Good afternoon,
I've been a big fan of automatic washers since I was a little kid, having grown-up in Australia in a household with an early-70s Simpson, fully-automatic, solid tub beauty - the one with the timeline. Been lurking here for a while but now I'm in the market for a front loader, and I'm really torn on which to pick-up.
LG WM4370: In the past I had an LG (the generation before the current) for 7 years, and it was fantastic! Cleaned well, and ran like a champ. Of course 7 years is not a long time for a washer, so I wouldn't really expect any problems. Pretty much the only thing I disliked about it was the annoying water stop/start it does when starting the cycle - but it appears the new ones still do that anyway.
Electrolux EFLS617: I love the look of these, and the feature-set, and the reviews are great (better than LG). Interesting to see some of their design choices like the extra pump to pre-mix detergent, and applying steam for the bottom of the tub, etc. I know this model has only been out for like 2 years (and there's a refresh coming in the Spring), but can anyone gauge the reliability? I assume it'll be similar to the LG, but maybe not (I honestly don't know much about Electrolux). It bothers me that there's no user-access to the "button catcher" - since my machines will be stacked, it'll be extremely difficult to just "pop off the back panel and...".
Maytag (MHW8000) - Like the Electrolux, this one looks great; and it's a Maytag! I know the LG and Electrolux both have issues with the Spider corroding in (probably) under a decade - does the Maytag too? There also doesn't seem to be an easy way to clean the button-catcher while it's stacked and against the wall.
GE (GFW480) - I know very little about these guys as far as reliability goes (reviews seem good), but it does have an access panel on the front for the button-catcher...
Am I too concerned about having access to the button catcher? It just seems to me a silly thing to bury deep within the guts of the machine considering it will get clogged with lint and other stuff over time. To be fair, I only had to clean it once on my LG, but I'm glad I didn't have to call someone. Does any manufacturer make non-commercial machines where the spider doesn't corrode from chemical reactions?
Is reliability of the smaller units (close to 3cuft) any better than the big ones?
SpeedQueen has the all-in-one stacked units, but they're missing Steam and Sanitize which are important.
Thanks!
I've been a big fan of automatic washers since I was a little kid, having grown-up in Australia in a household with an early-70s Simpson, fully-automatic, solid tub beauty - the one with the timeline. Been lurking here for a while but now I'm in the market for a front loader, and I'm really torn on which to pick-up.
LG WM4370: In the past I had an LG (the generation before the current) for 7 years, and it was fantastic! Cleaned well, and ran like a champ. Of course 7 years is not a long time for a washer, so I wouldn't really expect any problems. Pretty much the only thing I disliked about it was the annoying water stop/start it does when starting the cycle - but it appears the new ones still do that anyway.
Electrolux EFLS617: I love the look of these, and the feature-set, and the reviews are great (better than LG). Interesting to see some of their design choices like the extra pump to pre-mix detergent, and applying steam for the bottom of the tub, etc. I know this model has only been out for like 2 years (and there's a refresh coming in the Spring), but can anyone gauge the reliability? I assume it'll be similar to the LG, but maybe not (I honestly don't know much about Electrolux). It bothers me that there's no user-access to the "button catcher" - since my machines will be stacked, it'll be extremely difficult to just "pop off the back panel and...".
Maytag (MHW8000) - Like the Electrolux, this one looks great; and it's a Maytag! I know the LG and Electrolux both have issues with the Spider corroding in (probably) under a decade - does the Maytag too? There also doesn't seem to be an easy way to clean the button-catcher while it's stacked and against the wall.
GE (GFW480) - I know very little about these guys as far as reliability goes (reviews seem good), but it does have an access panel on the front for the button-catcher...
Am I too concerned about having access to the button catcher? It just seems to me a silly thing to bury deep within the guts of the machine considering it will get clogged with lint and other stuff over time. To be fair, I only had to clean it once on my LG, but I'm glad I didn't have to call someone. Does any manufacturer make non-commercial machines where the spider doesn't corrode from chemical reactions?
Is reliability of the smaller units (close to 3cuft) any better than the big ones?
SpeedQueen has the all-in-one stacked units, but they're missing Steam and Sanitize which are important.
Thanks!
