Speed Queen fron the laundromat to the home

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julianweber

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Joined
Oct 14, 2012
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33
Location
Rome, GA
I have just started my quest to replace my old TL washer that is leaving grease marks on my clothes. I am currently leaning towards the Speed Queen FL. I just this morning found a Craigs List ad where someone is selling out a laundromat. They have 8 18lb speed queen washers for 500.00 each. Can anyone tell me if if is possible to bypass the coin op system on one of these for residential use? Also what differences are there between these commercial units and the home unit in regards to the cycles available? I work in the IT industry and wold not be afraid re-programing one of these machines if they have a PC interface to do it with, but I have never worked on one before. What advice can anyone provide as to the suitability of this?

 
My Advice is....

Get a "new" VTG toploader!! Or fix your SQ! Let alone FL's!

Reading the city I thought you were from Rome Italy! Then I seen the CL ad being from GA, so Rome GA

Anyway I think it is possible to bypass, as for many  coin-op machine  it is just matter of an imput to start the cycle I guess...is not it?  so maybe you should be able to catch the wires inside and put  a start button to make the contact  command to start, like the one in newer whirlpool dryers as to intend....
I think it is very likely possible....
 
The laundromat machines are probably machines without suspension systems (hard mount) and would have to be bolted to a strong concrete floor. They might also need to operate on a different power supply than is available in domestic settings. Ask the seller questions.
 
As best I can tell the 18lb model was not sold in a bolt down version. There is the issue however that it may be a gravity drain and I do not have a floor sump, but I have to wait for the seller to respond before I know that. Thanks for the help so far.
 
Got some news....

Hi All, yes it was my doubt it's flame  was weak and it confirmed being so,  as watching some  SQ videos on youtube I could see larger flames.
The news is this, today after coming home I put myself back at troubleshooting the dryer, I tried yet another time to let  it run and with my big surprise it lighted up at first time and produced a very large blue flame, being almost the same circonference of the burner cone like it should be I guess , you could hear the flame noise being sucked as  Jon describes...

It contunued to light up and shut off every 5 minutes or so for 4 times, till it stopped even if ignitor was keeping going red.....

So it means that is not gas pressure the issue  as gas had neough pressure, so it 's something else...

So very likely is a coil issue (maybe not opening as they should because they got weak) at least I deeply hope so,  gas shutting off prematurely or not lighting is a sign of bad coild valves as I've I've learned so maybe it is also for gas pressure....
And the gas trick someway allows valves to work a little  even if not as they should.

I'm at work trying to unscrew the coils holder to check coils inside and eventually part number to find out if the ones I already found would work, unfortunately a bolt got stuck so I just hope the PB blaster I have sprayed will work, will wait for it to penetrate....
I hope that it will result "just" in a coil issue rather than a more serious issue like timer issue, I checked contacts with a current tester, and looks like the contacts work and current is sent...
If it will be the timer...well it's going to be hard...I will discover it just with the time.

Thanks all for the great help and inputs, please keep posting,  I will let you knon any news I will have about.
 
Wayupnorth
That is a pretty simple and effective solution. If I can get the seller to call me back I might have my first Speed Queen.
 
When I was in college and trying to get free laundry out of the school, I figured out (with the help of the schematics taped to the back of the machines) that there was one trigger wire the coin boxes used to switch to 110v when all the change was inserted and the lever pushed in.

I would be cautious poking around in there but the schematics are usually taped to the inside of the access panel behind the controls and that should help you greatly.
 
I believe the coin-op SQ top loaders are rated at 14 lb capacity, so they are probably talking about front-loaders in this ad.

But a person could probably buy a brand new 18 lb SQ front-loader with coin mechanism for under $2,000. So, the real question is paying 25% of new cost for a used machine a good deal? How used is it? How much life does it have left?

Given that they are trying to sell their mop and bucket for $45, that would make me question the ad valuation of their machines.

If I were looking to buy, I'd get the model number at the least and try to figure out how old/how used the thing was. Then I'd offer maybe $150 depending on what I found our from researching. Maybe even less than that.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. So far the seller won't contact me so this may not matter after all. I am still looking at purchasing a Speed Queen front load machine. If I find another good deal on a used commercial washer I may re-visit this topic, but for now I am leaning towards a new afn50rsp.

Can anyone suggest where I might find a good deal on one. The local dealer has quoted me 1,500.00 installed which I don't think is any special deal, but he is local ans will service it.
 
Serial number just in

I just checked and the seller did send me a message containing the serial number of one of the machines. Can someone here help me decode this?

0395058395
 
Comm SQ FL Washer

If the serial # system is the same as for other SQ products the CFL machine would have been built in March of 1995.

 

If I were you I would just get the new SQ FL washer you are interested in with the generous 3 year warranty, because these SQ washers are not that popular you may look a long time to find a deal on a slightly used machine.
 
Normally...

...these laundromat machines need a higher voltage so you can't use them in a regular household.
 
They could very well be single phase, 120 machines... But they will be hardmount with gravity drain... The coint drop can be replaced with a simple start/stop rocker switch... But getting to the timer to rapid advance it will a pain, and you cannot extend the cycle times...
 
Well, the seller sent me the model number and it turns out these are hard mount 110v gravity drain machines. I downloaded the parts manual and detailed instruction manual which shows how to properly build a 4" thick rebar reinforced concrete base for the machine. It also indicates that the cycle times can be altered with jumpers on one of the circuit boards. Unfortunately, the hard mount and gravity drain are hurdles I am not willing to overcome, so these are out. I do like the programable cycles though.

Does anyone know if it is possible to re-program one of the speed queen afn50f home laundry machines? That is the direction I am leaning now.
 
Quantum Controls

I believe if you purchase one of the On-Premise machines with the Quantum Controls that some programming changes can be made via a blue-tooth or wifi connection. Not sure what the expense is in this endeavor.

I do not believe that the homes units can be re-programmed easily, though.

Malcolm
 

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