My $30 find!

[dustin92]

I saw wn ad while scanning Craigslist "Whirlpool washer $50), and decided to have a look... It happened to be a Duet Sport Front loader, but the seller said it gave an error code while washing. I contacted the seller, and asked which codes they were getting- F-20, but they hadn't hooked it up to water, and previously F-21 *or* 22. Well, through the power of Google, I discovered that F-20 is a water flow problem, and F-21 was a completely blocked drain or failed pump. F-22 was a failed door lock. Ok, nothing too major. I asked if they would take $30 and they agreed without hesitation. Went g picked it up, and found it to be in *Really* nice condition, and the house was gorgeous with a long paved driveway. I got it home and unloaded (with help!), and ran a test cycle in the driveway. Sure enough, about 5 minutes into wash, F-20. Ok, guess I need both hoses (was just running it on garden hose cold, with the hot inlet capped). Cancel and drain... WOW is the pump noisy! Got both hoses connected, start another cycle and step away for a few minutes... come back to a washer full of clear water flashing "Sd", and a funny odor around the area. Google error code "Sd", and I discover it is an oversuds or slow draining code.. Cancel the cycle, and it won't drain. Hmmmm ok... Google some more and discover that "Sd" is displayed after 4 minutes of pumping and the pressure switch not being tripped. 4 more minutes and F-21 is displayed, indicating a blocked drain or filter, or a failed . Well it's pretty obvious what the issue is... the pump isn't working. But it worked just a few minutes ago? I removed it and found out why.. the bearings and seals were completely shot, to the point of the impeller running crooked enough to wear through it's bearing plate, allowing water to freely flow into the motor housing, thus shorting/binding the motor. There's my funny odor. I found a new pump on Ebay for $38 shipped, bought it, and it came in the snail mail today. I installed it, ran a quick rinse/spin, and all is well. The pump is very quiet and no more error codes. I moved it in the house, in place of the Frigidaire Gallery front loader, which is getting a tad noisy on spin (bearings), so I could test it with proper hot/cold water and a drain, and so far it works well. Does need a new shock or two, as it's clicking when the drum moves. Bearings sound great, and so far, after 2 clean washer cycles, and two loads of laundry, no more error codes YAY! After I get it leveled and get the shocks replaced, it may actually stay, even though I bought it to re sell. I'm impressed with the cleaning so far, and it actually uses WATER, especially in the rinses (2" or so up the window!), and adds more water until it reaches and stays at that level. The Frigidaire only fills once, no matter how much water is soaked up by the load. I found myself adding water through the dispenser or canceling/restarting several times until all the clothes were wet. So far, a good buy

 

[rp2813]

Good Score!

Sell the Frigidaire instead.

 

[dustin92]

Might just do that, we have the matching dryer to the Frigidaire, but it's electric and we only have gas hookups here, and not enough juice to run an electric dryer anyway. Would be able to sell a matched set that way. The Whirlpool feels much more solid than the Frigidaire, from the way the door fits to the way the control knob turns, to the sturdy, solid "catch" as the dispenser drawer is pushed in, where the Frigidaire felt brittle and fragile from day 1. I have some more laundry to do tomorrow, will see what the outcome is, and go from there. Both machines were built in 2008, the Whirlpool in March and the Frigidaire in August. What concerns me is the reviews on the Duet sport are terrible, while the reviews on the Frigidaire are fairly decent, although I don't know why :/

 

[rp2813]

Don't base your decision on negative reviews.  They're predominantly provided by people who don't know how to use and care for their front loaders.  

 

I've had both a Duet and a Frigidaire, but in the largest size.  It's probably apples & oranges compared to your two machines, but the Duet was by far a more capable machine than the Affinity.

 

[dustin92]

Took a couple pictures, and still working great. Clothes are coming out far dryer and better rinsed. Seems I'm not able to upload the pics though Oh well, most of us know what a basic Whirlpool Duet sport looks like anyway.

 

[laundromat]

Yes,from my experiences in lots of different U.S. brands,the Whirlpool Duets are a lot more solid and versitile. I was able to readjust the presure switch and increase their water levels to a more acceptible amount. I never need to stop them in the middle of the cycles for any reason. The water increase has proven to be more precise and gets the clothes cleaner rinsing them out more thoroughly . Ive done the same with my LGs and Miele TouchTronic.

 

[yoblount]

Duet Sport

I had a Duet Sport. Not a bad washer.
It was one of the only front loaders that I've had that didnt fuss around trying to distribute a load... that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you view it. I had the unit installed in my garage perfectly leveled on a concrete floor. When it would ramp up ANYTHING on the to would be tossed to the floor. lol
It was pretty amusing at times.

The bad thing about all that shaking is it finally broke a relay on the control board. A quick trip to radio shack and a few hours fussing around with a soldering iron fixed that issue.

