We've had our Samsung front loader for 11 years now. I think the washer is beginning to have a growling water pump, but those are apparently easily replaceable from the rear.
Washer Recommendations
- Thread starter NibbanaBanana
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One thing that I would suggest is decent plug in surge suppressor on your washer. Appliances in homes are now electronic boards, even some Speed Queens that some think are all mechanical.
It certainly cant hurt to put one on. We talk about board failures and in today's world we dont know if that cause was an external event such as a surge or defect in the board. I have a plug in surge on every appliance (refrigerator and freezer too) and device in the home AND also a surge in the circuit breaker box and a waterproof outdoor surge on the HVAC unit.
It certainly cant hurt to put one on. We talk about board failures and in today's world we dont know if that cause was an external event such as a surge or defect in the board. I have a plug in surge on every appliance (refrigerator and freezer too) and device in the home AND also a surge in the circuit breaker box and a waterproof outdoor surge on the HVAC unit.
The cheapest pandemic era home depot washer is still working but it has a computerized dial and because it lacks a brake the cover is locked a lot of the time so you can’t sneak in vinegar during the rinse cycle.
It tends to crash and lockup and you go down and find it never ran, restart a cycle with water already in the hopper and it might freeze 10 minutes, had it forget the rinse cycle once.
I like to run in a small amount of hot water at the beginning of the fill to dissolve soap but this thing randomly has a fit if you change temperature and fill size , sometimes have to unplug.
Despite all this my gripe is that all washers seem to be shrinking in size, this one is by no means tiny but the hopper inside is probably half the size of the one my folks had in the 80’s. Makes it easy to overload.
Size may shrink but what about capacity?
A model that has the option to add a coin box or card reader for apartment complex public area. Those tends to be better build.
I think Whirlpool coin op TL washer is still the old rugged direct drive design. At least it was 6 yrs. ago before I retired. Photo of one still looks the same. But they are $1400.
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Is a washer consumer electronics?
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I think many of those new ones that the front looks like a airplane cockpit is.
I purchased a Speed Queen a few years back, the one with knobs and only a few buttons, stainless tub that will fill to the top with water and I can open the top during a wash without it being LOCKED! I LOVE having lots of water so I do not need to use that "He" detergent as I buy that BIG BAG of bottom shelf ( NON He) STRONG wash powder and my washer with that strong soap would wash oil out of an engine!
My Speed Queen had a sticker when I purchased it that says "Built To Last 25 Years" You not going to find that on a Home Depot Washer!
I don't have time for sissy washing machines, I need very clean clothing even after changing the oil in my cars, trucks and motorcycles all day but I have never had my clothing damaged in my Speed Queen, I can't say that for my prior consumer brands as damaged non clean clothing did happen somewhat often.
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Built this house in 2003, installed a Sears Surplus Store returned front loader Kenmore (made by Whirlpool), a Kenmore refrigerator (also made by Whirlpool), and a Kenmore gas dryer (also Whirlpool) Total repairs to date:
Refrigerator a relay for the compressor
Dryer a drum drive belt
Front loading washer Nothing.
Refrigerator a relay for the compressor
Dryer a drum drive belt
Front loading washer Nothing.
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My house was built in 96 and when I purchased the house in 2005 that 1996 Maytag washer and dryer came with the house.
Old school W&D like mom had in the 70's Fantastic but it stopped working and I thought lets go buy a new one from Home Depot, As I'm hauling off the old Maytag to the dump and as I turn it over to load in the truck I notice the heavy duty belts and pulleys and such under the washer and I think Dang, That looks like my old school Snapper riding mower! I look under my new Samsung and the little tiny belt was the size of a sewing machine belt with nothing but tiny plastic gears and crap, what a joke with-in a year the Samsung would not keep balance so I google a fix, order parts off Amazon and open her up, after a look inside and said this is JUNK!
I just tossed the Samsung! I would not even give it away, JUNK!
