who made the worst dryer

[fredriksam]

My family had an toploaded dryer that i really hated. It was made by Blomberg. The drying time was a joke. Some t-shirt took about 1 and a half hour. With heavier garments more than two hours.

When you felt the fan working you could easily understand the long drying time. Also the motor made an REALLY annoying sound.

The worst thing with the dryer was that, you had to dismantle it and vaccum it. Otherwise the machine smelled burnt.

Here is a pic of this kind of dryer. Its from the german washing machine forum.

 

[kenmorekeith]

Dryers

I'm going to have to go with GE and Whitewestinhouse.Both took Soooooooooo long to do a load and would need repair more than any other dryer I have ever had. The Westinhouse got to a point it was so loud I couldn't even use it. I love anytime by Kenmore/whirlpool. I currently have a Maytag 7.5 dryer its really good I love it!

 

[jeffg]

At least some complaints about slow dryers are due to clogged and/or damaged venting. Especially if you're getting a burnt smell, or lint on your clothes etc.

At our last house we had a Kenmore, the thing took two hours to dry anything. Then we discovered the wall vent (which was supposed to vent through the roof) had a 3' clog of lint near the top.

Once that was cleaned out, the dryer took just 20-30 minutes per load, even for towels and jeans.

 

[rll70sman]

Worst dryer

I remember my parents buying a brand new avocado green Gibson Vacu-Dry back about 1979-80. That thing was a piece of junk from the get-go. It clunked and banged and sounded like it was going to fall apart at anytime. It finally died about 13 years ago and was replaced by a simple 4-temperature, 3-cycle Whirlpool that has worked flawlessly ever since. I'm not sure if the Gibson Appliance Company was a division of White Consolidated Industries back then or not, but I would never buy any appliance made by WCI/Frigidaire/Electrolux--total garbage!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Flashback--a total Recall:

I remember seeing a Gibson Vacu-Dry from the 1980's-1990's era at my local Salvation Army store...

 

Just some ordinary WCI-built piece o' crap that would have easily been picked over by a more desirable Kenmore, Whirlpool or GE that was also there among the five dryers, to every washer that seemed to be present...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[rockland1]

Gibson Laundry

At the time (1979) I sold Gibson Laundry. If you thought the dryers were bad....
the washers were far worse. I made the mistake of selling a pair to a farm family.
Big mistake. They replaced a pair of Maytags. Shortly after a year they had Maytag again.

 

[washerdude]

Oh the old hotpoints. When we first moved into our house, we had that hotpoint dryer. It didn't have rocker switches but it looked the most similiar to the hotpoint pair in the second picture. This thing didn't do its job right half the damn time. So we called someone to see what was wrong with it. They cleaned out the lint and just said we would be better off getting a new dryer. These things toke 70 MINUTES to dry 1 LOAD. And lets say you did a load today, it would NOT heat up tommorow no matter what you did. Finally we had enough and changed it out with a maytag/whirlpool dryer - 7.0cf. This thing has treated us well, drys clothes in less then 40 minutes and with our new duet washer it takes less then 30 minutes. The dryer is about 6 years and its run without a single issue and is still working perfect.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I've only ever experienced GE or Whirlpool/Kenmore dryers. Only ONE of them was a GE, the rest were WP/Kenmore. I remember the first time I used the GE dryer I was horrified that the lint screen was in the DOOR, and not on the top, like the WP/Kenmore's....I HATED that! The GE dryer was OK, but the WP/Kenmores were the best..but I do HATE that too Malcolm, the white interior getting blue stained, although my Duet dryer is white, and it's still pretty white amazingly. The dryer before that was stained blue from jeans. Not sure why this one hasn't.

 

[lordkenmore]

I've had bad experiences with 2 GE family dryers. One was an older model, complete with light up console. I was so excited, because that dryer was the first time that I'd ever use a non-WP type dryer.

I created a thread about that dryer under my original AW.org screen name:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?23269

Unfortunately, it was less exciting in use...it seemed to take forever to dry. Although there may have been an issue with the vent system, or something not working right in the dryer itself past design flaws. Fortunately, I dried very little with a dryer then--I air dried almost everything during the time I was living with that dryer.

