Washing Machines

[dlaloum]

I can bet that was a Far Eastern chip.

Given that all main chip manufacturing is far eastern - that is an easy bet!

But it is something that will apply to all appliances that use chips - they are made in Taiwan, South Korea, etc... even for European or USA made products.... (US auto production lines ground to a halt due to far eastern manufactured chip shortages!)

Our Neo-Liberal, globalisation centric, system has guaranteed that many things are "outsourced", and all chip manufacturing has been far eastern for decades now. Now the world has to start to think about whether supporting local manufacture has value.... for various reasons!

The USA and Europe are now scrambling to subsidise local chip manufacturing to the tune of many billions of $, having suddenly woken up to the fact that we are all strategically vulnerable to that lengthy logistics chain.

 

[Mikado463]

Bottom line, nothing lasts 30 plus years like the 'good ole days'. I agree that Speed Queen is tops but then you do pay for that. $$ wise, top loader LG's get good reviews in CR, we have one, 10 years old and going just fine.

 

[dolsey01]

I was going to buy a SpeedQueen, but went with a Whirlpool top load HE and hate it and regret my decision. It's the model before they offered an agitator option. It can fit a small person in it but it constantly gets out of balance, clothes come out without even getting wet/washed and it leaves residue on dark clothes. I should have just repaired my old Whirlpool instead of replacing it. I now use the Deep Water option which pretty much negates the HE part. Water is very expensive in the town I live in, about $150-200 per month.

 

[Mikado463]

I was going to buy a SpeedQueen, but went with a Whirlpool top load HE and hate it and regret my decision. It's the model before they offered an agitator option. It can fit a small person in it but it constantly gets out of balance, clothes come out without even getting wet/washed and it leaves residue on dark clothes. I should have just repaired my old Whirlpool instead of replacing it. I now use the Deep Water option which pretty much negates the HE part. Water is very expensive in the town I live in, about $150-200 per month.

that's the problem with so many 'HE' appliances today, dishwashers are just as bad if not worse.

 

[isolar8001]

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

 

[TLS Guy]

Once again your incorrect,, https://speedqueen.com/au/products/home-products/front-load-washers/

The thing is speed queen are very over priced and are used in laundromats, and commercial properties,

I had a Samsung, for many years, No troubles , then the timer switching gave up the ghost, After something like 20 years. And I now have a modern up to date Samsung model. "Alien" Lives in a small room and when it comes to programing has a mind of it's own. It might be progress but why can't i just dump my crap into the thing drop the lid and push Start.

We have a top loading Speed Queen washer, and a front load dryer. Round here Speed Queen are excellent value.

All my dealings are with Ron at the Appliance Depot, just over the border in Inver Grove Heights. It is about a mile and half from this house. Ron and his family know what they are doing. They recycle the unfixable, and not just those they sold, they give excellent service. I can tell Ron knows every failure point of pretty much every machine made in the last 25 or more years. He has a wonderful collection of horror parts, and can show you many examples of lunatic design. There is not a part of Ron, that is the slick salesman. He just wants to sell you what will be the least hassle for you and him. Even better he always has a better price than the big box stores. It is just a win all the way round. It is just a pleasure now to have to deal with big corporate outfits.

 

[Eppie]

I was going to recommend that YouTube channel as well.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

I like that guy's white shirt and bow-tie.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

I wish I lived near Appliance Depot. They look like a pretty good outfit.

 

[jinjuku]

I break it down by potential cost / expected years of service.

Just purchased an LG set for $1500 delivered (last years $2400 set). My goal is ~$100/year out of a set.

While I realize that Whirlpool Commercial and Speed Queen are built very well they are also around $4500 for the set. I don't think you are getting 45 years out of them typically.

 

[jinjuku]

This is the guy that warned me away from Samsung...

 

[-Jim-]

Haier corporation bought GE appliance division in 2016. Haier corporation is Chinese. If you have different information please show me. I had to make sure I had GE US made ovens when I built this home. So I had to plan ahead. By the way, our washer and dryer are top loaders, which are better and far more durable. Our Maytag in Grand Forks, a top loader, lasted 30 years and we sold it with the house. The Maytag at the Lake, washer and dryer lasted twenty years, and we sold those with the house. None of those units ever had a service call. We have had one warranty service call on the Speed Queen washer to replace the main board a year ago. I can bet that was a Far Eastern chip. The Speed Queen warranty is three years, so it was still under warranty.

@TLS Guy Sorry for the confusion. It appears that GE Appliances in the US is majority owned by Haier, whereas GE Appliances in Canada is majority owned by Mabe. Quite a strange situation but I guess one should not expect clarity from GE in their declining years. (I am Canadian.)

