We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in Re HE Washer:

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown?

I would guess about 2 - 3 year at most.

I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

On 10/6/2013 7:51 AM, CRNG wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in Re HE Washer:

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown?

I would guess about 2 - 3 year at most.

I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?

We actually bought an HE front loader (GE) four years ago and after 2
1/2 years of use, replaced it with a GE top loader. It did not break
down at all. But, it didn't clean the cloths and it never really rinsed
the soap out completely. We always used the 'extra rinse' function and
even ran the cloths through an extra complete 'quick wash' (with it's
rinse and extra rinse cycles) with no soap the 2nd time. Even with
that, sometimes, the cloths would come out with some soap residue,
causing itching to the skin. Since converting to the top loader,
itching is gone.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 06:51:50 -0500, CRNG
wrote:


I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?

One person I know says she saves about $7 a month. I'm not sure that
is real dollars or what the salesman told her she could save.

The price difference from the regular styles looks to be about $200.
Maytag offers only one model of the old type, all the rest are HE.
Like it or not, it is the future. Probably part of the "Full
Employment for Appliance Technicians Act.

On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.


As a old retired appliance repairman I am glad I no longer need to work on
this junk. The OLD type top load Maytag is the one to buy. WW

CRNG wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in Re HE Washer:

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown?

I would guess about 2 - 3 year at most.

I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?

It's not just the cost savings of the water.

Since the spin cycles are so fast, clothes come out much dryer so less
energy is used to dry them. My dry times were cut in half and many loads
can be dried on low heat for even more savings.

In addition, they say that front loaders are less abusive on the clothes
themselves than top loaders with agitators. I don't know about top loading
HE. Machines without agitators.

There more factors involved in the total cost of ownership than just the
water savings.

On 10/6/2013 8:50 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.


We've had a Maytag Centenial top loader for about 3-4 years now and it
still functions perfectly. Don't know about warranty but if it were
front loader I would have considered one because I always figured these
would fail by leaking.

we need a new washer soon, my girl friend has been doing research..

maytag has a terrible reputation, so do most of the top loaders. easy to get off balance, wash time always 1 hour no matter what the timer setting.

my best friend bought a new washer a year ago and reports both these issues.

so we really dont know what to buy. my washer and dryer date back to 1990..so nearly 25 years old. my other washer and dryer are near 20 years old...

they are now worn out, having 2 of each are nice

“The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown?”

Just pretend you bought a new car and you’ll be fine.

On Sunday, October 6, 2013 6:34:17 AM UTC-7, bob haller wrote:
we need a new washer soon, my girl friend has been doing research..



maytag has a terrible reputation, so do most of the top loaders. easy to get off balance, wash time always 1 hour no matter what the timer setting.



my best friend bought a new washer a year ago and reports both these issues.



so we really dont know what to buy. my washer and dryer date back to 1990..so nearly 25 years old. my other washer and dryer are near 20 years old...



they are now worn out, having 2 of each are nice

Buy Speed Queen.

Ed Pawlowski wrote in
:

We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

Is that the one with no center-agitator post? Bottom line is they are
junk Ed, Sorry :-(

Ours lasted like 4 years. We did have the maintenance thing. During that
4 years they replaced the tub (plastic, cracked), pump 2x (plastic
housing cracked), some gearbox thingy (plastic parts).

Pump went third time and we just junked it. Got a commercial Speed Queen
top loader from a local appliance dealer. Coin op machine without the
coin box.

On 10/6/2013 8:50 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.


When I was shopping for appliances (range and w/d), I read the reviews
and there seemed to be one common theme, which was a fried circuit
board. Everything has electronic controls, so what the problem is is a
mystery. Cheap Chinese boards? Power surges? No problems with ours, so
far, but no whole-house thingy for protection.

Our Maytag is about 9 mos old, just two of us. I always use the "bulky
load" feature to get more water so my clothes don't get ground to
shreds; always a good deal of lint in the dryer filter. Washing with
the regular setting looks like it's about the same as slamming clothes
against the rocks on the river bank )

On 10/6/2013 12:53 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.


