Speed Queen Front Load Machines

[Iowegian]

Hi folks,

We're looking to replace a Maytag SAV series washer. I like the Speed Queen machines and was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Speed Queen FL machine in an upstairs laundry room. Our house was built ca. 1999 with engineered wood (I-beam) floor joists and seems to be pretty stiff as far as wood frame houses go.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[laundromat]

As nice as they are in design (inner and outer stainless steel tubs with perferated stainless steel paddles) and features, they are expensive and have smaller tubs ( 3.1 cu ft) then most competitors. The Maytag/Whirlpool/Amana front loaders have bigger capacity and are a bit more reasonably priced. LG also makes a larger capacity washer and Frigidaire Affinities are great in capacity, convenience and they make models as low as $549 at Lowes. I went to the Sears OutletStore here and found a new Frigidaire top of the line Affinity inthe box for only $400! I bought it for my brother who had a similar washer you have that went and took a crap ( berrings and pump )  so I gave him the Affinity. He said that he and his wife noticed how much cleaner their clotheswere gettiing and how much less lint was accumulating in the dryer.Renie told me that the clothes never loked or smeled as clean as their new washer gets them.

 

[pulsator]

I have a Speed Queen FL washer and I LOVE it! It's definitely one of the best washers I've ever used! It does lack on features and there is no soil level selection but that doesn't really bother me. Less stuff to break! It's been my experience with the spin that the spin bursts tend to be a bit unbalanced if you don't have a full load, but they only last about 6-8 seconds before stopping to let the pump catch up. After the wash and between rinses, instead of doing a full spin, it does 4 pulse spins, getting gradually faster with each pulse. The only actual full speed spin the machine does is the final spin. (It does 4 pulses first then goes full speed for the final spin.) I can't say that I have any clue how the machine would react with your floor (mine is on cement), it'll probably shake a bit, but during the pulse spins, it's only for a few seconds at a time and then it moves on, the final spin tends to balance better and it has always been smooth sailing for me when the final spin comes around. Yes the machine costs more and has less features, but it's built so much better!!! As for the capacity, I've done comforters in mine with no issue. The Electrolux Wave Touch dryer I use with it also has issues coping with the size of the loads that come out of it. (And that's and 8.0 cubic foot dryer!) So I don't think that it has any capacity issues. The longer wash time certainly means it can cope with more laundry. It also seems to be far more balanced during the pulse spins and final spins if it's filled up. (And it never gets fussy about balancing trying to get the clothes just right for an eternity!) And it only takes 44 minutes for a regular load. Better than most FL machines today!

 

[Iowegian]

@laundromat:

I'm leery of Whirlpool/Maytag/Amana FLs after reading lots of stories of machines going bad after just a couple of years. Maybe there are thousands and thousands of good ones that we never hear about, and we only see the horror stories of the bad ones, who knows?

Not too interested in Frigidaire/Electrolux either, since they closed their Iowa plant a few years ago and moved production to Mexico leaving 900 people out of work. I'm not inclined to reward their greed to save a few bucks.

Thanks for the input just the same.

 

[Iowegian]

@pulsator:

Thanks for the info. I really like the SQ philosophy of putting the money into the mechanics rather than doo-dads like touch screens and musical jingles, but no dealers around here stock them. They'd have to order one in. Wish I could see one run on a wood floor, that would make the decision to buy much easier...

 

[pulsator]

Something I should add, mine came with special feet adapters for upper floor installations. They clip onto the front 2 feet and are about 3 inches in diameter. They are large adhesive pads that stick to the floor and will hold the washer still if it starts shaking. It may shake but, if properly installed, the pads will not allow the machine to walk. Also, I have never had my machine jump. If it decides the load is too unbalanced for a pulse spin, let alone the final spin, it will stop and redistribute. The Speed Queen difference is that it will only stop if it thinks it'll jump or the tub will bang against the cabinet. Most machine seem to try and keep their shocks from having to do any vibration absorption (which makes sense considering how cheaply made most of them are.)

 

There are others on this site (I'm can think of 4 or 5 at least) that have Speed Queen FL washers and they all love them. Hopefully someone will have some experience with them on a wood floor...

 

[MrX]

SpeedQueen and Miele tend to do no-nonsense designs with control panels. Miele's are a bit more sophisticated in terms of options, but they're relatively gimmick-free compared to some machines, especially some of the LGs and Samsungs which are more like a mobile phone than a washing machine.

The most important aspect of a washing machine is the design of the drum, the sturdiness of the build, the mechanical design of how it prevents the drum from vibrating too much i.e. shocks, springs etc and the power and reliability of the motor.

A front loader with a fairly mediocre size drum, but a powerful motor and excellent drum design will still produce far better results than a machine with a bigger drum, loads of fancy electronics if it has an inadequate motor and a badly designed paddle / drum system.

Remember, with a front loader your aim is to flush water through the clothes. They aren't tumble dryers and they don't necessarily need loads of room for clothes to tumble. What they need is an ability to slosh loads of water (not necessarily use lots of water) through the load using paddles and powerful rotation (i.e. lots of torque).

Also, when it comes to rinse performance, a front loader relies more on spin extraction than on sloshing around in water. You're aiming to wash - spin - re-saturate - spin - re-saturate - spin - fabric soften - final spin.

So, again that performance is dictated by mechanics, not electronics or drum size.

That's why I would say the SpeedQueen machines are quite likely to be excellent.
Same goes for Miele and a few others that are almost achieving commercial laundromat build quality scaled down for a household design.

 

[Iowegian]

@pulsator:

Thanks - I downloaded SQ's install instructions and I didn't see those mentioned, only the typical rubber feet that go over the leveling bolts...

