Yippee A New Machine To Play With

[sudsman]

Allen

A drop or two of Old English lemon oil on a washcloth and rub the SS down every day or two will make it look new always.

The washer is the OPL model a mid line machine not sure now if they are 50 or 60 lbs. The tumbler is a 75/80 I am pretty sure. Loading that machine with any less than 45 lbs will kill it. Hell on the bearings. They just cannot balance a smaller load. All Alliance machines do a super wash job. as the tubs run just a little faster than others. They lift and drop real hard.

 

[whirlcool]

Lee:

I have another question about loading.
How much laundry can you put in a load? Today one of the volunteers was cramming it full and I told her to only load it up 3/4 of the way to the top. If I hadn't said anything, she would have packed it full. We always have enough laundry to do to fill it up.
This washer does use quite a bit of water, maybe 1/3 of the way up the window. The clothes tumble very nicely. Several people have commented on how nice and fluffy the laundered items come out now.
I used 1/3 cup of FOCA in the machine today. At first there was a lot of suds, but soon they disappated and there were very few bubbles in the wash water. Maybe I should increase the dose to 2/3 cup?

I still can't believe that they previously used a Whirlpool Duet for all this laundry. There is so much of it!

 

[sudsman]

Allen

I cant really tell by the pic if the machine is a 40 50 or 60 they have made all 3 sizes.. Their should be a label on the inside of the door near the glass that says the capacity or at the back on the the name plate will also say mfg. year.. sometimes the machines may be 1 or 2 years old but are new. As they keep so many in dealer stock. Load up to 5 lbs of rated capacity. Do not load past the full load capacity.. the machines cannot withstand overloads very many times.. Pack them full is a very bad thing to do to ANY machine. Very unusal to see one direct mount on the floor as that one is . Almost always on a base or 3 of 4 " of concreate to raise them up to more useable levels. Do hope it was leveled and grouted in to make sure is does not vibrate too much during extract.. I have seen those machines come right up out of the floor with a load if not leveled and grouted, and only a small off balance load. Heavy wet pads and blankets can generate more G force than one knows. We have to be very careful here with the thermals as a 100 lb load of them wet can weigh as much as 1500 lbs. Think of that weight going into high extract.

 

[whirlcool]

Unfortunately, we don't have a laundry scale at the shelter. So we have to guessimate the load. the machine is a 60 pounder.

It's not too bad of a bend over to put laundry in an out of the machine. The door is certainly much higher than a home FL machine would be, even with a pedestal.

I'll give the laundry room "personnel" instructions, in fact I may post a list on the wall, such as DO NOT OVERLOAD, DO NOT UNDERLOAD, DO NOT OVERSUDS, etc.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

sudsman... My primus machine is directly mounted to the floor. The machine has a total of 8 mounting holes and my dad decided to use only 4 of the 8 holes in 2" concrete(against my recommendation), and boy was he in for a surprise!! I think it is amazing how violent these machines can get when they are not properly installed. Now that I have tightened down the belts more the machine still rocks but only a little, however when I wash big comforters in it, the machine has so much force, the concrete and items next to it shake considerably.

 

[sudsman]

SUPEREMEWHIRLPOL

You had best get all the bolts on the machine and it grouted in to be level or sooner or later it will crack the concrete and come up! I assure you, I t may take some time for it to happen but it will. Also could be VERY dangerous for you or anyone near it.

 

[sudsman]

allen

A good loading guide is if when the load is wet and washing during the pauses between reverse the load should be about 1"below the top of the glass window. Will post a pic later

 

[sudsman]

Allen Notice in the pic the level of the load.. this is just

If not in that general area next load, load a little more or a little less before long you will be able to judge the fullness of the tub. The water levels you mentioned sound correct for heavy soil loads.. Heavy soil loads take a higher level and 2 to 3"on the door is correct.. Most likely will take a cup or a little more of detergent also.. If on a double wash (and on heavy soil it should be) use full amount on the first wash and 1/4 to 1/2 the amount on the 2nd wash. The machine you have is one of the newest models. And sells for around $10,000 plus shipping and taxes and install. which can run as much as 11 or 12 hundred.. The tumbler has a msrp of 5500. but most the time sell for around 4250.oo What most of the dealers do is knock off a % of the price then install, taxes and freight. will add up to exactly the msrp.. almost always with in just a few cents.. Has been fun answering your questions and helping you if you need anything else just ask.. Suds....

 

[whirlcool]

Lee:

Thank you very much for your advice. The animals at our shelter will now be able to enjoy nice clean and fluffy bedding thanks to your advice.
I think I'll put a sticker on the door of the washing machine indicating the level to which the machine should be loaded.
BTW, we have not been using any fabric softener as the animals may be sensitive to these things. I like the FOCA as clothes washed in it have more of a "neuteral" smell to them.
I'll keep you updated as to how our little laundry is coming along.

My latest job with the shelter has been taking dogs from the shelter to a local dog park where they can run and play off leash with other dogs. Right now selection is made on how long the dog has been with the shelter. The dogs that have been there the longest get to go play. It makes a world of difference in their attitude at our adoption events.

 

[sudsman]

allen Wish you the best always

I take care of 36 homeless kitties here too. for some reason people think the dead end street is a wonderful place to put them out.. Cost about 100 a week to take care of them all but the look on each face each am is worth it..