If it helps, I've owned a Whirlpool Duet (front load) HE for 10 years
now. Not one problem.

The rinse cycle is pretty entertaining though.

On 10/6/13 8:34 AM, bob haller wrote:
we need a new washer soon, my girl friend has been doing research..

maytag has a terrible reputation, so do most of the top loaders. easy to get off balance, wash time always 1 hour no matter what the timer setting.

my best friend bought a new washer a year ago and reports both these issues.

so we really dont know what to buy. my washer and dryer date back to 1990..so nearly 25 years old. my other washer and dryer are near 20 years old...

they are now worn out, having 2 of each are nice


From Consumer Reports.

Top Loaders rated Best Buys:

LG WT1101CW $700
Samsung WA422PRHD[WR] $750
GE GTWN7450DWW $800
Samsung WA400PJHD[WR] $700

Front loaders rated Best Buys:

Whirlpool Duet WFW70HEBW $800
LG WM3070H[W]A $900

Electric Dryer rated Best Buy

Kenmore 6800 $800

Gas Dryer rated Best Buy

Kenmore 7800 $900

On 10/6/2013 1:53 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.


From what little I've heard, I'd suggest the warranty.

I think they also use special detergent, and very
small portions of that.


..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 10/6/2013 2:03 AM, Bob F wrote:

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.

As with most "green" technology, tends to fail at
bad moments, and cost a lot.


..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 10/6/2013 9:02 AM, WW wrote:




As a old retired appliance repairman I am glad I no longer need to work
on this junk. The OLD type top load Maytag is the one to buy. WW

I like the old belt drive Whirlpool. That's what I've
got, and it has served since 1994, and it was used back
then. I've had to repair it a couple times, as expected.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Sun, 6 Oct 2013 13:18:19 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
wrote:



There more factors involved in the total cost of ownership than just the
water savings.

Yes, that is what scares me!

On Sunday, October 6, 2013 10:47:08 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/6/2013 2:03 AM, Bob F wrote:



My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went

out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the

front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent

more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.



As with most "green" technology, tends to fail at

bad moments, and cost a lot.





.

Christopher A. Young

Learn about Jesus

www.lds.org

.

A friend of mine recently bought a high-end LG front loader.
The washer and dryer together were over $2K. I was curious
about how much difference there would be in wash performance.
So, we did a test. I have a 15 year old Sears top-loader.
We took some old clothes and put ketchup, grass stains,
mustard, oil, etc on them. We both used Tide, I used the
regular, he used the front loader version.

The results were interesting. The super-duper LG did a
better job on getting out some of the stuff. The old
top-loader did a better job on some of the other stains.
Neither of course could get it all out. But if you looked
at the results, you couldn't say that one did a better
job overall than the other.

On Sun, 6 Oct 2013 06:34:17 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

we need a new washer soon, my girl friend has been doing research..

Some reviews:

Top loader

http://top-load-washing-machine-review.toptenreviews.com/

Front loader

http://front-load-washer-review.toptenreviews.com/

On 10/6/2013 10:46 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:

From what little I've heard, I'd suggest the warranty.

I think they also use special detergent, and very
small portions of that.


I'm leaning that way as it gives me 6 total years of coverage for the
cost of one service call with a cheap part. No deductibles. Given the
reputation of the new machines, it may be a bargain.

Many of the detergents now are made for HE machines as it can be used in
regular machines also.

Norminn wrote:
On 10/6/2013 8:50 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.


When I was shopping for appliances (range and w/d), I read the reviews
and there seemed to be one common theme, which was a fried circuit board.
Everything has electronic controls, so what the problem is is a mystery.
Cheap Chinese boards? Power surges? No problems with ours, so far, but
no whole-house thingy for protection.

I've got a spare circuit board ready and waiting in case mine ever goes
bad. I had a problem with my Frigidaire front loader. 2 out of 3 symptoms
pointed to the rather expensive circuit board. 1 symptom indicated the
relatively inexpensive door lock solenoid. Guess which part I tried first,
then guess which part it turned out to be.

