Squeed Queen TC5/DC5 Discontinued?

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blockeight88

blockeight88

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Messages
643
Location
Northwest, IN
Apparently it's not showing up on Speed Queen's website in many different areas. Still shows in mine, but can't help to wonder if they're phasing it out? Maybe a new model is on the horizon? The TR Series still is available.
 
I see the TC5 is still available at several locations here in Indianapolis. Nothing on their site either about discontinuation.
 
Speed Queen TC-5 Are Very Much Still Available

And is still the top selling washer from SQ [ for home use ]

 

I do wish they would push their FL machine more, but is a very expensive machine to produce and they can sell all they make in the commercial side of their business.

 

$2500 for a pair of new SQs is cheaper than the price of a pair of MT 606s in 1977 and they have a far better warranty will last longer with fewer repairs and best of all do a better job cleaning and drying a larger load of clothing and using less energy and water.

 

That said I would not buy ANY Top Load washer built today except under special circumstances. 

 

John L.
 
“$2500 for a pair of new Speed Queen’s is cheaper than the price of a pair of Maytag A606s in 1977 and they have a far better warranty will last longer with fewer repairs and best of all do a better job cleaning and drying a larger load of clothing and using less energy and water”

A beg to differ since Speed Queen’s tend to go through belts fairly quickly and the seals and bearings have a tendency to go out as well.

I don’t buy that Speed Queen’s wash or rinse better since the first spin is slow which doesn’t spin out enough of the soapy water which leads to suds in the rinse and to add insult to injury, there’s no spray rinse on the final spin which will result in itchy clothes since all the detergent wasn’t rinsed out. Yes, the older Maytags didn’t have a spray rinse on the final spin but had a solid 1 minute spray rinse on the spin first on the fast spin which rinsed things out better.

I don’t buy that Speed Queen’s using less water and energy since Speed Queen’s as mentioned aren’t known for rinsing out all that well despite using the proper amount of detergent and such.

I also don’t buy that Speed Queen’s dryers do a better job drying since it’s either damp dry or extra crispy with those dryers. A late 70’s Maytag dryer would dry better since the SOH design was well thought out and basically paved the way for all 27” front filter dryers sold today.

A new Speed Queen set might use slightly less energy than a older Maytag set but is not that much of a big difference since they both have a similar set up with similarly powerful motors and both dryer designs use 5600 watts of power so there’s no that much of a difference to be honest.
 
Other than repeating hearsay, what's your actual knowledge of the following statement?

**********************************************

A beg to differ since Speed Queen’s tend to go through belts fairly quickly and the seals and bearings have a tendency to go out as well.

************************************************

I had a SQ Toploader for 8 years and it did not need belts, seals or bearings. The new owner is happily using it on the same belts/seals and bearings.

I currently have a 7 year old SQ FL that has the all original parts too.

So, I am curious what "fairly quickly" means, and this "tendency"?
 
Reply #8

You are probably lucky but I suggest going onto Lorain Furniture’s YouTube channel and you’ll see him disassemble a not too old of a Speed Queen washer that had a bad bearing and seal.
 
Speed Queen durability

Hi Sean, Speed Queen is proven to be the most durable washing machine for home used for sale in the United States for over a decade now.

 

Our service company works in an area as an authorized service or for Speed Queen in an area that has over 50,000 of these top load washers were talking about in use. We probably use three or four belts a year maintaining these machines we still replace far more main drive belts on old Maytag‘s the second most replaced one is Frigidaire WCI Bilt top load washers.

 

Just because a video has been made showing bearing and seal replacement and Speed Queen top load washer does not mean they’re having trouble with them.

 

We’ve been doing factory service for over 10 years on Speed Queen yes we’ve replaced transmissions and bearings and seals probably in five or six Speed Queen‘s by now, we’ve had no major problems with front loaders at all by the way. But the fact that a few machines have failed does not mean they’re having trouble with them.

 

We Know that the failure rate in warranty of Speed Queen laundry appliances is probably 1/2 to 1/3 of what it was on Maytag and whirlpool‘s back in the 70s and 80s we only do a few warranty calls a month and it’s usually for some unusual situation most often it’s not even a product problem at all but more of a installation problem etc.

 

Sean I saw your recent post on social media you complain of having no friends and no one to hang out with when you constantly make things up and lie and make things up to suit your liking you’re not going to have friends.

 

I have tried reaching out to you and also talked with people who have met you, but because you have made up your mind about everything without regard to the facts there is little point talking to you, you do the same thing with politics.

 

Stay in touch, John L.

