lordkenmore
Well-known member
There has been discussion here about the worst washer designs ever. But how about individual washers that had a more or less OK design, but in service aged poorly?
In my case, the worst condition washer ever was one that came out of another unit on the property. It was ca. 1990 Hotpoint. Mechanically, it was missing the low speed IIRC. (I also seem to recall it was also missing the back panel, perhaps due to an attempt to fix the speed issue. Or some other problem.) But the most memorable thing about this washer was the incredible moldy stench inside the tub. Since was there, I tried to revive it, even though I was pretty sure it would be a reject. I'd run cycles of hot water, detergent, and bleach. I'd soak, I'd run it (resetting the timer dial regularly to get longer wash cycles). Two nights of this, and the fumes were still strong enough to warp the ceiling above the washer.
I can only suppose there was a massive buildup of crud inside. The machine was run on cold water only for some time. Probably liquid detergent, since that's so common now. And the person who had it previously had tough loads from when working on his car, etc.
Runner up: a Kenmore DD. Inside the tub wasn't bad. But it had a leak from the drain pump. (Which, of course, I discovered after hooking the machine up!) I thought I'd be able to fix it, until I discovered the pump was not accessible. At least, not with my tools on that particular machine. Someone had added a number of screws to the cabinet, and they'd rusted badly. At least one screw was so rusty that there was no longer a well defined place for the screw driver blade.
In my case, the worst condition washer ever was one that came out of another unit on the property. It was ca. 1990 Hotpoint. Mechanically, it was missing the low speed IIRC. (I also seem to recall it was also missing the back panel, perhaps due to an attempt to fix the speed issue. Or some other problem.) But the most memorable thing about this washer was the incredible moldy stench inside the tub. Since was there, I tried to revive it, even though I was pretty sure it would be a reject. I'd run cycles of hot water, detergent, and bleach. I'd soak, I'd run it (resetting the timer dial regularly to get longer wash cycles). Two nights of this, and the fumes were still strong enough to warp the ceiling above the washer.
I can only suppose there was a massive buildup of crud inside. The machine was run on cold water only for some time. Probably liquid detergent, since that's so common now. And the person who had it previously had tough loads from when working on his car, etc.
Runner up: a Kenmore DD. Inside the tub wasn't bad. But it had a leak from the drain pump. (Which, of course, I discovered after hooking the machine up!) I thought I'd be able to fix it, until I discovered the pump was not accessible. At least, not with my tools on that particular machine. Someone had added a number of screws to the cabinet, and they'd rusted badly. At least one screw was so rusty that there was no longer a well defined place for the screw driver blade.