I know, I know... I should have tried the cheaper part first, but I played
the odds and lost. I consider the spare circuit board as insurance. I'll
probably never, ever need it. ;-)

The other problem with my washer is a stress crack that keeps showing up in
the plastic bezel above the control panel. I had the bezel replaced once
under warranty, and then a few years later I replaced it myself at my cost.
A few years later it cracked in the exact same location, so I quit worrying
about it and left the cracked bezel in place.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 08:48:54 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in Re HE Washer:

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 06:51:50 -0500, CRNG
wrote:


I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?

One person I know says she saves about $7 a month. I'm not sure that
is real dollars or what the salesman told her she could save.

I would guess the salesman told her that. It seems very high to me. I
would want to see exactly how that was calculated before I would
believe it.
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...

On 10/6/2013 12:24 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...


It says all parts and labor with no deductibles. Five years, $150.
Seems reasonable considering the reputation of these machines. If not
fixable, they replace it or give cash back.

On 10/6/2013 12:23 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
Norminn wrote:
On 10/6/2013 8:50 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.


When I was shopping for appliances (range and w/d), I read the reviews
and there seemed to be one common theme, which was a fried circuit board.
Everything has electronic controls, so what the problem is is a mystery.
Cheap Chinese boards? Power surges? No problems with ours, so far, but
no whole-house thingy for protection.

I've got a spare circuit board ready and waiting in case mine ever goes
bad. I had a problem with my Frigidaire front loader. 2 out of 3 symptoms
pointed to the rather expensive circuit board. 1 symptom indicated the
relatively inexpensive door lock solenoid. Guess which part I tried first,
then guess which part it turned out to be.

I know, I know... I should have tried the cheaper part first, but I played
the odds and lost. I consider the spare circuit board as insurance. I'll
probably never, ever need it. ;-)

The other problem with my washer is a stress crack that keeps showing up in
the plastic bezel above the control panel. I had the bezel replaced once
under warranty, and then a few years later I replaced it myself at my cost.
A few years later it cracked in the exact same location, so I quit worrying
about it and left the cracked bezel in place.


Mine which they still sell may not have this control panel problem:

http://www.maytag.com/-%5BMVWC200BW%...176/MVWC200BW/

I'd worry about these things too having to put $300 into a stove control
panel repair.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:12:02 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/6/2013 12:24 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...


It says all parts and labor with no deductibles. Five years, $150.
Seems reasonable considering the reputation of these machines. If not
fixable, they replace it or give cash back.

Given the cost of some circuit boards, service call, labor - you have
easy math

What would be your cost of a circuit board be today; for your model?

In article , gonjah
wrote:

On 10/6/2013 12:53 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.


If it helps, I've owned a Whirlpool Duet (front load) HE for 10 years
now. Not one problem.

same here



The rinse cycle is pretty entertaining though.

On 10/6/2013 3:14 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:12:02 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/6/2013 12:24 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...


It says all parts and labor with no deductibles. Five years, $150.
Seems reasonable considering the reputation of these machines. If not
fixable, they replace it or give cash back.

Given the cost of some circuit boards, service call, labor - you have
easy math

What would be your cost of a circuit board be today; for your model?


I signed up. Price seems reasonable for 6 years of peace of mind. EWs
are usually a poor investment but this could have a big payoff. Just to
have a repairman walk through the door can be $100.

Art Todesco wrote:
We actually bought an HE front loader (GE) four years ago and after 2
1/2 years of use, replaced it with a GE top loader. It did not break
down at all. But, it didn't clean the cloths and it never really
rinsed the soap out completely. We always used the 'extra rinse'
function and even ran the cloths through an extra complete 'quick
wash' (with it's rinse and extra rinse cycles) with no soap the 2nd
time. Even with that, sometimes, the cloths would come out with some
soap residue, causing itching to the skin.

