What DON'T You Care For?

[norgeway]

Re Maytag...

If you look...the old Norges are vERY SIMILAR in design to a maytag, except they agitate about twice as fast!, the worst part of a Norge was that brake that everyone loves to here go BANG! if you will let it stop spinning bEFORE you lift the lid, you wont have trouble, the Norges had a MUCH heavier transmission and a bigger motor, they were designed basically for the biggest tub ever used 20 pound, and were used most successfully in laundromats!

 

[norgeway]

But I Admit!

As much as I like Norges, they are NOISY, and are as hard on clothes as anything, "Except those direct drive thrashing things " that Whirlpool put off on the public!, I also admit, as good as a Norge oven bakes, they do have rust issues, and thet Dryer they made...it dries your clothes great, and with less wrinkles, but you better leave it outside...unless you love LINT!!LOL

 

[fido]

In my case it is dishwashers of whatever make that hold no interest for me. I always found the fault finding more difficult on dishwashers than on other appliances and eventually virtually stopped repairing them completely, when they introduced the moulded plastic base type, which are so difficult to work on.
It was also a Whirlpool dishwasher that almost caused me to get sued, a few years back. It had flooded a customers kitchen due to a high pressure hose coming off. The hose was held with the crimp type hose clips that can't be re-used so I replaced the failed one with a jubilee clip. Three months later the hose came off again, just after the customer had got her house insurance to buy her new laminate flooring. The spigot for the hose to fit onto was smooth plastic with no ribbing, so it was really a design fault, as I pointed out to the customer. This time I made a sort of cage with stiff steel wire which would prevent the hose from moving anywhere. The customer was satisfied with this modification and never pursued me for another new floor!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

As I've mentioned on a recent post on a current POD, I find it easy to fall in love w/ a washer, though it's hard to find the dryer as striking (and the dryer typically does stay around a lot longer, after the washer sadly first gives up the ghost!) and the example in this case is a GE that was featured...

It was a nice TOL model, and I had commented on the ad it was in, to which I'd cited disliking the dryer and here's why: The lint filter is a trough shape, as opposed to the more flat screen design other makes use, which is easier for the lint to stay contained & likely to need less frequent cleaning, especially during use; so it's mainly the lint filter design that I'd disliked about GE dryers (and the Hotpoint corp. stable mates along with 'em)...

And the door handle, if it's the grab bar is OK, but later high-end GE's put an emblem along side the handle just to (redundantly) further remind you that you have a GE (and did Hotpoint do the same thing?) and the door design that wraps around the cabinet is to me a lot more preferable than the design that is based within the cabinet...

The above reasons are why I've long disliked the GE dryers while praising their washers (and cite other brands preferred in washer & dryer line-ups)...

-- Dave

 

[paulg]

Department store brands

I've never been fond of department store brands UNLESS they were really oddballs. For that reason you won't find Kenmore, Signature or Penncrest in this house. If I have a classic appliance I want it under the brand of the actual manufacturer whenever possible.
That being said, I WOULD welcome a Wizard or Bradford or other oddball branded appliance. Why? They're a bit rarer around these parts and thus are a bit more interesting to me.

 

[frigilux]

The score so far: It appears Norge and GE are in the lead. A couple of Frigidaire mentions, but not for the Unimatic-era machines.

C'mon, who wants to tempt fate with the ultimate blasphemy? Certainly there must be at least one closeted soul among us who doesn't like Unimatics!

 

[mixfinder]

Preheat

Any electric rqange with a "preheat" setting because they don't bake evenly. D&M dishwashers.

 

[rinso]

<ul>
<li>Rebadged D&M and GE Dishwashers that lack a food filter</li>
<li>Maytag AMP machines-rust in the lid and those trouble-prone mercury switches</li>
<li>Maytag Halo of Heat Dryer-tiny drum, took forever to dry a load of clothes</li>
<li>Speed Queen solid tub washers</li>
<li>Norge positive air flow dryers AKA Lint Monsters</li>
</ul>

 

[cfz2882]

not as picky anymore-like most any vintage washers,but as a kid had a few i didn't like as much as others:
-maytag -thought they were boring
-GE -motor harder to adapt to other uses(washers,dryers were easy)
-franklin built washers-thought they were cheap and rust prone
-WCI westinghouse and franklin dryers-thought they were cheap and rattley
Today i don't care for korean imports

 

[tomturbomatic]

Any electric range with a "preheat" setting

The old Wilcolator oven thermostats had an automatic preheat if you turned the thermostat up to BROIL and then back to the desired temperature. The broil element shut off before the set temperature was reached to prevent overshoot and then the broil element, either with a separate perimeter unit or the whole thing on 115 volts cycled with the bake element to provide beautiful baking results. Older Frigidaire ranges used them and gave superior baking compared to ovens with the selector position "Preheat" which, I think, did not use top heat during baking. There was another thermostat for electric ovens that had a button you could push to give the same sort of preheating.

 

[whirlcool]

We had a 84' era Maytag washer (forgot the model #, but the dryer had the end of cycle chime) that was near TOL. It was very reliable, never broke down but was soooo boring. It took forever to turn over a load of laundry. The clothes would just kind of sit there and roll at a snails pace. We weren't sure clothes were getting cleaned properly. After 9 years of this set we traded them in on a Whirlpool TOL DD machine. Now there is turnover! The electric dryer was pretty efficient, we never had any complaints about it.

