SQ FL or TL

[washman]

rll70sman be sure to keep us posted.

I am keenly interested to know how you like your machines. I trust they will deliver the goods with clean laundry and peace of mind knowing that you bought old school, proven designs not destined for the rubbish bin after the warranty runs out.

 

[brucelucenta]

Amazing that so many have so much to say reguarding what washing machine to buy. All I can say is that if you are judging by performance that there is no comparison in top loaders vs. front loaders. Clearly the front load washers of today out perform any top loaders and are far more efficient with water. They also produce a load of laundry virtually lint free with no redeposition of sediment, something even the best top loader cannot do. On a purely personal taste of washers, I prefer a top loader. But that is not because they perform or wash your clothes better, just because I happen to like them.

 

[frigilux]

I am a proponent of modern front-loaders. A Frigidaire 4174 is my daily driver. Purchased the Speed Queen because it's the last of the truly classic top-loaders, and I wanted one for posterity. And the spin-drain is fun to watch. The Frigidaire out-performs the SQ in several areas.

Some people just don't want a front-loader. A Speed Queen is probably the machine they're looking for.

 

[spinmon]

I like the 30 minute normal wash cycle of our AWN 542,the spin drain,water fills tub quickly,and my favorite;normal wash speed makes great 'slosh' sounds along with a slight 'woo-woo',depending on proximities to the machine.

 

[washman]

This too is my 1st

experience with spin drain. I find it fascinating and I marvel at how the stout 1/2 HP motor brings the works up to speed, water and all.

 

[rll70sman]

Excellent, excellent machines!

I washed and dried two colored loads--one with mixed fabrics and one with jeans and towels--in my new AWN412 top-load washer and ADE3LR electric dryer delivered last evening. Wow! They are fast, quiet, no-nonsense machines (think vintage Maytags)! No stupid lid locks, balancing acts, 10-minute fill times, dumbed-down water temperatures, and wind-down spin cycles! In fact, I've yet to time how long it took the tub to fill with warm wash and cold rinse water, but it certainly didn't take longer than three minutes or so. Love the spin-drain and a spray rinse after the wash cycle instead of the rinse.

Rob

 

[washman]

Glad to hear rll70sman

I hope you find these machines as inspiring as I do for their simplicity, quality, and ease of use.

 

[frigilux]

Rob-- My AWN542 fills with warm water in about 3-3/4 minutes; cold in about 4-1/2; hot in about 5 minutes. Mine may take a bit longer as the water level has been adjusted to the top row of holes, in essence filling the tub full.

It is a very time-efficient machine. It took my 2013 Frigidaire Immersion Care (impeller-based) top-loader 25 minutes to complete a Rinse & Spin cycle. It's about 12 minutes in the Speed Queen. To be fair, the Frigidaire had a final spin time of 11 minutes, which extracted more water.

The very short final spin time of the SQ is probably my only grumble about the machine. Loads emerge with a lot of excess moisture. I timed the dry cycle of two identical loads of bath linens, one spun in my Frigidaire front-loader (1300 rpm) and one in the SQ. The load from the front-loader spent 54 minutes in the dryer; the load from the SQ spent 92 minutes in the dryer. That's a huge difference.

 

[jeffg]

Eugene, that's the first complaint I've heard that final spin times are too short on these washers. Although I've heard the opposite complaint more than once, claiming the cycles are too long. Once the water stops running out of your clothes during a spin, usually after just a few minutes, further water extraction comes at the expense of wrinkles. So it's always a tradeoff between extraction performance and final condition of the clothes, along with noise/vibration.

At least in our house we use the slower spin speed on or SQ TL as often or more often than the faster 710rpm, but it would be nice to have a 1000+rpm option for towels and other loads where wrinkling isn't a problem. But the upside is that better clothes (dress shirts etc) come out ready to wear with slower spin speeds.