That sounds like a pretty clear symptom of using too much soap.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:12:02 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/6/2013 12:24 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...


It says all parts and labor with no deductibles. Five years, $150.
Seems reasonable considering the reputation of these machines. If not
fixable, they replace it or give cash back.

I went through this about 5 years ago. A GE from Sears.
In the reviews there were many complaints about these warranties,
because of waiting for repairman or waiting for parts, or repeated
visits. So I kicked in about $250 for the "Gold" warranty, which
basically replaces the machine if the machine isn't fixed almost
immediately. 4 years. Also included a yearly maintenance visit.
The thing didn't look too reliable in the reviews, but my wife wanted
it, so I went against my basic instincts on these warranties.
Never scheduled a maintenance appointment, and the machine
blew past the warranty. So that was a stone loser.

Earlier this year my basement flooded and the machine started
screaming. Decided to fix it myself after I found a YouTube vid
that made it look easy. It was easy.
Cost about $275 in parts. Transmission and motor.
Hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new machine.
Plug your model in here to see what parts cost.
http://www.repairclinic.com/Washing-Machine-Parts

You might be surprised. And you might be able to get the parts a lot
cheaper elsewhere by searching on the part numbers. I did.
They might have a vid on repairing too.
Wouldn't even think about buying a new machine now, unless I couldn't
find parts at a decent price.

One thing I found out is exact leveling isn't important. The entire
tub/transmission and motor are suspended on shock rods.

But the $150 isn't bad if it comes through for you. Peace of mind.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 16:42:41 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/6/2013 3:14 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:12:02 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 10/6/2013 12:24 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I have a Maytag (1996) top loader without the agitator. Two
breakdowns; a circuit board and a clutch (?) on the drum.

Check that an EW would cover the circuit board - pricey...


It says all parts and labor with no deductibles. Five years, $150.
Seems reasonable considering the reputation of these machines. If not
fixable, they replace it or give cash back.

Given the cost of some circuit boards, service call, labor - you have
easy math

What would be your cost of a circuit board be today; for your model?


I signed up. Price seems reasonable for 6 years of peace of mind. EWs
are usually a poor investment but this could have a big payoff. Just to
have a repairman walk through the door can be $100.
The extended warranty on our Samsung set was a no-brainer. If at the
end of 5 years there were no claims you got half the cost of the
warranty back. Absolutely and totally trouble free - the refund on the
warranty made a bifg dent in the cost of the wife's new Micro-wave.

On 10/06/13 01:53 am, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

We bought a Kenmore (Frigidaire under the skin) front-load washer about
12 years ago and added the extended warranty. After about three years it
quit, and the circuit board had to be replaced; repair guy said the
board would have cost more than we paid for the warranty.

When the bearings and seal went (after the warranty had expired), I
replaced them myself. I wrote about it on this ng at the time.

Uses very little water and detergent but washes well.

Perce

On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 09:23:32 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 10/6/2013 8:50 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:03:52 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:




The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went
out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the
front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent
more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.


This is a top loader, but I can still see potential problems with all
the technology and extra parts built in.


We've had a Maytag Centenial top loader for about 3-4 years now and it
still functions perfectly. Don't know about warranty but if it were
front loader I would have considered one because I always figured these
would fail by leaking.

Out top loader only went five years before leaking all over. It had
been getting noisier for several years. I figure five years is about
all a modern washer is good for. Dryers probably twice that, so every
other one, we'll buy the set.

On Sun, 6 Oct 2013 13:18:19 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
wrote:

CRNG wrote:
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:53:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote
in Re HE Washer:

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown?

I would guess about 2 - 3 year at most.

I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I wonder what is the life-cycle ownership cost for the fancy model,
vs. the cost for the old style heavy-duty top loader? How much water
saving does that extra cost save?

It's not just the cost savings of the water.

Since the spin cycles are so fast, clothes come out much dryer so less
energy is used to dry them. My dry times were cut in half and many loads
can be dried on low heat for even more savings.

Some top-loaders have high-speed spin cycles, as well.

