STILL looking for AFFORDABLE front loading washer & dryer with no electronics.

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MamaBear2015

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Nov 8, 2015
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I posted here awhile back, that I'm looking for a front loading washer & dryer with no electronics, but all people had to say was "Speed Queen". After checking prices, I cant afford them. Doesn't anyone make new machines like this, that are AFFORDABLE too? I mean, at least in the same price range as the ones WITH electronics - i.e. maybe $600 each?

I've since decided that the dryer needs to be gas, not electric, by the way.
 
Nope. In my opinion you should get a low priced electronic control model and hope for the best. The electronic controls seem to be holding up fairly well on them.
 
Howzbout $100 plus a hard day's drive here and back (after the snow melts)?

1998 Frigidaire-badge Electrolux clockwork timer. 18 years single-person use. No service needed or pending. Never had the 'stink' problem often attributed to FLs (all bets off if you put LFS in it). Does not 'dumb down' hot water selection. 4 fill and 1 spray rinse. Seldom (not 'never') has a balance problem. Bidirex wash, 600rpm rinse spin, 800rpm final (motor module is electronic, PWM/tach brush DC).
 
A new $600 Front Load Washer?

Hi When you find it I am looking for a new car for $6000 that is not computerized, LOL.

 

I am also looking for the perfect Husband, and presidential candidate.

 

But I am afraid that the best washer for you would be a SQ FL washer with the rear controls and mechanical dials. Model AFN50RSP

 

 $1397.00 In our area, the matching dryer is much less expensive @ ADE3SRGS $723.00
 
I'm sorry to say, but if you want a set with no electronics (or a FL in your price range), it will not be new. It will also not be front loading unless you get a very old Westinghouse or Bendix. What you want is a unicorn; it doesn't exist in the new appliance market. You will have to make some choices. If you must have mechanical controls and stay under $600, it will be a top loader. If you must have a front load, it will be electronic and over $600 if you require a new one.
 
What we need here is further elaboration on whether the controls have to be entirely analog, or if they just need to be something other than a smooth touchpad.  There are FL machines out there that have knobs and dials, but the actual execution of the desired functions is electronically controlled.  That's likely the best you're going to get without paying through the nose for a less-evolved Speed Queen.
 
These guys speak the truth..I have been a member here way over ten years ,so has John(combo52) and Ralph(rp2813) and many many more..We have owned  just for the

hell of it machines that were rare and different and you would do good taking there advice.Front loaders were rare here until Maytag came out with the quasi- Front loader but it was still electronic in a lot of ways. Electronics are way more dependable in most areas than anything else..They fly planes,make your car run,Etc..

S.Q. machines are by far one of the best machines out there unless you want to mortgage your house for a commercial machine but,even they will have electronics in them.

For your budget I would get a Top load Speed Queen..They wash wonderful and will last a long long time..

My Mom bought a G.E. Harmony washer and dryer T/L  in 2004 and it is touch pad only both of them and they have never had one thing break on them and it's

made by L.G.

I had a 1990s Frigidaire Front loader that was tiny and was a great machine and even though small I could pack it and it would clean great but I think that was made buy Bosch..

Every Large F/L for the U.S. market seems to leak or does not use enough water and then there is mold issues but I would trust a S.Q.Purely mechanical washers,dryers,dishwashers are going

away because, it is far cheaper for a computer to run it..I have a Raspberry P.I. that is a total computer I got for 40 bucks new that could run a laundry mat full of washers..

 

 

 
 
oh geez....what timing

That's the exact pair I'm coveting; I made a thread for (it's still visible). I don't get paid until tomorrow so that's why I've been holding off......We'll see who's able to get these...LAWD.....
 
if it helps, I have a magic Chef 1.6 cu ft washer...
It's affordable, unfortunately it has electronic controls, but i could se that little washer was really well built.

What shocked me the most is that it doesn't have the dumb down ATC.

When you select hot, it means hot, not evena drop of cold. and guess what... the cold adds some hot water if the water is too cold.

It spins ok (very well by the way) and if it lasts for 2 or 3 years it paid itself because it was cheap.
 
Unfortunately one of the only options you would have for a mechanical timer nowadays is the older Speed Queen AWN432 (is that correct?) top loading machines.

Otherwise, the only option for FL machines is the aforementioned Frigidaire/GE/Kemore "FriGEMore" FL machines.
Posts on this site indicate they weren't perfectly durable, and I'm not sure how repairable they are. If someone can indicate bearing/spider replacement costs on these machines, an FL machine of this style MIGHT be worth considering.

