Speed Queen Residential Going The Way of Maytag

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

Chetlaham

Chetlaham

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2013
Messages
4,789
Location
United States
The more I look around the more I hear 3 common rants regarding Speed Queen home laundry:

1) Their machines can not and will not clean.

2) Their control boards are dropping like flies

3) Customer service is rude, unapproachable or simply gaslighting.

Word is getting around, and people are becoming more vocal. Also from what I'm hearing there are repair companies charging for the labor of replacing parts. Speed Queen is going from recommended to do not buy, Whirlpool is best.

Old vid, not 100% accurate, but it sums up customer feelings.

 
I saw this coming as soon as the TR series were introduced back in 2018, and saw quality issues after Speed Queen went back to the drawing board and brought back the former design but with the Classic name on it. Speed Queen really needs to completely, I mean COMPLETELY redesign their washers since it’s been the same thing since 1980 and weren’t known for reliability back in the mid to late 90’s. They should just use Maytag’s old design they used forever, no one can claim patent infringement on a design that were used many years ago and the company that held all of those patents are no longer around except for the name which is owned by Whirlpool.
 
chetlaham

here are my toughs on the subject what really needs to be broken is the culture is the buy and replace mentaly that appliance companies like whirlpool maytag ge speed queen ect has adopted and go back to giving customer service a good quality repair service and also appliance companies need to realise not every consumers has the money to replace there appliance when they expect them to last for the lengh of there life cycle use just yesterday was at my aunt place family gathering she ask for my help to get pool towels she had whirlpool duet her dryer broke she had to replace she wanted to get whirlool again but she would of had to wait 3 months so she bough samsung this his her model with matching dryer and pedistal https://www.samsung.com/ca/laundry/washing-machines/front-load-5-2-cu-ft-inox-wf45r6100ap-us/ i think no matter if the appliance is vintage modern top load front load what ever is own repairs should be made avalable no matter what the brand we have.
 
@maytag85: Personally I think Speed Queen should dump all electronics and in their top load line up considering that time and time again electronics seem to be the bane of all wahser woes in the first 5-10 years; no matter how much reliability or longevity is claimed by using them. Its not just burn ups, but I've seen and personally experienced obscure programming errors in electronic controls. Ie, I had one 2011 dishwasher where the detergent cup opened in the prewash such that a repair tech actually agreed with me and replaced the control board on warranty. On my current 2018 Maytag the indicator light goes off if the machine has to do a thermal hold in the final rinse and does not come back on until the cycle moves into dry. Clearly a code/programming error.

Which I think is common in the industry.

The idea of Speed Queen bringing back the Newton design is beautiful to think about (I hope it does happen one day from another manufacturer) however the reduced capacity and slightly worse balancing would be a step backward in the current design.

The current design has been tweaked solving most of the problems seen in the 90s. The current design today has very few initial defects and can easily last 15-20 years, so it meets the needs of being reasonably dependable.

A redesign could be better in the long run. But that would be a profound gamble. A single small negative or shortcoming in a redesigned platform could end Speed Queen home laundry for good as it did with Maytag. I'm sure Maytag thought their Neptunes would be trouble free, but the simple mistake of not considering residual moisture above the design calcs meant the demise of everything. There is no such thing a laboratory simulation or R&D. The real and only test is in the laundry room of the consumer. The rest is meaningless noise.
 
@Pierre: I agree in full. The lack of longevity is the most upsetting thing for me. Consumers ought to have the option of a 30 year washer with a 7 year full warranty. But sadly it is also the consumer as they don't think beyond the surface of seeing an appliance and buying it just because it fits all the clothes/dishes/food and looks sleek.

If people were like me, the Maytag Newton would be the dominant design in 90% of households, the Kenmore of the 90s type presence, with a 3/4 or 1 HP motor.

@dadoes: Agree that it does show a lack of long hours spent researching a complex topic that she may not have time to research in full, but her distress is not at all unreasonable. All consumers have basic needs. Her basic need is a washer that A. works B. cleans. C. does both a and b at least until the warranty expires. At the time of filming it wasn't meeting any of those needs. Customers also have a need to be heard when either box isn't being checked instead of being blithely ignored.

Ultimately it boils down to manufacturer arrogance. The binary vanity that a certain design is completely impervious. The assumption that customers will unconditionally accept what ever is sold to them. The hubris that deleting negative reviews will keep sales afloat. The immodest assumption that denying customer service will make the problems go away. Speed Queen is doing all this and more.
 