 

[laundromat]

I still say it's the users who don't follow the easy directions and never take care of their appliances that cause most of the problems with front loading washers.They either leave the door shut after use causing mildew, use a high sudsing detergent instead of HE, use way too much bleach causing rust and corosion, and never check pockets for loose change or other foreign objects. That may be why 99% of the broken models I have restored are still in use years after I repaired them. I prefer the larger capcity models and,in fact, will be getting LGs new 30" set in SS when I return home. Before I left, I set up the area where they'll look great and be more practical. I had to wait until they arrived to be sure I had the right measurements. I setup dliery for 10/25/12. I readthese will easily wash up to 25 pounds of dry laundry. Anyway. I ope whatever you buy works great and does meet your needs.

 

[Iowegian]

@MrX:

I've read lots of good things about Miele. Unfortunately, they just can't be found where I live. The company website lists two dealers in my area. Neither one stock any of their models. One dealer who normally stocks a lot of product from many manufacturers has nothing at all. The other dealer, who advertises as a "Factory Direct" kind of place doesn't really stock anything from anyone, they are just a storefront that ships product from a warehouse hundreds of miles away.

 

[bobo]

I've yet to go look at Miele machines at my local Miele boutique, but the Speed Queen FL looks quite promising; it's got a bigger drum, and probably just as well-built as the German machines at a price cut! The only two SQ dealers in my area are quite far away from my home, so I have to plan some time to go there in the coming weeks.

 

[maytagbear]

If I were

buying a new washer, I'd mortgage my cat for the Speed Queen front loader. If.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[Iowegian]

@laundromat:

As machines become more complex, there are more potential failure modes, including operator error. But good software design takes operator skill into account. Shouldn't laundry equipment be the same?

I don't envy the appliance manufacturers. I bought my first new washer ca. 1984-85. It was a DD Whirlpool, middle of the line and it cost $425. That was a lot of money to me, luckily the mom and pop dealer carried me for 90 days to pay it off. $425 in 1984 money is like $950 today. But today you can buy a technically complex front loading machine for $950 or a functional top-loader for $425. They have to be wringing (no pun intended!) every last labor and material cent out of those machines to hit those price points.

 

[launderess]

"Technically complex "

Does not have to automatically equal poor quality and or early demise due to planned obsolescence. It all comes down to design and quality.

Commercial laundry and dishwashing machines have long been technically complex with various amounts of computer controls, the difference however is how the systems are designed and installed to isolate them from certain damage.

Both in laundry and dishwashing machines you are going to encounter environments that are moist and warm, something computers/motherboards don't normally like. If certain electronic/computer controls are not protected to an extent from such things it will hasten their demise/shorten their useful lifespan.

 

[Iowegian]

@launderess:

Microprocessor control of laundry and dishwashing equipment is relatively new. The benefits of microprocessor control for laundry and dishwashing equipment are not as obvious as they are for, say, automobiles, where fuel economy and engine longevity have increased greatly over the last couple of decades. If we were to compare water use to fuel economy, then yes, the appliance makers have succeeded. If we were to compare engine life to laundry machine life, I don't think the appliance makers have succeeded.

Perhaps GM needs to get back into the appliance business!

 

[whirlykenmore78]

SQ FL.

Is probably about the best you are going to get today unless you want a Miele which would give you more cycles and options. Depending on where in central IA you are you should look on line for dealers in either the Des Moines area or the Minneapolis area. One for sure in The Minneapolis area that carries both lines Miele and SQ is Warner's Stellian. I do not know of any in Des Moines.
WK78

 

[Iowegian]

@whirlykenmore78:

I spent way more time in my younger days than I'd like to admit as a dish dog, so I know all too well about the Hobart dishwashers. They took all of about 2 minutes to go through their cycle - not enough time to sneak out for a smoke or to flirt with the waitresses. Thanks for the pic and the memories...LOL!

I still remember how chuffed I was when I got to be a prep cook - coring and chopping dozens of iceberg lettuce heads a day, slicing cases of tomatoes and so on. But it was a lot better than getting steamed by that damn Hobart dishwasher, and I got paid the same $2.25/hr...

I'll check out SQ dealers away from here if I really have to, but I'd like to trade locally if at all possible. SQ distribution around here isn't so good because for years everyone bought Maytag if they could afford it, and Whirlpool was the brand of choice at the next lower price point.

 

[frigilux]

I checked Consumer Reports, and Speed Queen front-loaders received a very low score for "freedom from vibration" during spins. This probably doesn't matter if you're installing it on concrete, but it might be of some concern in an upstairs laundry room.

Receiving best scores for vibration:

Samsung WF511AB ($1300)
Samsung WF520AB ($1400)

Kenmore Elite 4154 ($1300)
Kenmore Elite 4153 ($1000)

Shop by model, not brand, as other Samsungs (priced $600-800) scored poorly for vibration.

 

[Iowegian]

@frigilux:

I saw the same thing, but I'm not as likely to take C-R ratings as seriously as I would have years ago, having owned some of their "recommended" stuff that turned out to be real duds.

Funny thing about their laundry ratings is that the Speed Queen stuff is rated low by C-R but rated very highly by owners. Are Speed Queen owners hopeless romantics longing for the old days of quality machines built in the U.S. by manly men with a welding torch in one hand and a 3lb. hammer in the other, that would be blinded by dingy whites? I really don't think so.

Conversely, the machines that are rated "best" by C-R have the lowest consumer ratings. Kind of makes one wonder whether C-R has any reason for being these days.

Go figure...