Review of Speed Queen AWN412

[nmassman44]

Your clothes will last longer and your machine as well.....The other thing I was thinking of is that the Hotpoint washer has a much smaller wash basket than the SQ washer. You had to be packing it tight and the spiral agitator tries to get the load rolled over. Both machines are different animals. The main reason the GE Hotpoint washer needs to have a stronger cabinet is because the cabinet holds the weight of all the water in the machine and the suspension system. It is more rigid because of the "aircraft cable suspension". The SQ washer uses the base to send the weight to the floor and to anchor the wash system by springs. The SQ washer can handle out of balance loads better.

 

[combo52]

New TL SQ Washers

The SQs lid is probably the same thickness as the old HP-GE the difference is that it is much larger and like many other washers lids if you sit on it it will bow downward, it is easy to fix just open it and pound in the middle with your fist. I am sure that a straighten at least 5 washer lids a week on newer GEs and WP-KM washers. The cabinet likewise is at least as thick as the old washer. I agree with you on the agitators ability to turn over really big loads and I have tried in vane to get SQ to use a dual-action agitator in their washers. There is no reason in this day in time not to be able to wash really large loads of jeans etc and have them turn over, as a dealer we know this machine well we sell 6-10 TLs per month and the lack of the DA agitator is the worst thing about this washer. The best thing to do about the reduced warm temperature is to substitute a 50/50 inlet valve or remove the filter screen on the hot side and drill out the hole to the same size as the cold side, be sure to carefully replace the inlet screen.

 

[mtn1584]

Speed Queen handles unbalanced loads much better...

than a a GE filter flo ever could!!! As heavy as those machines are, with their air craft like suspension, they would walk across the floor and back, do an Irish jig, and bounce up and down until you lifted the dam lid to stop the spinning!! I have never had an out of balance issue with my SQ. Massman is right as well the tub on the HP Extra Large Cap was only 2.7 cu ft., where the SQ is 3.3 cu. ft! If I had the choice today to get a brand new GE FF, or the SQ I have today, I would choose the SQ...Easier operation, and better washing results. I only wish there was a lint filter on these machines, but alas no manufacturer cares about this anymore.
Mike

 

[nmassman44]

There is a filter on the SQ washer...it's under the wash basket and self cleaning. But I will agree it leaves alot to be desired. I noticed that when I was hanging laundry out on the line to dry today...my dryer handles lint well but when I am not using it like today I do notice lint more.

 

[mercman]

Hot water flow update...

Hot water flow update...
I read the post from Yogi that mentioned about drilling out the hole behind the water inlet screen, so what the heck lets do it. I removed both hoses, then carefully removed the screens. Noticed right away that there is a big difference between the hole for the cold and hot. I matched-up the cold inlet hole to be a 3/16 drill bit, the hot was only about 1/3 the size. Using my 3/16 drill bit I carefully drilled-out the hot water inlet hole. ONE MUST BE CARE FULL the wall is about 1/16 thick and right behind it looks to be an water deflector (don't want to drill into deflector). Clean plastic shaving from inlet, reinstall screens and hoses. The result is equal amount of hot and cold water now entering the machine. We're much, much, much, much happier now!

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice.
Matt

 

[mrb627]

Good Job

Glad that you were able to make this relatively easy adjustment to your machine. Now I am wondering if it would be of any advantage to perform the same procedure on my FL machine. Honestly, since the machine is sealed during operation, I really don't know how cool or warm the wash water is.

Malcolm

 

[yogitunes]

Somebody's a happy camper......

Wonderful.....does anyone here think thats he's much, much, much, much happier now!.....lol

I did the same with mine although I went a few sizes bigger, it is rather easy, just take your time.....love the flow rate of the waterfall as well.......

Malcolm, take the temp of the drain hose output on your next load.....that should be close enough to what the actual temp is...

how about the lid switch......and higher water level....and cut the restrictor off the end of the drain hose......just little improvements that makes us happy....and we all want to be much, much, much, much happier.....don't we?

 

[mercman]

Happy Camper!!!

Who doesn't want to be a happy camper after spending good money on a new washer/drier set? It's the simple things in life that can annoy us. Ya know, I was thinking of making both inlet holes larger, then I heard Clint Eastwood say "A man has to know his limitations". So I took Clint's advise!

 

[mercman]

Malcolm

If I can make this simple alteration to the hot inlet with out ruining anything I'm sure you can too.

 

[yogitunes]

Good advise.......

but my Motto has always been "Size Matters!"

 

[mercman]

Size!!!