If the VMW "Maytag"Centnnial I have dies-guess I will have to shop for another vintage washer at the remaining appliance swap shop in town.Can't trust new machines anymore it seems.I had my eyes on SQ as a replacement for the machine I have.
 
Among many reasons why SQ along with nearly everyone else has ditched mechanical timers for digital is simple; there are only but so many spaces on former, while latter is infinite.

Alliance "found a loophole" that allowed them to use more water for their top loaders because that cycle is not labeled "Normal". Federal energy regulations for washing machines require certain standard for "Normal" washes that cannot be altered by consumer. Thus ironically last thing many want on such SQ washers is "Normal", but that's hand Alliance along with everyone else was dealt.

Same applies for dishwashers and so forth. Midwest Timers and others have had to retool their business thanks to near demise of mechanical timer market. When WP phased them out of their washers and other appliances you can imagine what a hit that caused.
 
Reply #4

I think appliance manufacturers should give an option for mechanical controls or electronic controls to allow for options. There will be those who argue that electronic controls have no moving parts which means nothing will wear out which is true to a degree, but certain components on circuit boards degrade over time and eventually the machine will become junk if it were to sit for a few decades since the whole sequence of operations would come to a halt. Yes, mechanical timers can be a bit screwy if they were to sit for decades but usually can be taken apart for a cleaning and servicing perhaps a rebuild and you are back in business. Can’t really do that with electronic circuit boards that have been sitting for awhile unless you have a soldering iron and the electronic parts to fix the board.

The Maytag’s can have issues with balancing but since I always load my Maytags properly, I have never had balancing issues with them and there were a few times where the off balance sensor tripped but was on my behalf and not the machine’s.

The capacity is a bit smaller but if you look at some front loaders, the capacity is sort of the same since you are supposed to loosely load a front loader and not jam everything in. If you load a Maytag with 12 to 14 pounds of laundry then put the same load in a front loader, it would be about the same if that makes sense.

A redesign would be a bit of a gamble but if they were to make the Newton style of Maytag washers for home use and use their current design for commercial use, it would definitely allow them to compare both machines and if the Newton design had positive feedback from techs and customers, they would have a successful machine. That’s what Whirlpool did when they developed the direct drive washers, instead of designing a machine without doing any R&D, they designed them and sold them in small numbers and got feedback from tech and customers before phasing the belt drives out completely and that’s what Speed Queen would do if they were to use the Maytag Newton design.
 
Infinite Spaces

Do you really need infinite spaces? If a washer is designed well, why would anyone need more than 72 increments across a whole drum, a few cycles, with 8-16 SPDT opening and closing a few times across each cycle? The law of diminishing returns, at best, comes into play when mechanical timers done away with. Nothing is trully gained.

Modern top loads cans be built with 3 cycles- Vigorous Clean, Normal and delicate. Vigorous Clean and Delicate would have a deep fill while Normal would have a spray rinse along with a tempered wash.

Whenever someone makes an argument in favor of electronics, I ask them to look at this:

chetlaham-2022062705020604871_1.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705020604871_2.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705020604871_3.jpg
 
Reply #10

Again, we agree in full lol! :)

To all those who say mech timers can not last, I says lies. The cycle sequence above comes from a GSD-500D dishwasher, one of the greatest examples of elegant simplicity that has ever been conceived. Potscrubbers of the 80s lasted 30-40 years and the timer was not the typical component that went out. We're talking about heat and moisture, a corrosive environment that has lead electronics to react to the extent it has triggered multiple class action lawsuits once fires began escaping various dishwashers.

Yet these Singer timers, some caked with rust and lime scale still work after 40 years.

Whirlpool did it right, the DD phase in was over a 10 year period, enough to correct potential blunders early. Speed Queen was humble enough to release the TC-5 when the TR series did not prove to be as promised.

chetlaham-2022062705192209193_1.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705192209193_2.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705192209193_3.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705192209193_4.jpg

chetlaham-2022062705192209193_5.jpg
 
@gelaundry4ever- I routinely fantasize about this. The Newton, Direct Drive, and current Speed Queen classic design are worth being produced for another 30-50 years considering their performance and durability.

