"Studies in the LGeeee" aka, WILD TURBO PIX

[richardlxixxx]

LG Turbo Wash Front Load

Hi Mickey,

The video and following photos are terrific and really show how this washer functions. I am shortly going to be in the market for a new washer and am seriously considering this washer. Are you satisfied with the way it washes your clothes? It is better than the LG without the turbo wash? Is there water in the bottom of the tub during the wash? Is it a deep rinse in conjunction with the spray rinse?

Sorry for all the questions. Inquiring minds want to know!

Have a great day and enjoy your new LG. By the way, that color is fabulous.

Richard

 

[mickeyd]

 

 

Richard ~

 

Very satisfied. The local dealer had the last Wild Cherry without Turbowash, and I passed on it. Part of the good cleaning in minimum water is achieved by the constant saturation which the Turbo jets provide. Don't get one without it.  Every cycle I've tried has at least one deep rinse and at least two sprays.  The options let you select 1, 2, or 3 more rinses beyond what the cycle provides. All the deep rinses use plentiful water that you can see up to the bottom of the window's big rubber seal. To get that much water in the wash cycle,  you have to select Bulky, Permaent Press, Delicate or Handwash. 

 

Thank you  for appreciating the work,  love the questions -- can't get enough! -- and seeing that you've just joined, I offer you  big, warm  welcome to Automatic Washer. Good luck on your purchase.  

 

[mickeyd]

 

 

Chuck ~

 

I was really surprised at the short drying time of 20 minutes on a big load of cleaning cloths. Even a Unimatic load takes longer to dry. This machine has two Turbo jets for recirc

at 5 and 7 o'clock,  and one yellow spray valve at Noon &Midnight which LG describes as an atomizer. 

 

[frigilux]

Mickeyd-- The recirculation sprayer on my Frigidaire is at the top/ front of the drum and aims toward the back.

 

[johnmk]

I really love my LG WM3470, it has the recirculating jets and atomizer, just as yours does. I believe the feature might -- in the long-term -- become more common, as it seems like a great way to reduce water use and making the Department of Energy happy seems awfully important to these manufacturers.

Over time I've come to figure out how to get hot water washes, I just use the Allergiene cycle, which from my reading is simply a hot wash up to 131F/55C. By the way, you have it wrong somewhere (it might have been in the video of yours I watched). You said Hot was 130F, it certainly isn't. Hot to LG means a target of 104F/40C. This is true in Cotton/Normal, Bright Whites, Permanent Press, Towels, and I think Heavy Duty. Allergiene and Sanitary up that to 131F and maybe a little hotter for Sanitary (60C?) but I have no effective way of checking for certain since the door is locked once the temperature reaches anything above 104F/55C or somewhere around there anyway. I mention these temperatures as targets since that's all they are. LG are all too happy to miss the targets in Cotton/Normal, and sometimes too even in Bright Whites. I'm not certain of Permanent Press/Towels/Heavy duty yet since I haven't used those cycles enough. I have my washer connected to a current measuring device, so I know when the internal water heater is on, I can just glance over and if I see washer energy consumption in the 1000+ watt range, I know the internal heater's on.

I really wish I could figure out a reliable way to get Bright Whites to use the internal water heater. It seems like most of the time it'll engage, but not always. I haven't yet figured out what mixture of laundry weight and settings can guarantee it. For the moment, unless my whites have gotten dingy, I use Bright Whites + Turbo Wash + High Soil Level. This gives the sodium percarbonate the time it needs -- during the wash cycle -- to do its magical oxi work and thus I don't really have to use Allergiene that often, but I do occasionally just because I figure it's good for the washer to get a true hot hot wash now & then, and it's certainly whitening too.

I believe Cold and Warm will never use the internal hot water heater, no matter what. So warm, which is a target of 86F/30C, is quite rare in any part of the country outside of Florida. I often see a result of 70F during the wash cycle when Warm is selected, so I treat Warm as effectively Cold and just use it as my default temp for everything except whites. On occasion if the load is really large or Permanent Press or another water-rich cycle is selected I might see a warm that's in the lower 80's. I don't believe this temperature is at all injurious to dyes, so again, I treat Warm as a safe default for everything. Cotton/Normal w/ Turbo Wash ain't so bad as a default for small to medium-sized loads, kudos to LG. Still, I wish my washer had the equivalent of a manual transmission, as I like to control everything precisely.

Perhaps TMI but there ya go, I know you're into this stuff.

 

[johnmk]

I just wanted to add, since I can't edit, that Cotton/Normal will NEVER use the internal water heater. No mixture of settings I have ever tried results in Cotton/Normal activating it. Rank insubordination, when you want Hot you want at *least* 104F, but Hot Cotton/Normal means quite often a middling 85-90F unless the load is very large in which case enough water is drawn in increase that to maybe 95-100.

