No offense to anyone who likes these machines, but…
In my opinion, the most miserable washing machine of all time was the F&P style Whirlpool cabrio/maytag bravos/kenmore oasis machines with the floating wash basket. The bearings failed if you looked at them funny, they went off balance far more than they had any right to, and the wash plate models never cleaned well at all in my experience. They also had (to me, anyway) an extremely unpleasant tone to the drive motors, and the drain pumps. On top of that, I always thought they were ugly. We actually had one, and I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was when it died. IMO, it makes the VMW and Hydrowave look like some of the best washers ever designed. Although, the Samsung front loaders with the zinc spider arms that corrode through after a few years definitely earn my disgust as well.
As far as dryers go, I would say that G.E’s design was (and still is) the worst. IMO, they put the heating element way too close to the clothes, and when the front drum glides fail, the drum rides metal on metal, and the dryers basically self destruct. Not to mention, the rear bearing is a royal pain to line up when putting the drum back in the machine.
For refrigerators, I would say any L.G. refrigerator with the linear compressor. The compressors have a fatal design flaw that causes them to fail after only a few years in operation. I’ve heard conflicting reports on what causes the failures. One tech said that the oil supply nozzle on the inside of the cylinder head is made of plastic, and that when it gets hot, it warps, and no longer sprays oil on the cylinder walls, causing the piston and bore to score until there is either no compression, or the compressor locks up. Another theory I’ve heard is that the piston travels too far on the up stroke in certain conditions, and smashes the valves. I don’t know which, if either, is correct.
Thatwasherguy.