Hi, when I bought my house three years ago there was a top loading Kenmore
Fabric Ultra Care I washing machine in the basement.
It worked OK but not great. Last night I put a load of washing in but left
the lid open. a hour and a half or so later I went to remove the
clothes from the washer and smelled an electrical burning smell and the
found the washer w/ the tub full of water. The agitator works
but the tub won't spin. I believe there is a safety switch that blocks the
tub from spinning when the lid is open. It probably burned out a switch
due to the lid being left open.

Question:

I wonder if it's worth while calling Sears too repair the machine or should
I buy another top loading washing machine. After reading the reviews
in Consumer Reports I don't want to buy a front loading machine. Where else
can I find recommendations for washing machines?
I failed to mention I had the original documentation for the machine but
misplaced it. Still might find it though.

Should I post this message in another group?

Thanks,

Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
Question:

I wonder if it's worth while calling Sears too repair the machine or
should I buy another top loading washing machine. After reading the
reviews
in Consumer Reports I don't want to buy a front loading machine. Where
else can I find recommendations for washing machines?
I failed to mention I had the original documentation for the machine but
misplaced it. Still might find it though.

It is NEVER worth calling Sears to fix anything. They are very high priced
and have a reputation for mediocre service at best. Visit you local
appliance dealer. They sell at very good prices these days because they
belong to co-operatives with good buying power. Most will only handle brands
they are comfortable with from a quality POV because they don't want the
headaches. I'd buy Amana, Whirlpool, Maytag. I'd avoid Frigidaire (and
any of their brands), GE, Hotpoint.

Since you wee never happy with the way it washed, why dump $150 to make it
last a little longer?

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
et...

"Mike" wrote in message
Question:

I wonder if it's worth while calling Sears too repair the machine or
should I buy another top loading washing machine. After reading the
reviews
in Consumer Reports I don't want to buy a front loading machine. Where
else can I find recommendations for washing machines?
I failed to mention I had the original documentation for the machine but
misplaced it. Still might find it though.

It is NEVER worth calling Sears to fix anything. They are very high
priced and have a reputation for mediocre service at best. Visit you
local appliance dealer. They sell at very good prices these days because
they belong to co-operatives with good buying power. Most will only handle
brands they are comfortable with from a quality POV because they don't
want the headaches. I'd buy Amana, Whirlpool, Maytag. I'd avoid
Frigidaire (and any of their brands), GE, Hotpoint.

Since you wee never happy with the way it washed, why dump $150 to make it
last a little longer?

It's got a corkscrew agitator which seems to be hard on clothes that doesn;t
clean very well unless I use the heavy duty cycle.
I don't know how well new one clean compared to the one I have.

Mike

I believe there is a safety switch that blocks the
tub from spinning when the lid is open. It probably burned out a switch
due to the lid being left open.



I doubt it. That switch just opens up the circuit, thus no electricity
will flow.
What could have happened ( and this happened to me) is that during the
agitation, the motor somehow got stuck or ceased, overheated and
tripped its internal thermal breaker. After a few minutes cooling off
the breaker will reset. This happened to me once and has not happened
since. I don't know what caused it.
If you want try jumping out the lid switch to see if it works again.

"Mikepier" wrote in message
ups.com...

I doubt it. That switch just opens up the circuit, thus no electricity
will flow.
What could have happened ( and this happened to me) is that during the
agitation, the motor somehow got stuck or ceased, overheated and
tripped its internal thermal breaker. After a few minutes cooling off
the breaker will reset. This happened to me once and has not happened
since. I don't know what caused it.
If you want try jumping out the lid switch to see if it works again.

I tried it again this morning but the same thing - the agitator works but
the tub doesn't spin in spin cycle and a loud kind of grinding noise
emits from the machine. Sure wish I could locate that documentation.

Sounds like it's time for a new machine

DragonKnight wrote:
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

If you go to a new machine (I'd fix the switch), don't get a new low
water one if you have animals. It will plug.

I'd buy ESTATE which is Whirlpool House brand for half. It'll go 7 yrs
for $300.

Mrs. Clean (lots of animals, five years, no plugs)

PS I tried the new Whirlpool $2,000 low water yadda yadda and it was
broken down within 90 days.

