new FL pair in the works----what would you buy?

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

5 Year Extended Contract

You will need it, only problem is consumers who purchase extended service contracts are usually far less satisfied with with service and generally do not keep the appliance as long before it is scraped. Probably the only good thing about a SC is after many failed repair attempts and a weeks worth of pay lost from taking off for incompetent repair attempts you can can usually get them to give you a new appliance, and then you can start all over again, LOL

An American built and backed machine almost always makes more since in the first place.

This week all of us went through refresher training for appliance repair and out of a class of about 35 guys when the subject of LG or Samsung appliances came up almost everyone in the room said they do not touch them, they are all still echoing stores about parts problems, flimsy cheap construction, poor technical support, and if you do actually succeed in fixing them they do not want to pay the service company. This is what we heard over ten years ago and it seems to have not gotten any better. I did not hear one person echo any support for any SS or LG appliance.

Refrigerator, ice-maker and dishwashers were the ones that had the largest # of complaints, the washers and dryers do seem in most cases to actually work for some # years, although I have never seen such thin metal in dryers and refrigerators as you see on these Korean appliances.

Samsung and LG only concern is to get this junk into your home after that good luck.
 
delivery/install tomorrow

The Electrolux 60 pair arrive tomorrow. The delivery guys will disassemble the Frigidaire stack and move it as far as the sidewalk (not into my neighbor's home but at least to the sidewalk---we will take it from there---he will use them side by side not stacked), then install the new pair.

These have reversible doors and evidently the crew will attach the doors on-site based on customer preference. Anyone have a checklist of things I"m supposed to do?

1. If I recall, I should have a level handy and make sure the machine tops are level front to back side to side and diagonally. Correct?

2. I believe I'm supposed to run a short cycle or at least fill the machine and then hit Drain to be sure it fills and drains ok, before they leave.

The package came with a new vent (duh), new braided hoses, and a stacking kit. My existing Frig stacking kit won't be needed by my neighbor and evidently won't fit the new machines.

Please advise if there are any items on the checklist I overlooked.
 
I really think SQ is probably the best

but I wouldn't want a TL washer since it doesn't have a heater. Not all FL washers are bad. My Duet has been pretty awesome and the heater gets the water really hot! I LOVE the looks of some of the LG's but I'm afraid of them for the reasons the person above mentioned, so I doubt I would ever get an LG or Samsung. For me it would be Whirlpool/Maytag or SQ front loader *IF* it has a heater.
 
thanks for the heads up

I had downloaded and read the owner's manuals for both machines, to familiarize myself with cycle selection and maintenance, but hadn't looked at the installation guides (assuming they contained only specs for electric connections and built-in installation measurements. Will be sure they run the Install cycle.

Good idea to run a Clean Washer cycle before first use?

At the store, they didn't ask me to select door hinge placement, my guess is I tell them when they deliver and they hinge the doors based on my choices.

Per the washer install guide, there is also a separate guide for the stacking kit, but I can't find the kit in the Accessories section of Electrolux.
 
Good luck!

Best wishes on your new machines! Hope they give you good service like your last set and that those you give your neighbors serve them well. Very nice gesture on your part.

Our eight year old FL Frigidaire set is going strong. Just one repair last year -- door lock on washer. Not bad.

The FL washer of the Frigidaire set I previously owned and gave to my son in 2006 finally gave it up after 13 years with no repairs. He bought another small door "Frig-more" at a Sears Outlet that was new old stock. Basically the same machine that matches the 13 year old dryer.

Can you post a photo of your new set?
 
@golittlesport: not here yet but will post when able.

There is a page for the stacking kit

http://www.electroluxappliances.com/P_N_estackit.aspx

but the link to the manual is non-operative. :(

Interesting news about your original small door FL that you gave to your son. 13 years is quite impressive. My neighbor is single and runs maybe three loads a week. It'll be interesting to see how long these last for him. Between the pair the only repair ever was to remove a button lodged in the dryer that was making a thumping noise.
 
