unbalanced load handling

[agiflow]

The DD Kenmore that is currently being used only went off balance maybe three times....it generally handles loads pretty well.

2 other machines that i can remember that were good with off-kilter loads were an early 70's Norge and same era Westinghouse toploader.

The Norge would never try to spin full speed with an out of balance load,..it used to slow down and compensate for the unbalance.

The Westinghouse from what i can recall in the 5 or so years it was in use didn't have any issues with off balance loads,..those machines seemed to have good suspension systems.

 

[toggleswitch]

HA!

So I get home from work one afternoon, and I could not figure out why the dryer *ON* or even why it was thumping.

My ex did some laundry after "entertaining". (Afternoon delight is not just an ice-cream flavor). Sheets with towels with darks. This was in the NEW GE T/L-er. Apparently the towels were sopping wet due to an OOB situation in the washer. When I went to re-spin them in the T/L-er it would drain only. No spin. Transferred stuff to F/L-er to spin. Of course I had to rinse them as well. *SIGH*

Afterwards, when I went to wash my clothes, the machine would still not agitate or spin. The motor had overheated and gone into *safety* (of course I had to be at the airport by 4am! and did not have time for these games!)

I took the front panel off to find the base soaked with water. After mopping it up, I used a hairdryer on *cold* to cool the motor. Kicked right back in.

Seems like there is NO provision for an OOB situation.

Send me an email privately if you have had to do laundry to clean up after another couples interlude. LOL

LAWD help us all.

 

[mattywashboy]

Hitachi

My Hitachi goes OOB almost every time you select MED or LOW on the load selector. I'm not sure why this is. The Hitachi has two things that it does to try and ensure the clothes are evenly balanced. Phase One is in the last one minute of the agitation on wash and rinse, it clicks into gentle action during this final minute whihc i think is an attempt to spread out the clothes instead of just thrashing them then stopping dead. Phase Two is during the draining process, when the water has hit the last quarter of the wash drum it activates the spin. This i beleive helps the clothes to float into a balanced position and then when the water has fully drained the basket revs into full 900 rpm. Of course it doesn't always work, towels and sheets are the main OOB loads while clothes loads have generally been okay.
Happy OOB washing
Matt

 

[appnut]

Matt, are you washing sheets & towels together? That's essentially a no-no in my book--learned form mom's mistakes. The towels will bunch up inside the sheets for the oob. Best to wash towels with towels and sheets with sheets. Bob

 

[mattywashboy]

No Bob

what i meant was that towel loads and sheet loads are the ones that seem to OOB the Hitachi. I wash them seperatly, you could not fit all the sheets and towels into one load lol
Matt

 

[mayken4now]

Bet my rollermatic will never get OOB. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mixfinder]

OOB

Lordy, I just use psychotropic drugs to create perfect balance and harmony!

The old GE, 59 just shook, the Westinghouse 66 never ob'd once. The smaller Maytag 72 never ob'd. The 75 Frigidaire in Poppy never went oob and the 76 Whirlpool Imperial Supreme banged but kept going. The 77 GE shook and banged and moved around in it's cubicle. The 806 79, ob'd once in a great while with rugs. The Atlantis 2000, never ob'd and the Whirlpool/Kenmore DD large capacity double unit, 98 bangs the crap out of the cabinet. It has no shut off, but wakes the dead. It sits next a natural gas bib, in the event I wanted a gas dryer (not with our current and ample supply of electricity). I fully expect it to break the fitting off. I found oob was never an issue with large family loads but rears it's ugly often when I am trying valiantly to gather enough to justify washing the one thing I need.
Kelly

 

[tomturbomatic]

Early WH washers did have an OOB switch; later ones, no. When we used to take throw rugs to the Frigidaire coin-op, the lady in charge watched us try to rearrange an OOB load of white rugs washed in really hot water. She came over and showed us that if it stopped, we should just push the reset button and keep doing it each time the switch tripped because as soon as it spun the water out the weight was not that uneven. If the Mieles find they cannot balance a load, they stop then retumble, but only in one direction, the clockwise spin direction for a couple of times and retry. If the OOB is not too severe, the W1986 will just push the speed to the limit, slowly increasing as the water is spun off and then you hear the hydro balance wheezing as it takes over as the motor gets up to speed. It gives 1000 rpm spins between each water change. If the Creda is too OOB in the distribution period between water changes, it will skip the spin unless I turn it off and back on.

When Frigidaire first introduced the Roller Matics, they claimed that they would not stop with an OOB load, just spin slower. Consumer Reports commented on that in the test when they said that the machine made a strong, acrid, burning odor while doing the slower wobble spin.

Since this has arrived at smells, in the very early 70s, at a friend's house, we once washed the guest room bedding after the fun couple from Florida did not tightly cap the poppers after finishing with them. It probably would have been better with a vented dryer than the GE combo he had. It's a wonder they lived through the night and that all of us are alive and not too OOB today.

It's strange that while Kenmores had OOB switches and that awful buzzer, WP and KA machines did not have them.

Kelly, are you going to take the Super Thin Twin to your new house?

 

[mixfinder]

Taking the Twin

I am leaving the Twin. It was in the condo when I moved here as well as the other Kenmore appliances. I have saved them and will replace the stove, fridge and dishwasher and take the newer ones with me. I have 2 Frigidaire ranges, a Kitchenaid dishwasher and a Maytag W/D set I got for free from Craig's list. I put a wanted ad for a GM Frigidaire Fridge and have that lined up. The previous owner is waiting for the new one to be delivered. There is little reason to pay for anything, since the inception of Craigs.org.
The house I made an offer on sold to a higher bidder. The market here is wild and the usual style is to open house on Saturday and open the bids on Sunday and the highest bidder gets it.
I have a new deal cooking that requires care giving an old gentlemen with a presale agreement for his house. His wife dieD 14 years ago and he hasn't cleaned or thrown away a thing in those 14 years.
It will be a challenge, but it lops 200,000 of the price of the house.
Kelly

 

[paulg]

House fire

True story..
I know a fella who investigated a house fire. Cause: out-of-balance washer.
What happened in that case was the washer went out of balance - walked across the laundry room and banged into the fusebox until the fusebox caught fire.

(The brand was never mentioned, but I bet it was a HOT POINT).

 

[kevinpreston8]

My 90's Kenmore

shift across the floor on every load and rattles around alot. It did not do this in our old laundry room. All I can think of is that we were on a concrete slab in the old house and here is a raised wood floor on a house built in the late 40s. The floor seems to vibrate alot with the washer, perhaps making the washer move.

I have tried putting rubber squares on the bottom, nothing works.

So I just let it do its thing, then shove it back where it belongs. Hassle, but don't know what else to do.

 

[hairybruinuk]

No problem

Had no out of balance spins with my hotpoint, well not since having the kitchen floor fixed.

 

[andrewinorlando]

The Calypso seems to handle OOB fine. It sits on a concrete floor, but even with loads that have shifted completely to one side of the tub, it can complete the spin cycle at full speed with just some noise added to the mix. No banging or walking across the floor. Guess the balance ring takes care of the mess? Comforters, pillows, jeans or large towels, etc., don't seem to be a problem for it even after almost 6 years of heavy use.