Washer Dryer Combo's.

[pturo]

Washer Dryer Combos

In the US, it has two meanings: 1.) a seprate washer and a spearate dryer unit stacked but united in one cabinet with two controls and two drums, used in condos and apartments where space in limited. The washers work ok, small capacity and the dryers if the are only 110 volt, take a long time to dry clothes in their seperate drum. 2.) single washer and dryer drum, not common in the US, but some were offered in the 50's to the 70's, but now making an emergence due to foriegn brands coming in, energy costs and second homes. General complaint is that drums are small, and can only dry half the capacity of what is washed. Also, most are only 110 volts, and dry really slowly as opposed to a seperate 220v or gas dryer. None of the big US manufactures who do front load offer them, they are mainly imports here. Pretty much, to dry a load, you need almost 50% more the drum that you washed them in to avoid creases, wrinkles,energy time to dry, and hot and wet spots, so the clothes can move around. I have a front load Haier washer that I just stuff full of clothes, and a huge vintage Kenmore dryer that gets them dry in less than 30 minutes. I cant imagine what the clothes would look like if spun in that tiny Chinese drum to dry.

 

[arrrooohhh]

HI Pturo, those american combo's look good and over come the performance compromise of having to do two very different functions in one drum.

Maytag sold one here for a while but ultimately most Australians just mount the dryer on the wall so it was of no real advantage.

Im curious about the combo concept because LG is really pushing them on our market. I wasnt impressed that much with my combo and I doubt that LG has made any real improvement or innovation on the concept.

Everyones imput was really interesting thanks!

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: LG Compact Combo:

I've got the LG Compact Combo, that basically has been a real good Laundry Machine, other than the Capacity and length of time to complete a Full Cycle. I've mastered that problem however by placing a 2nd Hand 110-Volt Kenmore Compact Dryer on top of the LG Combo. That way, if I've got some Laundry to Wash/Dry and I don't want to wait for the LG to complete the total Cycle of Wash, Dry and Cool-Down {7-hours}, I do a Wash Only in it and place the items in the Kenmore Compact Dryer and then I'm able to do another Load of Wash, while Drying. If I do have any Loads of Laundry that I don't mind taking so long to complete and I don't care about Wrinkling, I then start the Combo on a Full Wash, Dry and Cool-Down, before going to Bed and it is finished in the Mid-Morning.

The only problem that I had earlier this Year with my LG Combo, I had thought that the Controller Board had gone out. I called my Salesman at Fry's Electronics, to find out how to contact the local Warrantee Repair Company for the Repair. He contacted them and they called me to find out what was wrong. I told them that part of the Control Selections didn't work and I had to literally use the Handle of a Screwdriver to press some of the Control Buttons as hard as I could to make them do the Selection. Even then some of the Cycle Selections still wouldn't work. The Service Tech Ordered a replacement Controller Board and the Face Panel, just in case. The Parts took about 1-1/2 Weeks to arrive here in California, from the LG Parts Department in Huntsville, Alabama. The Service Tech wasn't able to come out for about a couple/few Days after they arrived, because the Parts Department with the first Parts Order sent the wrong Controller Board. I found out that way, that there is a Front and a Rear Controller Board for this Machine, but it was the Front Controller Board originally needing to be Ordered. He Re-Ordered the Front Controller Board and asked the Parts Department to Fed-Ex it Overnight, due to the mix-up of their Ordering the wrong Controller Board for him.

When he got here to do the Repairing, I helped him lift the Dryer off of the LG, so he could open the Top to get to the Controller and Front Panel. What he found had happened, was that the Tabs on the Controller Board must not have snapped totally into the Slots on the back of the Face Cover, during manufacturing, so they had become loose on one end of the Face Cover. He pushed the Tabs back into the Slots, put the Cover and Controller Board back together into place on the Front of the Combo. I plugged in the Machine and he tried the Button Functions and they again all worked like they are supposed to work. The Service Tech took the new Parts back with him, to return back to the Parts Department, so he could get a Refund on Non-Needed Parts.

Luckily, this was totally covered under the Extended Warrantee, of which I've got another Year of Service on, until needing to be Renewed and let me tell you, I'm definately going to Renew the Extended Warrantee, just in case.

All in all, I'm sorry to hear about what Peter "peteski" is going through, especially with some Service Company problems, but I'm very satisfied with the Company that I have available here for my LG Compact Combo. My Combo also has a different Door Hinge that allows me to open the Door at any length of Swing to allow the Tub to Air Out. It isn't Spring Loaded like the large Capacity LG Washers and Combos have that don't allow you to open the Door just a little bit and allow it to stay opened only where you want it to be opened, they swing open all the way, instead. My Doors Hinges also don't pivot out, clearing the Door from the Cabinet, like those do, but it does swing out of the way of the Cabinet otherwise anyway.

I hope that this helps others out, except as noted of the Capacity of my LG Compact Combo. If I did have it to do all over again, truthfully, I don't think that I would ever buy another LG Product, because of the possible Repair problems, even though I was lucky with my Service Company here.

Peace and Fun Times doing Laundry, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[kirk280980]

My brother and sister-in-law have owned an LG combo for almost 2 years, a 7.5 kilo model if I remember correctly, and so far they haven't mentioned any problems. It's installed in their bathroom, between the shower cubicle and the wall, with shelving above.

Personally I would have ditched the shelving and gone for a stacked FL set or a top loader with wall mounted dryer instead, but for their needs the combo works perfectly well. With plenty of space outdoors for line drying, they only use the dryer function when it happens to be raining, and even then only for a few items such as underwear and T-shirts - and that's exactly the kind of use these machines were intended for. If the weather is poor, bulkier loads such as jeans, towels and bed linen get put off until the next day.

Don't think I could get along with a washer-dryer myself, as I tend to do all my laundry in one go on my day off work, and therefore need to be able to wash and dry simultaneously if the job is to be finished within a reasonable amount of time. Having said that, if there is absolutely no room to install a separate dryer elsewhere, at least it's a step up from having no drying facilities at all.