Using a Speed Queen FL commercial machine at home?

[stainfighter]

all business!...

Just LOVE how it operates the spin...no (seemingly) endless plotzing round to balance! Our modern FL can be so annoying and still end up vibrating quite a bit...makes me want to get one like yours and have it the garage

 

[frigilux]

Great video, Micah. Congratulations! Glad the timer fixed itself and that you have an extra one on the shelf just in case. Awesome job!

 

[kb0nes]

The thing that struck me in the video is how it would spin up with authority, and it had a healthy shriek to let you know it was working. Just seeing that made me want one! Working around big heavy machine tools all day makes me appreciate some heft and power more. Its almost as fun as watching our new 24 horsepower CNC lathe spin up a 300 pound piece of steel, power to spare

I'm curious as to how the motor control is being done in this machine. We know its powered from single phase power but I'm curious if the motor itself is 3 phase. It would make a lot of sense to have a multi-phase solid state inverter drive as that would give great speed and direction control as well as braking. The big question is what causes the clack when the machine reverses? Sounds like a big relay, or it could be something mechanical also. I would think if it was using an inverter to drive the motor the reversing would be silent though... Micah, is there a schematic anywhere you could share a photo of?

 

[askomiele]

I'm impressed!

For sometime I've been wondering if it was even possible to put a OPL washer in a home... the only conscerne I would have over here is the fact that we you need boiler fed or at least heavy wiring ^^

I'm impressed with the performance... I'll enjoy any story, picture, video you post!

 

[launderess]

Boiler Feed

How "hot" the hot water for Laundromats varies IMHO.

Our local is located in a row of ground floor shops of an apartment building thus pulls water from the same boilers that supply heating and hot water for the building. By a simple hand test as the machine fills with hot water for the wash cycle the temp is nowhere near as high as what comes out of our taps at home. Supposedly the Laundromat as a recirculating system to keep the hot water lines full, but have my doubts.

Also all pre-washes are done in tap cold water and these machines (same SQ as shown above) do not spin between that cycle and the main wash. So whatever hot water does enter will hit cold laundry and certainly not remain very high temp for long. Since the laundry is already wet from the prewash less water is needed to fill which also means not that much hot water is going into the tub.

Since most persons washing whites in Laundromats will be using LCB this difference in hot water temps probably won't be noticed. OTOH I don't bother using detergents like Persil or even Tide With Bleach under these circumstances. Main wash water just isn't hot enough nor the wash cycle long enough to make a go of things.

 

[launderess]

Just LOVE how it operates the spin...no (seemingly) endless

Unlike our domestic front loaders with series of springs and shock absorbers these Laundromat hard mount machines don't have a suspension system to speak of; being bolted into several feet of concrete makes the building a suspension system of a sort.

 

[a440]

Awesome!

This is so cool!
I know you are just having a blast with this machine!
You must have the matching Dryer soon!
Thanks so much for the video!
Keeping an eye out in the Atlanta area for a low use machine. You were so lucky to find this Gem! And the Price!!! Get outta here!
Happy for you.
Brent

 

[ovrphil]

That sound

You said 500lbs...right there I thought of the many heavy things we "humped" down/up stairs in the moving business. You have to be mighty might to move that much weight - and I know what it takes to move heavy furniture and appliances. Good job, glad no one was squashed! Did you eat a few pizzas after the move or a few dinners? LOL !

Just curious -(anyone) as I watched the whole video...1) what is the purpose of the reverse spin to final stop? ... and..why is this Speed Queen unable to balance itself enough without needing substantial anchoring? How do these SQ's rock and roll all over the floor(or anchored) and still last so long.

A labor of love and grand applause here, too - never cared for any Speed Queen, even it they're tanks - too staid/spartan-looking to me, but I love yours. I would tend to have one if I had room and a floor with earth core supports.

 

[micahmcdowell]

Update!

I've been using the washer now for several loads... it will hold all the clothes that we ever need to wash at once. A couple days ago, we washed a huge rug in it. It handled it without complaint, and I'm sure that it wouldn't even fit in our previous Estate or Whirlpool. It takes less soap than I'm used to, and it washes great.

The spare timer finally arrived, but I think it will be unnecessary. The original is working perfectly, despite what the previous owner said.

I don't have all the answers for those with technical questions about the washer, but I can make educated guesses. I believe the motor (and everything else) is controlled by some electromechanical relays, hence the clicking and clacking when it changes direction. I don't think it has a three-phase inverter inside, but I couldn't say for sure... there's some giant mean-looking capacitors in the circuit for sure.

At the end of the cycle, the last couple slow revolutions after the final spin seem to fluff out the clothes after extraction, so they're not all stuck to the outside I guess.

After inspection on the inside, I see that the machine has no internal suspension whatsoever. It does have a large, extremely heavy duty iron frame that holds the tub supports and connects to the floor, hence the 500 lb. weight. Once bolted down, the machine behaves the same no matter how gigantic the load... the frame takes all the stress in stride.

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for the update, Micah. Glad the machine is working out well for you. I still maintain the timer was fixed by the jump-around of your first test load, LOL.

 

[jerrod6]

Anyone know why it spins counterclockwise? What is the advantage of this?

 

[revvinkevin]

Anyone know why it spins counterclockwise?

 

 

Jerrod,

 

Clockwise or counterclockwise... there is no advantage, disadvantage or benifit to either direction.  

 

Some washers I have spin clockwise and others spin counterclockwise, it's only a function of extracting water from the clothes and makes no difference which direction it spins.