First two loads

1. Perm press (100% cotton). My laundry sorter bags equaled one full load in the Frig 2140. I held back doing laundry this week so I'd have extra to stuff in the new Electrolux. It held 1 1/2 sorter bags loosely piled---not stuffed. Ran it on Casual with a prewash. I noted some underarm stains (patterned shirts---you can't really see it except on the white background of plaids and stripes) disappeared. The dryer got them dry in 38 minutes on Casual (starts warm/hot and cools down to room temp)

2. Sanitize: just to try her out, I washed a full load of bed linens on Sanitize, though normally I'd use a normal cycle on Hot. On this machine, the heater engages to heat the water to 156 F and indeed it was that hot when I put my hand in during a Pause. I didn't use a thermometer but the water was clearly hotter than my hot water line temp (140 F).

So far very delighted with this baby. Next up I may wash a comforter to see how it does.
 
If the opportunity arises, I'm curious about the Steam option. On my Frigidaire, there is no dedicated steam producer as there is on a Whirlpool or LG. Mine "adds steam" in one of two ways:

1) Adding the Steam option to a cycle gives you a 20-minute first rinse in very warm (around 115-120 degrees) water. The 2nd rinse is in warm water. I've never seen so much as a single wisp of steam in the tub. Cleaning is improved by the longer tumble, and the warm rinse produces a nice warm load at the end of the cycle. Try it on bed and bath linens.

2) Selecting the Allergen option (available only on the Heavy cycle) plus the Steam option: Allergen extends the wash portion of the cycle by about 20 minutes, heating the water to around 130 degrees. "Adding Steam" appears on the screen for about 15 minutes during the wash cycle. Again, have never seen steam. Cleaning is improved by extending and heating the wash water. The first rinse is not extended and the second rinse is in cold water. I see the Electrolux has a dedicated Allergen cycle, rather than providing it as an option to add to other cycles.

Wondering what the protocol is on your Electrolux. Try adding only the steam option to the Normal or Whitest Whites cycle for a load and let me know what the procedure is on your machine. I always use it for loads of sheets and bath towels, providing one the sensory pleasure of pulling out steamy-warm items at the end of the cycle.

Glad you're liking the results from your Electrolux!
 
ok, but first have to accumulate some addition item loads...

...having washed just about everything that needed washing yesterday!! Did a load of bed linens, perm press, and a quick wash load (two lightly soiled trousers and one pair short) just to see what it would do.

The dryer has a Y-connector to the faucet and thus has its own water supply. I do have a basket of folded launder that's been sitting in a basket for 2-3 weeks, I suppose I could run it through the dryer on steam to see what happens.

I need to consult the user manual for steam wash options and will copy/paste/report back to you. There are a LOT of cycles on these machines and I certainly didn't master all of them in a day! ;)

PS at the moment am washing a queen size synthetic comforter to see how well it handles this kind of a load. There is a Comforters cycle on the dryer but not on the washer.
 
"Add steam" option

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">ADD STEAM</span>

Select this option to add approximately 20 minutes

of tumbling in steam during the wash cycle.

It is recommended for heavily soiled loads to help

enhance the release of tough stains from fabrics

after initial agitation.

NOTE

• Steam may not necessarily be visible inside

drum during a steam wash cycle.

• Steam may not be present during entire steam

wash cycle.

IMPORTANT

• If steam is selected, rinse temperatures will be

elevated.

• If washer is paused during a steam wash

cycle, the door will remain locked due to higher

temperature in drum. DO NOT force open - it

will unlock upon cooling.

• During a steam cycle you may notice steam

exiting from the rear vent of the washer - this is

normal and not cause for alarm.

 

There is also a "Fast Steam" (I would imagine in lieu of the +20 minutes added by the Add Steam option above). It is a specialty cycle rather than an add-on option:

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">FAST STEAM</span>

The fast steam cycle adds the perfect amount of

steam into the clothing to refresh fabrics, remove

 

odors, and release wrinkles, reducing ironing.

 

So far have not tried any of the steam options. 
 
"there is no dedicated steam producer as there is on a Whirlpool or LG"

 

Like there <span style="text-decoration: underline;">was</span> - neither Whirlpool, nor LG use them any longer. Steam is made by the heater underneath the tub.

