whirlpool duet ht front load washing machine

[von_hellion]

does anyone out there have one of these that will answer a question for me?
i got my machine last week. i had the service guy come out today, because i thought the automatic sensor was not working...why? because the light never comes on.
the repair guy didn't know anything about my machine, so he called someone else, who told him that the only time the sensor light comes on is when the machine 'over suds' or when the load is not balanced.
to me this seems wrong. the manual says that the machine automatically senses the load size and type (depending on which options you set)and determines how much water you need and how long the cycle should be. while it is 'sensing' this, the sensor light comes on, and the time blinks on and off.
if anyone else has one of these washers, please tell me if you've ever seen your sensor light come on.

 

[rp2813]

I've had my Duet for about a year and have not seen the light or flashing display you're talking about. Maybe this is something new or old, depending on the age of your machine. A model number would help in sorting this out.

 

[seeitrun2006]

Sensing Light

We've had our's since early November 2007 WFW9200SQ and the sensing light had never come on. In fact I really had not noticed the machine had one until I read this tread. I went and looked and sure enough it's there. The add-a-garment light always comes on as does the rinse, spin and done light.

 

[seeitrun2006]

I went home and read the manual

on our WFW9200SQ duet HT instruction booklet for our machine. It states that when the washer is re-calulating the time it will take to finish the cycle the number display will flash and the sensing light will be on.

However in the real world when our washer goes into the first spin then advances into the 1st rinse the display goes blank and it does a "cursor chasing/flashing circle" until it has finished recalulating the time to finish the cycle. I don't think the sensing light comes on.

I have to wash a load jeans when I get home from work tonight. I will keep a watch on it to see if indeed the light does or does not come on.

 

[rp2813]

I haven't noticed the sensing indicator or the flashing time display. When my washer is stuck rebalancing or whatever, the time display basically freezes. It will display, for example, an estimated time of 15 minutes left until the end of the cycle while it's rebalancing, and if it's having a difficult time, I can leave the room and come back 5 minutes later and it will still read 15 minutes remaining. No flashing of anything, just the display frozen in time until the washer decides it can continue on with what it's supposed to be doing.

On the other hand, when the dryer starts up, its sensing light always comes on.

 

[seeitrun2006]

OK-I have the poop on the sensing light

I am in the process of washing 6 pairs of jeans in our Duet HT. Cycle progress is as such:

1)Fill and sensing of water level-no light
2)Wash, drain, balance and spin, spin slows down,
3)Fill for rinse-display numbers disappear and does the little light dance, SENSING LIGHT comes on very briefly while timer is calculating how much time to take to finish cycle.

If you blink, you miss it!

 

[funguy10]

How breifly is "very briefly".

 

[seeitrun2006]

I'm talking 10 seconds or less

 

[von_hellion]

sorry about not including the model #. it is WFW9200SQ02. I purchased it 1/17/08.
the only thing my entire manual says regarding this light is...

SENSING/REVISING ESTIMATED TIME
the cycle times vary automatically based on your water pressure, water temperature, detergent, and clothes load.

the washer will automatically sense the progress in the cycle and adjust the estimated time remaining display. while sensing, the estimated time will flash and the sensing status light will glow. when the sensing is complete, the flashing stops and the 'status light' (are they still refering to the sensing light, or is this something else) goes off and the estimated time remaining display is updated.

the cycle time will be extended if oversudsing occurs or the load is unbalanced. the SUD routine removes extra suds and assures proper rinsing of your garments. during the unbalance routine the time displayed may pause until this activity is complete, then resume with the remainder of the cycle.

THE END - THATS ALL IT SAYS ABOUT IT.

now remember, i was told the sensing light would ONLY come on if oversudsing occured, or the load was off balance.
well, i oversuded(for lack of a better word) a load on purpose, no light came on and no time adjustment was made to rid the washer of the extra suds in the rinse cycle, and i have had more than one unbalanced load during the spin cycle...still, no sensing light ever came on.
interesting that seeitrun2006's sensing light comes on at the beginning of the rinse cycle. which does make sense if the maching is checking for oversudsing...
being that mine NEVER comes on...and the repairman that came to my house knew even less than i did about my machine, makes me kind of think mine may have a computer software or hardware problem.

 

[von_hellion]

by the way, i just found out that the WFW9200SQ and the WFW9200SQ02 are the same model.
i just did a load of jeans, and just like 'rp2813' states, the final spin cycle time froze. mine froze for about 6 minutes while 4 minutes into its cycle (i'm assuming) as it tried to get the load in balance. during the 6 minutes the machines time was frozen on 7 remaining minutes, the drum tumbled forward a couple of turns, then backwards a couple of turns, over and over. a couple of times it acted like it was going to begin spinning normal, only to slow down again, and start the slow alternating direction tumble again.
no sensing light ever came on.
just one more question...when i press and hold the start button, at the beginning of every cycle, there is a real loud click, and the locked light comes on and the machine squirts out water for about 3 seconds (maybe in the soap dispenser), then there is another loud click, and the locked light goes off...only to loudly click again to relock the door 3 or so seconds later. after this second locking of the door, the washer starts letting the water in again, but it doesn't do it all at once. it lets a bit in, tumbles a bit, doing this several times before letting all the water in...is this normal?