OUT WITH THE QUEEN AND IN WITH THE ELITE

[davidblazor]

Hello to the AW.ORG family. A lot of you know my history with my families Speed Queen front load washer and the drama ended today. Last night upon entering the laundry room door I was greeted with approximately 3 inches of water all over the laundry room floor. I checked the boot it was not leaking from there so I checked other sources and it appeared to be coming from around the outer drum so I am thinking the inner drum must have come loose and hit the outer drum.

Today on my way to the Laundromat I stopped at our local SEARS and bought the ELITE Series Kenmore washer and dryer. The washer has a 5.3 drum and the dryer has a 9.0? drum. I was looking at the control center for the dryer and it has a Bulky/comforter setting I asked what that function did and I was told that that cycle actually reverses to prevent knotting and to dry bedding all the way thru with out stopping and untangling.

I was given several rebates discounts and the lady said she was giving me the senior discount I told the lady I was only 42 and I shouldn't get the senior discount and she told me I looked tired so she gave it tom me anyway.

Total purchase price with the discounts rebates for the pair with a 5 year extended warranty on washer and 3 year extended warranty on the dryer I walked away paying only 2,000 dollars for the set. It would have been more but I chose not to buy the pedestals and I also got plain white instead of the silver.

Delivery of the machines is set for Friday the 27th. The Queen is going to the scrap yard and I am giving the dryer to my sister.

David

 

[easyspindry]

Such a shame . . .

. . . What age is the SQ? I have had one only a few months and I love it.

I hope your Kenmore gives you good service.

Jerry Gay

 

[davidblazor]

age of speed queen

The Speed Queens are only 4 years old. The dryer is awesome but the washer was absolute crap from the word go.

 

[golittlesport]

good luck

I believe those Kenmores are made by LG. I have an LG front load set that I absolutely love. I hope this set serves you well.

 

[laundromat]

The set you bought , you'll love!!!!!The drum light,the recalculating spray,the different tumbles, the 1400 RPM final spin, the style and reliability are all great. I had the 8000s these are similar to and they get your wash thoroughly cleaned and well spun out. You will be impressed. Congratulations on a great buy. You can also buy the Side Kick. It fits in the drawer and washes a smaller loaf

 

[davidblazor]

side kick

The model display was set up like that and the sales rep said that they are not popular at all in our area. I purchased the machines without the pedestals to save on overall purchase price. The price I paid for the set is less than what I paid for the Speed Queen washer alone.

My mom had a LG TROMM set for about ten years. She only had one service call on the dryer because none of the preset/auto cycles would work. The repair guy told her that because the machines are maid over seas they were designed to work only until the load was damp so she just used time dry the whole time she owned the set.
Last year my parents sold their home and the LG's went with the home.

Laundromat can you tell me about the different tumbles and the recirculating spray. The sales rep told me nothing of this. The only thing they told me was that with the volume of laundry our household does is that these machines may possibly cut loads in half as these are the biggest machines that Kenmore/ LG make.

 

[henene4]

If you max out the capacity, you might want to add a higher soil selection and an extra rinse to the default AccelaWash (or TurboWash, what ever its called) configuration.

On the default it only does a 10-14 minute main wash, a spray rinse, a deep rinse with softner, and another spray rinse during the final spin. This cycle is optimized for 8-10 pound loads, while this machine should handle double to 3 times that.

You might want to keep the SQ dryer somehow if possible. The new set is stackable, and while the washer is comparably fast to smaller machines, the dryer still has only 5kW heating power, and thus might take longer. Splitting loads there should help.

I do think however these dryers don't reverse. But we'll see.

 

[combo52]

Flooding SQ FL Washer

Sorry to hear that your washer flooded the laundry room, do you have any idea why ? SQ FL washers with the white inlet valve are prone to sticking open and causing severe flooding in high use machines, this is an easy cheap fix [ part $35 ] so I urge you to give this washer to someone that can fix and use it as it should still have at least 20 years of life in it for someone that only does 10 loads a week.

 

You were smart not to get the pedestals as they really increase vibration problems on wooden floors and stacking high use machines is just asking for more problems and delays when repairs are required.

 

I hope these new Chinese LGs work out well for your family, but I dough they will especially the dryer. You would really be better off keeping the SQ dryer in the long run. I usually do not recommend people waste money on service contracts but in your heavy use situation it might work out well [ why did you only get a 2 year plan on the dryer ] The only good thing about these plans is you have a better chance getting Sears to exchange the machines when they become a service nightmare, the only bad thing is Sears does not sell any really heavy duty machines that they can be exchanged for, and Sears may not even be around till the end of this year to honor this contract at all.

 

Hi Henrik, why is a 5 KW dryer not going to be fast enough, the new washer spins even faster than the old SQ.

 

And reverse tumbling on a dryer [ especially a full sized one ] only wastes time and prolongs drying time.

 

John L.

 

Hi Henrek

 

[henene4]

Cause load sizes will be significantly bigger. Sure they will be better extracted, but given the dryer is not quite the same size (double dryer volume) it might be a bottleneck.

And if they have a perfectly working dryer already and get a new one, this possible bottleneck sure can't happen.
And having a 2nd dryer allows for better load managment (sorting for drying) as well.

I might ask back: How could a stuck fill valve cause an overflow in a FL without the user recognizing the tub being full of water?

 

[combo52]

Flooding SQ FL Washer

Hi Henrek, The new dryer is only 2 CF larger, and these super sized washers you can not fill with really heavy loads on a regular bassis and not have the machine go out with fault codes. The SQ could be stuffed full and never complain.

 

The owner did not give a good description as to what happened, but it could be something really simple like the hose going to the drain pump came off, it certainly does not have a split tub.

 

[davidblazor]

cause of flood

The cause of the flood is unknown. I thought it was from the boot because we just had it replaced but its not the boot. When I removed the lower access panel water was pouring off of the exterior drum like it was cracked. The machine has always made weird noises even after the bearing failure and replacement. The machine has had more money go out in repairs than the purchase price of the machine. Since I live here on the Oregon Coast it is very dam difficult to have alliance service the machine as you know from the first break down of the machine.

As far as the extended warranty goes the sales rep said that a three year on the dryer was sufficient and probably wont even get used however the washers were another story. The service contracts are sold by SEARS but the work is done by a third party in the event that it is used. My sister bought a Maytag BRAVO washer 3years ago from Homeless Depot and bought the extended warranty and it is the same company that Sears uses. My sister has had good luck with the service contract but she hates the Maytag.

In my opinion any machine that is expected to run up to 30 loads a is just not going to last regardless of brand. When I purchased the Queens I was told I would never have to buy another machine. In my opinion there is always a lemon and I just got rid of it.

David

 

[laundromat]

David,
The different programs select the pattern. If you want to handwash, the setting will tell the drum to one rpm. Other cycles like wool will rock the drum back and forth. It all depends on the preset pattern in each program. You'll see. It pretty much explains itself as time progresses and you get to play around with it.
As far as the dryer goes, it DOES dry faster. Usually done way before the next wash load is ready to dry. I always used the auto dry settings and got excellent results. Averaging 27 minutes to dry. If you are stacking them,be sure they are leveled correctly. You will see a big difference. Remember,direct drive LGs spin either way depending on the direction the drum is going in a more balanced situation. Then, it speeds up gradually sounding like a turbo jet taking off. You can watch the water drops dance on the window.

 

[henene4]

"The SQ could be stuffed and never complain."

Yeah, except that bearing failure, the broken boot, and now what ever happend. I mean, that is nothing for a 1500$ product, right? "Blind trust" is a thing, you know.

Sure the LG is not a machine that will last an eternity, nobody ever claimed that. It will most likely make use of the service contract in such a use case, that is predictible.

However what that has to do with a) that the old dryer could help and b) that your first guess seems rather bad for such a experienced service guy (your second guess is the way more likely thing with the fault description; I mean a stuck open fill valve would be easy to spot and that would be mentioned) I don't really see.

Further, yeah, exactly, I said the new dryer size does not match the washer size according to basic laundry math. That is why I brought up the idea of keeping the SQ dryer. And btw, the LG is 4 cuft bigger then the washer (2 cuft bigger then the old dryer, if you ment that). 5.3 for the washer, 9.0 for the dryer, if I remember correctly.

As much as you have a verry good reputation which I don't question, sometimes you just seem verry much off of the actual situation.

 

[leononmaui]

David,
I too have this set. I love it. The best I've ever had. There are so many features on it. 5 rinses, the timer to set the night before for sanitary wash so it's done in the morning, the size of the tub, extra water on comforter cycle. So much more. Good luck with yours.

 

[brucelucenta]

I too have the same set, a Kenmore Elite made by LG that has HUGE capacity and does a terrific job washing and rinsing. I have mine stacked with the dryer on top. I like the dryer too. Had them both for about 3 years now and no problems whatever. Sorry to hear of your misfortune with the Speed Queen set. That is a shame. I honestly thought that the front loading set was really a heavily built dependable set. Now I know better. Lots of folks have had troubles with the top loaders, one is having problems right now. There is just really no washer that will last 10-25 years with no problems as certain people would lead you to believe. Speed Queen certainly COSTS like they should though!!!! It seems to be difficult to find someone honest and/or that knows what they are doing to work on them too. I have not had much faith in speed queen since the 80's. I worked on too many of them with irreparable problems without investing a fortune in them.

