New Speed Queen washers and dryers!

[laundrynut]

It's the SQ.

This is my first FL. I'm still learning the tricks. I'm thinking that it is more important to load the FL with items that are similar in weight when wet, rather than similar in size. In other words, a hand towel is similar in size to a T-shirt, but heavier when wet.

The out-of-balance spins are not a constant problem. I think it's more of what I'm putting into it, rather than the washer having a problem.

 

[everythingold]

SQ's are not that expensive, two grand for a basic front-loader and dryer (OTD). Much less than an LG piece of junk. You just need to know an authorized dealer. SQ uses Potter Distributing, so if there is a branch near you, you can get them drop-shipped by a dealer. I love SQ's, last appliance with a real warranty, but I would not get a top-loader, a good used DD is just as good. Cough up a little more and get a front loader. matt

 

[laundrynut]

Out of balance problem

I posted something on another thread that said the SQ front loader wasn't sophisticated enough to correct out-of-balance conditions. I was wrong. I noticed this evening that the wheel was warbling prior to a pulse spin. It must have sensed it, slowed down, redistributed the load, and continued into the spin. I'm impressed. Nothing in the owner’s manual to suggest it would do that.

I guess a little warble can be expected from time to time in a FL.

 

[ronhic]

Laundrynut

Having used front load machines now for well over 20yrs, I can say that, with one major exception, you can and should mix the size of what you put in and the weight of fabrics (assuming cotton/cotton, synthetic/synthetic).

In almost every load of colours that I do there is at least a pair of jeans, track pants or tops along with much lighter items such as t-shirts, shorts etc and we don't have spin issues.

Two things to consider....

1) avoid washing sheets with bath towels. They can get wrapped together and create a heavy, wet ball....hard to spin and can cause a bad out of balance.

and...

2) Fill the machine. If you are putting less than 1/3 of a drum of clothes in (i.e. 1/3 up the door glass) there may not be enough in it to create a properly distributed load especially if you have only 1 heavy item. Try filling to at LEAST 2/3 up the door (and preferably 3/4 or higher to make the most of the capacity) and you should notice a difference.

Finally, when I bought our first front load machine, an ASEA (Asko today), I was told by the specialist retailer to 'fill it until the drum moves back and forth and I mean right to the top of the drum - that is FULL. Now remove 1 medium sized item, say a polo shirt. You're ready to go.' The drum should only start moving back and forth (as opposed to rotating) if you are putting too much in...or forcing it in.

Following those instructions, neither my mother or I have ever had a problem from ASEA, Hoover, Blomberg, Westinghouse/Electrolux/Zanussi, Fisher and Paykel/Beko or Electrolux.

 

[mark_wpduet]

So you're saying

Don't wash 5 pair of jeans together, but rather mix some other color clothes and toss a couple of pair of jeans in with? I've always been told the opposite. I wash lights, whites, darks, jeans. The jeans load in my Duet did tend to vibrate more so than the other loads though. Unfortunately, you need to dry jeans together, or else lighter items will dry more quickly.

 

[ronhic]

No...

Washing multiple pairs of jeans such as you mention should be fine I would have thought. We don't own 5 pairs between us.

Here is the contents of a 2/3 capacity load of washing for me just remember that it is a European sized machine though and smaller than yours.

1xJeans
1x track bottoms
5x tshirts
3x gym shorts
5x underwear
15x pairs of dark socks

We also have a smaller, European sized dryer and from a purely personal point of view, I rarely fully dry jeans in it. I tend to put them in with 'the load' of socks, underwear and the odd 'too large' tshirt and take them out half dry. So not doing a load jeans as such has never been an issue for us

 

[favorit]

Obviously Chris (Ronhic) was talking about "Cotton/Normal" loads.

On "Casual/Wrinkle free/Minimum Iron/Syntetics" one MUST load only up to half drum, so that laundry can tumble freely as if it were in a dryer. Along with pulse spins and the cooldown at the end of the wash bath, this really helps to prevent creases. Those pulse spins also help balancing. mieles have them either as interim or final ones on

Recent machines have "Denim/jeans" and "Dark colours" cycles. These work with such half loads in order to prevent those nasty "whitish" stripes in those places where clothes are folded while tumbling. Who has some black jeans pairs and has washed them in full loads knows what I mean

Do agree with the sheets+bathgowns balls issue, anyway I have never had any balance issue with the two mieles even on half loads with towels/bathgowns.

Even my heavy loden jacket, alone on "wool handwash" @ 1200 rpm (note "handwash" ramps up WITHOUT pulse spins to avoid shrinking woolens) doesn't cause any unbalance trouble

Otherwise my old Candy SA5 couldn't manage an half load without jumping like a kangaroo while spinning ... it wasn't as heavy as the mieles, that's all

 

[ronhic]

Favorit...

...Correct, I was referring to cottons

As I mentioned, we don't have large quantities of denim. I do separate into whites, darks and lights though, but have never have an issue with white lines on anything since we moved back from the UK no matter how much I put in the machine. I put this down to the powders I was using in the UK more than anything else. I always used calgon gel in the UK and found that the problem was much reduced when I switched to Surf or Persil.

We do have very soft water here though and our powders are designed to disolve in cold which could make a difference.

 

[laundrynut]

Thanks for the info

on the balancing act. I never mix towels and sheets. I've noticed that fitted sheets sometimes collect pillow cases in the pockets. Having a bigger problem finding enough stuff to wash to make up a full load. Maybe I'll ask the neighbors if they have anything that needs a washing

 

[iheartmaytag]

SQ FL size

I know someone will smack me, but isn't 3.3 CU. FT rather small for a FL machine? Forgive me, having not used one I am not sure how the size translates from a TL to a FL, but with some FLs out there with 4.7, I was just wondering how much usable room there is.