 

 

 
 
must be the year where they change models

usaly by september they replace the models with newer models it do not mean the model is disontinued maybe you should take the time to read the description on the website just because you see a lower price it only means there selling the older models to make room for the newer ones
 
Combo 52

At what point did speed queen go from Multispeed Multidirection motors to motors with a variable frequency drive? Just curious, As my local attended laundromat has both a speed queen front loader with variable frequency drive and one with a multi speed motor

Sorry for getting off topic
 
Warranty Failure Rate

John L. said "We Know that the failure rate in warranty of Speed Queen laundry appliances is probably 1/2 to 1/3 of what it was on Maytag and whirlpool‘s back in the 70s and 80s".

How long were the warranties on Maytags and Whirlpools in the 70s and 80s?

Did they have longer warranties back then and back them better because they built them better (sorry AMC)? I assume John is comparing similar warranty periods.

While I believe I would trust Lorraine Furniture if I was to buy a new appliance, I have the idea he's not entirely unbiased and disinterested when it comes to Speed Queen, even if he has good reason.
 
Laundry appliance warranties in the late 70s

Whirlpool gave you one year parts and labor from the factory, Maytag gave you one year parts and labor in a second year on parts only for the entire machine.

Maytag would not pay labor even if the thing was 30 days old the dealer was stuck handling all the labor work for Maytag, as an independent dealer we gave the customer two years of free labor on a Maytag washer or dryer.

Quality control was not nearly as good in the 70s as it got in the later 80s and beyond today things come out of the factory in nearly perfect condition even the cheap brands have very few warranty problems caused by poor assembly or poor quality parts.

John L
 
Laundry appliance warranties in the late 70s

Thanks John,

So MT/WP had more warranty issues during their one, or two at the most, year warranty period in the 70/80s compared to Speed Queen's 3, 5, 7, or whatever warranty period today? That makes SQ even more impressive than I thought (or the older MT/WPs less impressive). Though admittedly I have little direct knowledge of the older machines.

You are most likely right about higher quality control despite overall inferior parts, I would think that methods of manufacture and consistency has improved. I guess the dealer markup had to fairly high to make up for out-of-pocket service calls, which goes along with what you say about the relative high price of Maytags in the seventies.

Despite the warranty periods, consumers probably had a certain expectation of durability.
 
2001 Maytag and 2017 Speed Queen

In 2001 I purchased a new Maytag Pair from the local Maytag dealer. I loved those machines. This was an orbital Maytag washer. Soon after that I joined this group and kind of bragged about my set. I was informed that the seal on these washers was not that reliable and sure enough failed in 7 years. I did have the dealer repair it and then in 2017 the agitator shaft rose up out of the transmission. Seems a clip was not there. So I bought the Speed Queen pair from a local dealer. I like a matching set because the laundry area is in the Kitchen. I do love this set and contrary to some posts, the dryer is excellent, I use auto dry settings. I hope the seal is not like the Maytag but will repair it if it fails. I do not plan on getting another set, probably every. As it is 5 years old, I am supposed to service the set, I should check the belt. Everything still operates as new.
 
There have been several threads on here detailing a multitude of minor but significant issues on SQ TLs around the 5 year mark.

Have said at several points that John's comments should be taken with a grain of salt - he has resorted to making very unreasonable remarks when doubting him.
There is information out there he treats his customers with similar manners sometimes - if anybody doubts his claims or statements he can get easily annoyed, basically he often assumes there is just one way, and that is his way.

I have black listed him so I no longer see his posts - but that is mainly because he just refuses to show ANY sign of self reflection or consideration towards me and that drove me up the wall at some point.

What I can say is that a SQ today is right around 350$ in 1980.

And you can get a very good FL from other brands with an extended warranty plan for the same price.
That will still run you cheaper in usage at the end.

And if even the biggest proponent of a SQ TL on this website has made remarks in the past that you shouldn't be running a second rinse on it as that would cause seals to wear out prematurely - I wouldn't go with the "SQ is the only route" train.

If it supposedly can last so many years - but I can't even do laundry the way I might want to in fear of it wearing out to early and I have to service it in some way every couple of years myself - what is that worth?!?

Again, a SQ TL can be a good choice under certain circumstances in my opinion.

So can be SQ FL.

But all the "SQ is the only good, reliable washer!" talk is just completely removed from reality and shows that there is NO reflection being done.
 
Small addition

If you search YT for videos of laundromat owners showing their business operations, you see that they have to do sometimes pretty major repairs on their SQ TLs and (Horizon) FLs after often just a year or two.

And they often resort to doing it themselves since a service call from SQ is just unreasonably expensive.

That's to say: There is no point in debating if the belt lasts 5 or 10 years.
If it lasts 4 years, you will have 1 repair under warranty.
If it lasts 9 - well you don't get anything from the warranty.
And if it supposedly lasts 50 years no issues - what use is the 5 year warranty then if you supposedly don't even need it?

