New Maytag Stacked Unit Trouble

[ctrn08]

I recently finished a building a new home and pruchased the new "Maytag" (ie. Whirlpool) top load stacked unit to fit the space in the laundry area. Since it has been delivered it has been a nightmare!!! First, after installation, the unit filled but would not agitate...it was said to be "frozen" as it had been on the delivery truck over night. After several hours it bagan to work so the first load was washed. First disappointment -- very little difference in the water level selections. So little in fact, you really don't notice a difference from ex small to small to medium. Large does not fill to the top holes in the basket! Next, the dryer sounds like a bucket of marbles have been emptied in it. Rattles continually from the start of the cycle to the end. In addition, the blower sounds like a wounded animal dying a slow, agonious death when it starts up and stops. There is no difference in the temperatures during drying whatsoever. A load of towels that took me 45 minutes to dry in the old laundry set (frigidaire bol front loader) took over 2 hours in the new one. I could go on and on . . . just a few other "flaws" discovered....no step-down in agitation speed in casual cycle and now the washer leaks from the bottom when the Large water level is selected.
Needless to say, I am returning the unit -- the dealer is suggesting a Bosch Axis Plus Set ... any thought from you guys on what a good set would be... I REALLY am at wit's end and need some help... thanks

........

 

[panthera]

Heavens!

Whatever you buy, I would not have it delivered by the same shipping company as screwed up your last order.
Frozen???!!!
From the sound of it, you had a top loader washer. These stackables from Whirlpool have a very good reputation and are about as good as any American built machine in 2008 is going to be. The problems you are having there either show a precipitate decline in quality or serious damage.
The only way to get decent drying times (I said decent, not satisfactory) out of stackables is to buy a front loader which spins at not less than 1200 rpm and a 220V dryer with as much over 3.0 cu ft. capacity as possible.
If you have the space, Bosch or Miele. If space/money is a problem, look at the "FriGEMores" (those machines from Electrolux which go for between 350 and 750 dollars for the identical same machine, depending on what label is stuck on it and how much people still believe in brand names). I have worked on several in the US and they clean very well, dry decently, have been in production long enough for their worst problems to be worked out...and are enormously more reliable than the US built stuff.
That said, I would insist that the machines be installed and the installers stick around until they have proved that they work.
Oh, LG is a great brand here in Europe, but I would stay well away from them in the US, their customer service is run by in-duh-vi-duals who delight in screwing the customers over.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Always start a newly installed machine in spin to make sure the motor and pump work, then fill it with water and if the delivery people set it up and knew it had been on the delivery truck overnight, it should have been filled with hot water to melt the ice in the pump faster.

Did you have the old Frigidaire dryer in this new home? I ask because if this is the first you have used the outlet, it might be that the 220 volt dryer circuit has only one hot leg and you are essentially drying on 110 volts. Have you tried feeling the vent pipe from the dryer to get an idea about the temperature of the air, barely warm or somewhere around 130-140 degrees on high heat?

I do not know what has happened to your machine. If it is the 27 inch wide machine also known as the Whirlpool Super Thin Twin, it has been in production for a long time and uses the same components as WP's full size laundry appliances except that the washer tub is not as deep and the dryer drum is shallower. It has been a very dependable performer with a long life. You can expect new top loader washers to have reduced water levels to get better energy ratings. The fact that the water level been adjusted downward so much at the factory is the reason that there is a smaller vernier to the lower water level settings.

 

[norgeman]

Re: Washer and Dryer

ctrn08: My advise to you is to send them back and get a Frigidaire set. Either in Front load or one of their all in one units in top loading, (although these are very few and far between, but may still find one somewhere). Frigidaire has come up in quality and has kept the price pretty reseasonable on their Washers and Dryers. My Brother has a Frigidaire Washer and it was my dads and he gave it to him as they needed a new washer. Dad bought the top loader in 2003 just at the time when they started putting steel gears back into the transmissiions and have had no repairs on it. I have used it my self and am very pleased with the results with it. That is why when I need to replace our set that we have now I think it's going to be Frigidaire that we go with. Oh! one more thing Frigidaire is also putting 3/4 hp motors in their top load washers which make them stronger. This is my opion so you can make up your mind but this is what I would do. Good luck hope everything works out for you keep us posted how it turns out. Lots of suds and best washings. Danf.

 

[ctrn08]

Tom, they did fill the machine with hot water -- we had to let it sit about 3 hours before it would work. Good point about the outlet and i did not check it. you tend to expect when you pay 350,000 + for a new house that the electrician would have tested things but i no longer take anything for granted. A bad outlet, however wouldn't explain the marble noise while the dryer is running and the failure for the wash speeds to step down in the casual cycle though... over all i'm really disappointed in the performance of the machine. I'm thinking I may have gotten a "lemon"

 

[tomturbomatic]

I agree that you have a lemon and a pretty poor dealer who would let a water using appliance sit on a truck in freezing temperatures. I would make WP do a warranty call on it to determine what is wrong and have that as ammo if you have any trouble from the dealer. I would not let the machine be fixed since nothing brand new should have that much wrong with it, but it is a well designed and well built machine that should provide you with very reliable service. If I only had room for two machines, heaven forbid, I would have the WP Super Thin Twin and my W1986 Miele beside it. Unless your electric rates are very low, you might try to buy one of the small extractors to give better extraction than the washer and thereby lower your dryer's electricity consumption.

 

[cvillewasherbo]

frigidare TL stacked unit

last machine that I owned. Now with my parnets with a 12 yr old Maytag washer and 25 year old WP dryer (God that thing will last forever). Anyway the FD didn't fill up all the way to the top on the fullest water level, it did spin very well, never got unbalanced, but I didn't like the franklin trani, not very much rollower. Everything just swirled around. The dryer was never very hot and would take a really long time to dry. I learned to fill the dryer with half the washload and it workd better. Maybe my apartment had wiring problems, it was 30 years old. I also did not like the fact that warm wash was never warm and that the warm/warm only meant that the spin spray after the rinse was warm.

Sorry for all you environmental fans, but I like to do a lot of hot washes with warm rinses. I'm old school! And, I'd like a warm wash to be warm. I think the Lowe's guy did not turn the hot faucet on all the way on purpose, he was a pretty nasty guy and touted how energy efficient the machine was.

Well, if I could, I'd be happy to use rinse water for washing, provided it was heated first. And, I'd be happy to flush my toilet with used washing or even dishwashing water. I think the toilet would always be clean!

 

[spankomatic]

Lemon. Take them back while you still can. Where did you get the machine?

I purchased a Kenmore washer and dryer 5 years ago from Sears. After 6 months I decided I just did not like them. Sears gave me a full refund and I bought Maytag Neptunes front loader instead. Sears was great about the exchange. The even exchanged the extended warranty.

Jim

 

[conate]

GET RID OF THEM.

Take them back immediately and insist on new ones. Preferably from another vendor!

We have the whirlpool ones and they work great!

 

[ctrn08]

sent the top load stack unit back and went with a new Bosch Axxis + set... they are great.. no problems what so ever.