being discontinued (tho Lowe’s has like thousands of those still in stock). I believe the WTW4950HW, WTW4955HW, WTW4957PW, WTW4816FW, WTW4855HW, WTW4850HW, and NTW4516FW are ALL discontinued. They seem to be replaced with the newer style VMW’s (e.g. WTW4100SW), which probably have the major pump wire issues.
Whirlpool is now even worse than Samsung (for their lower end ones). Even Samsungs are more reliable now, I’d take replacing the suspension rods after 2 years over having my control board fail within 10 months.
The Samsungs aren’t good, control board issues, pump issues, and suspension issues are common. Their new DC drain pumps used on the stator units are having a major failure where it makes a weird noise, so, I wouldn’t buy one.
Honestly, I’ll just buy a used washer for now on if I can’t afford a Speed Queen. Every brand seems to have gotten worse. Whirlpool and their control boards, GE washers that explode, and newer Samsungs with a major issue with the DC pump motors. The LG’s seem better than the others, as well as the cheap GE’s (tho if I’ll get a GE I’ll get the cheaper one, never the expensive profile version).
Whirlpool is now easily one of the worst when it comes to washing machines, which is sad.
Whirlpool’s first decline was launching the VMW, although their older VMW’s were more reliable than many of the other brands of high efficiency machines (such as the HydroWave). They still had more issues and failures than the direct drives. In 2018, Whirlpool started putting smaller balance rings on their 3.8 to 3.9 cu ft units, and in late 2019 they put it on the bigger machines.
In 2023, they had their most severe decline, and now, all their smaller VMW machines have control board issues. The bigger ones have major issues with the pump wire and they tend to vibrate on the spin cycle when new.
Some of the Whirlpools are literally having the control boards fail in under a year, it’s only December and new threads and posts show people reporting constant draining on models made on early, 2025, so Whirlpool isn’t even fixing the issue.
If Whirlpool goes bankrupt in a couple years it’s well deserved, they’ve been making everything worse on their machines. It started off as reducing the balance ring size on the 3.8 to 3.9 cu ft VMW’s with the stainless steel drum, in 2023 they began using the worst transducers ever on their traditional style VMWs, at least those are being discontinued (tho Lowe’s has like thousands of those still in stock). I believe the WTW4950HW, WTW4955HW, WTW4957PW, WTW4816FW, WTW4855HW, WTW4850HW, and NTW4516FW are ALL discontinued. They seem to be replaced with the newer style VMW’s (e.g. WTW4100SW), which probably have the major pump wire issues.
Whirlpool is now even worse than Samsung (for their lower end ones). Even Samsungs are more reliable now, I’d take replacing the suspension rods after 2 years over having my control board fail within 10 months.
The Samsungs aren’t good, control board issues, pump issues, and suspension issues are common. Their new DC drain pumps used on the stator units are having a major failure where it makes a weird noise, so, I wouldn’t buy one.
Honestly, I’ll just buy a used washer for now on if I can’t afford a Speed Queen. Every brand seems to have gotten worse. Whirlpool and their control boards, GE washers that explode, and newer Samsungs with a major issue with the DC pump motors. The LG’s seem better than the others, as well as the cheap GE’s (tho if I’ll get a GE I’ll get the cheaper one, never the expensive profile version).
Whirlpool is now easily one of the worst when it comes to washing machines, which is sad.
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phillymatt53
Well-known member
It's really sad how these appliances have gotten to be these days.
From sturdy reliable machines........ to plain old junk at insanely rediculous prices.
The things that I read on here, and other websites, all turn my stomach.
It justifies my hanging on to my Maytag A482 and DG482 machines.
Those must have done at least 2000 or more washloads over the decades, and still perform like new, so why would I ever even think about upgrading to a piece of crap?
A neighbor friend of mine stopped by to help me move some furniture out the back basement door.
First thing he says is "Wow, you're still using that old washer?.... you need to upgrade to something new and better."
Clueless he was.... typical of today's brainwashed society.
vacerator
Well-known member
Oh, is Whirlpool up for sale like Maytag was? No. Not a fair comparison then.
whirlpool862
Well-known member
Not quite yet. They may be soon. Whirlpool may soon go bankrupt, which is just sad. Maybe not, at least Whirlpool still makes good dryers (I think WP actually makes some of the best modern dryers on the market).
Whirlpool’s fridges are okay, not sure about their new stoves and ovens. But, that’s what the decline of Whirlpool reminds me of, not quite like GE.
GE declined even worse tbh, it wasn’t only their washers that got worse in quality, but also their dryers and dishwashers. We all know the Model-T’s and HydroWaves with SHEET METAL cabinets were horrible quality. Yes, the GE HydroWave and Model-T cabinets WERE made of sheet better for the cabinets. This is correct.
GE is actually stepping up again a bit for their cheaper washers, while Whirlpool keeps going down in quality for everything. Maybe Whirlpool will end up like Frigidaire where Midea will eventually make washers for Whirlpool.
Another thing to point out, Maytag’s Amanatags were built somewhat like a Speed Queen at first glance if you looked on the inside, the only major design difference was that the Amanatags had dual action agitators, but they weren’t nearly as good quality and they broke down quite often. Even the Norge ones weren’t that good tho they were far better than the ananatags. The Norgetags didn’t have a Speed Queen design, while the amanatags did, that’s how you can differentiate between them. The Amanatags also had a more Speed Queen-look to them than the Norgetags did.
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At least WP's suspension rods are reasonably priced, I needed a set for a GE a few years back and they cost nearly the price of the washer. We were able to get it going again by putting a bead of weld under each damper about an inch above the crimp... it actually worked very well to compensate for the compressed springs. Of course it will have had an effect upon balancing certain loads, but I never noticed any problems.
WP is having the same problem so many large companys wind up with. Growth winds up being from buying out competitors, rather than building good products. One dumb decision after another, with the end result being failure. GM bought how many other companies through the 1950's-60's, then neeeded bailouts to survive as a fraction of it's old self. Any real innovation winds up quashed by committee design process'. Let the marketing and finance departments run the company... right into the ground!
My employer merged with an upstart competitor some years back, and wound up ditching our old product that had more than 60% of the world market for their sh*t design. We're shrinking year by year, hopefully something will come up that regains our lead, but it's far more difficult to claw back that kind of dominance once it's gone...
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