 

[rayjay]

Model CTSAOA(W)N???

Hi Guys. The ratings were on Consumer Reports on their website. They should be out in publication soon.

The top two were:

1 Samsung Model WF448AA
2. Electrolux Wave Touch.

 

[laundrynut]

SQ FL size

My SQ stacked FL is supposed to be 2.84 cu/ft. Works out well for me because I don't do huge loads. Just a lot of smaller ones. I can wash an entire set of Queen-sized sheets and pillow cases and still have extra room. Could probably do 2 full sets in one load. I noticed that the stats for the residential machines say 3.3 cu/ft. Mine is the OPL version. I thought they were all the same. Maybe there are different standards of measure in play here.

 

[ronhic]

I have no idea how the cu ft measurement works ultimately, but...

Miele's W3000 series is 2.53 cu ft. The same basic machine here is rated at 6.5kg which is now at the lower end of capacities but still large enough for most.

The majority of front load machines here are now rated at 7kg or more. Some makers have smaller machines, such as Miele (all), Bosch (about 50%), indesit and random offerings by Aldi (Stirling)...There are also larger offerings from Electrolux (8kg), LG (up to 10kg), Samsung (up to 10kg), Fisher & Paykel (8kg), Ariston (8 or9kg), Whirlpool (8.5), Maytag (8.5kg)

3.3 cu ft sounds like it would be around 8kg which is not exactly small.

 

[sudsman]

As a general rule

6 to 6.25/lbs per cu ft is how rating is determined.
2.84 would be about 18/lbs
2.53 would be about 16/lbs
3.3 would be about 20/lbs

Any Questions class?

 

[ronhic]

mmmm......

Well at 6lb per cu ft, that still makes it a LARGE machine.

Tell me, does anyone ever use the FULL capacity with the exception of washing a comforter.

iheartmaytag commented that there are some machines with 4.7 cu ft capacities...that is at least 28 lb of dry laundry (or 12kg+) which is a HUGE amount to wash in one hit and I can understand why machines are not coping from a 'spider' and/or bearings perspective. Or washing properly for that matter if the cycles are short...bearing in mind that 'short' for me is 55min (2/3 capacity and cold - yuck - or 68min warm) and my maximum capacity is about 1/2 that. Surely short (and effective) for a machine of that size would need to be much longer even at 2/3 capacity?

 

[launderess]

Well According To Miele

At least with their older washing machines, use of full capacity (normal cotton cycle) was encouraged, indeed that is what the machine was built to withstand.

However full capacity (about 11lbs), did not and does not today mean over filled.

The wash action on many good front loaders actually is best at or just below full rated load. This also uses energy and water to the fullest as it takes as much energy on average to heat water for 5lbs as 11lbs (give or take).

IIRC, SQ is one of the last if not only front loaders sold for American domestic use still having SS inner and outer tubs, along with non-unit tub and bearing assembly. Therefor like their commercial counterparts, when or if a SQ front loader should need a bearing replacement the job can be done. If a consumer would be willing to pay is another matter.

 

[ronhic]

I agree with you Landeress.

Machines should be engineered to work at full capacity all the time.

The reality is that most of us (well in Oz and the UK) tend to wash around 4.5kg or 10 lb at a time. This is why I commented at 2/3 capacity...a 'normal' load i.e. average washed is about that in my machine.

I am a firm believer that washing at LEAST 2/3 capacity gives the best results in my machine, and I gather in the Miele too....it also lets the machine distribute and balance correctly.

As I mentioned before in an earlier post,

1989
'......I was told by the specialist retailer to 'fill it until the drum moves back and forth and I mean right to the top of the drum - that is FULL. Now remove 1 medium sized item, say a polo shirt. You're ready to go.' The drum should only start moving back and forth (as opposed to rotating) if you are putting too much in...or forcing it in.'

 

[laundrynut]

Your rating figures are right on.

My 2.84 cu/ft machine is rated at 18 lbs. I've never weighed what I was putting into it. Perhaps I've found another use for the bathroom scale other than keeping a 1 sq/ft area of tile dust free. Will have to experiment with full capacity loads and adjusting detergent amounts, etc. Worried I'd run out of clean uniforms before reaching the 18 lb goal of dirty laundry.

BTW: What type of system is used to measure pH in washer applications? I've been using a powdered enzyme detergent (pH (1:10) 11.5 - 12.0) on some 600 TC Egyptian Cotton sheets, plus a teaspoon of concentrated liquid sour/softener. The sheets come out of the tumbler clean and white, but feeling a little scratchy to the hand. The care tags say wash in cold water, no bleach. I stayed at an upscale Inn recently that used the same sheets, and they had a much nicer hand and smelled pleasant. Mine come out smelling like a new dryer. Any suggestions?

 

[sudsman]

Easy to get test kit for home use would be

a pool test kit. you can test the bleach left in the load and the ph. Ideal ph for most laundry work is 5.50 to 6.0 Yellow to yellow green on ph indicator. use of white vinegar will do the job nicely. And in a pinch I have used it in place of commerical sour. Not that much is need in a FL machine either. depending on the water 1/4 to 1/2 cup will most likely be plenty..

 

[ronhic]

Now I'm confused.

I've read the term 'sour' used...

Can someone please put into a context for me?