No comment...I'm speechless!!!

 

[yogitunes]

Speechless!

Yeah, Imagine all that!......lol

 

[qualin]

I get the feeling that the front loaders don't have the hot water restricted like the top loaders, because when I select a hot wash, the glass gets quite hot to the touch, which is pretty close to tap hot. Especially if I temper the machine first.

It makes sense to me that the hot water would be restricted on a top loader, because the amount of water which a top loader would need to use to fill would pretty much empty out most modern water heaters.

It was also probably there to keep the water from getting "Too" hot.

Personally, I do agree that "Hot" should mean tap hot, not 'sorta kinda' hot.

Now I'm kind of wondering if they use the same fill valves on their FL machines as their TL machines...

 

[mrb627]

Water Restricter

The hot water fill is 100% hot in both the TL and FL machines. But when Warm is selected, the hot is about 1/3 the flow of the cold. So the Warm wash isn't a 50/50 mixture.

Malcolm

 

[yogitunes]

Malcolms right....its not 50/50 for a warm setting, even the AUTO temps are dubbed down, and harder to adjust.........

I operated a newer Whirlpool TL a few weeks ago, and selected HOT, it gave a 60 second fill with HOT, and then jumped the rest of the way to LUKEWARM, I even reset the timer, no go, it had to continue with LUKEWARM......only resourse was to reach under the sink and turn the COLD off until it finished filling....its getting crazy with the newer machines......

I'll stick with my vintage machines, but if I had to own a new one, I think I would forget the fill valve and do it manually....

as we learned, even SQ has a dubbed down version.......pretty soon machines are only gonna be allowed a single cold water hook-up, with no internal heater.....

that, or their gonna remove the water heaters from our homes.......

which brings me to a question....why not improve the source?....if the water heater uses so much energy, why hasn't someone come up with a better one, better design, granted their more efficient today, but apparently not enough!.....why isn't the government forcing these guys to produce a super efficient model......take the energy level one uses today, and for starters, make it do the same job with 25 to 50 percent less energy!

 

[combo52]

Water Heater Efficenty

Martin its coming, but it is true that regular Gas water heaters are not nearly as efficient as they could be and regular electric water heaters should be taxed out of existence. I installed a new Rheem heat-pump water heater at my partners house over a year ago and it works GREAT. The WH only draws 6 AMPS at 240= 1446 watts vs the old one drawing 4500 watts and from what I can tell doesn't even run nearly as long or often as the old electric model did. And as an added benefit we stopped using the dehumidifier in the basement as the HPWH removes one or two gallons of water per week. Interestingly in the winter when the air is dryer it hasn't removed a drop of water since last October, I was concerned that it might make the air dryer in the house in the winter.

 

[mercman]

50/50 or what

So let me understand this, even after drilling-out the hot water inlet I'm still not getting a true 50/50 mix. WTH ?

 

[yogitunes]

NO, NO, NO....your getting the best possible mix.......opening up both the same, its as close as possible.......

the before of your machine was not allowing a full 50/50 mix......that what was confusing some people, yeah, if you selected HOT, you got tap HOT water, same for COLD, but if you asked for WARM, it was more like 70/30, or luke warm if even that.....some people weren't even checking as to the actual temp once the machine was filled......like Malcolms machine, once locked, he can't be sure he's getting a true warm wash, or even hot for that matter.....

something just to keep in mind.......WARM is determined for you now based on incomming water temps.....if the COLD is icy cold, and your water heater is set at 120, you may be only getting a luke warm wash, and this can also change by the Season, and the area you live......thats why mine is set at 160, I can always turn the faucet down, and adjust to my liking.....

check your wash temp, warm if I am correct should be around 90 to 100F....

 

[mercman]

Ahhhhh, I see

We did a wash today using the warm setting with both hot and cold faucets wide open. The temperature to me seemed to feel like a warm pool water like around 80 degrees. I have a well and the water is cold, my hot water heater is set to 120 degrees. I also think the cold tanks drop the temp a bit. How about making the hot water inlet hole larger than the cold?

 

[wayupnorth]

You're right Yogi about the temperature of what the water is coming in, it should be what each faucet has. I have an oil fired boiler with tankless hot water coil and I think the valve that regulates the temp from boiling to hot has gone out and I have to have it replaced. I notice now the Maytag does not fill with Hot when set and when the machine fills up the furnace burner finally kicks on. Same thing happened in the shower today, went cold and I always had more than enough hot water but now I have to wait for it to heat. Not a project I am going to tackle.