Regarding Sears/Whirlpool washers:

- I bought a Sears washer a few years ago. The timer failed
prematurely.
- I helped my late bench technician put his Sears washer
back together. I felt that the product was flimsy. The steel
shell is so thin that I dented the metal with my thumb.
Getting the parts aligned and back together was agony for
two people.
- In a nearby city, there's a guy who makes a good living
selling -only- old Whirlpool/Sears washers. He says that he
won't deal with any made after about 10 years ago due to
cheapened merchandise.
- The same friend had owned an Amana, which had appeared to
be a nice machine. However, he had to throw it out due to
some unfixable problem regarding flimsy parts in the frame.
Amana has been aqcuired, you know, as in "Famous Brand,
Maychip home applicances group, a member of the Upchuck
family of companies, division of BigCorp, HugeCorp
International. I think that we're down to only two companies
that make appliances now.

Ironically, my best luck ever with a washing machine was a
Japanese apartment washer sold by JC Penny. It ran daily for
almost 20 years, only needing two minor repairs. These
machines use a small, low, gently-nubbed impeller that
whirls at high speed. The idea is to get the water turning
rather than mash the clothing around. The result is that my
clothing lasted a whole lot longer than with the Sears
contraption that I now have.

I still need a timer -- it is limping along, occasionally
it's little plastic parts sticking on "fill." When this
thing gets me angry enough, I'm going to see if I can find a
simple Korean washer like the Japanese one that I used to
have. Clothing is expensive.

Richard

"Bob Shuman" wrote in
message ...
Thanks for the info. We are in the market now and looking
to replace our
13.5 year old Kenmore (made by Whirlpool) Series 90 (Now
roughly equal to
Elite model). We looked at the Maytag Neptune, but the
wife said the front
plastic controls felt "cheap". Since the washer knob had
broken twice from
wear on the Kenmore, she refused to consider the Neptune.
She said the
quality looked inferior.

We are leaning toward another Kenmore or Whirlpool. I
looked at the
Calypso, but was concerned that it employed the
"electronic" controls
instead of the simpler electro-mechanical system. I
figured a laundry room
is a fairly harsh environment and also am afraid of
voltage
spikes/transients knocking out the microprocessor and PSU
boards.

Bob

"west" wrote in message
om...
I bought a Neptune Washer Jan 01 in Ft. Collins CO at an
authorized
Maytag Dealer (the only product they sell). I was
willing to pay over
$1200 (for just a washer) in order to have a machine
that would be
worry free from maintenance issues for at least seven
years (after
buying the extended service warranty that is) and was
more than
guaranteed by the salesperson this washer would WASH
those ever large
comforters (the only reason I would even consider a
washer ever being
worth this type of money).

Well it does not wash comforters any better than the
$300 model and it
tends to tear holes in the fabric as well. As the
salesperson stated
"if you can get it in the machine and shut the door, it
will clean
it", I think they should have said, it will shred it.
smile

If you want service, go to Sears. If you want a hassle,
go to Maytag.

Washerlessincolorado