New Maytag top loaders returned

[david]

Western Electric

I know we are gettig off subj here-well maybe not. In 1984 there were 7500 workers at Shreveport's Western Electric telephone plant. Today the plant is closed and I'm not sure if anything at all is leasing the building. That's a big blow for a city of 200000. And I know this has been going on nationwide for years now. People do find jobs-some stay most leave, but the upheaval is hard on the individual. But people are only willing to pay so much for a product. This is clearly what we have here. I am afraid of junky appliances, cars, trucks, etc. Our only hope is to keep CU testing everything and make some reasonable choice culled from their information. Actually I'm more afraid of imported agricultural products that slips by USDA inspection and makes people sick. Unregualted free trade? No thanks.

 

[Designgeek]

David & Gansky1, interesting to hear about your own experiences with WE. Re. prices of equipment: Avaya has their stuff made in Asia as well, but it still prices out at about 1/3 more than an equivalent Panasonic PBX configuration; and Panasonic equipment is just as robust and more flexible in terms of programming. The Panasonic stuff is made in Japan and the UK, where production costs and labor are both more expensive than e.g. China.

I agree, foods not labeled for country of origin are scary; "have you had your RDA of DDT today?" Not to mention the potential for terrorist tampering (details omitted for the usual public safety reasons).

David, good point about CU testing. Though I read elsewhere on this site that Consumer Reports seems to be going downhill in certain respects lately.

Which brings us back to topic here, specifically, what about sites such as Epinions.com? I would expect that these are picking up some of the slack from where CU leaves off, with the caveat that "layperson reviews" are not controlled tests. A significant problem such as "impeller tangle" should be evident enough to make it into epinions.com reviews, yes?

On the other hand, I've seen some product reviews on epinions.com that look like they could have been written by people who were working for the manufacturer or retailer. Is this a common problem, and what kinds of steps are taken to minimize the risk of a forum being misused that way?

 

[kenmore1978]

New combos

So one wonders when LG and others are going to get with it and realize that they need to offer combos that run on 220 VOLTS like the original ones did. With the higher spin speeds would take much less time to dry than the original combos did

 

[Designgeek]

Yes, but those would require additional "dryer power outlets" which have to be installed by an electrician, thereby introducing a barrier to people buying them.

Back to Maytag: I recently ran across an Asian manufacturer's website, I think they're in India, which mentioned the three basic washing systems (agitator, impeller, and horizontal tumble). Said that the "American-style" agitator has problems tangling clothes around the central shaft, and says that's not a problem with the impeller/pulsator.

I think what we may be seeing here is the possible effect of different types of clothing and fabrics in different cultures.

Impeller/pulsators are favored in Asia. Agitators in the USA, with horizontals gaining for efficiency reasons and impeller/pulsators starting to come in from Asian manufacturers. Horizontals in Europe (same reason), with some impeller/pulsators, e.g. in compact washers. The key distinction here is between the agitators and the impeller/pulsators.

Yet, the Panasonic Japan site says that their new-type machines don't cause tangling whereas previous models (impeller/pulsators) do, and they even show a picture of someone (trying to) pull tangled clothes out of an impeller/pulsator machine (one of their own machines; to their credit, Panasonic is not above being self-critical).

So this is a mystery. Are there significant cultural differences in fabrics and garments that interact with the type of agitator used, to produce paradoxical results in different countries...?

 

[kenmore1978]

Dryer outlets

"Yes, but those would require additional "dryer power outlets" which have to be installed by an electrician, thereby introducing a barrier to people buying them."

But a lot of people already have those outlets installed, electric dryers are more comon than gas ones, it turns out. They have the outlet, they like the one machine idea, but there's nothing available. Also, there were GAS combos, too, why can't that be done again?

 

[arrrooohhh]

Impellers and tangling

I hate to sound like a tangled wet blanket but all these claim made on the Panasonic web site are advertsing hyperbole. Of course there washing machine is going to tangle less than others. And I dont believe there drift about agitators tangling because of the "big centre post" Its all just claims. The same way one manufacturer says there machine can handle half a kilo more washing than the other, with out the need to increase the size of the tub.

LG and Samsung all make claims about the design of their impellers being less tangle but the fact is that here in australia where impeller and agitator top loaders sell in equal numbers and all sizes and washing Australian clothes that the impellers to tangle to different extents.

 

[westytoploader]

Tangling---Agitator vs. Impeller

IMHO, I think an oscillating, non-corkscrew agitator tangles less than an impeller (pulsator). The Maytag's Power-Fin doesn't tangle at all, not even on sheets. Same with the DD Surgilator, Penta-Vane, and Roto-Swirl. The Dual-Action and LoadSensor (both corkscrews) are another story...WHEW!

The GE Portable's impeller does tangle, however it washes everything well and I haven't pulled anything out that was difficult to "un-bunch"...yet. The two tabletops (one with a horizontal impeller, one with a bottom-mounted impeller) do ball up the small loads that I wash in them, but you're dealing with the tangling on a much smaller scale, so again it's much easier. Like the GE, they are also good performers.

I've had limited FL experience and no GM Frigidaire/Kelvinator experience (at least not until June...YAY), but when I used the White-Westy (simpler, later design with AEG motor and electric pump) and a Frigemore there was virtually no tangling.

--Austin