If you have to pay 400$ in service calls because you can't do it yourself in the first 10 years, you get close to 1800$ for 10 years of operations.
Considering the reduced usage, that can basically get you 2 LG FLs with an extended warranty plan.
 
"A "year or two" in a laundromat is a lifetime f

...the average home user."

Also by the law of odds, if you own as many washing machines as a laundromat, there's a much greater chance that something will go wrong in five or ten years (using Henrik's approximation of one load to five).

I'm not sure I follow his belt example. I thought warranties were different for laundromats and that they generally did their own service or had their own service contracts, and Speed Queen basically provided the parts. I may well be wrong.

BTW, are belts covered under warranty, or are they considered a wear and tear item?
 
Laundromat vs Home

I'm also guessing laundromat machines get abused more than home machines, so maybe we could stretch the 5 to 10 years in my last example to 10 to 20. So a failure or two out of how ever many machines a laundromat has in 10 to 20 years for a residential machine would seem to be not too bad a record.
 
Speed Queen laundry durability

Usage in a commercial setting varies widely, it would be very rare in a laundromat have only five uses per day the machines won’t even pay for themselves at that rate.

 

I’ve seldom seen a laundromat replace machines in less than 10 years, keep in mind the frontload Speed Queen‘s will last about twice as long as top load machines.

 

We do see a lot of commercial top load and front load machines last over 20 years in laundry rooms in apartment and condominium buildings where they’re not used as much and there they are more for the convenience of the residence and not so much as a money making thing.

 

No other full-size laundry equipment made today is based on commercial equipment speed queen washers and dryers, a 150 pound person can stand on top of them without bending and caving in the tops etc.

 

All parts are covered for the duration of the warranty including belts, even in commercial settings the belts would normally last 10 years. I have made the comment a double rinsing can increase the likelihood of rinsing all the detergents away and if you’re in hard water areas that can ruin the seal and cause bearing failure this is true of any washing machine has nothing to do particularly with Speed Queen.

 

Speed Queen laundry equipment today is much like the old Hobart dishwashers, it’s the only machine based entirely on commercial equipment. This does not make Speed Queen the ideal choice for everybody, it does make it a great choice for somebody wants long durability and easy repairs when they do come.

 

John L
 
"and that they generally did their own service or had their own service contracts.."

Depends upon several factors.

Since a down washer or dryer does not generate revenue it behooves laundromat owner to have malfunctioning equipment repaired ASAP. However not all laundromats are owned by hands on owners who also have skills and knowledge to do repairs, even basic. In such instances laundromat like anyone else will have to call in a service tech to do the repair work.

That being said a good number of laundromat owners, even those with several shops do their own repairs. It just makes more financial sense and keeps from having machines out of service for long periods.









It's like anything else, if you cannot get someone to even walk in and look at your washer or dryer for one or two weeks, then another week or so until parts are ordered, tech comes back to do the job.... Meanwhile again you've got equipment sitting there costing you money but bringing in nothing.

Other thing is depending upon clientele base laundromat machines take quite a bit of abuse. In some cases you'd have a service tech out every other day or week dealing with misuse or vandalism.
 
Reply #10

Let me clarify on a few things. Those posts you saw on Facebook were from a few years ago, I’ve since cleaned house and pretty much deleted a majority of the stuff on my timeline and since have changed the privacy settings so no one can snoop around to see what’s on my Facebook page. Once in awhile I’ll share something witty and silly but haven’t been as active on Facebook lately since there really isn’t much going on Facebook at the moment as well. I pretty much post in groups I am in along with answering questions people have about their vintage Maytag or Whirlpool belt drive washer.

I don’t recall you ever reaching out to me since I don’t remember getting emails/messages in the past few years, only time I recall you emailing me is when I inquired about a Maytag 808 control panel for the customized Maytag dryer I am trying to put together. The only AW members who I’ve gotten in touch with is Richard, Tyler, Chris, Paul, Hans, Christina, and Pat (Agiflow). Those are the only AW members I’ve gotten in touch with. I would like to get in touch with QSD-DAN however he doesn’t have a email posted.
 
Speed Queen TL HE

If Speed Queen is forced to make their top loaders HE, then I think it will be time for Speed Queen to drop TLs altogether and focus on the front loads.

I'm not sure they'd lose too much as I think the TLs are mainly bought by homeowners, who last I heard were only a small part of their business (though I suspect growing as people grow more dissatisfied with the build quality of competing machines).

If only they'd make their front load machines more competitively priced they could still reach a lot of homeowners.

I don't know, I'm expecting my TC5 to outlast me so I won't have to worry about it. :)
 

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