 

Eugene, for the "steam rinse" - are clothes actually wet or just tumbling damp in some steam (and thus not being rinsed)? And what about the Stain Treat option? It fills with cold and heats the water up? How's that supposed to work given the relatively weak heater?

 

Here's LG's steam option: it fills with some water and tumbles the clothes - without really adding detergent due to the ultra-low steam water level.

 

 
@logixx

Stain treat uses the integrated heater to heat the water to an unspecified higher temperature. From the instructions below, it appears to use cold water fill and the heater is used to heat the water European-style to take advantage of both enzyme and non-enzyme ingredients in the detergent, but it doesn't specify the temperature attained by the water. Of course, since we are playing with only 120V, the heating process has to take longer than it would in Europe. 

 

 I used it once yesterday, along with a pre-wash. I noted that the pre-wash could be done with cold or warm water. I forgot to pay attention (I was working on other projects around the house) as to which cycle happens first: pre-wash or stain treat, though it would make more sense to start with stain treat.

 

Also, the washer gives a time estimate based on cycles/options selected. I just went over to the washer and pretended to set up a Normal cycle with Stain Treat option. The estimated time without Stain Treat was 0:57 minutes; with Stain Treat, 1:07. The default heat setting for Normal was Hot. I tried changing wash temp to Warm and also to Cold, and Stain Treat still adds 10 minutes regardless of wash temp. So it must take 10 minutes to go from water line cold to whatever temperature Electrolux has selected for Stain Treat. Then I assume it drains and then refills for the main cycle at whatever temperature the user has selected. 

 

 The only high temperature precisely specified by the manual is for Sanitize cycle, 152 F/67 C. However, that cycle uses Hot incoming water and the heater--assuming one's incoming water is 140 F/60 C, doesn't have to raise the temperature very much. Na, aber deutliche Betriebsanleitungen sind leider von Amis (und Schwedischen...) nicht zu erwarten----unwie die Kunden in Deutschland, die Persil kaufen, wir wissen nicht, was wir haben... ;)

 

Below is a cut and paste from the owner's manual. Both selections are options that can be added to some of the standard cycles: 

 

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">STAIN TREAT</span>

 

Stain treat uses a special 10 minute soak/pretreat

 

agitation before the main wash. It fi lls initially with

 

detergent and cold water to prevent protein stains

 

from setting, then the internal heater is activated to

 

heat the wash water to remove non-protein based

 

stains. Can be used with prewash for the toughest

 

stains.

 

 

<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span>

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">PREWASH</span>

 

Select this option to add a short initial wash period

 

to a cycle. Heavily soiled and stained loads will

 

prewash for approximately 5 minutes. The water

 

will drain and the load will automatically advance

 

to the regular wash cycle.

 

See step 5 in “Operating Your Washer” section in this

 

guide for details on adding detergent to the dispenser.

[this post was last edited: 11/16/2014-10:05]
 
Hi Alexander-- The "steam rinse" uses the same amount of water as a regular 1st rinse. I didn't realize brands with dedicated steam producers had abandoned the format. Thanks for the information.

I found the Stain Treat option ineffective. I used it on a couple of loads of stained kitchen whites and was not impressed with the results. As you said, the water never really heats up to a hot temperature unless you use the Heavy cycle and add the Allergen option. To remove stains from colors, I add the Steam option to a cycle.

I experience excellent stain removal using the Sanitize cycle or the Heavy cycle coupled with the Allergen option.
 
Jim, I was surprised there wasn't a bulky items cycle.  So studying the chart, what's closest to Bulky Items on my Duet, I'd use delicate with fresh rinse and max water.  That's closest to my bulky items cycle.   
 
My first load yesterday was a huge accumulation of 100% cotton shirts and trousers with wrinkle-free finish (LL Bean is my idea of high fashion...). None were white, but there were striped Oxford cloth shirts on a white background. Some of the older shirts had dark deodorant stains (appear as a faint reddish-pink) that, because of the pattern, barely show.

