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Powdered vs Liquid Detergents

Is it better to use powdered or liquid detergent for a top load?

Does anyone see an issue using the dry homemade laundry detergent with Fels Naptha, Oxi-Clean, washing soda, baking soda, and scent crystals (optional)?

I am assuming it is a good idea to do tap hot washes with bleach or Oxi-Clean in proper amounts on a regular basis. Clean wash cycles for maintenance would be helpful too.

Any other suggestions?

I do not fabric softener or dryer sheets.
 
Dadoes ....

You are correct. The web link in my last post shows a picture of the actual spider needed. It shows the 2 flat spots on the end of the shaft that the pulley fits over.
 
Found a good used spider.....

So I located a good used spider with just a trace of pitting. Of all of the dozens of pictures I found on-line of washer spiders that failed, all of them have the same thing in common.

They all fail towards the center of the spider and little to no pitting out on the arm sections. It appears the deep grooves in the center section over time collects lint and detergents and other washing agents. This build-up then leads to keeping the metal wet with this caustic goop for long periods of time ..... long after the rest of the machine internals have dried out. This goop sits on the aluminum and eats away at it. The arms always appear to have the least amount of damage. My theory is that the arms have much more centripetal force and can shed the goop whereas the center section has several areas that can easily catch and hold and build up the goop. Also the center has less centripetal force and less ability to sling and shed the gunk.

Also if you look at the newer model front loader spider designs, you'll notice they don't have the deep center section designs anymore. They are basically smooth whereby no areas for gunk to be held and build up within. If no gunk build-up then the spider can't fail grossly like they were doing. My original picture above shows the typical spider failure and the area that they go bad. It was packed with gunk and after 4 days of no use, it was still very wet.

So I got a wild hair yesterday and going to try an experiment. What if I make my replacement spider gunk proof. Where no gunk can collect in the center section. Basically encapsulate the entire assembly so it is smooth and sealed.

After sand blasting the entire assembly, I filled in the voids with fiberglass resin and resin soaked mat. 2 hours in a 150 degree oven, then shaped the cured fiberglass to a nice smooth finish. Then 3 coats of POR-15. Now the aluminum is completely bonded with reinforced fiberglass and encapsulated in POR-15.

Just installed new front and rear bearings and new oil seal. Everything else about the 10 year old washer still looks like brand new, even the belt was in remarkable new shape. No belt dust anywhere which I find hard to believe. Maybe now the washer will last another 10 years but more than likely it won't be the friggin poorly designed spider that will be the issue next time.

sfh074-2019061014253207334_1.jpg

sfh074-2019061014253207334_2.jpg
 
Actually ....

Sandblasting the shaft at lower pressure would be fine to remove any surface rust. I think you mean the area where the oil seal rides. I covered that area with heavy tape before blasting.

Ain't my first rodeo.

Added weight ..... maybe a half pound. Nothing drastic as you are inferring.

All back together now and quiet as a church mouse.
 
Nice job on the spider! That was never an issue with ours, ran 9 years just fine without the spider self destructing. It's issues were the suspension and bearings failing, which started happening early after about 5 years, the other 4 years was just limping it along. 
 
UNBELIEVABLE !!

Just finished reading the thread and woes of Bud's issues with his Amana FL spider. I guess before buying a new FL washer it would be a wise to have the full engineering and composition specifications of the washer for purchase. You can bet your last dollar that your floor salesman wont know "JACK" about metal composition of the tub support/spider on any washer on the floor. So what is the the consumer to do? Oh yeah, you buy the washer for big bucks and a few years later, usually after the warranty expires you find yourself faced with a repair bill of more than half the original purchase price. makes you just want to search used appliance and Restores for machines that were built in a time when quality mattered. Just my thoughts. Losangeles
 
Update .....

Now going on 418 days since pimping out the replacement tub spider in our daily driver Amana front loader that I originally posted about in this thread. This machine gets used daily. With myself, a wife, a daughter and a 2 year old mess maker living in this house, this washing machine literally washes 5-6 days a week. I am really curious to find out how the spider I encapsulated with fiberglass and por15 is holding up. My theory was and still is if the chinesium mystery metal that the slider is made of doesn't come in contact with water and washing agents, it would easily hold up past the lifespan of the machine itself. So yesterday I decided to check on the spider and quench my curiosity. After about an hour I had the machine popped apart, separated the outer tub, removed the rear pulley and pulled the inner tub and spider out.

The spider was pristine with a light coat of a powdery white film of washing agents. Found that it wiped right off. The spider bearings and shaft seal are still in good shape so no water getting past to contaminant the bearings. While I had the bearings out I got to use for the first time a needle that you fasten to a grease gun and can stab it thru the rubber grease seal on sealed bearings. It looks just like a hypodermic needle and creates a self closing slit in the rubber seal of the bearing. In doing so I added a fresh squirt of grease to both bearings. I'll take a pic of this grease needle, it works really nice. Great to have one in the toolbox.

So the machine is all back together and running as it should. Maybe in another 418 days or so I'll do it again to see how the spider is holding up. If it is still in good shape by then, I'll be able to wish a great big FU to the washer manufacturers who had thousands of washer spiders self destruct because imho they cheaped out on the spider material. I still think it's absurd that the problem is placed on the user, whereby "not using enough detergent", or "using too much detergent", or "not enough hot washes", or "not leaving the door open after washes to let the machine dry out" or "using fabric softeners" ...... and a half dozen other scenarios that people have mentioned. Manufacturers kept making the slider out of the same mystery metal for years, probably still way after the first spider melt downs that was causing so much warranty work. At this point I'm thinking a hard anodization coating at time of construction would have added a bunch of years to chinesium pot metal. Ok, rant over.

Has anyone else encountered any spider mayhem in the last year or so? Just curious if this is still an ongoing issue? Or have they all self destructed and people simply moved on.

Bud - Atlanta
 
I have disassembled thousands

All brands suffer from spider failure, including the almighty speed queen. My observations are :

1. Samsung front load seems to be the most common brand to still fail as of 2020.
2. Almost 100% of failed spiders were machines that were otherwise gross. Too much fabric softener and / or soap , everywhere.
 
I must be the odd man out .....

Tide liquid, hot water most of the time, no fabric softener. Coin toss at this point, our washing habits or a pos spider design. I vote for the latter. If it were made of stainless or straight aluminum, we wouldn't be having the discussion.
 
 
Sister's 2011 Samsung given to her by friends at just over 5 years (spider destroyed, completely infested with waxy softener residue) that I repaired in Feb 2016 threw a drain fault last week.  Pump ran, she opened the drain protector, not clogged.  I went there last Sat to investigate.

Found all the hoses involved in draining were much as 1/2 obstructed with residue.  Indeterminate if the spider is disintegrating again, I didn't disassemble that far.  It drained properly after I pulled and cleaned all the hoses.

The community water supply in her subdivision outside town is VERY BAD, heavy with mineral content and sediment.  She has a regularly soak faucet aerators in vinegar, so it could either be a direct cause of the residue or contributing to deterioration of the spider.  She does run too much cold water (contrary to my instructions) but the machine has a cleaning cycle that heats to 130°F which is run occasionally (probably not enough) with chlorine bleach, and she does add STPP with detergent.
 

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