The older SQ FL machines are electronically controlled, but only in the simplest sense. As far as I know, they're not the "Singing, Dancing, Multi-Award Grammy Award Winning (etc)" machines you're thinking of. Turn the knob, push start, come back in 30-50 minutes. They work more than well enough for most - although I'm told in Australia the cycle time was dramatically increased in order to meet minimum cleaning & rinsing requirements by the relevant Government Authority.

In my opinion, for all their failures, electronic controls have allowed more versatile washing profiles, unlike a TL machine where all the timer controls is agitation (or motor reversal for direct-drive machines), the computer allows tumbling rhythm to change depending on the cycle, soil setting and even the type of load detected. Water levels are different for each cycle, whereas mechanic machines are more or less stuck at one, maybe two levels.
There is also the added bonus of water temperature boosting - useful in this day and age of "Automatic Temperature Control" which reduces previously "HOT" washes to merely "luke warm" temperatures. Such machines will be advertised with a heater, and usually have either cycles and/or temperature selections hinting at such, like "Allergen" or "Sanitise."

I'm sorry to have to say, but "Speed Queen" is the only answer you're going to get that comes close in terms of a brand-new appliance having what you want.
As much as people despise it, that is just the way things are. In any case, the timers on Speed Queen TL machines weren't entirely renowned for their reliability... Being "Made in Mexico" (From "local and imported ingredients," no doubt) certainly didn't help.

Thread De-Rail:
While I'm here, I'm going to mention some of the less-than-charitable remarks made by some posters. Rather than slinging sarcasm at this new poster,* try and make a useful suggestion.
Otherwise, my SUGGESTION is to put the sarcasm somewhere else. Maybe the Garbage Disposer.

* The site is entitled the "World's Coolest." Not "most sarcastic," or "rudest."
New members ought not be pushed away just because they are asking a question. Remember there just so happens to be other sites that discuss appliances, and a someone being ill-treated here at AW can easily post a warning for others over there about us.
[/Thread De-Rail Off]
 
Yeh, ElectroFrigiWhiteMore FLs from the 90s weren't bulletproof like a 1980 Kenmore wigwag TL. One from a family of 6 may likelier-than-not be on its last legs. But straightforward mechanical designs with clockwork timers are very hard to come by these days.

Electronic controls got a bad reputation early on. They were woefully underdesigned for their operating environment, failed regularly/expensively, and really didn't do anything that clockwork timers didn't. Except for the last part (which I consider largely frivolous), I'm not convinced they're substantially better now. But I'm a skeptic-squared. And I've somehow *gasp* managed to launder for 60 years without the "assistance" of a computer that thinks it's smarter than I am. As in, "when you set the water to 'hot' you can't possibly really mean it".

It's been a couple weeks so I don't remember exactly, but I visited an appliance store lately and they had a Speedqueen with clockwork timer. Believe it was a toploader. It was at least $900. Nothing in the whole dam store was less than that. But even at a price you really don't like ('likeable' prices are kinda 70s) it may be the best longterm value. At least it's not a 'rule-the-world' Whirltag which seems to have absorbed all American brands.
 
Guys, even the rear mechanical control fl speed queen has a computer board on it. Maybe someone can chime in, but I think only the earliest frigidaire frontload washers *may* have not had a motor control board.

Op, buy a good used front load and spend an extra $15 on a good surge protector. The board will likely outlast the rest of the machine.

I fix a lot of front loaders, and can tell you, I'm not swapping computer boards every day. It is, in fact, a rarity.
 
A few thoughts

There's 'electronics' and then, there's 'electronics'.

Nearly all the bad electronics involve two things:

Cheap components, poorly put together (Maytag Neptunes, some, not all Whirlpool Duets)

Using logic circuits to just barely keep poorly built components more or less working until the day after the warranty expires. AEG in Germany pulled that stunt a few decades back and it hurt them so badly they never really recovered their reputation.

 

There's no reason to put up with that at any price.

 

There is, however, another set of electronics and that's the well-built and very reliable circuitry and logic which makes it possible for a front-loader to be balanced at high-speed spins. Makes 3-phase motors possible.

This sort is probably not what bothers you and has been in use in many washers with very few problems since the 1970s.

 

If you're in the $600 range, it shouldn't be hard to find a dealer who sells refurbished Electrolux/GE/Frigidaire/Kenmore machines of about 1998-2003 or even basic Miele front loaders which restrict the electronics to useful functions.

Gas - I'd definitely go with an American machine unless you absolutely have to stack them. The European gas FLs are horrifically expensive for what you get.

 

If you already mentioned this, sorry, I missed it - is your objection to electronics the nonsense controls we all hate or the internal systems? 
 

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