Front Load Washer - WAY off Topic

[Octopiston]

Went through a bearing going out on a 6 year old Kenmore earlier this summer (of course the warranty expired at 5 years). Same deal you have to replace the inner drum. Its like cars now days, you have to buy a whole hub assembly instead of changing bearings. They wanted $600 to fix it. We got a new one for under $800.
Kenmore washers are LG made.

 

[PaulMys]

Just throwing this out there, and any and all of you guys call me crazy if you want.

But, I have ALWAYS been able to fix simple machines since I have been a kid. Washers were one of the first things I took apart. I was (as expected) a little stumped with the wiring at first. But, at 15, I was able to understand basic DC theory with the help of a book from my local library. Now, I'm quite adept at 46.

Anyway, it seems to me that with all these computerized components, wouldn't it be easy to have a machine need to be reset once in a while? Not the BS thing they tell you with unplugging it, but a real reset. Hmmmm.......... Like only a repair guy would have?

Like I said, call me nuts. But I'm just sayin'...

 

[Setec Astronomy]

HF have some good impact sockets!

I don't mind paying a bit for quality items, but I do try to shop smartly too, ya know.... lol

I was actually very pleased with the jack, I got the "expensive" one; I think it was $130 with the coupon. The only thing is it only has a handle on one side (which of course is one more handle than my Sears jack has). And I already got to play traveling emergency pit crew with it! Never would have taken my old one like that--I'd get a hernia trying to put it in the trunk.

 

[BrutalNoodle]

I hear you.

I was 90% set on a Compac 90531, but then what happens when I need to haul it for emergency.

A friend had a model similar to HF's aluminum unit, just anodized in a different shade. The piston went out. He tried to rebuild it and guess what... The "kit" is $15 shy of a new unit. lol

 

[TTQ B4U]

I didn't get 3 years out of a Samsung front loader. Smartly though, I had geek squad extended warranty and got a brand new one. Two weeks ago I had the whole tub and bearing assembly replaced after about 2-1/2 years. Again, through geek squad. When the replacement was installed it re-set the extended warranty to the beginning. It would have cost $650.00 with labor. Samsung washers and dryers are defintely a pass for me in the future.

Sadly I've heard this about pretty much all the Korean brands for all appliances. We're about to embark on a remodel of the kitchen and first floor and there's no way I'm spending tons of money on junk and unreliable stuff no matter how cool it is.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I was 90% set on a Compac 90531, but then what happens when I need to haul it for emergency.

A friend had a model similar to HF's aluminum unit, just anodized in a different shade. The piston went out. He tried to rebuild it and guess what... The "kit" is $15 shy of a new unit. lol

Ha ha, I Googled that jack and it took me to my old friend Mile-X, where I saw an AFF jack that looked just like my HF but anodized a different shade...and twice the price! And the AFF has TWO handles...when I went back to HF to compare the two, now the pictures of the HF show two handles also (maybe they always did)--like the one in the store had. But mine only had one and all the pictures on the box were from just one side.

A hundred years ago before I bought my own jack I borrowed a friend's cheap light duty jack, and the piston seal failed while I was using it and I had to take the whole thing apart and fix it for him...

Anyway, back to washing machines...I've never had to fix mine but I did rebuild my dryer...

 

[Knozzmoeking]

We got an LG front loader from BB and so far so good.
My biggest piece of advice is to buy the optional stands they sell if it fits in your install place. Makes it much easier to load and empty.

 

[Jimmy Vegas]

My biggest piece of advice is to buy the optional stands they sell if it fits in your install place. Makes it much easier to load and empty.

If you are going to get a front loader, definitely buy, or better yet, build a stand.

I'm back at my parents house after coming home to help care for my father when he had cancer. Since his passing, I've been staying here helping mom, and assisting her with disposing of my grandparent's house as well as getting this one ready for sale in preparation to move. (By the way, if you happen to be single, in your 40s, and are able to move back into your old high school bedroom, the biggest challenge you'll face is dodging all the panties thrown at you by the crowds of single women surrounding you as your try to get to your car every morning. </sarcasm>)

Anyway, I spotted a stand "on sale" at HD for $300. So while I was there I bought some 2x4s, plywood, a $10 outdoor carpet and an "oops" can of white paint and built stands for mom's washer and dryer. That is definitely the way to go. Nobody will ever see them (unless the throngs of women come in to wash their "good throwing panties"), and they are just simple boxes. About an hour, plus paint drying time, stapled carpet to the top for traction. Done. I think I was about $30 all in.

I appreciate all the info you guys have been sharing.

 

[BillE]

Just gonna toss this into the mix, NOT about washers/dryers but appliances.

Shortly after 'we' got married (1966) purchased a Whirlpool freezer, when we moved back to the Mid-West in 2005 we gave it to some friends that needed one. Fast forward to now...that puppy is STILL humming along.