 

[combo52]

Hi Henrek, The basic sizing for a dryers capacity compared to a FL washer is the dryer needs to be three times the size of the washer for good results.

 

No one is going to fill the LG the way you can fill the SQ, the large capacity of the LG is great for an occasional king size comforter. The SQ FL washer would easily wash around 25 full size bath towels weighing about 1 pound peace, there is no way the LG will wash a 50 pound load of approximately 50 bath towels with out a struggle and if one tried it it would not last very long.

 

My guess of a stuck inlet valve was right on the money given the information that was given by the owner, often when these valves stick the machine will fill all the way up and flood a room, then when the valve finally unsticks the washer cycle continues and the drain pump drains the machine and all that is left is a flooded floor [ I have seen this more times than I can remember ].

 

This machine was not a lemon in any sense of the word, any machine can have a main seal and bearing failure, now the service the owner got was terrible. From what the owner has told us about the leak-flood it is likley that an inlet hose inside the machine came loose, fortunately this type of event is not uncommon after a machine has been completely apart for a major repair.

 

It is not that easy for most homes to install a 2nd 240 dryer, if both dryers were in operation you would have over a 50 amp constant draw, not many homes will sustain this type of loading on their circuit panels without a failure before long. The owner also said there was no room for an extra appliance.

 

[neptunebob]

Maybe you actually do need the Milnor..

It sounds like there is just a lot of material to wash and you could have the Milnor for as long as the kids live there. I know that Jon and Kate + 8 had two Whirlpool top loaders that were enough, Kate probably used Pampers on her kids which kept the laundry down (and the landfills in central PA filled up!). I think you should build the laundry shed I propose, if you have to leave it behind, it could be a unique selling feature.

 

[launderess]

IIRC Milnor does not make soft mount washers/extractors. Even if they did as one recalls OP needed to have the floors of his current home reinforced to cope with the SQ washer, since commercial OPL/soft mount washers weigh the same and or more this obviously is not a solution.

In situations like this one really only has two options; try and find a commercial or quasi unit, or the best of domestic and use the heck out of it then replace.

There isn't a free lunch when it comes to front loading washers as the basic physics during operation remain the same. You can either develop washers designed to withstand hard use/abuse for decades and be easily repaired/rebuilt. Or something that will give service for a finite amount of time then be chucked after useful life versus cost of repair means it is no longer economically viable to fix.

If OP lived in a home with a sound foundation and could sink a "pit"/create a concrete base then a world of second hand soft or even hard mount machines would be open; but he cannot so that is that. The only washers that *might* withstand doing so many loads per week would be the older Miele units, but their capacity is too small for this household.

We have been up and down this garden path each time OP posts (no offence or attack meant to same), but for the amount of use this household requires *NO* domestic washer is going to suffice, except perhaps SQ. He's been there and done that so now it is onto plan "B".

By most definitions of domestic front loaders the amount of duty cycles per week in OPs household would fall under "abuse". Again not an attack or whatever, but simply stating a fact; domestic washing machines front or top loading simply are not designed to process so much laundry on a routine basis. If things were made of old where pumps, bearings, tubs, seals, etc... could be easily replaced in field that *may* be a different thing; but more and more at least for front loaders things come as an assembly; once a tub seal or bearing goes it pretty much means the unit is toast. This is because the whole assembly must be replaced and often between cost of parts and service it comes to more than the machine is worth and or you could purchase another for same money.

Perhaps the only way to lessen the work load on front loaders is to wash and rinse in them only, then transfer laundry to a separate extractor. This one supposes would lessen some of the work/forces on motor, shocks, bearings, suspension and so forth. But such a move isn't up everyone's street.

As for building a "shed" for a Milnor or other commercial unit then leaving it behind. That likely would not be a very good economic decision. Frist it means you are placing a *HUGE* amount of trust that whomever purchases a property in future needs and or even wants such a thing. Given the large number of Miele washers including Little Giants one sees on eBay, CL and elsewhere that cannot be given away by new owners of property, I shouldn't put too much money into that scheme.

Of course if ROI isn't a factor, then building a "commercial" laundry space might not be a bad way to go.

 

[neptunebob]

I still say build the shed. David could then take the units with him if he moves and the next owner would have a nice shed. He may also need 2 washing machines, one a front loader and a top loader. Also, with the dryers, why not one gas and one electric? I wonder if stacked dryers could be set up this way.