Most Maddening Washer Commerical

[Chetlaham]

Anyone ever feel this way about a commercial?

I came across this commercial by chance again. My emotions are now running high lol. I have to say there is LOTs to unpack here in 29 seconds. First off, if GE had taken every new idea out out of every old washing machine they wouldn't have trashed their reputation trying to reinvent (or rather cheapen) the wheel to the point of screwing the user. The whole commercial is tacky and cringe, the music more appropriate action cartoon, the wash action is depicted as a spin drain in the opposite direction of how this washer normally spins, the sounds are not that of an actual washer, the actors appear fooled and responding to the water being flung out of the basket.

There are no new ideas in that washer- Whirlpool created the dual action agitator 15 years prior, the model T design was already used by Hitachi in the 70s, Plastic tubs in WCI, ect.

The spin cycle is not quiet, at least not when the drain pump is running.

Are they seriously saying that model T is superior to the perfected and proven designs behind it? That are light years ahead in reliability, durability, clean-ability, serviceability, loading, capacity, energy efficiency, clothing care, customer service, looks, sound, feel, and literally any other category?

Its not one good idea after another. And it is certainly NOT the best washer ever made by GE.



What gets me is not that advertising is supposed to know the anatomically correct operation of a clothes washer, but rather how the best of the best can be depicted as obsolete while the worst of the worst can be presented, with outright lies, as the exact opposite in every category in a manner that comes across as showing great veracity to the average consumer. When in reality the whole commercial was born, written and produced out of Freudian compensation.

Forgive me, but placing the model T ahead of any other washer pushes the right buttons for me lol.

 

[combo52]

I remember that dad

And it was extremely accurate, and it was truly the best top loading automatic washer GE ever built and sold when it came to cleaning performance good balance good spin performance excellent removal of sand and lint was superior to the washer that came before it.

The unfortunate thing they didn’t emphasize durability and they sourced to many of the parts out so the machines were not as durable as the previous machines but the performance was excellent.

We kept one of these T model washers that we’re going to have in our museum because it was such a significant improvement compared to the washers that came before it, from GE at least.

John L

 

[maytag85]

I’d argue the best washers ever made are the 1966 to 2006 Maytags, literally would run for decades other than a set of belts or pump.

 

[Chetlaham]

Having used one (actually two) the performance can not come close to a DD, BD or even a Maytag. The machine was also very rough tons of lint in the dryer. The suspension was simply to undampened- it worked well until it didn't- resonating while having the tub violently bang into the cabinet.

Whirlpool doesn't have to line up products, they just show a person using one of their machines and the rest speaks for itself.

 

[Chetlaham]

Sean, we can agree here. The best suspension, clothing care, durability, reliability, longevity, quiet by design and rinsing hands down 1966-2006 Maytags. No other washers come close IMO.

 

[combo52]

Reply number 2

Sean you have a little idea what you’re talking about, may tags are not hard on pump belts most Maytags go to the grave with the original pump belt and water pump those were two of the parts least likely to fail on a Maytag.

Normal parts that failed on Maytag‘s were timers lid switches inlet valve like most washing machines and the thing that finally kills a Maytag is one of the top bearing in the transmission seizes up or the damper falls apart.

John L

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE washer!

What pissed me off was the machine would shake during agitation. I had the 2000 version with the push to start button and indicator lights after my 1993 filter-flo with the minibasket. The filter-flo was the best ever.

 

[maytag85]

“Sean you have little idea what you are talking about, Maytags are not hard on pump belts most Maytags go to the grave with the original pump belt and water pump those were two of the parts least likely to fail on a Maytag”

Are you sure? Most belts on Maytags were replaced since they either started squealing after many years of use or simply broke and k can see that being rare on a Maytag but probably did happen with a few out there. I can see pumps didn’t fail all that often on Maytags but some were probably replaced since the seals failed causing a leak or the bearings would bind up from lack of lubrication but Dan mentioned you could bring them back to life by adding a few drips of oil to the pump bearing

“Normal parts that failed on Maytag’s were timers, lid switches, inlet valve like most washers and the thing that finally kills a Maytag is one of the top bearing in the transmission seizes up or the damper falls apart”

Huh, my 1973 Maytag A606 is all original and everything worked perfectly fine on it until the hot water inlet stuck open due to hard water deposits. The Maytag A806 I picked up from waterwitch earlier this summer is all original and works perfectly fine despite a few cosmetic defects. Supposedly the damper pads needed to be replaced but were there when I got it home earlier this summer, added some a little grease to the damper pads to be sure there’s some lubrication so they won’t come undone.