Estate is the same as Whirlpool? Some of the Whirlppools get very high
marks in Consumer Reports reviews?

Is MRs CLean a brand?



wrote in message
ps.com...

DragonKnight wrote:
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

If you go to a new machine (I'd fix the switch), don't get a new low
water one if you have animals. It will plug.

I'd buy ESTATE which is Whirlpool House brand for half. It'll go 7 yrs
for $300.

Mrs. Clean (lots of animals, five years, no plugs)

PS I tried the new Whirlpool $2,000 low water yadda yadda and it was
broken down within 90 days.

"DragonKnight" wrote in message
news:b782eff15d4f2014dd6580f94eb64b8f@homerepairli ve.com...
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

I'm leaning to the same decision.

Mike wrote:
Estate is the same as Whirlpool? Some of the Whirlppools get very high
marks in Consumer Reports reviews?

Is MRs CLean a brand?



wrote in message
ps.com...

DragonKnight wrote:
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

If you go to a new machine (I'd fix the switch), don't get a new low
water one if you have animals. It will plug.

I'd buy ESTATE which is Whirlpool House brand for half. It'll go 7 yrs
for $300.

Mrs. Clean (lots of animals, five years, no plugs)

PS I tried the new Whirlpool $2,000 low water yadda yadda and it was
broken down within 90 days.

Whirlpool, I believe, bought out KitchenAid.

I checked out the local Sears scratch & dent store and saw some very good
deals.
Unforunately all three of the CU top rated ers were already sold.
I'm think seriously of getting a highly rated front loader. They've got
some
good one out there and some stinkers too.
"Mike" wrote in message news:rD6Wg.387$HP.124@trndny08...


Estate is the same as Whirlpool? Some of the Whirlppools get very high
marks in Consumer Reports reviews?

Is MRs CLean a brand?



wrote in message
ps.com...

DragonKnight wrote:
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

If you go to a new machine (I'd fix the switch), don't get a new low
water one if you have animals. It will plug.

I'd buy ESTATE which is Whirlpool House brand for half. It'll go 7 yrs
for $300.

Mrs. Clean (lots of animals, five years, no plugs)

PS I tried the new Whirlpool $2,000 low water yadda yadda and it was
broken down within 90 days.

Stay away from Calypso by Whirlpool. It was my lemon, turned into a
class action and settled.

I used the NBC consumer exposer show to threaten them into my refund.

Mrs. Clean (not a brand, my hobby = cleaning things)


Mike wrote:
I checked out the local Sears scratch & dent store and saw some very good
deals.
Unforunately all three of the CU top rated ers were already sold.
I'm think seriously of getting a highly rated front loader. They've got
some
good one out there and some stinkers too.
"Mike" wrote in message news:rD6Wg.387$HP.124@trndny08...


Estate is the same as Whirlpool? Some of the Whirlppools get very high
marks in Consumer Reports reviews?

Is MRs CLean a brand?



wrote in message
ps.com...

DragonKnight wrote:
Sounds like it's time for a new machine

If you go to a new machine (I'd fix the switch), don't get a new low
water one if you have animals. It will plug.

I'd buy ESTATE which is Whirlpool House brand for half. It'll go 7 yrs
for $300.

Mrs. Clean (lots of animals, five years, no plugs)

PS I tried the new Whirlpool $2,000 low water yadda yadda and it was
broken down within 90 days.

note altough front loaders save money on water and utilities the money
savings NEVER appears because the initial purchase price is so high

You can probably buy three regular machines for the cost of one front
loader.........

Plus front load machine parts cost a fortune, loaded with high tech
control boards and such...

front loaders dont save money

"Mike" wrote in message news:9fAXg.5761$9Y1.886@trndny03...

I checked out the local Sears scratch & dent store and saw some very good
deals.
Unforunately all three of the CU top rated ers were already sold.
I'm think seriously of getting a highly rated front loader. They've got
some
good one out there and some stinkers too.
"Mike" wrote in message news:rD6Wg.387$HP.124@trndny08...


Most large cities have stores that sell used appliances. Often they're in
good shape - the ones that get carted away when you buy a new one. The
broken ones are fixed and you can save a lot of $$$. True scratch and dent
savings.

S