So I then go buy a new Whirlpool washer as my 1990's Whirlpools and Sears Kenmore W&D were fantastic! NOPE My NEW Whirlpool was horrible as I have never had a washer that would take SO LONG to wash a load and always damaged the clothing! We used it a year and sold it on Craigslist.
I had the thought does anyone not still make a heavy duty built like a lawn mower washing machine and not a washer thats more built like a VCR than a real machine. I did my research and all I could come up with was buy used or spend the $$$ on a Speed Queen
I purchased a Speed Queen but IF You still have ANY brand older washer and dryer from the 90's or before NEVER TOSS THEM, Replace the parts as the EPA IMO has truly limited our options now and as much as I love my Speed Queen its EXPENSIVE and would have been just fine with a rebuilt 1996 Maytag! Live and learn the hard way, I sure did...
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I have a Speed Queen in my walkout basement apartment I rent to a niece. I bought it new and it already broke down.
The capacity of the Speed Queen Sucks. If you use a dryer it doesn't spin the water out of the clothes as well as a front loader.
So it takes longer to dry clothes and the fact the Speed Queen uses more water than a front loader, a reliable front loader might pay for itself. One thing the Speed Queen wont do that my LG front loader can is wash my cal-king comforter. As far as getting the best wash, that award goes to my Maytag Pet Pro. Yes, 3 sets in my Polish Palace.
More Speed Queen misery which probably wouldn't have happened in a front loader:
The capacity of the Speed Queen Sucks. If you use a dryer it doesn't spin the water out of the clothes as well as a front loader.
So it takes longer to dry clothes and the fact the Speed Queen uses more water than a front loader, a reliable front loader might pay for itself. One thing the Speed Queen wont do that my LG front loader can is wash my cal-king comforter. As far as getting the best wash, that award goes to my Maytag Pet Pro. Yes, 3 sets in my Polish Palace.
More Speed Queen misery which probably wouldn't have happened in a front loader:
I rent my walkout basement apartment to a niece. It has its own washer and dryer. She washed a pillow in the Speed Queen and it split open.
My folks replaced their failed 5-6 year old Maytag Commercial with a GE Commercial, which seems to be a big upgrade, in large part due to having a real water level setting, not just auto-fill and "deep wash" that only works on the heavy (3ish hour) setting. It's cavernous. They are certainly not cheap, though.
My apartment has a 10-ish year old Whirlpool stacked unit, which still has a mechanical timer (with the numbered time marks). It's a lot like the old Whirlpools/Kenmores I remember from growing up, but I think all of the units of today have the fake-analog controls rather than the true mechanical timers you pull out to turn.
My apartment has a 10-ish year old Whirlpool stacked unit, which still has a mechanical timer (with the numbered time marks). It's a lot like the old Whirlpools/Kenmores I remember from growing up, but I think all of the units of today have the fake-analog controls rather than the true mechanical timers you pull out to turn.
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- May 16, 2022
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I have a Speed Queen in my walkout basement apartment I rent to a niece. I bought it new and it already broke down.
The capacity of the Speed Queen Sucks. If you use a dryer it doesn't spin the water out of the clothes as well as a front loader.
So it takes longer to dry clothes and the fact the Speed Queen uses more water than a front loader, a reliable front loader might pay for itself. One thing the Speed Queen wont do that my LG front loader can is wash my cal-king comforter. As far as getting the best wash, that award goes to my Maytag Pet Pro. Yes, 3 sets in my Polish Palace.
More Speed Queen misery which probably wouldn't have happened in a front loader:
I rent my walkout basement apartment to a niece. It has its own washer and dryer. She washed a pillow in the Speed Queen and it split open.
- Joined
- May 16, 2022
- Messages
- 823
I have a Speed Queen in my walkout basement apartment I rent to a niece. I bought it new and it already broke down.