When we got 'here' (2005), wife bought another Whirlpool freezer along with new washer and dryer. Hey, that last one is 40 years old (at the time) and still going, so this should work out okay.

Moving forward another 11 years, the freezer ate its' compressor, the bearing on the washer went kaput and the dryer tub was starting to rust out!

So, from what everyone is stating, it DOES look 10 years IS the current live span of 'new' home appliances.

Rant over...

Bill

 

[TTQ B4U]

, it DOES look 10 years IS the current live span of 'new' home appliances.
Rant over...

^^ this is the truth and a rant well worth continuing. I won't buy a brand that is that bad. LG and Samsung are cool but they are junk.

 

[House of Wax]

Just gonna toss this into the mix, NOT about washers/dryers but appliances.

Shortly after 'we' got married (1966) purchased a Whirlpool freezer, when we moved back to the Mid-West in 2005 we gave it to some friends that needed one. Fast forward to now...that puppy is STILL humming along.

When we got 'here' (2005), wife bought another Whirlpool freezer along with new washer and dryer. Hey, that last one is 40 years old (at the time) and still going, so this should work out okay.

Moving forward another 11 years, the freezer ate its' compressor, the bearing on the washer went kaput and the dryer tub was starting to rust out!

So, from what everyone is stating, it DOES look 10 years IS the current live span of 'new' home appliances.

Rant over...

Bill

This is spot on. Between my folks and my in laws, they've had several appliances that lasted well over 20 years.

so far I've had to fix a 3 year old expensive maytag front load washer that destroyed it's main bearing and tub shroud, the idler pulleys on the matching dryer, a circuit board on our fridge when it was about 4 years old, and replaced a 8 year old water heater. It's all junk anymore. I'm about to the point where I'll just buy the cheapest thing I can find and plan on replacing it. We spent good money on our washer and dryer and that burned us anyway

 

[Setec Astronomy]

^^ this is the truth and a rant well worth continuing. I won't buy a brand that is that bad. LG and Samsung are cool but they are junk.

Sometimes I wonder if it's, for lack of a better word, cultural differences. Like Hyundai when they had all those chassis corrosion problems, and, even though they have winter conditions in Korea, they clearly didn't anticipate the massive amounts of salt we use on the roads here (what I'm trying to say is what worked for cars used there, didn't work when they sold them here).

Perhaps people wash small loads in Korea, or have thinner fabrics. Maybe they don't do as much laundry. Perhaps they weren't prepared for us 'Geeks saying "I'm sure I can cram a few more microfiber towels into this thing!"

 

[Jimmy Vegas]

I do believe in "planned obsolescence," in as far as that's the modern business model. Products are now designed to last for a "reasonably equitable time" before failing. In the large appliance industry, it seems to be about 10 years. I see this with cars also (someday I'll post the story of my doomed Xterra).

Manufacturers don't make money unless people are buying the latest. It's very "Brave New World" in thinking, and very profitable in practice.

I have some tools that belonged to my Great-Great-Grandfather that I still use. As a kid, I helped my Grandfather remove a very large stump (about an 86 year old tree) with a post digger that he had inherited. That damn thing is solid iron, and doesn't have a spot of rust to show for its 120+ (best guess my Grandfather and I had) years of service. They certainly don't build them like that anymore.

 

[BillyJack]

Sometimes I wonder if it's, for lack of a better word, cultural differences.

I ran into the "cultural differences" thing earlier this year. Our Bosch Dryer needed repairs (circuit board) that didn't justify the expense, considering the age. My wife wanted to replace both the Washer and Dryer with matching units. She's a native-born German, so products from the fatherland always have an edge in her brand choice. Both Bosch and Meile now only make what we call "apartment-size" units, narrower with smaller capacity tubs and drums.
End result was that she had to compromise her standards and I wrote the check for new full-size Maytag units, recommended as the most reliable by our local appliance sales/service dealer.

Bill

 

[aztec1987]

So I got the following washer after 3 days of use the family is not content with the results:

Samsung-DV45H7000GW
Samsung-WA48H7400AW

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I do believe in "planned obsolescence," in as far as that's the modern business model. Products are now designed to last for a "reasonably equitable time" before failing. In the large appliance industry, it seems to be about 10 years. I see this with cars also

Boy, this is a complex subject and worthy of a good discussion (which this is not intended to be). I would say in the small(er) appliance arena, say, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers, it's more like 5 years. One could argue that after 5 years, a window air conditioner is full of enough inside gunk on the evaporator side and outside gunk on the condenser side, that getting rid of it isn't such a bad idea (of course, us 'Geeks would likely clean it). Possible also that a newer one uses less energy. Downside is all that added waste, with refrigerant that has to be recycled, etc.