Maybe FFs, but being honest they use more water per fill, have poorer balancing, have a tub boot that can slip off, have less capacity and weigh more compared to other machines. That is not to say there isn't some redeeming qualities that I am missing which I'm sure that I am. You have the mic GELaundry4ever :) ;)

I think these old designs coming back would make a lot of people happy.
 
if you had the choice of washer dryers today 2022 2023

if you had the choice today in 2022 2023 for washers and dryers would you go for one of those fancy electronics models that might not even last long 10 years max 5 years minimum or op for a classic ge filter flo like this classic maytag belt drive whirlool kenmore and to be honest after what happen with a 3 year old ge dishwasher purchuse 2016 2017 broken control board repair that would of cost 300$ i no longer trust appliances with fancy electronics

second vid credit to the member that owns the washer if i had the coice my choice is simple it would be something vintage
 
The big draw of Speed Queen is that they make commercial machines for home use. I haven't been in a laundromat or such in decades and can't say what models and types of machines are now used, but I understand the "classic wash" TC5 is at least based on models that have been used in commercial applications.

Has a "Perfect Wash" TR series type model ever been used in a commercial application, or even marketed as being intended for use as such? The Speed Queen Commercial Vended washer and dryer brochure dated 2021 seems to show a top load that meets the specs of the "classic" wash, such as 1/2 hp motor. I believe I read that SQ continued to make what's now known as a "classic" model for commercial use even during 2018 when they were only selling the TR series for homeowners.

If the TR is only intended for homeowners, to me that kind of takes away from the idea that I'm getting a true commercial quality machine, and maybe a sign that SQ is getting away from its roots.

I can't find the post right now, but as I recall someone did bring up the idea of SQ testing new designs on consumers before introducing them for commercial use. Still kind of opposite to the idea that when I'm buying a SQ I'm getting a machine that has been commercially proven.
 
 
There's not much magical about modifying a consumer-oriented topload washer mechanism to the commercial/coin-op environment (or vice-versa).  GM/Frigidaire unimatic was in coin-ops.  Fluid-drive Speed Queen, Whirlpool old-style belt-drive and direct-drive, GE FilterFlo, Maytag Newton/2-belt.  Most of the changes are related to simplifying the controls and eliminating superfluos features such as dispensers and filters, although FilterFlo did retain the filter pan at least on some coin-op models.
 
Least in our neck of woods top loaders have almost vanished from laundromats. Has been so for about a good decade or more now.

OPL/route laundries (those in multi-family such as apartments, student housing, etc..) may still have top loaders, but increasingly those too are being replaced by H-axis offerings.
 
There may not be much "magical" about modifying a commercial machine for home use, and I don't know of anyone saying there is.

However today very few consumer machines could be said to be commercial quality. Speed Queen is in that the same basic machines are, or at least have been, used in commercial applications. Other than that, Maytag has a residential "commercial" model that I consider to be of questionable commercial quality.

So my question remains, if a TR series SQ has never actually been used or marketed for commercial use? I suspect many customers think they are getting basically the same machine that is used in actual commercial applications when they buy a SQ, and that is in fact one of its selling points.

Never mind that the TR series may be commercial quality if it is not used in or intended for commercial applications.

Maybe it's a fine point, but it may get to whether SQ is still a company focused on commercial applications, or are they branching out into consumer versions, a complete remodel, rather than just console changes and different cycle options.
 
Johnny in reply 17 touched on the issue when he said "Other than the TR7, I believe all the rest of Speed Queen's residential machines use the same internals as their commercial and multi-home units."

So it appears their sole focus may no longer be on commercial applications, and making some of them available to homeowners, but branching out specifically to residential use.

They may have felt it was necessary due to regulations being different for commercial use and consumer use machines or something. And I guess they're still filling a niche for consumers who are dissatisfied with the quality of other products on the market. But still, I would lean towards the TC5 just because it seems to have a true commercial heritage if for no other reason.
 
 
Nowadays, maybe, maybe not so much.  Depends on the specific machines involved.

There is/was nothing notably mechanically different in the historical coin-op brands I cited vs. their residential siblings.  Whirlpool continued producing direct-drive coin-op toploaders for a couple years after VMW debuted.  I used Kenmore/Whirlpool belt-drive coin-ops in the 1960s and early 70s that were mechanically the same as the home models, other than not having a lint filter.
 
Nowdays not so much, unless you can name the specific machines produced for homeowners today that you would consider true commercial quality other than SQ. Miele? Do they even claim to be commercial quality? It would come closer than the junk produced by Whirlpool today, I would guess (though I have no experience with Miele). Direct-drives and the 1960s and 70s aren't exactly nowadays. I doubt the average homeowner even thinks to look for used or rebuilt washers.