Just to play with the various cycles, I selected Stain Treat AND Pre-wash. I did not play with the Add More Water option, nor did I experiment with Steam. The stains, while not gone, were reduced by 50%. I overrode the factory-set warm setting of the Casual cycle and upped the temperature to Hot, as all of the clothing is color-fast (though hot water may shorten the life of the wrinkle-free finish, I don't really know; I have shirts bought in 2006 that have not lost their finish however).

On the next colored perm press load, I will run Casual with Steam and see what happens.
 
Bob, I opened the PDF file for the washer again and searched for "bulky" and/or for "comforter". No cycle mentions either type of item.

FYI the comforter mentioned above is now drying using the Comforter cycle. After about 12 minutes the comforter is nearly dry to touch. This is a MUCH faster drying time than with the old comforter, and I suspect much of the improvement is due to the comforter emerging from the washer MUCH drier than it did from the Frig 2140.
 
Personally, I think "Steam" was a dumb idea someone came up with to still attain high temperatures without having to heat a tub full of 3 or 4 gallons of water to 153 degrees.  I'd rather just have the profile heating of from cool to sanitize like the original stain treat on HE3t and HE4t Kenmores.  I only use deepclean with steam option to heat the water gradually form warm to hot or sanitize for very heavily stained fabrics. 
 
I think the comforter cycle would translate into heavy duty. We used heavy duty for our king size comforter and it came out just like it would in a laundromat. However the spin cycle on the heavy duty was a little odd. During its ramp up stage I noticed it would stay at a slower rpm longer, 1-2mins, then ramp up to medium spin and stay just as long as before, then it would go for its top speed (1200rpm). It didn't do this for any of the other cycles. Also noted how it sometimes was ramping up and in the middle of the spin it would ramp back down to its sensing phase and then speed back up if there was nothing wrong. Just like you said it comes out alot dryer and it was dry in our maytag dryer in 30 minutes.
 
When these models were first released, the service manual listed these temps:

 

Sanitize - 152°F
Hot - 131°F
Eco Hot - 113°F
Warm - 84°F
Eco Warm - 81°F
Warm Rinse - 75°F
Cold - 59°F

 

Since that was some time ago, I am guessing the current temps could be more something like this

 

Sanitize - 152°F

Allergen - 131°F

Hot - 113°F

Warm - 75°F

...
 
Danke für die hilfreiche Informationen. :)

 

Jetzt bei Electrolux gibt es nur "Heiss" "Warm" "Kalt", sowie "Eco Kalt". Ich glaube, dass Heiss Warm und Kalt werden von Auto Temp Control kontrolliert. 

 
 
Comforter update

I've washed two medium-fill full/queen IKEA synthetic comforters. Both came out great, and the dryer handled the drying (Comforter cycle) in 20 mins. I removed the comforter after ten minutes to turn it inside out but otherwise the dryer was on autopilot.

Compared to my old Frig 2140, this washer does a far better job of saturating the comforter with water so that it occupies less space during washing.

I am now washing comforter #3, a king size light-fill IKEA comforter. It fit snugly (not a lot of spare room) in the drum. However, now that it's saturated with water, it occupies less than half the drum volume. I am using Normal Cycle on Hot with Add Steam option (cycle goes from 1:13 to 1:33 in duration if Add Steam is selected). I'm sure the dryer can handle this lightweight comforter.

The challenge will be its partner, a medium-fill king size comforter. The pair were (and still are) sold as an alternative heavy/warm comforter. The pair snap together to make one very thick comforter, but what I find is that the combined comforter is simply too thick to insert easily into a duvet cover. Instead, I give each comforter its own cover and use them singly or one on top of the other, as temperature requires. The medium fill king will take some cramming to get the door closed, but once the water is added it will shrink down to manageable size. The 8.0 cu ft dryer looks as if it could handled two full size comforters at once, so it should have no problem with the medium-fill king.