There are also arguments to be made about the cost--one could argue that the lower prices associated with this "planned obsolescence" and offshore manufacturing allow people to own air conditioners who could never afford to own one otherwise.

In cars...one could also argue that of what value is it to the consumer to add cost/weight to a vehicle to make it last for 20 years instead of 10 years? When it's likely the car will be totaled in an accident sometime before that 20 years is up, or that it will rust away if you're in the salt belt like we are.

I'm with you, I want all my stuff to last forever, but there are certainly arguments for the other way.

 

[PaulMys]

Boy, this is a complex subject and worthy of a good discussion (which this is not intended to be). I would say in the small(er) appliance arena, say, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers, it's more like 5 years. One could argue that after 5 years, a window air conditioner is full of enough inside gunk on the evaporator side and outside gunk on the condenser side, that getting rid of it isn't such a bad idea (of course, us 'Geeks would likely clean it). Possible also that a newer one uses less energy. Downside is all that added waste, with refrigerant that has to be recycled, etc.

There are also arguments to be made about the cost--one could argue that the lower prices associated with this "planned obsolescence" and offshore manufacturing allow people to own air conditioners who could never afford to own one otherwise.

In cars...one could also argue that of what value is it to the consumer to add cost/weight to a vehicle to make it last for 20 years instead of 10 years? When it's likely the car will be totaled in an accident sometime before that 20 years is up, or that it will rust away if you're in the salt belt like we are.

I'm with you, I want all my stuff to last forever, but there are certainly arguments for the other way.

I've thought of it this way as well, but the more I see, I believe these companies who were walking that thin line between planned obsolescence and garbage are now actually selling garbage. As regulation becomes more lax, shareholders demand more dividends, and companies are now even balking at paying a Chinese worker a buck a day, the quality of materials used and the engineering/testing is the next thing to go.

Quite pathetic.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I've thought of it this way as well, but the more I see, I believe these companies who were walking that thin line between planned obsolescence and garbage are now actually selling garbage. As regulation becomes more lax, shareholders demand more dividends, and companies are now even balking at paying a Chinese worker a buck a day, the quality of materials used and the engineering/testing is the next thing to go.

Quite pathetic.

LOL, I was just playing Devil's Advocate, I think everything has gone to hell, the CEO's have no connection or loyalty to their companies or their customers, only to their own greed. Just look at this Epi-Pen nonsense or Martin Shkreli, or 1000 other CEO's or even a certain presidential candidate. Or as I mentioned earlier in this thread, the perhaps last bastion of US appliance manufacturing, GE Louisville, sold to a Chinese company. Of course GE has been licensing their name for a lot of small appliances that they have nothing to do with for a long time.

I was just reading an article about the Chinese wanting to build a bunch of "safe" molten salt cooled nuclear power plants, to reduce their dependence on coal, and clear up their air, and not only that, they want to be the world leader in exporting that technology. Any guesses as to where the research data that the Chinese are using came from? Yeah, the US Government, Oak Ridge labs. Any guesses who used to be the big exporter of nuclear power plant technology? Yeah, us. That Fukishima plant that blew up? GE reactors. Is GE still in that business? Well, their name is still on it, but they sold it to Hitachi.

Ok, I have to stop now, I'm getting too depressed.

 

[PaulMys]

LOL, I was just playing Devil's Advocate, I think everything has gone to hell, the CEO's have no connection or loyalty to their companies or their customers, only to their own greed. Just look at this Epi-Pen nonsense or Martin Shkreli, or 1000 other CEO's or even a certain presidential candidate. Or as I mentioned earlier in this thread, the perhaps last bastion of US appliance manufacturing, GE Louisville, sold to a Chinese company. Of course GE has been licensing their name for a lot of small appliances that they have nothing to do with for a long time.

I was just reading an article about the Chinese wanting to build a bunch of "safe" molten salt cooled nuclear power plants, to reduce their dependence on coal, and clear up their air, and not only that, they want to be the world leader in exporting that technology. Any guesses as to where the research data that the Chinese are using came from? Yeah, the US Government, Oak Ridge labs. Any guesses who used to be the big exporter of nuclear power plant technology? Yeah, us. That Fukishima plant that blew up? GE reactors. Is GE still in that business? Well, their name is still on it, but they sold it to Hitachi.

Ok, I have to stop now, I'm getting too depressed.

We have to have a few brewski's Setec!!!!

 

[1Hunter]

In "my" opinion, the only company that delivers a new washer and dryer that you can expect to get any durability and reliability from is Speed Queen. They aren't pretty to look at and is expensive but they sure get clothes clean, dry and can handle rugs, comforters..... And they are made is the good old USA (Wisc?). Like most things, you get what you pay for!!!