More recently, a Hotpoint like the one pictured above in #19 was supplied in my current laundry room, and words cannot express how much I hated that dryer. It took forever to dry anything. In this case, I know it was not a vent issue--the vent here is very short, and I know it was straight and clean. It was a huge pain, because there are times when one wants to get a load of laundry done fast for whatever reasons. Also I don't think the dryer got hot enough to have any real sanitizing effect, which I like for some loads (e.g. hand towels). One fine day recently, that dryer went to the Great Big Laundry Room in the Sky. It was a huge pain having no dryer, but in a way that dryer's demise was the best thing that could have happened: it encouraged my landlady to put a WP in that actually works.

Other things I disliked about the HP: as stated above, the drum is a rather dark, dreary place. I can't remember if the one I used had an option for a light or not, but there was no working light. The other thing I realize I don't like is how the door hinges to the side. I never really realized this before, but the approach of having the door hinge at the bottom, so that it opens to create shelf, is very handy.

 

[supersurgilator]

Funny that you all have had such bad experiences with the old GE's and Hotpoints. I've used 2 of them and didn't think they took that long to dry, in fact I thought they were very hot dryers. I do favor Whirlpools more tho.

The worst dryer I've used was a Frigidaire stack dryer my grandparents had. It took forever to dry, my grandma used to break the washer load into 2 or more dryer loads and each would take an hour or more to dry. I think it was because there were 3 vanes in the drum and I think it spun so fast the clothes just stuck to the drum when it turned.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Dark, Dreary Dryer Drums:

Well, it might be easier to say which ones AREN'T dark and dreary...

Even with a drum light, the speckled Hotpoint, GE, and early Maytag drums can be a real gloomy place, to put your laundry in...

The newer, white drums in later dryers are a lot more pleasant to look at...

-- Dave

 

[lordkenmore]

To be fair, the dark drums probably have one advantage for some people. I've seen white drums that have a sort of bluish stain. I think I've heard it's dye from drying blue jeans. A dark drum probably wouldn't show that stain so readily.

 

[kb0nes]

My late model Cabrio dryer has a white drum and the bulkhead has a lot of bluing on it. It appeared rapidly after the purchase of a couple new pairs of Duluth Trading jeans. They appear to use a LOT of dye. Good jeans though, they LAST and the extra gusset in the crotch is nice.

 

[fan-of-fans]

My parent's Kenmore dryer has the blue tint also. I don't recall their old wheat colored Kenmore doing that, it was more of a beige colored drum though.

 

[Chetlaham]

Hotpoint Dry times

Why did they take so long to dry? Was it air flow restriction? Thermostat cutoff early? I know when I run my Whirlpool built Maytag on delicate heat it takes well over an hour to dry anything.

 

[dartman]

two I remember

When I moved out on my own we had a beat to crap whirlpool washer that step dad had done way too many barnyard fixes and no dryer.
Friend sold me a crappy GE? which he admitted was junk but still barely worked. It sounded like a jet engine, filled the laundry/bathroom with steam, and blew lint everywhere. It finally tried to catch the lint on fire and found out most of the vent pipe internally was gone or rusted out.
Then we were offered a Hotpoint builder grade new full set for dirt cheap. Called a few repair shops for opinions and they all agreed they were low grade but functional and no worse then any other cheap starter set.
The washer lasted 10 years till the transmission finally leaked out and ate itself, the dryer lasted a few months longer and the drum bearings and belt were shot.
The shop I called was amazed either lasted so long as they usually broke just past warranty for most folks and ours were the longest he'd ever hear of lasting.
Replaced them with Whirlpool/Kenmore used rebuilt DD washer and similar vintage early 90's dryer, only issue ever with the dryer was blowing the overheat protection diodes when the hose or vent got blocked, a very easy and cheap fix.
Just replaced it with a new Kenmore/Whirlpool 8.8 cf 68132 eco auto dry dryer that is huge and quiet. Needed a new start switch which I took apart and fixed and I'll give it to my mom.

 

[passatdoc]

My first pair: White-Westinghouse 1988 pair

Bought them at Price Club (merged with Costco in the 1990s, but often regarded as the original company because Price Club opened in 1976, before the pre-merger Costco did), back when they would carry one model of everything: one dishwasher, one fridge, one laundry pair. I was moving to a newly-built home from an apartment, and Price Club sold the pair for $600. A middle-aged colleague at work had purchased them and said they worked reasonably well, so I figured it was a safe choice, plus I didn't have to shell out $1000 at a time when money was tight.