In addition, they say that front loaders are less abusive on the clothes
themselves than top loaders with agitators. I don't know about top loading
HE. Machines without agitators.

There should be no difference. They should actually do better because
they don't tend to knot the clothes.

There more factors involved in the total cost of ownership than just the
water savings.

Water is a trivial component.

On 10/6/2013 1:53 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We just bought a new Maytag High Efficiency washing machine.

So far, we've only done about 8 loads and it seems to do a very good
job. It is scary to watch though. Have you seen one of these things
operate? It has a glass lid so you can watch the entire process.

You set the cycle, push start and it locks the lid and goes.
Water comes in from the center top. Then it flows thought the
detergent cup. The water stops, then the drum spins at a medium
speed. Then it slows and water flows in again, this time from a spray
that shoots the water onto the clothes lining the drum. Then it comes
in from two sources.

Finally filled, it starts to agitate while pumping water at times.
Then it goes into rinse cycles with more water flowing from various
places but this time it also flows through the fabric softener cup if
selected. At one point, it directs water through the bleach, the
detergent, then the softener cups.

It spins, it stops, it reveres , it spins again. It is more
interesting to watch than 90% of what is on TV and has an instrument
panel with about the same number of LEDs as a 787 Dreamliner.

The scary part is all those strange functions and valves sequencing.
How long before a breakdown? I just don't see it as reliable as the
machines of the past. I'm sure there is at least one good sized
circuit board and a bunch of solenoids and sensors. It determines the
amount of clothes and then add the appropriate amount of water

I've always been dead set against extended warranties, but $150 for
five additional years may be cheap. I'll have to think about it.

I just (as in 3 days ago) got a new washer. I'd been thinking of getting
a HE, but eventually decided against it. The old (how old? inherited
when I bought the house) Whirlpool suddenly started violently banging.
That's when I noticed the water coming up in the toilet with each bang!
So after getting my sewer line replaced, I went for the cheaper machine!
Figured that for one person who does one or two loads a week, it would
take a long time before I noticed any savings on the water bill. Plus
when I thought it through, as high tech as it looked, I wouldn't use 18
settings for laundry. I'd probably use the same 3-4 I've always used
(medium, large, cold, warm). Being gun shy with things breaking lately,
I did get the EW, but for this machine it was 100 for 5 yr, and the
local repair guy charges $90 just to come to the house.

On 10/6/2013 11:28 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, October 6, 2013 10:47:08 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/6/2013 2:03 AM, Bob F wrote:



My neighbor just got her front loader replaced on warrantee. The bearing went

out, which means replacing the whole drum apparently, because it wears on the

front of the drum when the rear is not properly supported. But first, they spent

more than the cost of the machine trying to fix it.



As with most "green" technology, tends to fail at

bad moments, and cost a lot.





.

Christopher A. Young

Learn about Jesus

www.lds.org

.

A friend of mine recently bought a high-end LG front loader.
The washer and dryer together were over $2K. I was curious
about how much difference there would be in wash performance.
So, we did a test. I have a 15 year old Sears top-loader.
We took some old clothes and put ketchup, grass stains,
mustard, oil, etc on them. We both used Tide, I used the
regular, he used the front loader version.

The results were interesting. The super-duper LG did a
better job on getting out some of the stuff. The old
top-loader did a better job on some of the other stains.
Neither of course could get it all out. But if you looked
at the results, you couldn't say that one did a better
job overall than the other.


Any old washing machine would get out grease, grass, pre-soaked blood
stains by putting full-strength Era on them for a few minutes prior to
washing )

On Sunday, October 6, 2013 11:28:37 AM UTC-4, wrote:
A friend of mine recently bought a high-end LG front loader.

The washer and dryer together were over $2K. I was curious

about how much difference there would be in wash performance.

So, we did a test.

When we were in Europe we had the German version of the HE. Interestingly enough the first time we used it it removed some stains that the US machines had left. It worked very well, but was slow. We had no repairs in five years, and the machine wasn't new when we got it.