The capacity of the Speed Queen Sucks. If you use a dryer it doesn't spin the water out of the clothes as well as a front loader.
So it takes longer to dry clothes and the fact the Speed Queen uses more water than a front loader, a reliable front loader might pay for itself. One thing the Speed Queen wont do that my LG front loader can is wash my cal-king comforter. As far as getting the best wash, that award goes to my Maytag Pet Pro. Yes, 3 sets in my Polish Palace.
More Speed Queen misery which probably wouldn't have happened in a front loader:
I rent my walkout basement apartment to a niece. It has its own washer and dryer. She washed a pillow in the Speed Queen and it split open.
- Joined
- May 16, 2022
- Messages
- 823
So was it the pillow or the washer? We have King bedding and my Speed Queen never misses a beat, I have never had even a wobble.I have a Speed Queen in my walkout basement apartment I rent to a niece. I bought it new and it already broke down.
The capacity of the Speed Queen Sucks. If you use a dryer it doesn't spin the water out of the clothes as well as a front loader.
So it takes longer to dry clothes and the fact the Speed Queen uses more water than a front loader, a reliable front loader might pay for itself. One thing the Speed Queen wont do that my LG front loader can is wash my cal-king comforter. As far as getting the best wash, that award goes to my Maytag Pet Pro. Yes, 3 sets in my Polish Palace.
More Speed Queen misery which probably wouldn't have happened in a front loader:
I rent my walkout basement apartment to a niece. It has its own washer and dryer. She washed a pillow in the Speed Queen and it split open.
To each his own, Chevy or a ford? I'm all in on Speed Queen #1 Fan.
As a retired tech I always had to school customers. Its a CLOTHES washer, not a rug, pillow, bedspread, mattress pad, dog bed, etc. washer if you want it to be long lasting and reliable. Take that big stuff to the laundromat to wash in a large, oversized commercial machine.
Yeah, that was "then" We purchased a new home in 2006/
Whirlpool dishwasher
Whirlpool "Gold" washer and dryer
Kenmore "Elite" side by side with water and ice on the door.
Whirlpool electric range
We sold the house to a young family 17 years later. All appliances still looked like new and worked like new. Except some stains, or scratches on the smooth cook top.
Repairs over the years were
_ one plastic gear at the top of the agitator of the washer. It was like a ratchet gear that made the agitator move back and forth. Cost was maybe $10 installed it myself by removing the cover at the top of the agitator and most people would not know it was broken unless you slightly lifted the cover while he machine was washing and noticed very little movement from the agitator.
_ Refrigerator ice maker stopped dumping ice. I repaired it myself, roughly (I forget exact price) $110 it was the ice tray with a built in heating element that heats the ice so it falls out of the tray. Replaced it myself.
That was it, nothing else. IF we didnt move I was going to replace everything along with flooring and a roof so I would be set until the day of my demise. Yet the home still looked new. Now in another new home, it's a new world, appliances I think have a built in lifetime of a decade or so, maybe 12 years? My wife will find out how long and hopefully I do to, so far no reason I wont (gulp)
This time we purchased a LG washer and dryer, LG side by side with ice in the door.
Builder supplied GE wall oven/ combination microwave, GE gas cook top, GE Dishwasher and a nice exhaust hood. Not one thing is an American company anymore, though GE still is much USA operations owned by Chinese company Haier. The only feasible option was more Whirlpool which I actually looked at first for the washer/dryer and refrigerator. It just didnt feel premium to us so we passed. I mentioned before that will all these appliances now, they are full of electronics and I have surge suppressors on them all, actually two on everything where feasible. One in the breaker box and one at the outlets.
might have to tell my momma to start saving for a speed queen.
whirlpool is ok.
whirlpool is ok.
There is a very interesting new YouTube video from Bens Appliances and Junk named "why are new appliances so bad?"
It has very good insight and is worth a watch if you have time to kill.
It has very good insight and is worth a watch if you have time to kill.
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