Speed Queen FL on the fritz *again*

[combo52]

Speed Queen Is The Best Full Sized Front Load Washer

Ever sold in North America for home use.

 

It is the only full size machine with a Stainless Steel outer tub.

 

It is the only FSFL washer where the main bearings and seal can be replaced easily without total disassembly.

 

It is the only FL washer that is used by the tens of thousands in commercial settings.

 

It is the only FL washer sold to home owners with a full 5 year parts and labor warranty.

 

Yes we are all washer nuts here and some of the features on WP, MT, FD, Samsung and LG FL washers are fun, but 90% of Americans do not give a F... about that they just want reliable washing and drying performance.

 

Hi Bruce, I find it very funny that you constantly recommend Korean-Chinese washers and dryers and yet supported DT.

 

Hi Thomas Comparing a Speed Queen FL washer to the little plastic washers your company is selling is like comparing a portable vacuum cleaner to a pickup truck and while both can technically be repaired one is always repaired, when you have a problem with the PUT they don't give you a new one and crush the first one, LOL. Even if this SQ FLW were to get exchanged it will be repaired and go on to live a long happy life.

 

[brucelucenta]

First of all, I have NEVER been or said that I was a Trump supporter. Secondly, sometimes you can make something so heavy duty and commercially sound that you forget some of the important attributes it might need to appeal to people and function easily. Besides that, I cannot see that speed queen's front loader is so head and shoulders over anyone else's. I also fail to see what possible difference it makes whether the outer tub is metal or plastic. Metal does rust, the many top load speed queen washers I saw and worked on proved that to me. Those outer tubs rusted out exactly where the seal is and had to be tossed. Many of them suffered this fate early in their existence. I have only had my LG made machine for over 3 years now, so I cannot really tell you how long it will last. But I do know that it has already outlasted at least a couple of speed queen machines so far by some of the posts in here. I don't expect it to last forever or probably over 10 years, very little ever does these days. I also bet that it is a LOT less expensive to buy a plastic outer tub than it is a metal outer tub should you need to.[this post was last edited: 1/27/2017-09:34]

 

[stricklybojack]

.
This machine has left me high and dry without washing ability in the house for over two weeks so far (and counting), for 2 non-operator error failures, and it's only been in use for a year and a half.
I have 5 and 7 year old boys and an incontinent 88 year old to contend with and paid a huge premium NOT to have this kind of thing happen.
We had a working 27 year-old DD Whirlpool that only broke once in that time (water inlet) and when it did so it managed to not spill a drop, that we gave away to make room for this SQ...oops. Shoulda made room some place in the garage and we would be washing dirty laundry now instead of looking at another week of being unable to do so.
What you are missing here John is that my trust of this machine is nearly shot, and depending on the outcome of this go round, I may never feel comfortable that it can work reliably again...which is the opposite of what I paid for in the first place.
This is why the "lemon" or "dud" reference came up. The motor control unit is a cripplingly expensive part, over $600 plus install if not under warranty.
I may ask for a warranty extension at least, no matter what happens, because this seems clearly an "early production-we-are-still-working-the-kinks-out-bear-with-us" situation.
This remember is the newly designed 3.3 drum model, ordered just weeks after they were released, that took months to deliver as the factory was behind on orders.
SQ should encourage it's service centers to have all these typically defective parts on hand so repair turn-around times are lessened.
In another post I made here, just a day or two before this incident, I suspected some people just have bad luck with some brands and should move on...I hate to say it but I think SQ is on the brink with ME in this regard.
In other news our (older than this SQ FL) Samsung French dooor refrigerator soldiers on with nary a complaint, as does our even older Bosch Dishwasher and our nearly 20 year old Sony TOL tube TV.