 

[whirlcool]

I was down at the shelter today washing more laundry. I heard from one of the employees there that the washer "overflowed" the other day. It flooded the laundry room and the hallway directly outside. I asked what happened and they said all the water came out of the bottom of the machine while it was spinning. After interrogating several others it turns out that the "ditch" in the floor behind the washer (where the drain hose is bolted down to) overflowed due to lint & debris clogging the drain screen. So now there is a sign "Check the drain before each use".

I am just amazed at how clean everything comes out. No matter how poopy or stained items go into the washer, everything comes out smelling and looking like new. And it does it ALL in just 37 minutes.

One more question, we have cycles like Normal Wash, Stained Item Wash, Uniforms Wash, Delicate Wash and Stained Items Wash, and Heavy Soil Wash. What does "Visa Wash" do? I have never seen that one before. We usually use Heavy Soil or Stained Items wash, which are both HOT. When we open the door at the end of the cycle, the items washed are literally steaming hot. But there isn't any Rinse/Spin cycle. The other day one of the teenagers used Dawn dish detergent in the machine and they said suds were going everywhere!

I'll tell you, I really wonder about the mentality of some of these people working there. Today we washed and groomed dogs for our adoption center tomorrow and some of those ADULTS were using Dawn to wash dogs when there is a cabinet full of great Tearless Protien Shampoo for dogs in the grooming room.
No wonder some of the dogs I have seen have straw like coats and dandruff!

 

[supremewhirlpol]

I say that might be why the adoption center got those kind of machines, so they can stand up to the abuse of such incompetent ADULTS. LOL

 

[launderess]

Visa = Polyester

Visa as a grand name of polyester and or polyester/cotton blend fabric. Therefore one supposes a "Visa Cycle" is something along the lines of permanent press.

L.

 

[launderess]

More On Visa

Many hotels, restaurants, catering establishments, linen services and the rest use polyester or more often a polyester and cotton blend for table and even bed linens.

Called "no iron" or minimal iron, these linens in theory are supposed to be eaiser to launder and not require the heavy ironing of pure linen or cotton items.

Because they are "easy care" such linens supposedly spend less time at the laundry, and can be turned around faster.

L.

 

[whirlcool]

Ah, thank you Laundress. So the "Visa Wash" cycle is probably a short cycle or one with a cool down? That sounds about right.

I had never heard the term before, so now I know.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

The drain in the back is most likely a 'trench ' type drain.. they are no longer allowed in Ft Worth. but most other areas are still used.. The filter should be cleaned out 2X a day morning and noon. that should be enough to keep the level flowing well..
A bit more on VISA.
The Visa formula may NOT be a short formula. check the man. Some of them run as long as a regular formula then do a cool down. Or depending on the formula may stop and signal for starch .. A great deal of places now starch visa and iron it.Esp. napkins as it is the only way they can be folded to stand up.. Visa is flimsy and has very little body. Although it drapes very nice on tablecloths.. and wears like iron and colors stay bright and vivid for years.. also very expensive to buy.Most upscale places still demand pure cotton linen. Visa is used mostly by less demanding places and places that want to get by with laundring as cheap as possible.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

you most likely have 2 visa formulas on your machine. Are they # 9 & 10 ? Visa white or with bleach Visa color no bleach.. I have the programmed formulas if you would like them. Also they are in the manual labled" programming' they should have been 4 different manuals with the machine. Install, Operation, Programming. Parts & Service. The tumbler has 2 manuals . Any of the programs can be changed to do what ever you wish. A 37 min formula is standard for heavy soil.. My heavy soil which is the worse is Surgery and total on it is only 42.

 

[whirlcool]

Update:

I checked in on the laundry room at the shelter today. It was so nice to see racks full of nice fresh and clean blankets and beds for the animals in the shelter. This washer really keeps up with the demand.
But I wish I had my camera with me. The entire top of the machine was covered with powdered laundry detergent (somebody can't aim for the proper detergent openings). The lint filter looked like it hadn't been cleaned in days.
One thing that concerned me is that they had the dryer set for a 60 minute drying cycle. Any load I have done before no matter how heavy will dry in 20-25 minutes. So I reset the dryer default to 23 minutes and once again instructed the teeny boppers(whom I have never seen before)in the laundry room the proper operation of the machines. One of them at least seemed interested and asked questions about what cycle to use and how much detergent to put in the machine (even though a sign on the wall tells them how much detergent to use).

But it never ceases to amaze me how clean those heavy, and I do mean HEAVILY soilded items come out. Not a spot on the items anywhere and they smell so clean.

What I am wondering is how can this machine clean 60 lbs of heavy clothes in just 37 minutes where our home front loaders can take hours?

 

[launderess]

Lots of water, plus good lift and drop action. To this add pumps or gravity drains that aren't bothered by tons of water pouring out at once, which means the machine will spin out dirty water between rinses.

IIRC, the Feds haven't gotten their mitts on commercial washing machines when it comes to energy and or water consumption, though local governments are another matter. This leaves commercial front loaders free to use enough water to get the job done. The only restrictions are perhaps by owners seeking to lower energy/water costs.

 

[sudsman]

Allen

A clogged lint screen on the tumbler will cause drying times to increase or even double and can be a fire hazard too. check the lint filters if the tumbler is not drying in the time it should. Another thing to check that will effect drying times greatly. Check to be sure they are running the right cycle # a different cycle may extract a shorter time and that can double drying times too. The tumbler you have could take 30 mins to dry a large load but should not take any longer. Also make sure the the tumbler is on Reverse for large items or they will "ball" up and increase drying times too.