We have enough clothes, towels, sheets, etc so we don't do laundry ever week. We like to let it all pile up and then do a massive wash day. We don't overload so sometimes our laundry day can last a weekend.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Maytag's AMP turned me off to Maytags because of the lid switch. Then the piss-poor agitation I could watch later did. It was not until the 06 series that I could see any reason to believe that they had any factors I would like. I realize they have a small capacity. I don't like any top loader with poor turnover.

I don't like the D-shaped tub opening of pre DD WP products, but I like the KA version of those, especially since I can skip the neutral drain which I have never liked.

I prefer electric dryers to gas dryers because I have a sensitive nose and items dried in an electric dryer smell better to me than those dried in a gas dryer. That having been said, I use a gas one outdoors in the AC season.

I don't like any gas stove.

 

[jerrod6]

Gas ranges or cook tops even though I have one.   Turn it on and have 2/3 of the heat go into your surrounding kitchen area while the rest goes into the pan.   Cook for one or two weeks then look at  or wipe your cabinets...full of some type of residue that is not present when using electric. I would rather induction or electric coil.

 

Any appliance that has round edges or  non squared control panels.     There was a washer/dryer that had doors that were shaped like a Vicks cough drop...remember that?   The lack of  having right angles in the place I want, will prevent me from buying an appliance. Give me  squared design areas...  thank you.

 

Frigidaire appliances after GM stopped making them.

 

GE dishwashers made in the 1960's  Yeah some of them cleaned but they were loud and all you could hear was the motor/pump stopping and starting between drains and fills and water circulation.

 

Chlorine Bleach in laundry.  I don't want this stuff coming in contact with my clothes.

 

Pod laundry detergents

 

Strong Sweet smelling fabric softener scents especially those that last in your clothes two weeks or more, and especially those made by P&G with their creamy vanilla scents.  Give me a sharp distinct scent....not this creamy, warm, smooth crap.

 

KA TL washers made in early 1996.  Mine never cleaned  well,  never rinsed completely and had two transmission failures in the 6 years I had it.  Won't have another of this year in my house ever.

 

White/Westinghouse DWs made in mid 1980's.  Loud pieces of junk that had upper racks disconnecting from the tub letting water leak out during the cycle.

 

Some current day refrigerators that have a massive amount of plastic trays, bins, and structures that make removal for cleaning an all day chore and heaven forbid any little cheaply constructed piece breaks from standard everyday use. 

 

Today's USA  washers that use dumbed down water temperatures..claiming 85F is warm and hot is 110F.  I can hold my hand under 110f or 115f water so this isn't hot. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[whirlaway]

Say What you want about Kenmore!

Sears probably put more automatic washers than any other brand in this country,into more peoples homes than anyother make!!!! I use those old frogeyes as everday machines and dont hear a peep out of them,you cant say that for many 58 year old machines.They are well built to Sears specs and actually attractive,top of the line for Sears machines,my friends think they are great and they are no idiots.The styling is not garrish,they light up with their nice ultraviolet bulbs in the washer and dryer,and clean excellant.All of the other brands are OK! Maytags are good,they chug right along,but 50s model GEs and Hotpoints kept repairmen in jobs and Frigidairs too! But you cant beat their iceboxes,and I have to say I luv to hear a Frigidaire washing,and that spin!!!!!! WOW!

 

[rinso]

Kenmore and Whirlpool BD machines did a good job of cleaning, but were definately quirky and odd in some ways:

<ul>
<li>Max spin speed too low for good water extraction from heavy fabrics</li>
<li>Pull to stop, Push to start cycle knobs counter-intuitive. (like Frigidaire)</li>
<li>Complex, but fascinating mechanism, not all that easy to service and could not be serviced from the front</li>
<li>Side-opening lid of Kenmore product did not fold down flat</li>
<li>Collected lots of gunk and rust around lid hinges

</li>
</ul>

 

[mrb627]

Gas!

 

Gas ranges or cook tops even though I have one.   Turn it on and have 2/3 of the heat go into your surrounding kitchen area while the rest goes into the pan.   Cook for one or two weeks then look at  or wipe your cabinets...full of some type of residue that is not present when using electric. I would rather induction or electric coil.

 

DITTO!

 

Malcolm

 

[tomturbomatic]

Those were old-style Philco dryers with the funny door shape.

 

[davey7]

Zenith

As a fun aside, Abt, Chicago's premier appliance store is located immediately adjacent to Zenith Drive, which was home to the Zenith HQ at one time.

 

[cleanteamofny]

MY personal pet peeve.

Even though I love Kenmore's, I could not understand why they set the timer to drain for 4 minuets and then 2 minuets for spin after the wash cycle.
Since the Belt Drive drains so fast the 2 minuets drain phase would have done the job like on the DD models and added the extra 2 minuets for the deep rinse.

Now as for Sears stoves, they maybe good for 5 years and then the glowbar igniter will burn out and must be replaced.
It happened to all the stoves we purchased over the years which is about 15 or more units......

 

[mrb627]

4 Minute Drain

Was to counter for a self cleaning filter that may be partially clogged and slightly exceed the 2 minute mark.  Or, it could be a hold over from a portable machine whereby the drain hose to the sink would be of smaller diameter.  Or maybe it took longer to drain where the standpipe was at its upper limit of spec.

 

The mind boggles, doesn't it?

 

Malcolm