The L.G. Turbodrum 1 year on

[twinniefan]

Well time flies when your having fun dosen't it?,my L.G. Top loader Turbodrum is now 1 year old and I thought I might give a report card on it's progress so far.
Overall I am very happy with it, it has not missed a beat yet and I am yet to be disappointed with a wash result.
My favourite programme is the "Silent" wash,in which a fair size but not full load takes about 75-80 minutes to do,however you get a really good clean, it fills then agitates/pulsates fast for about a minute or two and then stops and soaks for a while, then the rest of the agitation is done slowly and has frequent pause/soak stops,the idea of this cycle is your put the wash on before you go to bed and it does the job while you sleep, it gives a really thorough clean and very little linting,admittedly the final spin is slower too,so the load is still reasonably damp when it comes out, but I don't really worry about that anyway as I like the load to hang on the line to dry naturally.
My biggest blunder happened when I accidently washed our chair covers in the regular cycle,forgetting these are quite delicate, and yep! the lint bags were pretty full after it finished,I learnt to do these on the 'Woollens" cycle,very slow agitation and mild spin also.
A full load(8.5kg which we rarely get to), takes about 60 minutes on the normal and fuzzy logic cycles,I find I am using 4 of the 8 available programmes,Normal,Fuzzy,Silent and Woollens.
After owning traditional agitator top loaders and the twintub and a front loader seeing the different wash actions in use, I am a big fan of this machines reversing pulsator and indexing washdrum,good clean clothes with very little tangling which can be a real problem with pulsator type machines,(I always try to do a mixed load not too many shirts,blouses with long sleeves or too many trousers in one load.),and find this really cuts down on tangling.
Overall opinion so far:Really happy and glad I bought it.
Cheers good people.
Steve.

 

[twinniefan]

Lint bags

The only drawback which I had forgotten to mention in the first post is the 2 lint filters can be a pain to clean out,however I have learnt to wait until they are completely dry and then the lint just peels off fairly easily.
They usually dont need cleaning until after 3-4 loads anyway.
Cheers.
Steve.

 

[rapunzel]

Hi Steve,

Which turbodrum do you have? Could you provide a picture of it or point to the post, if you've already done so?

Ta

rapunzel

 

[chestermikeuk]

LG Turbodrum

Hi Steve, Is this the model similar to the GE harmoney??, how does the spin rate against your twinnies?? Mike

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

Hi Rapunzel,
Here are the pictures I took when I first got the machine.

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

Hi Rapunzel,
Here are the pictures I took when I first got the machine.

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

Hi Rapunzel,
number 3

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

number 4

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

number 5

 

[twinniefan]

Pictures

number 6

 

[twinniefan]

G.E. Harmony

Hi Chestermikeuk,
No the Haier twintub leaves this for dead with spin speed I would say it is probably double.
The L.G. maxumunm is about 700rpm's and I would say the Haier T.T. is about 1400-1600rpm's
I am not really familiar with the G.E.Harmony, but if it is a large capacity with a pulsator and an indexing washdrum, and has electronic controls, then yes I guess it would be pretty similar.
Cheers.
Steve.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Interesting

So the tub indexes, does the pulsator spin the opposite way at the same time?? and do then the three small discs spin as well?? that would really give a whirlpool effect!!!

Nowthen, just what does the "Fuzzy" programme do!!! and also the "AirDry" feature, oh questions questions!!!

 

[twinniefan]

Answers

Hi Chestermikeuk,
Yes the pulsator turns in the opposite direction to the washtub and the 3 mini-pulsators do spin around, I dont really know if they all turn in the same direction or go in opposite directions to each other.
The "fuzzy" programme is the main programme one would use for normal day-to-day clothing,the "i-sensor"as it is called turns the dry load around for a minute or so to work out the weight and then works out necessary water levels and amount of detergent needed,you can adjust this if you like by altering the water level manually,less for shorter cycle,more for longer cycle.
I am led to believe the ''Air dry", feature is one in which the empty drum just spins and spins for a selected amount of time,(min 30 minutes.) to totally dry the drum.
I will never use it though,just imagine the strain on the components,spinning endlessly for 30 minutes,don't know why they put that one in for.

 

[askomiele]

"Air dry"
Thought this was as feature to evaporate some moisture, by spinning and drawing room air inside the drum and pulling it trough the clothing. Sort of pre-dry thing before getting fully dried in a dryer or on the line...

 

[chestermikeuk]

"Fuzzy" programme....

Ahh, that makes sense, Fuzzy Logic....couldnt work out why any manufacturer would want to make a programme that FUZZED your clothes...rather the opposite....

Air-Dry, whilst spinning, interesting, would like to see how that works and not get extra creasing...we had here in the 60`s a spinner called a "Thermair" which had a heater &small fan in the lid, once the spinner had spun the water out you could switch on the heater and dry the clothes further...now that did crease according to users!!!

