Speed Queen TL washer walks out when unbalanced

[Rebeccah]

I'm looking for
a) any suggestions on how to prevent unbalanced loads
b) is there any way to prevent the washer from walking out away from the wall when it is unbalanced?

We're not overloading the washer, this is something that happens sometimes when we wash the cotton floor mats from the bathroom. I do know that one solution is not to wash those mats in the washer, but it seems like with the old Kenmore (which used to occasionally shred my clothes when they got caught under the agitator fins) used to handle them better. I *never* had the Kenmore walk out from the wall.

I know not to wash one floor mat alone, but today it happened with two mats and nothing else. I tried adding a couple of towels, and it did it again, though less violently (or maybe I just caught it sooner).

I've got a SQ 432. The old Kenmore was a 1980's vintage Ultra Fabric Care Heavy Duty something or other.

Thanks for any ideas.

Rebeccah

 

[mrb627]

Loading

Load the mats as balanced around the agitator as possible. Then, make sure the water level closely matches the level of the dry load. You may also have better luck using the gentle cycle followed by a high speed spin.

Malcolm

 

[whirlykenmore78]

The reason your Whirlpool built machine

balanced better with this type of load. Quite simply it had a neutral drain phase in the cycle. When only a few items are spun in a tub full of water they tend to bunch up. This however only speaks for why the KM handled unbalanced loads better. If the SQ is going for a walk make sure the rear leveling legs are not locked up. It should not bounce around the room any more than the Kenmore.

 

[Rebeccah]

Thanks, guys.

I thought about the leveling legs maybe being out of whack, but I checked with a level, and the top of the cabinet is level. DH is the one who started the load. He's kind of a hard one to teach, and I thought I had distributed the load better when I added the towels, but then it went off balance again I saw both towels on the same side of the basket with the heavier mat. I guess the next thing to try is matching the water level better to the level of the clothes. I also thought about getting some of those vibration absorbing pads to put under the front feet.

My big worry is if the washer walks out too far from the wall, it will pull on the hoses and may leak or even break something. If I control the walking, does the unbalanced load itself do any damage to the machine?

Rebeccah

 

[jeffg]

It's been the same story for a long time: washing of heavy items requires supervision. This means redistributing them when they're unbalanced. It's true regardless of washer type (TL or FL) or brand.

Our SQ does as well or better than my mom's old Lady K in this regard, or at least I remember hearing a lot more unbalanced load buzzers as a kid than I do today.

 

[spinmon]

My SQ can't spin just 1 pillow. It bangs TOO much and appears to have put a slight crease in the front cabinet panel! I was there to watch its spin attempt or otherwise I'm sure she would've gone for a precarious walk!

Our '96 DD protested 1 pillow,but would spin-up,especially if I squeezed the excess water out by mashing pillow before spin. SQ would still bang after I mashed water out after 1st spin attempt.

Now I wash TWO pillows and watch closely.

 

[henene4]

Form time to time...

... any washer needs some prancercise:

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-50GjySwew&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[spinmon]

Prancer wha..

Shapely ol' gal. Bet she used to smoke,uh,Camels...

 

[gansky1]

Lol - she addresses her, um, lack of inhibition in a later video...