The dryer worked reasonably well for nine years. Did not have a moisture sensor, all the cycles worked on a timer so sometimes it would stop short of a fully dry load, if it were heavy. It did have three temp settings that worked, at a time when most BOL models offered two or sometimes just one temp setting.

The washer was another issue, however. Thank goodness major appliances came with three year warranties in those days. The washer had an infinite water level control, rather than "small" "medium" or "large" loads. The water level sensor in the washer was poorly designed and I had to have it repaired twice under warranty. Otherwise the washer would continue to fill and then overflow.

The factory-authorized repairman said the switch was problematic and he commonly had to make repairs on them. California's lemon law was already in place and quite possibly I could have demanded a replacement machine, but I didn't know my rights in those days.

The sensor broke again a year or two after end of warranty. I paid roughly $150 to have it fixed again. At that point I realized that were it to happen again, 2 x $150 would nearly equal the original $325 price of the washer, at which point it might make more sense to buy a new one. The third replacement sensor held out until 1997, when it broke again. It was possible to wash by remaining near the washer until water level hit desired level and then turning the knob back toward the "small" end of the dial, but you had to repeat this process for the rinse, and the process certainly wasn't "fully automatic".

I replaced them with a MOL GE pair which were ok, but the washer tub seals broke down by 2006 and could not be repaired. The washer went off to Salvation Army. I gave the gas dryer to my neighbor, who had an electric model and wished to change to gas (much cheaper to operate where we live). I bought a new Frigidaire 2140 FL with matching dryer. The Frig pair is working perfectly at my neighbor's, who inherited that set when I bought a new Electrolux pair last November (60 series FL). The Frigidaires have never had a service call.

 

[programcomputer]

Worst dryer

In all that I've had I'll tell you my favorite, and my one that I hated most.

My first dryer was a 1964 Kenmore 800. Which paired with my 1965 Kenmore 800 washer. It worked well enough, but I found an even more mint dryer.. I "HAD" to have.

2. 1966 Lady Kenmore. That one ended up having fairly weird sensor issues where the metal fingers rode the drum...and.. I got tried of it taking forever to dry..

3. It was replaced by a Maytag 806 set with an electric dryer. It was a halo of heat model, and I hated the rear filter. Otherwise MEH....

4. Shortly later, in the breezeway of the house I had, my partner then and I put in a 1-18 set in white. All I can remember about that set, and the dryer was that I liked it better and it seemed to dry a shade faster than the Maytag. I left them and the Maytag's when we broke up, or maybe The Maytags were already gone at that point... But I took the White-Westinghouse Spacemates when I left... the less I remember of those years, the better....LOL

5. I ended up somewhere in that "time frame" with the aforementioned Westinghouse Stackable set that we kept in the upstairs garage apartment. I loved that set. Like really loved it. In fact that set stayed with me a LONG time till 2005. I never had any issues whatsoever with that dryer. It was an early WCI dryer, but It never gave me a lick of issue, and was pretty reliable...The washer however, was a floor wetter...and eventually it became too much to deal with. Sooo....

6. When I moved to Ann Arbor in the fall of 2005, I traded in the Westhinghouses, and got a reconditioned 2003 Frigidaire (rear-controls)set with that reversa-tumble dryer. That was by far the dryer I hated MOST. I had that apart so many times It's not even funny. Belts, and the rollers, and the FAN...Jesus I hated that MFin thing....

7. In 2011, I got a reconditioned Kitchen Aid All Pushbutton set that had a gas dryer. IT was an AWESOME dryer. In fact looking back I really regret getting rid of it. BUT I cant handle un-matched sets. It's my parrallel line disorder... It was probably the best one out of the bunch.

8. My second to current dryer was a gas Maytag DG408? That was the slowest EVER. I got totally sick of that after a month, and found a matching electric dryer to the washer...

9. Now- an electric Maytag DE406-8?, a side knob early 80's model is just as good as my Kitchen aid was...but not quite... and the electric just whizzes along and no issues. Soo...

Worst- WCI Fridigidaire Revsa-Tumble POS, Second Place-Maytag Gas dryer.

Fair- Maytag Electric, Halo of Heat, Second Place WCI Westhinghouse

Best- KitchenAid Gas Pushbutton Electronic dryer....

Chad

 

[kitty]

Who made the worst dryer?

I DIDNT!!!!!!! *LOL*