One trick you can do if the bearing in the transmission seizes up is to flip the machine upside down, let it sit awhile and if the the main transmission pulley moves freely then you successfully fixed the machine and that’s what YouTube user tallboyyyy did to his 1978 Maytag A408 a few months back and has been working fine ever since.

 

[Chetlaham]

@GELaundryforEver: Yes indeed! The inner and outer tub would vigorously shake back and forth while the suspension rod sockets would loudly groan and the entire frame would just squeal. The noises were thee most awful. Rapid fire squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan squeak groan with some other nail on chalk board self destructing noises poking through on top of it for the whole duration of the agitation and it felt like you're ears had been violated in more than one way.

It was also that shacking that would often break the tub straps, resulting in the tub banging against the cabinet during spin.

The whole concept of suspending a short stroke tub brake transmission driven agitator with an instant spin cycle engagement low slip rapid acceleration clutch on 4 springs with thin rods is simply not practical.

Every other washer that mimics this system compensates for it by snubbering the tub and/or gearing the cycle so the tub does not oscillate or shack back and forth to such extremes during wash and spin ie a ramped spin and weak/no brake so the inner tub moves and not the outer tub.

Overall a very bad choice made worse by aggressive cheapening.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE laundry

I'd rather hear the loud spin cycle of the filter-flo than the stupid squealing during agitation. The sawing noise was annoying! Granted it did clean well. Mine had the gentle power agitator. GE should've revived their filter-flo or at least improved on it. I blame Jack Welsh!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

research and development

If anybody had the most research and development under their belt, it's whirlpool who spent 12 years on the direct drive system.

 

[angus]

I definitely agree with the durability comment. I had one of those from 1997-2000 and while it performed well enough, it felt much flimsier than its Filter Flo predecessor, and I didn't notice that it's performance was that much better then the unit it replaced. I ended up with on-going suspension issues that were "repaired" under warranty and finally resulted in GE actually buying the washer back from me.

The design ideas were good, but I wonder if GE didn't rush this to market before it conquered the durability issue order to remain competitive. They might have been late to the party to redesign their laundry equipment and I recall that CR (I know, I know) commented on the last generation of the Filter Flo washers that they were "dated and no longer keeping pace with the competition" when compared with Whirlpool, Maytag, etc..
But then I'm no expert.

 

[jamiel]

I worked for GE during the 1989-1992 timeframe, and remember in 1992 they were actively soliciting employees to adopt one of the new generation washers for use testing. Never knew anyone who did it, but definitely development was going on. The Filter Flo era was ending.

 

[johnb300m]

Lol sounds like you never met any advertising, marketing people. They care ZILCH about any what you just mentioned.
The entire goal is to sell the product (doesn’t even matter what it is) for the highest price, at the lowest cost, quickly.
It’s all glitz and emotion. Tech and specs do not sell commodities.

 

[Chetlaham]

@angus: There is no way GE could have resolved the durability issues without a major redesign of all the major components like transmission, seals, clutch, timer, basket drive, drive block, air bell, agitator, suspension, cabinet, ect, ect ect. Over all it was a very bad re-iteration of the 70s Hitachi that should have never been applied and utilized the way it was.

@gelaundry4ever: Jack Welsh is definitely to blame. Ripping apart GE dishwashers I can confidently make the claim GE appliances were deliberately built to fail after the mid 90s.

GE worked by mainly selling to builders, landlords, institutions and property owners. Once GE had won their reputation it was merely taking advantage of it after the fact to squeeze what ever money that would out of their loyal base without regard to GE's future.

One of the mega rental properties around me switched from blaming the tenants in the 2000s when GE's began dropping like flies to Whirlpool and Frigidaire products in the late 2000s.

And, regarding that "gentle power agitator"- there was nothing gentle about it. On full loads the clothes would sit as clothes in the center were beaten over and over the ones behind them stood stationary for 10 minutes.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE post filter-flo development

Sow what was the development like for the GE post filter-flo washers?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE agitation arc

I bet GE had an aggressive 90 degree agitation arc. It was very abusive. Their motors had a high pitch whirr to them It was annoying. The only thing close they were to the filter-flo sound was the drain pump when the water went through the drain pipe.

 

[Chetlaham]

I think the short stroke had something to do with cost cutting. Fast stroke meant smaller transmission and smaller gears. IIRC.

The transmission on model Ts is scary small.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE transmissions

I bet they used thin oil to lubricate the tiny gears. The filter-flo oil was very thick and the 100 spm worked the best. The post filter-flos that followed had very thin oil and therefore had to use a 154 spm to compensate. Shame on GE. I bet the motors looked and sounded different too.