NEW SPEED QUEENS-DON'T BUY UNTIL READING

[mulls]

Hello friends
I bought new Speed Queen set 3 weeks ago,and was asked by several members to give a report on them after some use.Here is that report.The machines are great in every way but one.They wash well and quickly-no nonsense.No waiting to spin.A few tidbits-no stopping to add more water-what you get in the initial fill is all you get.Rinses are short-2 min and use little water-I think they are timed fill!1min 20 sec 0f fill.They tumble while filling in all modes.Rinse results are good but using extra rinse is required.Wash water level barely adequate-not adequate when washing comforters.Clothes dont smell as fresh as with the old Frigidaire,but that may be because we switched from regular detergent to HE when we got it.The problem is that it vibrates when spinning-even in the pulse spins,as short as they are,the tub flops around and the resulting thumping can be heard all over the house.The final spin is VERY noisy.Called service,he came by and said to live with it.It IS level and sits on a concrete floor.I wrote Speed Queen and told them how disapointed I was in the washer.Got an immediate response.They told me the door gasket was too stiff in the model I have ATSA5AWN and also the suspension was too stiff.I told them they had no business selling me a machine they knew to be defective and I wanted it replaced.They have put a softer boot and suspension in later ones.If they have figured out there is a problem they sure knew it 3 weeks ago.I asked them to replace it with another one that had already had the improvements made,they want to retrofit mine with new boot and an "adjustment"on the suspension.That is where it stands-I will keep everyone posted.Tom

 

[Brent-Aucoin]

Hi Tom,
Sorry about your problems. Sounds like they are going to do something for you however. That is a good thing.
Ask the tech when he is out again if it is indeed a timed fill. That would be so odd for a front load washer!
Have you washed very big loads? Like towels? If so, was the fill the same each time? (for a small, and large load) If so, that is really stupid for a front loading machine.
Hope it all works out for you. I really like these machines.
Sorry that you are having to be the person to "test" them.
Thanks for your post.
All the best.
Brent

 

[mulls]

Timed fill

Hi Brent-the wash fill isnt timed-you hear a loud click when the water level reaches the desired point.My point was that,unlike the Frigidaire,it never stops and adds more.I have timed several rinses,all are 2 min,with the water stopping at 1 min 20 sec-with most loads you never see water in the rinses.
Tom

 

[peteski50]

Speed Queen

Hi Mulls,
Thanks for the report, now I can rule out Speed Queen. I have been without a machine for 6 months now since I got rid of the problem LG. I may just go with the Frigidaire. I hope you are able to get the issues resolved.
Peter

 

[logixx]

Just ran a load of towels, sheets and underwear through a commercial Speed Queen at our Uni's laundromat. I didn't exactly time the first fill but it must have been somewhere around two to three minutes of filling throught the dispenser while also spraying water straight into the tub. I used a 40*C / 104*F cycle. The 2nd rinse fill took 2:20 min. and the final softening rinse fill 2 minutes.

Alex

 

[rp2813]

Geez, I was afraid of this. I've always been leary of SQ and especially so since I purchased a pair of Raytheon-made Amanas with a TL washer that had an insatiable appetite for belts and a super skimpy spray rinse. Everything smelled like soap even with an extra rinse.

I hope SQ comes through and fixes things for you. However, even on a concrete floor in my garage my Duet HT will knock around some during pulse spin. It seems most FL's need to be fine-tuned for perfect balance and it may require periodic tweaking of the leveling feet before you get things smoothed out.

 

[mulls]

Knocking

rp2813,I agree,any FL will knock a little from time to time-this machine knocks bad every time.As I told the SQ rep at their home office,it is a shame a 500$Frigidaire works better than a 1400$SQ!I don't mind paying more for quality,but it hurts to pay more and get less.
Tom

 

[mulls]

frigidaire

Peteski,I agree with you,and will say the same to anyone-Frigidaire is the best value for the $$$.
Tom

 

[askomiele]

pulse spins?
i have olympias one build in 1980's and one from 2002. The first one has pulse spins 2 and then ramps up to full speed. My newer model don't have them any more. She slowly start to tumble, distibute and the slowly goes up. No ramps, just going up slowly. Never ever had a jumping machine or knocking one...

will post a video later

 

[decodriveboy]

If you are not happy about the water level, you can unplug the machine, remove the entire top and look for the pressure switch. It's a round, clock-looking thing with a bunch of wires attached to it. In the middle of it is a Phillips screw. When turned about 6-8 revolutions clockwise it will fill with much more water. Best to do after the tech leaves as it could void your warranty.

 

[rp2813]

Raising Water Levels

I've noticed that the "Quick Wash" cycle on my Duet fills with more water than other cycles. This cycle is for just a couple of items. I've also noticed that the clothes tend to slosh around at the bottom with the paddles simply passing underneath, no lifting of the clothes up and out of the water. As much as I'd like the machine to use more water, I don't want to impair cleaning action. Has anyone increased the fill levels on their Duet HT, and if so, have you noticed this "Quick Wash" phenomenon on any other cycles as a result, or is the sloshing more of an effect of not having enough clothes in the drum?