[this post was last edited: 1/27/2017-12:30]

 

[brucelucenta]

Sorry, but for the price people pay for a speed queen machine, I would expect much better than the service it seems that they provide and expect not to have a lot of trouble with it in the first place. From seeing the posts in here, it seems they have a lot of sales/service places that either do not know what they are doing or are dishonest and try to sell new ones when the old one can be repaired. I also think they have very poor quality control which is typical with manufacturing companies in the USA now. That is also the reason I drive a Toyota. I might also add that I have had my LG made machine for over 3 years now washing what sounds like the same kind of stuff you are without a single problem. The incontinent pads are hard on it I am sure, but so far so good. I too have an 88 y/o and lots of laundry.[this post was last edited: 1/27/2017-09:42]

 

[peteski50]

Speed Queen!

From my observations on FL washers this newer Speed Queen unit is one that seems just right. On the previous models their was just not enough settings. Now you have the ability to adjust the soil level (wash time) plus get a prewash and 2 extra rinses. The only thing I think that should be added is a heater! Otherwise what else do we need to do laundry?? Keep It Simple! And the capicity is large enough. These other big monsters out their are totatly ridiculous. And I wouldnt be so opposed to them if they were combos. Most of these machines should have a drying fuction. (that would make more sense) - I have a LG 24" combo and am happy with the washing performance. And you take your chances on anything you are going to buy! I recommend that all take a extended warranty on anything you buy!! Instead of all this energy saving control. Their should be strict Quality control. Aside from these newer Speed Queen machines I feel the Frigmores were the best in terms of simplicity and fuction, it is to bad they stopped making them.
Peter

 

[brucelucenta]

peteski50

The capacity is NOT ridiculous if you have a king size down filled comforter that has to be washed on a regular basis. It saves a trip and the expense of going to the laundromat. That is a great savings indeed! Having a cycle that will heat the water to help in sanitizing and cleaning is also a great help too. I have nothing at all against speed queen machines, I just don't think they are all that and a bag of chips.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Thinking I may get these for back-ups to give me confidence I won't have to go through this again.
Sadly that decisively kicks the SQ into the, 'fancy but unreliable' territory, like say a French or Italian sports car...if you know cars. A lot of 60's and 70's Dad's caught tooling around in Mom's old reliable while his foreign job was in the shop I recall as a kid here in California. Back in Minnesota, where we moved from, given the weather conditions, such cars were virtually unknown at that time.

Perhaps the Range Rover is the best auto analogy. Something with tough "heritage" but rings up eye popping service charges from jump street...until they are towed to the crusher with not a lot of the miles on the clock. While a Toyota Land Cruiser in the same circumstance would have been trouble free and just getting broken in, being a third of the way through it's typical usable life span.[this post was last edited: 1/27/2017-11:40]

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/app/5960070798.html

 

[stricklybojack]

.
And to answer Laundress:

I opened the door to get the serial number unaware the machine had bizarrely filled up with water.
There were no suds in this water so I DID'T SEE IT IN THE GLASS. But as Malcolm pointed out, this shouldn't happen at at all in any case.
Then Combo John damned with faint praise by stating that was a COMMON issue, not to worry, easy fix. But what about the burning?
I digress...I still wait for the tech to makes his FIRST appearance because the other commonly failing part, the now apparently toasted door latch switch, is enroute down from Los Angeles...I guess.

Oh and I was told over the phone, "do not drain the machine"...cuz I asked already.
Thanks for your interest everyone, a team of experts is on the case 24/7 and I no doubt believe the machine is fixable after a full tear down in the shop as Combo John has also informed us.
That said, i no longer have the pleasure of simply thinking the van will roll up, and after some tinkering we will be good to go. It's possible but experience tells me this will take at least two trips given "unexpected further issues" resulting in the need for other parts "we don't normally stock blah blah blah"...which is the new normal when you design digital electronics into a metal box full of water and early adopting customers do the lion share of your beta testing.
[this post was last edited: 1/27/2017-12:32]

 

[DADoES]

 
Those machines of sale above ... the washer is a Catalyst model.  Has some very nice features for a direct-drive agitator toploader.  But there are a few model-specific parts that have gone NLA for the Catalyst when I checked recently.

 

[brucelucenta]

Looks to be a pretty good deal! Bound to beat what you got now.

 

[runematic]

works well but the dryer timer will sometimes activate or (b

Sounds like the electronic control is going out on the dryer.  We've seen MULTIPLE failures of these controls on the washers & dryers.  Buyer beware.

