Washer makes gurgling noise without suds

[norgechef]

I was wondering if anyone knows what I'm talking about, and why this might happen? The noise comes from the drain hose, and unless I use lots of detergent (enough to produce suds) it makes this really annoying gurgling sound on the wash cycle. The washer is a belt driven Maytag Atlantis. I notice the washer in general seems much quieter when a high sudsing detergent is used.

I can't really use anything but Tide unless I want to use 2 caps of a cheaper brand. The conclusion I've come to is that liquid detergents are becoming less concentrated in order for them to work well with ''all machines''. I assume they are no longer being made for use in full-fill top load washers. I am used to seeing cheap detergents produce a small amount of suds, but lately the wash water stays almost clear with no visible bubbles. That can't possibly produce clean clothes.

 

[qualin]

Please take a picture of your drain hose and drain setup and post it to this thread so that I can see if there's anything obvious. Maybe there isn't...

I always thought that drain hose gurgling was normal...

 

[qualin]

With modern HE detergents, a lack of suds isn't always an indicator that the clothes are not getting cleaned. I think traditional Tide has been reformulated so that it doesn't produce suds as much as it used to.

I think you're right about one thing though.. I think traditional HE style detergents just can't work as effectively in a traditional full fill top loader machine unless a lot of detergent is used, at least in comparison to a front loader.

Strangely enough, I've found the generic Costco "Kirkland" style detergent that comes in a large plastic bucket to suds more than Tide!

 

[yogitunes]

that's just pump cavitation....high suds levels just muffles it...

most likely sounds louder when the hose is placed in a stand pipe, the echo effect...

a common thing with machines where the pump to hose is a direct run....

most times a loop of some sort in the drain line will eliminate that noise....

some machines use a flapper valve to prevent air/water being sucked back into the machine, which creates that noise

 

[mrb627]

During Agitation...

the pump is spinning backwards. Enough suction to pull air through the drain hose and gurgle in the pump body.

Malcolm

 

[earthling177]

I'm sorry, but suds never cleaned anything. At one time, long ago, when actual soap was used instead of synthetic detergents, you would start to see suds when enough soap had reacted with the water minerals. That's the only reason people wanted/expected to see suds, it was an indicator that you had enough soap to wash.

Synthetic detergents do not have the same problem, to begin with, and also, when they were expensive to produce, manufacturers added water softeners (phosphates, washing soda, zeolites etc) to bind the minerals.

Nowadays you can have an array of detergents, some anionic, some cationic, some non-ionic etc that all work really well and produce different amounts of suds (or even make no suds at all). We also have enzymes to help with stains etc.

The detergents that offer highest performance (for example, Persil) make little to no suds here in US, apparently something in the water in Europe makes them slightly sudsy, but still way less sudsy than our old Tide.

Also, if you want to see no suds and high performance, I'd suggest Rosalie's Zero Suds, which our own Jon Jetcone has spent several years developing and it's now for sale.

And before I forget, one of the things I love the most about low- or no-sudsing detergents is that if I have very dirty clothes, I can add a prewash and/or double or triple the usual amount of detergent and not only the clothes get clean the first time thru without me spending time/effort pre-treating every single freaking stain, but the clothes also get easily rinsed without needing multiple extra rinses. And it's also cheaper than buying the expensive sprays and stain sticks.

Cheers,
-- Paulo.