 

[johnmk]

Again, how I long for an edit button that didn't require a paid subscription.

One more addendum: I was washing a medium-sized load of whites using Bright Whites (+Turbo Wash and medium-soil level) a few months ago, and noticed that the consumption of energy during the wash agitation phase after filling was around 50-150 watts, so it wasn't using the internal heater. I felt this was curious, so I got out my infrared thermal measuring device and the wash water temperature was about 90F. I really can't give you any theories as to why that time, it chose NOT to use the internal water heater, as in what I think are pretty identical loads of laundry before that, it did engage and heat the water up to 104F. Disappointing. I've experimented with using Permanent Press + Hot + High Soil Level, and so far that seems to consistently engage the internal water heater. As does Bright Whites + Turbo Wash + High Soil Level. I'm kind of grasping at straws here, not sure if these settings are what's finally doing it. It might be that sometimes, this washer has a flexible logic that can't always be predicted.

 

[ozzie908]

@johnmk

Would using turbo wash = no heat cycle?

I realise machines this side of the pond are 95% cold fill with internal heating on all cycles but just curious if you tried the white/hot without turbo wash engaged?

Austin

 

[roscoe62]

@mickeyd

Did you take out the orange caps,or flow restrictors, that were in the fill hose compartment.Some people do, some don't, I'm wondering if it would damage the machine over time by removing them or does it just let the machine fill faster.I took mine out thinking it was a part of the shipping equipment (lol) maybe I should put them back in place?

 

[johnmk]

Hi ozzie908,

I believe the non-TurboWash Bright Whites cycle performs far too many rinses for my taste, two or maybe three full deep rinses + spray rinses. That seems extravagant, time-consuming, and puts extra wear on the machinery as well. TurboWash generally reduces deep rinses by one, and in lieu of that spends more time spray rinsing. So i can't say for sure what the default Bright Whites cycle would do, as I would never use it. But Bright Whites + TurboWash usually engages the internal heater.

 

[johnmk]

Speed Wash

By the way, the Speed Wash cycle (~15 mins) defaults to Hot water, and does engage the internal water heater, every time. It doesn't get a chance to do much, however, as the wash portion of the Speed Wash cycle is only about 2 minutes, and according to my measurements the 1000 watt internal water heater is only capable of warming about 1 degree Fahrenheit per minute. Since Speed Wash defaults to the lowest Soil Level, you can give the internal water heater more time by increasing the wash portion by increasing the Soil Level setting. Increase it to the highest, and the Speed Wash cycle might take 25 minutes instead of 15, but that's 10-15F of added heat, too, applied where it counts.

I don't use Speed Wash, however, as it does a terrible job suppressing suds, and leaves much detergent in the clothes. You're supposed to use half the detergent for this cycle, which means the detergent can't do a particularly effective job at water softening, etc. Certainly you're not giving the enzymes a chance to do their work. The cycle has its place however, just on rare occasion.

 

[jerrod6]

I loved looking at this series. I would like to see a similar one with a full load in the machine.

 

[mickeyd]

Interesting that I'm only seeing one deep rinse on the cycles I've tried. From what you say, it's because I use Turbowash exclusively. Didn't know that. Good to know, more fun to come experimenting. Thank you. But I don't think I could stand to watch without the Turbo Jets streaming ;'D

 

I love the Speedwash cycle ( 4 minute default wash time on mine)  and I use it all the time, firstly because I wash a lot of small loads frequently , and secondly because it's so familiar to me almost like vintage washing where the load takes about 30 minutes; it is never done in 15 real time--only in LG clock time--because the spin ritual adds about another ten minutes.  Thirdly, because you get all the signature LG drama compressed into a short sequence, and fourthly , the missing spin allows more retention of detergent fragrance which is important to me. The main drawback for the those with sensitive skin is that there is no spin between wash and rinse; and THAT is how they keep it speedy.  Aren't you  using HE detergent? When I accidentally over-sudsed, the LG removed them; it has a special protocol for this. Isn't yours working?  It was surprising and illuminating to watch. 

 

And no I wasn't wrong. My hot water is indeed 120-130 as mentioned in the vid because my cold water line is attached to the laundry sink's faucet facilitating any temperature I desire entering through the cold line; thus I don't have to fuss around to get hot water without heating.   I think you'd like the Sanitary cycle better than the Allergiene; it's shorter and doesn't  use that long initial  steam cycle which has set a few stains here that  Sanitary then removed.  You can upgrade for 12 dollars a year, a buck a month, or 3 &1/3 cents a day. I tried to go without upgrading for health reasons, and it was just too frustrating to do without editing. If you're strapped, the system allows any member to upgrade another member. Would you like me to do that for you? You've been so generous to me here.