 

[rapunzel]

Thank you Steve...

...for posting those wonderful pics. I had a look at these machines before and wondered how effective the three mini-pulsators would be. BTW, didn't some of these washers also have a 'punch' wash action? Whereby the little spherical object in the center of the pulsator punches upwards? They do look quite impressive and you are obviously very happy with yours.

I've always been curious about the other LG turbodrum washer. Unlike the GE Harmony, it doesn't have an impeller as such. With the LG the bottom of the washbowl looks like there is a stainless impeller, but I understand that it doesn't move independently. It is the rotation of the entire bowl that creates the wash action. I've never come accross reviews of that machine and how well it performs.

Anyway, thanks again and take care.

rapunzel

 

[chaskelljr2]

Impeller Washers In General......

"twinniefan":

I like that LG Turbodurm Washer that you have discussed about on this thread. And I like all that it seems to do.

But now, what I want to know is are ALL impeller pulsating washers similiar in operation and concept???

I am asking this because I am considering an Avanti W798SS as well as 24" Front Loaders from Maytag (MAH2400AWW...... but given the repair histories of Maytag Neptunes from the past, I am growing increasingly wary of purchasing this machine), Whirlpool (WFC7500VW....... but I am hearing many people grip about door and bellow problems...... but Whirlpools don't have NEARLY the poor repair history with their front loaders that Maytag seems to have with theirs) and the LG WM3431HW Washer/Dryer (so far..... I haven't heard any about any issues with this machine..... but I am concerned about it being available in my area and being able to get it serviced if something should go wrong with it).

I would like to get an "Impeller/Pulsating" Washer only if it doesn't wash too fast as to it may tangle or shread my laundry. I only wonder why LG has chose not to bring this washer to the USA market, as you have said about it being able to agitate fast and then agigtates slowly, I would appreciate that highly and being that it is a 24" machine itself, it would prove to be an ideal machine for me only if it were available here in the USA, and in the Washington, D. C. area in particular, and if I were able to have someone in my area to fix it if/when something goes wrong with it.

So...... my question to you is do ALL Impeller/Pulsating Washers operate the way your LG Turbodrum does. And if they don't, why not???

Thanks in advance for your response/answers.....

--Charles--
(In USA)

 

[chaskelljr2]

Avanti W798SS Washer.....

Sorry "twinniefan":

Here's the link of the Avanti W798SS.....

http://www.avantiproducts.com/index.php?page=products&id=88
What do you think of it???

--Charles--

 

[twinniefan]

Answers for Charles

Hi Charles,
In general impeller type machines can tangle a bit more than the traditional agitator style machine as in that one you have the agitator post to keep the load seperate.
I have learnt through trial and error that with an impeller machine you can reduce tangling considerably by washing mixed loads in it,if you put too many long sleeve shirts or long leg trousers in one load you will get tangling as you have long sleeves or long legs swirling about everywhere wrapping around the other items.
If I have a lot of long leg pants to wash i.e. say 6 pair,I only put 3 in one load with a mixture of other items and the other 3 in the following load.
If you put a heap of long leg pants and long sleeve shirts in one load, you are really asking for tangling.
I think my L.G.by having the pulsator turning in opposite directions to the washdrum helps with this too.
I am not really sure if all pulsator/impeller machines have a rotating washdrum as well,my Haier twin tub does not of course as it is just 2 fixed tubs and the pulsator does all the work,you stop tangling in this simply because you are washing smaller loads and then transferring one load into the spinner while putting a new load in the washtub.
As for other impeller machines not having this feature,maybe L.G. have a patent on it,I am not really sure, sorry.
The Avanti looks pretty reasonable but dont believe the ad when it says it wont tangle if not loaded correctly as explained above.
I hope this helps you Charles, good luck with whatever you choose,maybe you might let us know on here when you do select your new machine.
Cheers.
Steve.
Rapunzel,
Now that you mention it it does say it has a "Punch+3"washing action,so maybe the 3 little mini-impellers do punch upwards,I am not really sure though.
Funny my elderly neighbours tell me that their daughter and son in law also have an L.G. large top loader and they hate it ,apparently it takes over an hour to do a normal load,(mind you I will never understand some Australians preoccupation that the laundry needs to be done in 10 minutes flat anyway.),however when I explain that my model is reasonably quick,they dont understand it,I am thinking perhaps they have an older outdated model.
I agree with you also about reviews,I have stopped subscribing to Choice magazine now, as only seem to test the same models of washers and fridges everytime they do it,although I do recall in one issue they did test run the 6.5kg L.G. equivalent to my baby, and I think it scored reasonably well,excellent rinsing,mid-range cleaning and slightly above mid-range for gentleness.