Having worked for GE in their Industrial & Power Divisions for decades in their zenith years (Jack Welch) when they were the most valuable company in the world, it saddens me to see them coming apart as they have been in recent times. We still buy some appliances from their Employee Store from time to time, although I do check the models against Consumer Reports so we aren't buying junk. Early in my time at GE they manufactured appliances for the Canadian market in Canada but eventually (I think NAFTA may have triggered it) moved all manufacturing to the USA (HQ in Louisville, Kentucky where their Appliance Park manufacturing facility is located). We didn't jump up and down and refuse to buy them just because they weren't made in Canada. It made economic sense for GE to gain the economies of scale, so we just bit our lip and went along. (I vaguely remember a GE Appliances Manager telling me the total yearly production in Canada didn't equal a single day's output in Louisville!)

Although Haier retains majority ownership of GE Appliances in the in the US, they continue to manufacture there at numerous sites. So they are investing in "US Jobs". I just checked out our Washer, and to my surprise it was not manufactured in Louisville, Kentucky; but in very small type it says Made in China. However, the Gas Dryer was made in Louisville! The move to globalization seems to know no boundaries...

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

At this point, maybe I'll just get an old fashioned scrub board and a wash cloth and go at every weekend when I wash clothes.

 

[davidscott]

I purchased a new top load Amana with the matching dryer dirt cheap when I first moved to Florida from Texas over 3 years ago. Still going strong and extended 2-year warrantee has already expired. Amana is in the Whirlpool family, so I was ok with the purchase of this brand.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

This is the guy that warned me away from Samsung...

I bought a fridge on this guy's advice, and so far no regrets.

 

[TLS Guy]

I wish I lived near Appliance Depot. They look like a pretty good outfit.

I bet if you look, you will have something similar. I got the tip about them from and independent repair guy as he used them for parts.

I will give you one last piece advice. The least least important factor in the decision to buy anything is price, and in particular anything mechanical or electrical. The MOST important Question to ask: - Is it any good? That was an important piece of advice I got from listening to the great engineer Stanley Hooker. He is right. The question, it any good? That is the question to ask about any design or construction.

Really that is on obvious question especially these days, when a service man leaves a $500.00 and up routinely now. So, if you buy and appliance that is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than the other. If the cheaper one gets you a $500 bill then it quickly becomes the more expensive.

As you know I have a visceral dislike of marketing types. They rule the roost telling designers they have to get to X spot in the market.

As you know I don't change equipment or even vehicles very often. I have learned to ask, is it any good? That is long standing.

I know Peter Walker of Quad was of that exact frame of mind. He was often pestered about having a marketing and sales departments and resolutely refused. He was obsessed with reliability. So that is why you can find his products of even 60 years ago still highly sought after on eBay. I would bet that the majority of that output from Huntingdon is is still working fine. That is why I only use Quad electronics where feasible. The reason is they work, and stay working. That was literally by design.

So, see if you can talk to as many servicemen as you can. I bet they will tell you for what you need it is Speed Queen.

If it is dish washers, then it is Bosch all the way. It really does seem that we have got to the point where there is only one manufacturer of anything that is any good. That is now true of cars, with Toyota being the only manufacturer that can build cars with really long life span. There is hard data on that all over the place. So we are at the point where if you don't buy a Toyota then you will have more repair bills.

That is true of home appliances. The four houses built on this circle are all the same age near enough. I went with a pencil though the builders selection of everything, including furnace, AC the lot. This house is the only one on the circle that has not already had significant grief. Yes, I paid a premium for that up front, but I know I'm now many dollars ahead.

Before buying anything ask Stan Hooker's question. Is it any good?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Don't despair. We bough an LG set, front loader, in 2007, 16th year. Still going strong. Yes, we wipe the glass on the door after each use. (Son had a front loader that stated to drip water. I felt the glass door and could feel he never dried/wiped it. Cleaned it up, no more drips.) So what if we have to do a new cleaning, it is free.
We still have an Asko dishwasher, 30 years old. Had a few things that needed attention, not expensive, still working. Just replaced a 30 year old wall oven, Thermador with a GE brand Cafe line, also top rated. Could not repair the circuit board. Same brand gas cooktop, also 30, is still working.
I rely on CU ratings. Don't forget, they also have annual member surveys about their products, cars, etc. how it is working and favorability of that product.

 

[Mikado463]

Sadly I doubt anything you buy today will last 30 years

 

[Swerd]

Does anyone have any favorites for washing machine brands and features?

And top load vs front load?

Back in 2013, I started a thread very similar to yours. Read it over, as not much has changed since then. Pay close attention to all the posts from @Midwesthonky . At an earlier time in his career, he was an engineer in the laundry products division at Maytag. Maytag was about to go out of business when it was bought by Whirlpool. His posts begin at Post #40.

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/know-anything-about-washing-machines.84781/page-2#post-957794

As a result of that thread, I bought a top-loading Whirlpool washer that was modern in the sense that it is microprocessor controlled, uses little water, and has only a small agitator. It was originally a Maytag design. It's worked well since then.

Midwesthonky also provided the real reason why any washer with door seals (front or top loading) can develop that moldy smell. Fabric softener contains cheap plant-based protein. Mold & mildew thrive on that, even if it is 'rinsed away'. Running a cleaning cycle with chlorine bleach will kill the mold & mildew, but you're better off if you Never Ever Use Fabric Softener!