 

Roscoe ~

 

I have really high water pressure here living on the lake. On some machines, I actually  have to adjust the valves toward closed because of all the force, especially the cold water valves on the Frigidaires.   The water pressure on the LG seems fine. The incoming water is forced through two "banks" atop the drawer opening. They look exactly like the bottoms of those square shower contraptions on bathtub hoses of old.  But loving natural water sports so much, you have me really interested in seeing what will happen to the water pressure if I remove the restrictors, assuming they're there. The machine was installed by the dealer techs, and I have only seen the tap end of the cold hose in which there was no restrictor, as expected.   I think you can see the incoming water in the open drawer in the vid, but I'm not sure.  Here's Big Wild Cherry's control panel.

 

[mickeyd]

Thanks Jerrod

I have to wash the two couch quilts-- they both fit comfortably and get good and wet--and I'll snap a pic for you later today or tomorrow.

 

[johnmk]

Yes, please upgrade me!

You might very well be right on the 4-minute wash phase on Speed Wash, it's been a long-time since I've timed it. I doubt that my LG WM3470 and your washer are appreciably different in any way.

The temperature I was discussing was not the temperature of your hot water (mine is set to 135F), but rather what LG targets by mixing hot & cold water lines. In LG's universe, the temperature they're targeting inside the basket during wash is 104F/40C for Hot, 86F/30C for Warm, and I'm not sure what it is for cold but I would guess 20C/68F. Only Hot stands a good chance at reaching the target, provided the machine engages the internal water heater. And I think there's not much point in using Hot unless you increase Soil Level to give the internal heater time to do its work. Don't bother with this in Cotton/Normal of course, it doesn't bother with the internal water heater no matter what you do. Warm especially is likely to miss the target (I've seen 68F-84F), and I don't have enough testing to speak of Cold and its performance, though I think it'll mix in a little bit of hot water if it senses the cold water is very cold (I've read that somewhere). I assume cold water will vary greatly depending on the region of the country and time of year. Right now mine is around 55F, give or take, but in the worst of winter here near Seattle, 40-45F is possible, when mixed with the 60F laundry and mass of metal/air in the washer/room, that can result in a wash temperature of around 50-55F, if memory serves. Much too cold for me to believe that the detergent does much of anything, unless I use Tide Coldwater, whose scent I find abominably horrid.

 

[johnmk]

Allergiene usually goes about 90 minutes at least in LG's clock. You're suggesting Sanitary is appreciably shorter? I wonder if it -- very sanely -- skips with any cold water fill. Allergiene calls for a significant portion of cold water, mixes in some hot water (maybe 50/50? I could be off), and then only slowly heats that up to what I believe is 131F. I thought hot water right away was the most likely to set stains, that's what I've always thought. Maybe I'm wrong.

I want to find a way to measure these too-hot-to-open-door cycles, e.g. Allergiene & Sanitary.

 

[johnmk]

By the way, I ordered and installed this:

https://customer.honeywell.com/en-US/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=HonECC Catalog&pid=AM100C1070-UT-1/U

I have it feeding my cold water inlet to my clothes washer, and it's set to 65F, which is outside of spec for the thermostatic mixing valve but appears to work. This helps to ensure that my cold water isn't bone-chillingly cold, and also warms up the hot water line so that when the washer finally calls for hot water, it's not drawing a gallon of room temperature water first. This is pretty wasteful of energy and I keep thinking about removing it, but the cost is minor with it set to 65F since it's usually only 10-20F over tap temperature, and it ensures that I don't get ice-cold fingers when taking out the clean clothes at the end of the cycle.

 

[mickeyd]

I remember reading about the temperatures. somewhere on line as as well -- unbelievably they're not in the manual -- and if memory serves,  Allergeine gets up to 131, while Sanitary  heats to 151. The thing about Allergiene, though is that it does all that default or automatically scheduled steaming before the clothing gets really wet. While admitting that it sounds totally counterintuitive, steam first rather than later hasn't worked out too well for me.  The manual is not only stingy with details but sometimes contradictory especially what it says regarding Allergeine  versus Sanitary.  More study needed with less bias and angst toward such a bad manual for such a fabulous machine.

 

 

 

[johnmk]

I just started a Sanitary cycle, and it does show an LG estimated time of 1:24 instead of about 1:30 for Allergiene. I'll give it a try. I like that it gives more options than Allergiene, i.e., I can adjust soil level. I bet I could even add a pre-wash, if I felt so-inclined, but I didn't try that.

 

[mickeyd]

Notice that it also shows the temp level;  Aller. leaves it blank.

 

The star has just arrived next to you name. Have fun editing after posting. 

 

If you use Frigilux's recipe by adding LCB to this cycle, any dingy whites will startle when they come out of the drum. I tried it the other day, on some older stuff ~ WOW.