New FL'r

[frigilux]

I can think of only one or two instances in which an imbalance caused the machine to miss the first spin. I wash huge loads of kitchen and personal whites---loads that include large tablecloths and several chef's aprons (with their long tie-strings) that wash for 70 minutes before the first spin (Sanitize cycle) and it never fails to get the job done. If any load would have the opportunity to get wildly tangled, it would be that one.

A couple of questions:

1) Is the tub reversing direction every time it pauses? I've watched items get tangled as the tub spins in one direction, then untangle when the tub reverses. If the tub wasn't reversing, there could be a mess.

2) Might it have something to do with the shock absorber problem you mentioned in another thread? Perhaps that's causing the machine to register an imbalance, thus preventing it from going into the first spin. Then again, why wouldn't that problem show up in the other two spins as well?

I've never added a drop of water to the washer, and only use the Max Fill option (which only adds a small amount of water) when washing comforters or other large, bulky items.

Sounds like your washer needs a visit from a repairman.

 

[frontloaderfan]

1st spin

It does reverse after it pauses. It will start to ramp up to the first spin and then just as everything looks properly balanced and it's acting like it should spin, it drops the clothes and then the machine moves on to the first rinse. Again, it does not do this every time, just some of the time.

I have observed the tub action more closely since posting about the shock absorber. I did not see any of the symptoms Launderess described like the drum scraping the glass, but there is still some suspension noise present that never used to be there.

There are two more spins? Really? That would be news to me as mine has only ever spun after the wash and then the final spin...

Since the machine is still under warrantee from both the manufacturer and the store I bought it from, I might just excercise my service call option...

 

[frigilux]

On Normal, Heavy Duty, Sanitize, Whitest Whites cycles:
Wash
Spin
1st Rinse
Spin
2nd Rinse
Final Spin

If I add a "Freshwater Rinse" option, it spins after the wash, first rinse, second rinse, and third rinse for a total of 4 spins.

Casual cycle:
Wash
1st Rinse
Spin
2nd Rinse
Spin

Delicate cycle:
Wash
1st Rinse
2nd Rinse
Spin

Are you hearing a knocking sound during the spin? Mine knocks if the load isn't well-balanced, but it has always done that.

My 2010 washer is model 4074, which was the TOL model at the time. Your machine may have different cycle sequences or behaviors.

 

[frontloaderfan]

It could be that since mine is the BOL model, they cut out some of the extras like the other spins. It has no heater and no drum light either.

I don't ever hear a banging noise coming from the machine, just the usual sounds of a machine spinning at 1100 rpm.

The freshwater rinse button on mine just adds a middle rinse between the bleach (1st) rinse and the fabric softener rinse (final rinse).
The casual cycle (indeed all the cycles run in the same order, just in different times) looks like this:

Wash
Spin (?)
1st rinse
2nd rinse
3rd rinse
Final Spin