 

[tomturbomatic]

I wonder if the water use of the washer, with the seemingly arbitrary fill for the rinse regardless of the load size and no chance for make up water after the load is saturated in the wash, is related to the commercial pedigree of the machine. Jeff's Philco/Dexter commercial front loader does not pause the timer in rinse. It is a timed increment that does not hold for the water level switch to be satisfied. Maybe if there was a commercial grade water supply with a huge water main coming into a laundry it would not be a factor. Then again, maybe in a commercial machine rinsing performance is not as important to the business as getting a load finished as quickly as possible. I would hope that the rinse water level in your washer is something that can be adjusted. John has a similar machine and the pulse spins between the water changes do not extract all that well, but one dirty secret of lowering the water consumption of a washer is not completely extracting the water from the clothes between water changes so that they soak up less in the next fill. If the clothes are not spun very well, 80 seconds of fill for the rinses would make it look like there was adequate rinse water in the machine. I'm not saying this is what the situation is, but it might be a factor in what you are observing.

 

[launderess]

Would think that somewhere in the installation manual, Alliance states water pressure requirements for their domestic washers. If not a phone call to SQ should sort things out.

Having used the commercial SQ front loaders at laundromats, can say "yes", they do have a timed fill, but then again the water is coming in quite fast and with great pressure, so there is little problem of machine not getting enough water for each cycle.

My Miele does pulse spins, and it drives me mad sometimes. Seems like allot of palaver instead of just getting on with the business at hand. However do understand the rationale behind the maddness. The pulse spins after the final rinse and before the final spin cycle, is to remove much water while redistributing laundry to prevent creasing from high rpm speeds. In theory it seems to work as not even the fullest load of thick towels will cause too much water upon final extraction to choke the pump.

Back to rinsing on the SQ. Some of the laundromat units run water while the tub rotates one way and the drain is open. This rinsing goes on for about one minute or so after a spin before the drain closes and tub fills with water. IIRC, this happens one or two times, and really is quite effective. However it does use lots of water in addition to the water for the three rinses.

 

[norgeman]

Re: Frigidaire washers

Mulls, I couldn't agree with you more. Frigidaire has really come up in quality and kept the price down or moderate, which makes it the most practical buy. You can get a set for around $800 to $1000 dollars for both washer and dryer. The Affinities are really a nice looking machine and do a really good job of washing clothes. Well at least this would be my choice for a new washer. Buy for now. Danf.

 

[logixx]

That's quite interesting. I'm gonna run another load of whites tomorrow (around 7 am - so I won't have to wait for ever...) and I'll see if I can time each fill.

The water here's pretty hard so I'm using Calgon for the main wash and little detergent (still about half a cup). I'm hoping the hard water combined with little detergent will make up for the IMO inadequate rinsing. If that won't do the trick, I might fill some vinegar in the bleach dispenser after the main wash fill.

This is the washer I'm using (but ours have the older door style).

Alex

http://www.speedqueen.com/intl/products/vend/prod_details.asp?Model=SWFX74&Series=FLWA

 

[zanussi_lover]

Student Laundry

I have speedqueen front loaders at my university halls, the dispensers are disgusting, we have 6 buttons on ours 90 60 40 60 synthetics and 30 gentle and + prewash. and they are always out of order

I did some washing today, and the machine i was using for my coloured wash wasn't spinning betweent the rinses, i had it on 40 so i ended up with loads of soap suds all stuck to my clothes at the end of the wash, so i had to put it through another wash without detergent, I put two tablets in for my coloured wash at 40, and three for my whites wash at 60

the problems with our washers is that people put too much powder in the little drawer, or they put powder in the fabric conditioner/bleach compartments and it gets clogged up. i get annoyed about this as i like to use fabric softener and i can't put it in because some silly student has poured powder in the conditioner compartment. they should put a sign up saying put powder/tablets in the drum before you put your clothes in. as this would prevent blockages.

I am a student, but I do know how to do my laundry properly!!

 

[logixx]

Zanussi_Lover

Detergent in the FS dispenser? Oh yes! Machines out of order? Yup!

On of our Speed Queens flooded the laundry room - now it's broken. All the washers are making a hell of a racket when spinning - despite the fact that people usually only wash about a handful of laundry...

And let's not forget how difficult it is to remove the lint from the dryer filter.

 

[zanussi_lover]

yup

its wierd, as i put in three asda biological tablets in for my whites wash on 60 and that was fine, but the machine for my colours wash, wasn't spinning out the soap betweent the rinses, so i ended up with loads of soap suds coming down the door at the final spin, this is a build up of soap in the machine that people put in from previous washes.

i'm gonna suggest that they should put a sign up saying, put powder or tablets in the drum before you put your clothes in.

they aren't bad at cleaning though, only if u have a machine that has been fixed recently

and yes the dryers full of lint, that nobody removes.

xx

 

[mulls]

My new SQ

Laundress and Tomturbomatic-good points.The wash fill is not timed,but again never adjusts the water level after initial fill.The machine has a small nozzle at the 12 oclock position that sprays water on the load on all fills.It starts first,then after a few seconds water begins to flush thru the dispenser.Most of the water goes thru the dispenser.Wash water level is barely adequate for most loads,inadequate for comforters.There are 5 pulse spins,and they get a little longer as the cycle progresses-The ones between wash and first spin are very short.Rinsing is actually very good,there is a flush rinse after the wash-again with the little nozzle,not the full flow of water-and I keep the extra rinse on all the time.It does do an extra series of pulses when using the extra rinse-not like my old 3.1 Frigidaire which did not spin before the extra rinse.Here is the bottom line-1 more inch of wash water and you have the ideal washer-except for the BAD vibration problem-still negotiating with them for replacement of the machine.Tom