Another thing to look out for is the detergent drawer. The little arm that diverts the water to the drawer can stretch over time. I had to bend mine back down some days when it would get really warm in the garage. Replacing it would have fixed it permanently but since I never had anything on top of the machine, lol, it wasnt an issue to take the top off.

Enjoy!

 

[dustin92]

How would I adjust the pressure switch? I would like to raise the water levels a bit. I opened up the top this morning, and found the pressure switch (I think), in the back, right corner. There appears to be several adjustment screws, and I don't want to turn the wrong one and really mess something up! All I have ever seen are switches with a single screw, and the operation is fairly obvious.

 

[yoblount]

Pressure Switch

If you look at the switch, there are 4 holes. You want to turn the screws in the two bottom holes slightly clockwise. Do not mess with the screws in the top holes.
I was able to increase the water so that it came up halfway up the silver part of the wash basket. I felt that was a good balance between low water use and good rinsing performance. I would not increase it past the boot though because the wash arms are pretty short.

 

[dustin92]

It is already almost to the boot during the wash, rinses are slightly higher. When I ran it empty on a rinse/spin for testing, I had water about 1/3 up the window, but on regular, heavy duty, and whitest whites, it is nowhere near that high. I feel it could use a bit more water.

 

[dustin92]

Could someone who knows what they are talking about PLEASE help me out? I tried the above advice, and tightened the lower set of screws, gradually, and testing after each adjustment. I eventually had both screws completely tightened, and the water level hadn't moved. I googled "whirlpool duet water level" and found that I should have been tightening the top set of screws..... GRR. At this point the thing is so far out of adjustment that it isn't working properly. I set it to a quick wash to test it out, and the wash level was almost non existant, then it drained and threw an Sd code, which meant the pressure switch wasn't releasing when the water level dropped. I adjusted one of the sets of screws, (I don't even remember which ones, I'm so frustrated I could throw the thing out in the front yard!), and it filled halfway up the door for the rinses, drained, and tried to go into the final spin with the drum half full of water! What I really need to know at this point is 1., what are the factory settings, and 2., WHAT SET OF SCREWS CONTROLS WHAT? Seriously, if you don't have a clue, please keep your mouth SHUT! END RANT! I went from a working washer with slightly low water levels, to a non working washer that throws error codes and tries to spin with a tub full of water Please help!

 

[henene4]

Factory settings

I don't know a lot about these switches, but one thing I can tell you is that if you are that frustrated, don't even bother bringing it back to "factory" setting. As long as you did not mark anything (I doubt you did) you'll have hours of finding that spot again. These switches aren't to expensive (somewhere around 40$ I think) so I think you'd be better of getting a new one (maybe out of a scrap machine or so) and try again.
But this is again a thing about appliances: Read and think twice or more before you do anything! Double-check everything! As long as I am not 100% sure, I write "I think" behind that fact. So ask if one is really 100% sure and wait for other responses.
If you try it again: Mark all screws with a water proof marker. Make a line on the screw and a corresponding one on the switch it self. This way, you can count the revolutions and exactly know when you get back to the point zero. Make a small dot on one side of the screw. This way, knowing in which direction you turned is more easy. Than, give each screw a number from 1 to 4 in your case.
With all this done, take a sheet of paper and right down something like this every time you do an aadjustment
1: 2 turns •
2: 2 turns •
3: 1 turn
4: 1 turn
This means you turned screws 1&2 2 full turns towards the dot, 3&4 one full turn away from the dot. Should anything go wrong, just do the opposite of each note and you should be back at normal!

 

[dustin92]

Well, lesson learned- I messed with it some more this morning, I ended up with barely 1/2" of water, but it thought it was over the door, since it pumped out when I paused it. I messed with it some more, and it filled halfway up the door and. was still going. I paused it and it unlocked the door! Good thing it didn't open or I would have had one major mess. I just ordered a good used switch on ebay for $9 shipped. Should be here next week. Until then, I will be doing laundry downstairs. Can anybody confirm that it is in fact the lower left screw ONLY that sets the wash level?

 

[DADoES]

 
IMO there's no need to mess with the water level.  The Duet I used for a couple months after refurbing it worked perfectly fine at the factory-set levels.

 

[dustin92]

After this mess I may very well just leave it alone. As much as I would like the levels just a bit higher, I don't want to buy another pressure switch.

 

[dustin92]

Finally able to upload pictures, decided to try a different browser.

 

[dustin92]

[No message]

 

[rp2813]

Look for the good and praise it

I never felt the need to add any additional water to my Duet, even when washing our king size mattress pad. If I were you, I'd leave well enough alone.

 

I can't say the same for the current Affinity.  I'm regularly adding water to large loads, and have to add around three gallons when washing the mattress pad.  I recently installed a new wall mounted laundry sink and a pull-out faucet with 5' hose, so I can simply add water using the faucet now.  Before that, I was filling and dumping a 100 oz. Tide bottle anywhere from one to four times, depending on the load.

 

[dustin92]

The new pressure switch came yesterday and so far it is working fine.