new belt drive whirlpools

[cphifer5115]

hey guys im looking at buying a brand new washer and dryer and im interested in the new belt drive top load agitator models that whirlpool is not building in place of their old direct drive. just curious if any of the members here have one and could tell me what they think of it. my concern is will it wash a full load of blue jeans. I work in a factory and that' what I wear to work. I still have my old 1981 whirlpool belt drive and it's still going strong. so Im realy just looking to the future when it becomes impossible to maintain the old washer and have to buy a new one. if there are any videos of these newer washers I would love to about them. thanks
Chris

 

[logixx]

for example

 

[norgechef]

I would suggest you keep the old washer...

These are junk, so many sensors and electronic controls that don't even do full rinses. They just do spray rinses which are not effective AT ALL! but some Kenmore belt drives do a full wash and full rinse on the casual cycle. But I still don't think they clean very effectively, not enough roll over in my opinion.

 

[norgechef]

I would suggest you keep the old washer...

These are junk, so many sensors and electronic controls that don't even do full rinses. They just do spray rinses which are not effective AT ALL! but some Kenmore belt drives do a full wash and full rinse on the casual cycle. But I still don't think they clean very effectively, not enough roll over in my opinion.

 

[thefixer]

Total piece of junk! Unbelievable number of failures on a design that's been out for just 3 years. Loose nuts on main drive pulley, high failure rate on the shift actuator, loose connections, broken wires, bad transmissions and drive splutch's, faulty control boards, faulty lid locks, very high prices for replacement parts. Whirlpool has taken a huge step backwards with this design. They are everywhere, being sold under Kenmore, Roper, Maytag, Estate, KitchenAid, Kirkland... There's repair questions just about every other day on at least one of five washer repair forums that I participate in. The only decent top loader available today is one of the Speed Queen models and even they have dumbed down water level and temp control.

Eric

 

[whirlykenmore78]

If you are going to buy new.

Save yourself the trouble and skip these as well as ANY HE TL machine. You will be much better off with a Speed Queen set.
WK78

 

[SQueenJJ]

Or do like I did and bought me a 10 yr old KitchenAid Direct Drive-- It works great and parts will be available for a LONG time.

 

[cphifer5115]

Ok thanks guys. Thats what I was affraid of. My old 1981 whirlpool still working great so im just gonna keep it.

 

[alr2903]

You have to remember the 2013 energy and water levels are much less than the 2011 standards. If you are considering "new" go with a FL. I really believe new TL's are only on the floor to give more mature buyers something to purchase that they are semi familiar with. alr

 

[thefixer]

Yes, then maybe you could get in on one of the many class action lawsuits against Sears, Whirlpool, LG, and Electrolux concerning foul smelling mold issues with there wonderful front load washers that use even less water than current top loaders and use about a tablespoon of detergent. Make sure you get the extended warranty so your covered when that big colorful beast full of the latest wiz-bang electronics features fails.

Eric

 

[alr2903]

Thefixer, no intent to restart the old debate of FL vs. TL. Senior consumers are confused with all of the electronics. If they see an agitator and dials they assume the TL is replacing exactly what they had previously. alr

 

[qualin]

At first glance, it seems like a decent design.. But as soon as I heard "Mode Shifter", suddenly I recalled the large amount of GE mode shifter failure videos floating around on youtube.

Even though these machines do have advanced technology, I don't like the large amount of plastic everywhere.

You know, I'd almost swear that they're deliberately designing these machines poorly on purpose to get people off the idea of top loaders.

 

[thefixer]

"Senior consumers are confused with all of the electronics. If they see an agitator and dials they assume the TL is replacing exactly what they had previously"

Seniors are smarter and wiser and know what works and what doesn't. The electronics are for the youngsters who are easily duped, don't have a clue, can't do anything manually, and can't do anything for themselves, as it all has to be done for them, preferably through electronic control.

Eric

 

[tolivac]

I don't like the plastic,either.The plastic pulley could be a breaking point here.Why not a metal pulley-how bout a metal outer drum? and so on.Think I will continue to hunt for older machines.Looks like WP new BD just might not hold up.Too much electronics-esp the electronic reversing motor-hope the motor driver on the control board is robust-otherwise it will fail with all those forward-reverse agitate cycles.When you "plug" a motor as this does(forawrd-reverse the motor quickly-plugging)Puts a stress on the motor driver.Then we are back to the "spin-splode" FL washers on another thread-guess I'll try to stick with the oldies.

 

[DirectDriveDave]

Metal outer drum

You know, this may sound very odd, and in SO many cases I say that metal is better than plastic, but I actually don't mind (dare I say like) the plastic outer tub of the DD, the main reason for that is because I never have to worry about it rusting, also because I don't fully consider it a "moving part" aside from the shakes of agitation and spin. Of course, there is always maybe the chance of it cracking, but this one hasn't in all 23 years, so it's still working well.

Sometimes I wonder, did WP go with a plastic outer tub to maybe reduce weight, or was it just for the standard cheaper move?

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Your right squeenjj

Getting a DD in good condition is also a good way to go.
WK78

 

[jerrod6]

I had a 1996 direct drive KA TL washer and although It gave me trouble with some of the parts performance the wash action and turnover was much better than any of these washers shown in the videos.

Not only that but that first video where the woman is showing the load sizes...really? I can fit more into my 6K front loader than what was shown in the heavy duty load in the video and it comes out spotless.

 

[tolivac]

Besides shredding my clothes-the other reason I got rid of my new at the time KN DD was the plastic tub was broken by the inner one slamming into it from out of balance spin-I thought I didn't have to worry about that-but Sears did fix the machine at no cost too me-the Sears tech replaced both drums.At the swap shop here in their graveyard saw several DD machines with bad outer drums with fine cracks in them causing them to leak.I think the metal outer drums are still best as what SQ puts in their new machines.Don't know why the outer tanks on those machines had fine cracks?Stress in the plastic from hot-cold water?

 

[washer111]

BD Whirlpools

I'm not sure if the models here in Aus are anything to go by, but the timer based ones I saw some time back (and even digital ones now) that are Energy Star models (They have the logo printed on them) seem fairly robust on the front, but are pretty crappy inside.

 

From the reviews I've seen online for these, transmission failures, timer failures, linting issues and "assorted other" failures. Personally, I've seen one in action: Very slow spin speeds (Very wet clothes at the end of the cycle), agitation sounds like a steam train (Chugga Chugga Chugga with lots of splashing, hissing and wooshing sounds). From this, I can say: AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!

 

If you are in the market for a new machine, get a Speed-Queen TL/FL machine, either will work fine for most people.

Failing that, repair your old Whirlpool. These machines were built for Sears and numerous other appliance manufacturers for a number of years: From the 70s right through to the last few years to quite recently, as far as I'm aware. With so many machines in service, it is unlikely that parts will become NLA for quite some time. Even so, members on here that repair machines/scrap them for a living may be able to cannibalise some machines for yours. And if you are really lucky, parts from newer machines could probably be fitted. You could retrofit newer parts or get others restored as needed. 

 

However, if you are "bent" on getting a machine when your current one dies, ensure you sell it to someone who might fix it, and get yourself a vintage machine or SpeedQueen, as recommended above. This will ensure you have properly clean clothes for quite some time.