Whirlpool Duet Baffles

[a440]

Steve that is so cool that you guys keep track of the loads you do in your machines!  Never

thought of that.  I might and excuse to buy a new set to keep a load total! 

 

Great job on your rebuild of your Neptune.  I love the sounds of your model!

 

B

 

[revvinkevin]

The Whirlpool "spin-rinse" isn't really a "r

 

 

After these machines ramps down from the spin, they keep the tub turning around 100 rpm or so (per logixx).   This speed is enough to keep the clothes in place around the drum as the water starts to flow in.   I'm 99% sure the idea behind this is to help saturate the clothes more quickly after the spin.   Once the water level switch "sees" a certain water level, only then does the drum slow to regular tumble speed as the rinse continues.   If this were a "spin rinse" the drain pump would be running so this "rinse" water could be drained away.  I have an He5t and also does this exact same motion as each rinse starts.

 

I completely agree with Malcolm's comment on baffle shrinkage comment!  

When I was looking at buying this He5t, I looked at the two different floor display models.   They appeared exactly the in size and function, but the "red" one was rated at "4.4 cu.ft" and the "blue" one at "4.0 cu.ft".   The ONLY difference I could find in the two capacities was the size and shape of the baffles in the drum.   I even went as far as measuring the inside diameter and depth of the drum, but both were exactly the same.   Upon closer inspection, the "red 4.4 cu.ft" model was made in Germany and had a top rpm of 1200 or so.   The "blue 4.0 cu.ft" model was built in Mexico, with a top speed of 1100.   BTW, I wanted to buy the red one, but by time I decided to pull the trigger, the red one had been sold.

 

I really like the machine and think it does a good job, love the big capacity too!   Also as logixx mentioned, my He5t has the very bad habit of tangling long sleeves / long pants into knots. This gives the washer fits when trying to balance before a spin.

 

Kevin

 

[logixx]

I think LG might be the only residential FL washer that does a true spray rinse. Maybe some Samsung washers with the SuperSpeed mode as well. Other than that, there are quite a few brands that will either fill with the drum still at full speed (such as Bosch) or go into distribution speed during the rinse (such a Miele).

Here's a Miele set to Max Water Level and with the Intensive option selected.

 

[a440]

Spray during fill...

You are correct Kevin.  It is not a traditional spray rinse since it is not draining.  It is however spinning and  fresh water is hitting the clothes so it is starting the rinsing by pulling water through the clothes by force.  It sounds as though the program changed a bit as the washers became newer.  My 14 year old HE3T starts the water in each rinse fill before the spin starts slowing down in speed.  It is very dramatic in both sound and sight with all the water flying everywhere.

 

When ads came out for the HE3T and HE3, both in print and television commercials they actually included this feature and they called it their Trade Mark "Catalyst Cleaning".  Just like the Catalyst Top loaders that were out at the same time.

 

 

 

[joe_in_philly]

The HE3t I have has a water meter, which measures how much water was needed for the wash. A proportional amount more is used for the rinses. The rinse levels are a bit higher than the wash level. So it can fill while spinning, as it knows how much water will be required for the rinse, and measures the water as it is added. I believe that most of the new whirlpool machines do not have a water meter, thus cannot be spinning while filling, as it has to measure the water level in the tub.

A couple of ways to fool the water meter is to start a cycle with wet clothes. The rinses will be shallow because it assumes the load was dry at the beginning of the cycle.

If the fill portion of the cycle had completed and I open the door and add extra items that soak up a lot of water (like a couple of big towels), It will add more water to the wash to bring it to the proper level. However, it won't include that extra water in the rinse water calculation, and again, the rinses will be too shallow.

If I want deeper rinses, I can divert some of the wash water out of the drawer into a bucket as the washer fills for the wash. It thinks the load needed more water than it really required, and the rinses will end up being deeper than normal.

Sometimes I have a bit too much time on my hands.

 

[a440]

Sounds like a good time Joe! Forget the term "Automatic".

 

 

 

 

[logixx]

Ugh - fooling the flow meter during the first fill is not recommended. I did that once and ended up with like a gallon of water during the rinse for a big load. D'oh! For more rinse water, I select Bulky, which raises the water two to three inches up the door (although I find an extra rinse to be more effective than a deeper rinse).

 

[chris74]

Never heard of Maytag's being...

...manufactured in Germany! The washing machine plants here around are all down, I believe. And why the heck they didn't had a window door? This is yet the most interesting part in a front loader, besides the panel...

 

[logixx]

The Maytag Neptunes without the window were not made here - only the Maytag Epic models were made in Schorndorf.

It wasn't possible to put a window on the Neptunes because there was a vent and a shock absorber inside the door.

 

[chris74]

What I've noticed from the vids....

...The hole pattern of the drum is somehow odd, absolutely NOT Euro style...

 

[logixx]

Because

none of the washer shown in this thread are brand new models - they don't have fancy patterns in their drum.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I guess I shouldn't have said "spin rinse"

Yes it retains the water as the clothes are spinning around 100 rpm, but it does this while filling for long enough that you can hear rinse water really sloshing hard through the clothes. I almost always use extra rinse (for 3 rinses), and each rinse takes less time off the slow spin as it fills. The first rinse is the longest, followed by the second second being a little shorter, then the third rinse the shortest

 

[logixx]

Skip to 5:20

 

[a440]

Great video example of Whirlpool's trade mark "Catalyst Cleaning".  This is exactly what my HE3T does and it is very effective.   I don't understand why they stopped this on the later models.  


 

B

 

[chris74]

I'm not a fan of "fancy" things, too...

...but the drum in the video looks somehow strange, it's almost like aluminum and not stainless steel. And the array of the holes is uncommon, too, I believe...

 

[a440]

Interesting...

I have never seen this version of the HE3T with so few cycles.  Looks more like the HE3 version but it has Sanitary as a cycle.