 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =

Micah, 

 

AWESOME JOB with this Speed Queen and standing ovation applause!   CONGRATS!!!    I love that it's NOT a coin-op machine.   I would LOVE to have one of these in my laundry room too!    

 

Kevin 

[this post was last edited: 7/23/2013-15:44]

 

[henene4]

I think Sometimes, the direction is important. As long as you have a non-vented drain-pump on a frontloader, the pump can get air-clocked. But don't know exactly, just heard about it...

 

[ovrphil]

rotation

I wasn't questioning the spin direction, and knew it wasn't significant - but... didn't you all notice that the rotation changed to the opposite direction at the end of the spin cycle? It's not like this drum is under a spring-load that caused it to rotate backwards...that much. It's not possible for the clothes to induce backward rotation...anyways, it's just interesting. and ... one of the best-looking units - even if the commercial home product(panel shown) is nice, this one gets my vote.

 

[ozzie908]

Similar washers here known as Wascomat

Electrolux's commercial division.

All the ones I have worked on were 3 phase but only 1 phase worked the motors and timer the other 2 were for heating.

the buttons on the front said the same ie

Hot
Warm
Cold but no matter what temp the incoming water it heated to
Hot 90c
Warm 60c
Cool 40c
Cold was tap cold

They all employed relays that clicked as the timer activated them they in turn engaged the heaters or the motor it was done for the motor as although single phase it could draw some power especially on start of spin and it saved the timers being burnt out from all the sparking caused by the heavy load.

I realise a lot of USA and other countries machines are not heated due to your power being 120 and UK being 240 but to me its odd that the speed queen does not stop to heat its what some cheap skate laundry owners did to save electric they would bypass the heater relay so it never engaged and the machine was fooled into thinking it had reached temp !!

The spin direction is necessary as the soap hopper is on the left side of the machine and if there is a heavy load with absorbent materials in, it would literally throw water out the hopper while it was starting to spin and thats no fun when you are under it !

 

[pulltostart]

Holy Laundramat, Batman!

Excellent!  That machine does a kick-a$$ extraction!

 

lawrence

 

[lightedcontrols]

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! ! !

Congratulations on your new machine!

 

[launderess]

Heated Washing Machines In USA Laundromats

Have never seen nor do not think such things ever existed. Nothing to do with "cheap" Laundromat owners simply just not what is used to on this side of the pond. Primary reason is the same as for recently domestic washing machines; far less cost to simply heat the hot water at a central supply and send it to the washers. Many Laundromats and commercial laundries have recirculation pumps to keep the hot water in constant circulation which in theory should help things.

Now mind you have seen SQ and other Laundromat machines with notations on their model/ratings plate for steam connections which one assumes is to heat water, but again have never seen units hooked up that way. There could be some sound reasons for this however.

Most all state and local laws here control whom and or the qualifications of steam boiler operations over a certain pressure. This applies to everything from a steam locomotive operator (should that ever come back) to buildings that use steam for heating/hot water. Most small or even medium sized Laundromats have enough regulatory problems without requiring a properly certified steam boiler operator on site.

OTHO going back to the age of "steam laundries" that form of energy was used to heat water (both in washing machines and even some special soaking tubs), provide heat for tumble dryers, steam and or heat for irons, presses and ironers and so forth. Steam would and could also be used to run machinery in the absence of electric power or to provide it as well. More than likely out of safety and sadly because of the probable numbers of accidents laws/rules were put into place as noted above. Some states even specified that any machine that used steam pressure over a certain PSI could only be operated by a man.

Being as all this may steam is be far the best choice for heating when it comes to laundry work. IIRC it provides more heat and does so faster than either electric or having some sort of fire source.

Older washing machines in commercial settings merely had a knob one opened to allow steam in; once the desired temperature was reached you manually closed the knob.

Finally the main reason at least laundromats do not use washing machines that self heat water is the longer cycle times such machines require.

When a properly designed Laundromat is fitted out there is a ratio of washing machines to dryers and they are designed to accommodate a specific flow rate of peak customers. The longer a washing machine takes to complete a cycle translates into needing more of them to handle peak loads. If you've ever been to a small or even mid-sized place during "rush hour" you know things can get pretty tense. For this reason American Laundromat washers are designed with "fast" cycles for quick through put.

Where Europeans use heat and long cycle times Americans historically relied upon chlorine bleach and or strong detergents for stain removal and keeping whites "bright". Many commercial laundries still operate under the same theory. They subject a load of laundry to many cycles but they are often short with very strong detergents and bleaches, done at very high temps.

 

[henene4]

German laundromats do use preheated water too. But here it is not allowed to run a laundromat without heated washers as it is law that the temp needs to be maintained.
Steam is not that popular on heating in laundromats. More likely hospitals or so use steam from district heating which is cheap at all.
And cycle times in German laundromats are around 40-55 minutes, depending on what you set and even a boilwas does not take more than an hour as these machienes have high powerd heaters (5400 wats on a 2.3 cuft machine, 22000 on a 5.5 cuft washer...)

 

[micahmcdowell]

More updates...

Just a quick update...
The washer has been working well, but the timer has been occasionally sticking, so I've swapped out for the new one I ordered. What an unpleasant job to match up all of those terminals!

In other news, my Estate dryer has developed multiple issues, so I stepped up the search for a replacement. I found something that should match the washer quite well, that I'll be picking up on Friday: