Speed Queen AWN 432

[joelippard]

I can not believe I am actually making a post about a modern machine!  However, I recently acquired a pre-owned Speed Queen AWN 432 set with the assistance of fellow club member Bob Orear.  It took quite a bit of cleaning up and a new wire and fuse on the dryer.  The previous owner was a heavy doser with fabric softener in the washer along with cold washes.  It was disgusting to take apart and clean up.  

 

I have to say I really love this machine, they both do a very fine job, are extremely well built and the washer is the newest "essence of old school" that I have ever seen.  I'm impressed!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

fabric softener

Fabric softener works as long as you use a deep rinse and a reasonable water level and temp.

 

[Chetlaham]

Oh Congrats!

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This is one of the best washers ever made! I have the model below this one (AWN 412) as my daily driver.

 

 

Best suspension in existence, (balance, vibration, noise), excellent cleaning, fast cycle times, good rinsing, big transmission, self cleaning with warm water and detergent, long life, reliable, dependable and overall solid.  

 

Do not listen to all the negative voices on here saying these are poor performing washer that are merely imitations of a once not so popular in the competition design. They are just jealous you have a real washer. I know, I use a Speed Queen every day. I only fall deeper in love each cycle.

 

Use, enjoy and don't think twice.

 

[DADoES]

 
Photos of the disassembly and clean-up of gnasty toploaders are always a positive to validate that the issue isn't confined to frontloaders ...

 

[gelaundry4ever]

what chetlaham said

I agree with what Chetlaham said. I have the commercial version at my apartment complex. It's identical to what he just described. The only exception is that it has a coin box. I use the csc go app which it uses. I always use the heavy soil on the normal cycle on everything just so I can have a real deep rinse. I stay away from eco rinses.[this post was last edited: 9/28/2023-16:13]

 

[gelaundry4ever]

big transmission

I wonder just how big the transmission is. I also wonder what the oil smelled like or does smell like. I bet it's very thick for all those beefy steel gears.

 

[repairguy]

Congrats on acquiring an excellent modern set.

 

[Chetlaham]

Transmission

Tis big! Here is one on a grid:

 

 

  https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Transmission/203768/4962036

 

[appnut]

Congratulations Joe. Bob is a terrific guy. I still miss him and wish he aws still here in Texas. It's such a crime for an owner to be so heavy handed with fabric softener and on top of that only washing in cold water. Congratulations on such an outstanding cleaning from the ground up!! And a perfect model before they bastardized changing the cycels to Heavy Duty/Perm Press and Normal/Eco crap. That timer is a true, legitimate top load washer.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

to chetlaham

I bet that Speed Queen Gear Oil smells strong and is thick. How do you think that gear oil smells?

 

[Chetlaham]

I've never smelled Speed Queen oil, probably because these washer just don't break all that often. I have smelled filter flo oil, and it smells rather industrial. 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

filter flo oil vs. direct drive oil

What about direct drive oil? How does that smell compared to filter-flo oil? I've smelled filter-flo oil and I completely agree. It brings back memories.

 

[Chetlaham]

DD oil really didn't smell strong to me, even up close it smelled relatively mild almost sweet in comparison.  FF oil was rather pungent. FF oil also appeared darker in color- more grayish too.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

post FF oil

What do you think of post FF oil compared to FF oil? I have a feeling that SQ uses pungent oil like the GE FF and Whirlpool DD. To me, the FF and DD oils smell similar.

 

[Chetlaham]

Believe it or not I've never taken apart a post FF transmission despite the fact the apartment haul away pile was absolutely teaming with post FF washers. My interest was only in FF washers, I only ever played around with post FF washers just to get a general idea of what was wrong with them rather than studying or experimenting with them in depth out of curiosity. It wasn't all that hard to tell what was wrong with a post FF washer, when the agi lifts straight up without hesitation with the air bell cracked or you set the machine to spin with the motor shaft spinning in its clutch but the belt does not turn you knew- I was satisfied enough. However today I am kicking myself I never forensically autopsied these washers in depth. I wish I had, there was so much I could have learned but at the same time my love for vintage and dislike for modern had already been solidified into my personality. I was 100% invested in FFs, hoping that GE might bring them back. I know that was naive thinking 15 years ago, even more so today.

