What did you think of the F&P style whirlpool washers

[whirlpool862]

This was a Whirlpool design that came out in 2006 and was discontinued in 2015 and long replaced with the VMAX. I own a VMW and I never owned the F&P machines.

They were sold under the Bravos and Cabrio names, just like how many VMW and VMAX machines were. Those names aren’t used anymore on the newest models.

Those were the models with the floating tub and no gearcase, and it was one of the first properly engineered H.E. washers from Whirlpool.

Were they better than VMAX’s or VMWs in a way?

 

[whirlpool862]

They were labeled as Maytag, Kenmore and Whirlpool.

Example of a floating tub Whirlpool Cabrio.

 

[d-todd]

I worked for Sears during this model run, so we just referred to it as the Oasis.

 

[cfz2882]

they had wash water recirculation/spray-my VMW Bravos does not.Two PM wet rotor pumps underneath,bigger one for recirc.I was finding a lot of these at the dump around 2018-19,would take the BLDC pancake motor off each one i found(to repurpose for other uses) very easy to take off these motors.I took home a whole washer for evaluation and found it worked but the inlet valve had frozen and cracked,leaking pretty bad.I had it set up for a test wash and a severe hailstorm came along and smashed it up...placed in storage and eventually junked it-keeping good parts.

 

[thatwasherguy]

No offense to anyone who likes these, but...

We owned one of these (two, actually) under the Bravos XL name from 2013-2017, and it was hands down the worst washer that it has ever been my displeasure to operate. You couldn’t use the large tub (a main reason we bought the stupid thing) because it wouldn’t clean anything. If you filled it as advertised, it would leave soap stains on everything in the wash load, something that our 1976 Maytag A108 never had trouble with. The first one blew the control board three weeks in, and the machine H.H. Gregg swapped it out with died of bearing failure in 2017. By that point, I was so done with that washer, that I literally broke into a dance when the repairman said that it was not worth fixing. We replaced it with a Speed Queen 8 series, and I haven’t looked back. Other gripes I had with it include a lack of any meaningful wash action to watch, a drain pump that sounded like it was going to explode the moment it wasn’t pumping water, a lousy suspension setup that caused it to go off balance if you looked at it funny, and the drive motor having a particularly unpleasant pitch to it. Quite frankly, I would take a Samsung washer over anything on that platform. The last thing I’ll add is that that machine pretty much single-handedly sparked my interest in learning to restore vintage washers.
Thatwasherguy.

 

[DADoES]

 
When did WP stop producing washers of the F&P floating-basket design?

 

[agiflow]

Didn't the higher price Bravos XL also have a heater ?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Maytag

My friend has a Maytag of this design.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Oasis/Bravos

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this platform. Certainly better than the VMAX.
I have ran a few loads in a TOL Bravos XL that did well on anything but heavily soiled loads. It just could will not perform like a FL. Original impellers were better IMHO, but likely were redesigned when water consumption was reduced. Recirculation and Catalyst like saturation actually was great, and they should have not gotten rid of this. Though, would I own one? No.

 

[DADoES]

 
I prefer the F&P originals.

 

[panasonicvac]

If I ever owned a HE top loader, I would've bought a blue/silver Kenmore Oasis. Just thought they were cool looking machines when I first laid my eyes on one.