Towel Eating Washer

[han810p]

I noticed that my towels are coming out of the washer shredded - brand new bamboo towels totally trashed. I have a Whirlpool Catalyst Calypso HE (stainless tub). I was hoping it would last a while, and it seems like a sound washer - but it is starting to really cost me a lot in chewed up clothes. They look stringy coming out of the washer before I get them into my 1975 dryer - an old Hotpoint that seems to just keep going and going, with only minor repairs.

A suggestion on what to check/fix is appreciated!

 

[DADoES]

If you are running the towels on Heavy or Normal, use one of the more-gentle cycles, such as Delicate/Casuals, Handwash, or Silks, or even Bulky which does more spin-spray washing than nutation/bouncing. Add the Soak option if you're concerned about the towels not getting clean enough. I'm not familiar with "bamboo" towels. If they're a typical absorbent-type fabric, run them on a spin-only after the delicate washing to extract more water for quicker drying.

However, if you have more than just the towels getting damaged, or items getting caught under the wash plate, there could be a problem with the wash plate gasket being curled or deformed, or a problem with the u-joint. Have you noticed if there's a larger gap between the wash plate gasket and the basket than was there originally?

 

[funguy10]

The Calypso is a crap washer. Type "Calypso Problems" into Google and you'll see what I mean.

 

[jaxsunst]

Hey, Hey, Hey.........Don't dis my washer.

I love my Calypso, I have had no problems with it. I use Normal with extended spin for our towels with no trouble, but I agree, try the Bulky Items cycle. Also watch how you load it. It is going to spin fast, I load mine making sure that nothing will get caught in the middle when it spins.

 

[funguy10]

You are 1 of the happy Calypso owners I can think of. Another is DADoeS. There are millions of people who own/have owned a Calypso and are NOT happy with it. You are happy with it so I can say you are "special".

 

[DADoES]

I know of two other people on this board who like their Calypsos.

I have two Calypsos, so I'm quite pleased to be double-"special," LOL.

 

[MrX]

No washer should shred towels <PERIOD>

 

[laundromat]

I had 3 differnt ones and now have a Whirlpool model(stored at my adopted parent's home in Orlando)that worked great.The only problem I had was the Kenmore I had in white kept losing the recirculating plastic pipe that goes from the pump to the tub for catalist recirculation of water.I replaced it twice and after replacing it's pump assembly less than a week later,I was over it.The Whirlpool model worked great and I'm sorry I didn't haul it here with the rest of my things but it has a safe keeping for now.

 

[MrX]

Hmm, it strikes me as a dismal design that's going to cause problems though. There is way too much friction, you simply can't treat clothes like that.

A traditional agitator with loads of water isn't too bad as its mostly moving the water not the clothes, although you can increase risk of damage if you over load them. front loaders just tumble so can't really rub the clothes violently against each other as the entire surface of the drum's moving the same direction regardless of how tight you pack it.

I just do not understand how that calypso design can be effective or safe for fabric.

 

[peterh770]

But there is a lot LESS friction in the Calypso than there is in the Oasis/Cabrio or other twirling washplate designs. The wash action is based on bouncing, not grinding or frappee'ing.

 

[DADoES]

<blockquote>I just do not understand how that calypso design can be effective or safe for fabric.</blockquote>Perhaps that's because you haven't used one?

 

[cleanteamofny]

I just do not understand how that calypso design can be eff

Now put on your thinking caps, visualize a paddle and ball toy.
If the ball strike paddle, does the ball break? No

So think of the same principle with the calypso action,
clothes are tossed like a salad in a small pool of water and detergent and with the right speed and temperature, it is very effective cleaning clothes.

 

[han810p]

Shredded Towels

Ok, some good ideas here. I do wash the towels on Normal, and since there are just the two of us, there are few towels in there at once. Maybe a lighter cycle will help. I did take a closer look at the tub, and there is a gasket that runs along the bottom, and it does appear to have a gap. Could the vertical seam be a problem? It seems quite smooth. Bamboo towels are a lighter quicker-drying terry fabric. But my cotton towels (good Fieldcrest) are also starting to show signs of shredding.

 

[ducky1029]

I to have the Kenmore Calypso and I love it, it washes great!! I do though take the time out to put in the wash in it's proper setting. It sounds to me that although it is on the wrong setting it shouldn't shred towels that is is the gasket on the washplate this is a common problem with the gaskets. Try replacing the gasket if it was the u-joint you would have black marks on the clothing another common problem. also if you use powdered HE detergent stop using it and stick with the Liquid HE and now they have the HE Clorox bleach it works great. The problem with the HE powder is that it over time it will cause the U-joint to have problems so i have been told. Keep the machine it is a great machine if properly maintained and used. Let me know what happens.