 

[launderess]

Price vs. Service

Have news for you, what is happening to OP is pretty much the norm these days for appliance service regardless of price points; high or low, it really doesn't matter.

Miele is a prime example of this, just ask anyone (including)myself about getting anything serviced from that lot.

Everything is the same; telephone call to say "what is wrong"; appointment to send someone to "diagnose" the issue. If part isn't on tech's truck or not in stock has to be ordered. There may be a second visit to do the repair if tech cannot do it (for a host of reasons) on first visit, and there you are.

Pointing out to Miele that you've paid $$$ for something that is supposed to last decades but has broken within less than a year won't get you far either. Whatever the German equal of "stuff happens" seems to fit the usual response. That and or "what did you do to the machine"? Because the machine "cannot be doing that", so the inference is you the user are to blame.

Of course when tech finally does show up (a week, two or more later) it turns out yes, the machine *is* doing what you said and that something is truly broken/wrong.

 

[launderess]

It is to laugh

What SQ says about their electronic controls: https://speedqueen.com/smart/2016-q3/electronic-vs-mechanical-controls.aspx

But seriously folks, having compared my fully computer controlled Lavamat to the "electronic/mechanical" older Miele, would take the former over latter any day of the week, at least for front loaders.

The Lavamat is able to full control drum motions in a way the Miele cannot. This results in far less banging, clanging and whatever due to unbalanced loads. In it's defence the Miele is built like a brick chicken house and designed to withstand a certain amount of "abuse". OTOH the Lavamat goes more towards avoiding the stress caused by unbalanced loads by trying to eliminate where possible.

Have watched the large new SQ washers at local laundryette, and they also cope much easier with unbalanced loads than the previous mechanical versions. IIRC one of the top complaints about the older domestic SQ models was that they vibrated excessively.

 

[runematic]

Just for clarity's sake, I was referring to the craigslist ad for the Catalyst machines.   I was just going over this thread again, and I realized the craigslist text wasn't on the thread, just on the ad.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Laundress, like you said...the SQ in question is the "with knobs" version of the Fl machine. No touch screen and less wash options, but the same computer running the same mechanicals.
Runematic, yes I caught that too and have better options already teed up.
Even found a FL PANASONIC washer...'cept it was mislabeled and was actually a dryer. Straight from Taiwan, 120 volt.

 

[brucelucenta]

I think just about anything would beat what you got now.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
This a contender for backup duty? I suspect some of you will say yes...just a hunch.
The gent in question has the matching dryer, $75/each

 

[askolover]

If I had the room....

I'd certainly have an old orbital Maytag like MIL's and Mom's.  Both are still chugging along after 23-24 years. 

 

"Sadly that decisively kicks the SQ into the, 'fancy but unreliable' territory, like say a French or Italian sports car...if you know cars."

reminds me of an old joke....

"You know why Italians make such comfortable shoes?   Because their cars are always in the shop"

 

I don't want to jinx my computerized Miele w1986 but it is a phenomenal machine.  I didn't buy SQ because it doesn't have a heater and I like using 240V to power one.  But I would consider SQ.  I really hope they sort this out for you and that it goes many years without further problems.

 

[brucelucenta]

I can tell you from experience those Maytag machines would probably be a good choice as back up. They are very much like the one's I had before I bought my front load set. They were bought new by my brother, were passed to my parents when he remarried and then passed to me when my parents went to a retirement home. None of us ever had a moments problem with them. I would never have gotten rid of them and only did so for the extra capacity. Someone else has them and is using them daily now.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Waiting for my dinner to be served at a family Thai place in San Diego.
In the wagon (tight squeeze!) is the Maytag gas dryer, and it's washer mate is already in my garage from my earlier trip.
The dryer just had $180 of service done. They are clean and were installed high and dry inside a condo, meaning used only by the one resident. The washer does have some denting on the front but that is all, it weighed a ton considering it's size.
Oh and i got them BOTH for $100 total, yee ha!
pics to come.
[this post was last edited: 1/29/2017-23:21]