Anyway I thought the focus was on the direction Speed Queen may be headed. That was the basis of my question, and what I thought went along with the OP.
 
Speed Queen TC5 Control Board Part No.

I personally think the timers would be more reliable. However, I'm sure they got stripped when people tried to spin them around too quick. I didn't have an issue with the one on my Whirlpool top load the 15 years I owned it.

It does seem like the boards give you a few more options when it comes to options and wash patterns. Most of the board issues I've seen were on the TR series.

This is applicable to these washers, which includes the TC5 model:

AWN632SP116CW01
AWN632SP116TW01
AWN632SP116TW02
ZWN632SP116CW01
ZWN632SP116CW02

I noticed there is two different part numbers listed for the same part. Was it upgraded? Or do the Z models just take a different part than the A models? Odd since the board behind the control is the same for all.
202508P Output Board Control Assembly Through Serial No. 1912999999
204783 Output Board Control Assembly Starting Serial No. 2001000001

The boards aren't quite as expensive as I thought they might be and seem easily replaceable. BTW, I just noticed a whole series of videos by user "ApplicanceVideo.com" on how to repair these things :-). Search for "Speed Queen washer" and search by upload date.

I tried filling the washer partially, canceling the cycle, and then restarting it. The washer continued to fill the tub up to the half load level.

I wish I could figure out how to run it with less water when needed.
 
 
Probably would need to let it fill to the normal trigger point, then drain some out to the lower level.  However, a fault code may trigger if the board monitors the pressure transducer reading in case of drain hose siphoning, leaking, or some such problem.

Could also be doable if there's a test mode to make it agitate without water ... fill to whatever level desired, then agitate in test mode.
 
TC5 Partial Fill

"I tried filling the washer partially, canceling the cycle, and then restarting it. The washer continued to fill the tub up to the half load level."

Yes, that's as I would expect. To add to what Glenn said above, I think you would need to wait for the agitation to start before taking water out, or at least until it stops filling. Then if I'm not mistaken (and I could be) I think it will continue to operate with less water.

What I wish I could get to work is what it says towards the bottom of this Cycle Matrix: https://alliancelaundrysystems.widen.net/s/rdgzqpsw6h/dl_ar19-0055_salestool_tc5cyclematrix_en-us

It says to hold Extra Rinse and Start for 3 seconds, and then:
"Tone will sound. Enables “Rapid Advance” using the start button, step through the segments of the cycle selected."

Being able to "rapid advance" through the cycle could be useful, then maybe you could partially fill and then skip to agitate.

I'm not sure if this is an outdated feature, or if I just don't understand it, but it doesn't seem to work for me.
 
TC5 Water Level Monitoring?

But then that Cycle Matrix also says at the bottom:

"Notes: Water level monitoring feature included; Unit will stop once lid is opened and will resume when lid is closed. Start button does not need to be pressed to re-start cycle."

Seems to tie "water level monitoring" in with the lid switch somehow. So I guess it's possible it does recheck water level each time the lid is opened and closed for some reason. Still not sure it makes much sense as it just has the set water levels and isn't autofill, whereas some autofill machine may recheck to sense how much clothes may have been added when the lid was open.

The lid switch is disabled on mine, and obviously the one in the video, if that really does make a difference.

Eventually maybe I'll have to try it. But it doesn't much more sense to me than the "Rapdid Advance" method. I suspect those instructions may be applicable to something more like the TR7 with autofill and an actual button for Extra Rinse.

https://alliancelaundrysystems.widen.net/s/rdgzqpsw6h/dl_ar19-0055_salestool_tc5cyclematrix_en-us
 

Similar threads

S
Both my Speed Queen units stop working I don't know what I'm missing or doing wrong - Please help.
Replies
17
Views
891
pierreandreply4
pierreandreply4
E
Speed Queen Washer and Dryer
Replies
5
Views
470
combo52
combo52
W
Whirlpool Washer Rant!
3 4 5
Replies
132
Views
6K
DADoES
DADoES
T
New speed queen front loads
Replies
28
Views
388
repairguy
repairguy
T
1987 Speed Queen electronic-touch laundry pair, 6 month follow-up....
Replies
2
Views
202
turbokinetic
T

Latest posts

Back
Top