FYI for those of you wondering what "Fresh Rinse" is----when this was introduced by Electrolux/Frigidaire, it didn't quite make sense since obviously the rinse would be done with new, out of the pipe water and not used/"unfresh" water. I learned from the retailer that Fresh Rinse routes rinse water directly into the drum, bypassing the detergent dispenser. I guess the theory is that traces of detergent or other agents that remain behind in the dispenser could be siphoned into the drum for rinses. Normally, fill water (e.g. at the start of a washer cycle) flows through the dispense to carry the soap to the drum.

Assuming that I can get the medium-fill king to fit/wash, I'll be saving $10 per comforter, or $80/year, since I generally washed each comforter at the laundromat at the start and the end of its "season" (i.e. late spring and late fall). I had to use the triple load machines at the laundromat ($5-6) and lots of dryer time. Not to mention savings of time by cleaning them at my convenience rather than having to make time to go to the laundromat.
 
Jim, you'll enjoy being able to wash comforters at home in your own machine. I wash mine about every six weeks and it's so much more convenient than taking a trip to the laundromat, using a washer that has had god-knows-what in it.

It's also nice to have a large capacity machine for the occasional huge load---bath linens, in my case.
 
The lighter weight king comforter fit with room to spare. The heavier-filled king comforter fit as well, but just barely without cramming it. Once the comforter absorbed the water, there was some spare room in the tub, but not much. The comforter came out nice and clean, and the dryer got it nice and fluffy dry in about half an hour. I did have to remove and reverse the comforters once while drying.

I was washing comforters at the laundromat twice a year, so about $80/year in coins. If the dryer lasts ten years, that's $800 saved, vs an after-rebate purchase cost of about $1000
 
steam update and time savings

One thing I"m learning quickly as owner of new, large capacity laundry machines: the update reports have to wait longer because now it takes longer to accumulate enough laundry for a test load!

Two nights ago ran a load on "Casual" (perm press), which for me are my work clothes: khaki trousers and dress shirts from LL Bean, 100% cotton with wrinkle free finish. After washing, I placed the load in the dryer and the drying was completed in 33 minutes. I deliberately left the load in the dryer overnight, rather than immediately removing them (usual modus operandi), so I could test the Steam Refresh (or whatever it's called) cycle. THis is intended for clothing left in the dryer, or stuff that's been sitting in a laundry basket for weeks without being put away. The cycle takes 15 minutes and extended tumble (wrinkle guard) can be added on the end for a no-heat tumble to prevent wrinkles, if you cannot remove clothing at the exact end of cycle.

Clothes did not feel warm to touch and seemed to be room temperature. No wrinkles that I could see, they had the same appearance--in terms of wrinkles--as if I had removed them immediately from the dryer at the end of drying the day before. With the old Frig dryer, clothing like this not removed promptly from Perm Press cycle would show wrinkles---the solution was that dryer's Touch Up cycle on Low or Med heat---that dryer used heat in lieu of steam.

One thing I'm beginning to see about having a larger capacity washer---of course, it let's you wash larger objects (comforters) that previously had to go to the laundromat. However, now I'm beginning to see/appreciate the convenience of simply not having to run loads as often. With the Frig 2140 (former machine) I typically had to run a perm press load every four days. With the Electrolux, it can handle close to a week's worth of perm press, so I'll likely accumulate a full load every 6-7 days. Hence one load of this type a week instead of nearly two. Laundry is one of the few household tasks I actually don't mind doing, so running four loads a week total in the old days was not onerous to me, but it looks like I"ll only need to run 2-3 loads a week now instead of 3-5 like in the past. For families with kids, I can see now the attraction of the larger capacity machines, you can wash 50-70% more in the same amount of time.

Oddly, there is one feature I thought I'd be giving heavy use but which hasn't been used yet: delay wash. The 2140 had very simple delay wash: 8 hours delay or none. If I came home from work at 9 pm and wanted to go to bed soon, I'd set up a load to run at 5 am so it was ready to dry when I woke up at 6 am. The Electrolux allows delay wash up to 12 hours (on the low end it's 2 or 4 hours, can't remember), which normally would have resulted in my using Delay Wash more frequently. However, with laundry now becoming a once or twice a week activity, I may wind up using Delay Wash less often than I did in the old days. That's progress I suppose.
 

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