Water level / temp. in new Frigidaire FL'ers

[frontloaderfan]

Just wanted to let everyone share in the modest success I have had here in raising the water level and un-dumbing the water temps in my 2012 Frigidaire FL.
It would not have been possible without Martin's (Yogi) help.

I did not remember to take pics of the unplugged sensor wire at the detergent dispenser inlet, but needless to say I did unplug it and now have genuinely hot and warm water as they were intended, not what the government laundry police think is sufficient.

I will post pictures of my results and possibly even a video of the after results.

This is the wash water level on the "Normal" cycle before the modification:
Ignore the time stamp. I could never get it adjusted properly...

 

[frontloaderfan]

"Normal" cycle, AFTER

Here is the "Normal" cycle after modifying the water level sensor:

 

[frontloaderfan]

"Bulky" before

before the water level sensor modification:

 

[frontloaderfan]

"Bulky" after

the most impressive result of all, the "Bulky" water level after modifying the WLS. The water level comes almost right up to the top of the boot:

 

[frontloaderfan]

How I did it..

as described in another thread here (the name of which I can't remember), Martin says to use a water bottle, punching balloon, car window washer hose and T connector. The original water bottle had holes punched in it to allow for the expansion of the balloon (air displacement). This worked for Martin's washer but not with mine. Apparently, ElectroAire has changed something between making his and making mine with the air pressure meter, because MY washer just started filling and did not stop. It went up to half past the glass door and still did not show any signs of shutting off.
I tried a using a small plastic Coke bottle with no vent holes in it and connected it the way Martin said to connect them. This did the trick. I added over an inch of water in the drum. There is now visible splashing when doing laundry and a little more sudsing, all good signs that the '12 Frigilux is using a more acceptable amount of water.
I may try adding a vent hole to the smaller sized bottle, just to see what happens, but for now I'm a happy camper.

 

[yogitunes]

I was wondering about the temperature sensor dubbing.....I am glad that did not change between models, and wished all were that simple to de-activate....

now you got temps to your liking, and can adjust them at the faucets...cooler?, warmer?.....its in your hands now!.....

somebody is a happy camper....if not for this enhanced adjustment alone.....

 

[arbilab]

Your 'increased bulky' level is near what the standard Frigilux fill was in 1998. Even that falls short on a load of towels that soak up the water and I manually added 1-2 gal through the detergent drawer to get any splashing at all.

Memo to washer industry: The idea is to SPLASH the clothes into water, not DIP them.

 

[frontloaderfan]

I may do a little fine tuning of the modification because it would be nice to see some real water action in the wash and rinses. Before, there was almost no difference between watching the dryer and the washer.

There is also just as much water in the rinses as in the wash. Before, the rinses were pathetically shallow and ineffective, especially since the clothes hardly ever got spun after the wash due to the amount of tangling because of the extremely low water level.

One thing I was wondering though: How do these machines sense an out of balance load? I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the water level sensor has something to do with this process. Since the WLS has been modified, could this negatively affect the sensing of an unbalanced load?

 

[yogitunes]

yeah...you can fine tune it...there should be a little more water in there...and for the most part once set....your machine will not have a problem distributing the load in no time, and kick into the high spin...almost a full 12 minutes...usually mine starts in one direction, then the other, and back again, and then takes off.....before it would play around, over and over....lucky to get 5 minutes of spin, or sometimes none at all....then I had to fix it, and start the spin all over.....that is one nice thing about this machine, those clothes are plastered to the tub walls, and lightly damp when done...

its the sensing of the motor during distribution that tells either the load on the motor is even, or there are high and low demands on the motors output...and this means the load is not evenly distributed in the tub....

let me know how you make out....

I am suprised your machine doesn't have the sprinkler......that was Frigidaires fix to this low water use of these machines...to keep the load saturated

 

[frontloaderfan]

It has something like a sprinkler but it's really only a water inlet for the detergent drawer. This washer has no recirculation pump or onboard heater or even drum light for that matter. Very BOL.

 

[yogitunes]

thats odd.....mine is a 2008, and doesn't have it...yeah, all there is that sprinkle during fill, nothing else....

but was told the newer ones, 2010/2011 is when they started adding the recirculation sprinkler....

 

[rayjay]

Water Level

Hi.

I have to take a pic for the water level I get from my adjustment on the Samsung.

The Normal does go to the top of tub and on to the boot for the wash and a higher for the rinse.

The Perma Press goes up to bottom of window.
Rinse and Spin, even higher.

 

[frontloaderfan]

I think the Samsung is actually more user-friendly to adjust the water level. I watched a video of it being done on youtube. Their WLS has an adjustable screw in it. The Frigidaire/Electrolux washers have no such screw. They are sealed units and in order to get more water out of them, one must add on extra air space.

It would be interesting to see if anyone has adjusted the water level on the Electrolux tilt tub washers. They look like they use even less water than their Frigidaire cousins.

 

[rayjay]

Hi Ryan. Yes, it was quite easy. I followed Tony Stones youtube instructions.
At first, I turned it just a complete turn, test it and said what the hell, let got for it. lol

I think I have just enough now.

Normal - Up to top of tub for wash. Rinse - up to the rubber boot.

The delicate fills up to 1/4 way up the window which is good for gentle washing action.

Rayn.....What did you mean when you said 'extra air space"??

 

[rayjay]

Ryan. I see what you did according to Yogi.

I do have to say that the Samsung, splashes, some suds, and rinses really well.

The Perma press may have a little too much water but this cycle is for light soiled clothes and I have not had a problem so far.

I am going to see what it does on Bedding/Bulky.

But...what really is nice is the Rinse and Spin. The water goes up 1/4 or more up the window.

 

[yogitunes]

RayJay....you don't think to the top of the tub is too much?

I am game for adding a 'few' extra inches/gallons of water(size matters), but if you go too excessive, thats no better for washing, for most loads the clothes will float, and never be touched by the baffles, or plunged into the water for agitation action...

they will just bobble along....especially for machines with low baffles

 

[rayjay]

Martin. For the normal cycle wash it does that and on the rinse for the normal cycle it does go a little higher but there is still good action.

For perma press, it is a little higher.
I mean to stay it goes to the top of the bottom of the tub.

Delicate much higher, but you would want gentle washing action.

 

[rayjay]

Correction

All.

The adjustment makes the water for normal wash go to therijm of the bottom of the tub, and on the rinse it covers the boot.

On perma press a little higher meaning.... the water goes up to the bevelment of the glass door.

The rinse and spin water goes up about 1/4 of the door.

Have to try the heavy duty yet.

More to come

 

[roscoe62]

water level adjustment

I adjusted the water level on my duet and it rinses much better, not too high either as the gates on my duet are in the back of the drum and anything too high would have made the machine non-effective for tumbling the load.
I find the bulky cycle is much better as well.