On Sat, 06 May 2006 16:18:31 GMT, Carl Byrns wrote:
On Sat, 06 May 2006 04:29:25 GMT, Ignoramus22440
wrote:

It seems that my current maytag washer broke the clutch, that's very
hard to get to. The motor and the tub pulley spin, but the tub does
not engage. There were also some bad noises coming from there, as
though a piece of metal was caught between some gears. These noises
stopped, eventually, with no improvement.

It is not the first time when this washer breaks and I have just about
had it.

I would like to buy a new washer that is built honestly, like Miller
welders or Cummins engines, and not like cost engineered crap that
does not last and is impossible to fix.

Such washers are, apparently, made, at least for commercial
laundromats. (which would not fit our room) Is there a consumer
version of that? Where plastic and potmetal is not used for major
parts, and things are built to last "like they used to".

I do not mind paying top dollar for such a thing if it exists.

Any ideas?

i

FWIW- we have a two year old GE with mechanical controls (no
electrocrap) and one of my kids wayyyy overloaded it to the point
water was sloshing out over the tub. I took the front service panel
off (30 second job) to see if anything important got drenched and was
surprised to see that the machine was engineered with just this
scenario in mind. Another surprise was that the pump is not driven by
the main motor, but is a self-contained unit with it's own small
motor- probably less $$ to operate. The machine looks to be easy to
work on- all the service items are easy to reach or replace without
tearing the thing to pieces (which might explain why GE sold it with a
generous in-home warranty).
Don't sell the consumer grade stuff short- there are some good
products out there.

That's nice to know (about GE). Thanks Carl. That said, we have a GE
refrigerator that is not so well made.

i