 

[liberator1509]

MRX - maybe you should think through the engineering ...

"front loaders just tumble so can't really rub the clothes violently against each other"

I'm sorry - but this is nonsense - have you actually studied what happens in a front loader in terms of simple mechanical principles? The entire mechanical force of the front loader washing action is based on torsion of the fabric - as clothes are dropped in the tumbling action, the fabrics are twisted and flexed to remove solid dirt. There is a high level of torque (twist) force involved in the average European front loader - try a load of about 6 shirts and a similar number of shorts in a modern Bosch and see how the arms tangle by the end of the wash! The front loader action is the equivalent of beating your clothes on a rock...albeit a stainless steel one.

The Calypso wash action involves much the same mechanical principle of flexing the fabric except this achieved by bouncing the clothes, and for my money looks gentler than a front loader. Don't be fooled by water shower systems in these machines that circulate the water a bit - they don't have the force to remove dirt. If you don't believe this try a simple experiment with a bathroom shower on low - you'll wait a LONG time before you shift anything more than loose surface dirt – a high-pressure power-washer might be a bit more effective…

The only alternative to twisting and flexing the fabric is to drive very strong water-currents through the fabric. The only systems to do this are the agitator or pulsator systems (the latter being very prone to tangling in the high speed non-reversing Hoover form). In these systems, the water is driven to produce very strong currents which drive through the fabrics, the agitator or pulsator mechanism does relatively little if anything at all in terms of actually moving the clothes. Look at an early UK Hotpoint (and Maytag) gyrator and you will see that the agitator fins are low and at the bottom of the tub - and away from the majority of the load, yet very strong water currents and roll-over are present.

To dismiss the Calypso action without understanding the mechanical principles behind it is, for my money, ignorant. I think the Calypso system is one of the more imaginative solutions to HE top-loaders. It appears that most faults in the machines related to unreliable mechanicals and components rather than the actual wash system - such a shame that the makers didn’t invest in enough R&D to ensure that the mechanical design of the machine was fully de-bugged. I guess the lure of getting a product on the market quickly outweighed the need to test it fully…pity, though maybe someone will revive the design in the future…

 

[jaxsunst]

I think I read somewhere that Whirlpool is planning on bringing them back.

It also seems that the later machines worked better than the earlier ones. But, by the time the later more reliable machines came out the damage to the reputation was done.

I got mine at a used store for $60. The previous owners ran it with lots of regular detergent. It got hopelessly suds-locked and was giving the SL error. They sold it to the used store saying that the electronics were bad. The guy sold it to me without testing it. I had a machine with good electronics and bad mechanicals (broken inner tub). I thought I would make one good machine from the two. When I got it home, I ran it empty. It blew suds for two cycles, then ran perfectly, and has been running ever since. I kept the other machine for parts if I should ever need them. I do between 6 and 10 loads a week in it for my family of 4. We couldn't be happier with it.

 

[funguy10]

That video above was recorded by bpetersxx, another member here happy to own a Calypso, although his comments say the washer belongs to DAoeS.

 

[DADoES]

ducky1029 -- there's no reason I can figure that powder detergent would affect the u-joint. The mechanism is sealed against water, so detergent can't get into it unless the seal fails, and powder detergent vs. liquid shouldn't have anything to do with that.

Jackson -- my platinum/gray Calypso (built in early 2001 per the serial number) has the original-style (translucent) inner dome and u-joint, so I'm assuming it has not been subject to repairs. If repairs had been done after the design changed, then it (theoretically) would have been replaced with the newer style (brown inner dome). My white Calypso, built in fall of 2001, has the newer style mechanism, and it's the one needed repairs. I haven't fully disassembled the platinum machine for a look at the u-joint, but the inner dome doesn't show any sign of internal rust/residue.

FunGuy -- the video clip linked above is MY platinum/gray Calypso and was recorded by ME, not BPetersxx. HE posted it on Youtube, however. I did record the entire cycle, including the rinses and final spin, not just the wash phase shown in the clip.

 

[jaxsunst]

Glenn - that is good to know. I stand corrected

The Calypso I am now using says it is a 2002 model. The model number (Kenmore) starts 110.2.... I haven't taken it apart to know what style it has. The other one had the model number sticker removed, so I do not know how old it is. It had the brown inner dome and the two piece pump. It's problem was the wash basket. I think it was the same problem you had.

One thing that is different between the two machines is the display. One the current one, when you select a cycle, the display shows wash time, on the other one, it showed total cycle time.

I am currently watching several used stores for the matching dryer. Or, a Maytag drying cabinet.