Washing Machine Acting Up - What Models are Best?

[Popa_omero]

My wife takes her laundry seriously. This means when our machine acts up, it's a crisis and I'm the guy who gets the call to put things right again. In the past five years, more or less, we have gone through three machines. The first one was a Maytag front loader. That one worked well for many years but then ran into mechanical issues. The cost of repairs would have been more than a new machine just for parts, so we scrapped it and purchased an LG HE machine. That one was a joke. It would wiggle and jiggle and occasionally kind of slosh the clothes around. It took over two hours to complete a normal load. It got worse and we finagled a warranty repair, at two years, and it did do better for a while. Then it started getting perpetual  "unbalanced load" errors that would stop the machine dead in it's tracks. It would take all day to complete a couple of loads. My wife finally said enough. Even though it technically wasn't broken, she demanded a replacement machine. 

For the third machine we selected what I thought was a pretty straight forward, top-loading machine; the Kenmore VMW 110.22352510. My wife's been pretty happy with this unit until lately when it started stopping between cycles and wouldn't advance from one cycle to the next. Manually, you can move through all the cycles, but it requires that you baby sit the machine all the way through a load. 

I looked into this and have learned quite a bit about the Kenmore (Whirlpool) machine and it's issues. I figured out the code system and installed a new shift actuator based on the F7E5 code and initially this solved the problem. Now the thing is starting to do the same thing - stopping mid cycle. I've run the calibration mode and it will be a few days and loads of laundry to see if this helps at all. It's running a load right now. I may be back looking for more specific answers on this machine, but that's not the question of the day. 

My question is this: In reading about the Kenmore, it seems the consensus of this machine is that it is a piece of junk. The LG was junk. The Maytag worked well but was poorly engineered and prone to failures. So what machine is worth purchasing? I don't need a lot of features. The machine just need to wash a load of cloths reliably. I don't think that should be a big lift for a machine called a "washing machine". What is recommend?

[darren412]

SPEED QUEEN :  basic top loading washer model      Home depot and Lowes  will not have these.  You can google the Speed Queen top loading model to get a basic idea of the machine . Go to your local appliance store chains and check them out if they have any on their floors.  They are made in USA and the basic model , which is all you need , will come with a 3 yr   "PARTS and LABOR"   warranty " INCLUDED "  with the purchase.   Intermediate model I believe comes with a 5 yr parts and labor warranty. Top model will come with a 7 yr parts and labor warranty.     The basic model is all you need and wont have all the bells and whistles that the intermediate and top models have.   

[Kathy Eikmeier]

Darren412 -  We purchased the Speed queen you mention a few months ago and it has been a nightmare.  It was much more costly than the other displayed machines and has not been worth half the money we spent.   The issue is the mandated cold water rinse.  Apparently our cold water does not enter the machine fast enough, (even when we have just cleaned the hoses and filters), and the cycle aborts.  To get a load of laundry done I must unplug the machine, wait a few minutes, replug it in and set to wash again.  After the end of the second wash cycle I unplug the machine again before it tries to start a rinse cycle.  Also, the only cycle I can use is heavy duty because the other cycles take to much cold water and will not complete a wash cycle.

[darren412]

Thats a first I have ever heard .    I havent heard that complaint from customers.  Are you sure your not having an issue with the wter supply pressure in your home.  I just had a customer last week who has had her machine for a year and said she loves it.  Not sure whats going on in your case.  Your covered in your warranty for 3 yrs parts and labor. Did they not fix it or are they saying its the water pressure in your home ??  Let me know what the symptoms were and what they did to repair it. I am curious

[J5*]

On 3/14/2019 at 4:00 AM, Kathy Eikmeier said:

Darren412 -  We purchased the Speed queen you mention a few months ago and it has been a nightmare.  It was much more costly than the other displayed machines and has not been worth half the money we spent.   The issue is the mandated cold water rinse.  Apparently our cold water does not enter the machine fast enough, (even when we have just cleaned the hoses and filters), and the cycle aborts.  To get a load of laundry done I must unplug the machine, wait a few minutes, replug it in and set to wash again.  After the end of the second wash cycle I unplug the machine again before it tries to start a rinse cycle.  Also, the only cycle I can use is heavy duty because the other cycles take to much cold water and will not complete a wash cycle.

You have 2 options 

either fix your cold water problem , there’s a reason for cold rinses 

do you actually have low cold water pressure ? 

or use a joiner and supply the hot water and cold together into the cold valve which would allow faster filling 

[darren412]

On 3/13/2019 at 1:00 PM, Kathy Eikmeier said:

Darren412 -  We purchased the Speed queen you mention a few months ago and it has been a nightmare.  It was much more costly than the other displayed machines and has not been worth half the money we spent.   The issue is the mandated cold water rinse.  Apparently our cold water does not enter the machine fast enough, (even when we have just cleaned the hoses and filters), and the cycle aborts.  To get a load of laundry done I must unplug the machine, wait a few minutes, replug it in and set to wash again.  After the end of the second wash cycle I unplug the machine again before it tries to start a rinse cycle.  Also, the only cycle I can use is heavy duty because the other cycles take to much cold water and will not complete a wash cycle.

Just a point of information for you.  regardless of any appliance you have. It is not good practice to be constantly powering it off and on so much such as you are doing.  The electronics are sensative in any electronically controled appliance. The chances are great for you to cause irreversible damage to the main control in an appliance when you are practicing that.   Also in any washer If you have really bad clogged filter screens that are causing issues with your water supply through the valves , then Trying to clean them out, and retrying the same water valve can be risky and could cause an unwanted flood in the home.   If the filters are badly clogged in the hot or cold inlet valves, you should just replace the valve and not try to just clean it out to save money.  If any of that debris is disturbed enough to get past the screen and somehow gets into that solenoid body,  the valve could get stuck in a partial open situation and cause a major flood.  Not good.    Just thought you might like to know.     good luck with everything