 

Fortunately there is still Speed Queen. For now.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

post FF transmissions

Those post FF transmissions were small, yet sounded similar to the DD washer when agitation was in progress. I bet that oil had a pungent smell like the FF counterpart without taking them apart.

 

[Chetlaham]

They were tiny! Way to tinny. Longevity was not GE's goal. GE effectively ceased all washer production by 1997. 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE transmissions

It's astonishing how GE went from huge transmissions to tiny ones. What an insult to the GE filter-flo. They ruined themselves. I missed everything about the filter-flo since it left my house for the one that came after, including the familiar souns I enjoyed.

 

[Chetlaham]

Absolute crime what became of the FF. Don't get me started. Had GE abandoned the FF design for the Raytheon or Amana designs I could forgive/understand that. But no. 

 

GE did ruin themselves. Haier now owns GE, which shows the outcome. I remember comparing motor and drain seals on their mids 80s vs late 90s Potscrubbers. They fact they literally had had less than half the wear material not even adjusted for age shows not just deliberate cheapening but deliberate built in planned obsolescence.

 

As much as it hurts us, GE is happy with the outcome. Executives want to extract what wealth is in a company before they retire with no concern about future of said company because it no longer effects them in any way.

 

If everyone was like me it simply wouldn't happen. Apart from the political movements in the streets people would only buy solid designs.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

gear oil smell

Chetlaham, if you had smelled the FF and post FF gear oils side by side, which one would you think would smell more? What about to Maytag and Whirlpool, and even Speed Queen?

 

[Chetlaham]

My vote goes to GE FF, followed by Speed Queen in terms of oil odor. But its just a very wild guess based on my own whimsical assumptions about what Post FF oil might be like. So no clue really.

 

 

There was a time though when GE washers may have or just had Speed Queen oil in them. My dream had become partly true for a brief period when Amana washers were sold under the GE name. I wish GE choose this design for their post FF washers and stuck with it. Fixed all the seal leaks like Alliance did. Same metal outter tub and transmission like alliance, but with a 3 port pump for a filter flo scheme. Re-used the FF cycle concepts of Normal, Extra clean, Poly knit and Mini quick. 

 

This would have been the GE I know. Imagine being able to buy a modern Speed Queen but under the GE name at every appliance seller.  

 

 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

speed queen oil weight

I wonder how heavy that Speed Queen Gear Oil is compared to post FF, FF, DD, and Maytag.

 

[Chetlaham]

x2

Anyone know what the oil is like in modern Speed Queens?

 

[repairguy]

That Amana built GE washer had a plastic outer tub.

 

[Chetlaham]

Sadly they did. They still had a ways to go before becoming the Alliance quality today despite being a few steps in the right direction.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE amana agitation

What was the agitation like on the Amana built GE's?

 

[angus]

The agitation on that machine is quite like the most recent Speed Queen models. The quality however of those Amana built GEs will probably leave a fair amount to be desired. I had the Amana version of that washer for three years and the tub seal repeatedly failed, necessitating repeated replacement of the spin bearing (according to the service person). By that time, Amana had been sold from Goodman to Maytag and literally no one could fix this so my local dealer just replaced the machine - something they clearly didn't have to do. Maybe not every Goodman built Amana was an issue, but mine certainly was. The matching dryer however lasted 16 years...

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE Amana strokes per minute

How many strokes per minute was the GE Amana washer?

 

[panasonicvac]

Nice grab!

Does the water inlet deflector on yours shoot water out straight or at an angle like on the newer SQs' such as this one? I'm not sure when they decided to change that and why but I actually like it shooting at an angel. I think it's more fun to watch fill up than on a Whirlpool, GE, Maytag, etc.

 

[Chetlaham]

Angled Fill

Count me in on preferring the angled fill over Whirlpool, GE and Maytag. Speed Queen went to the angled fill in 2015/2016 when they came out with their Normal Eco cycle which uses a series of 3 spray rinses instead of a deep rinse. I like this method of saving water, I think it has its purpose particularly with non bulk items. 

 

The OP machine has a standard straight down fill given away be the "D" design of the tub, the fill flume is molded into the tub cover instead of being a separate piece found on the angled fill models. 

 

 

Normal Eco model right after its original release: