New tool for the wife

[Phillip Tibbetts]

I just ordered a new LG Washer and dryer set for my wife. The old ones were Kenmore and have served us for over 12 years. The washer is making a grinding noise so I figure it's time to replace both. The washer (top loading) has a 10 year warranty. Hopefully this will be the last ones we need. They have come a long way with design. No more agitator sticking up in the middle and a window in the top so you can watch it spin and get dizzy. LOL Direct drive so no belts. Any comments on LG appliances?

 

[Phillip Tibbetts]

BTW the old Kenmore dryer is still going strong.

 

[LarrySTN]

I just ordered a new LG Washer and dryer set for my wife. The old ones were Kenmore and have served us for over 12 years. The washer is making a grinding noise so I figure it's time to replace both. The washer (top loading) has a 10 year warranty. Hopefully this will be the last ones we need. They have come a long way with design. No more agitator sticking up in the middle and a window in the top so you can watch it spin and get dizzy. LOL Direct drive so no belts. Any comments on LG appliances?

Wife insisted on a new washing machine, a few months back. She said the old 10 year front load was soon to break down. (It was having no issues) she bought a new top load, top of the line, no agitator. I hooked it up after moving the front load. I procrastinated hauling the front load out. After two weeks she insisted I remove to top load and reinstall the old front load. She was very disappointed in what a poor job the new machine did. It did not get my work clothes clean and every load came out sopping wet. BTW our dryer is 40 years old and still works.

 

[Mule Meat]

We have had our LG direct drive, no agitator washer for about six years now. I thought it was junk when we first got it and it took some getting use to. Once we got it figured out it has been a good machine.

The only complaint I have is the tub is so deep that it feels like you are trying to reach the bottom of a 55 gallon drum to get the clothes out.

 

[wp6529]

After many years with a higher end front load stack W/D (Maytag Neptune Superstack) I would never consider a top load or a non-stack unit. The tilt drum washer and stack setup is just so much more efficient to deal with and space efficient as well.

As for LG, I like their electronics but I'm not convinced on appliances. A friend blacklisted them due to warranty issues on a pricey big refrigerator with their linear compressor which while it should be very mechanically simple and reliable seems to be a significant source of problems. I'd heard similar warranty issues on Samsung appliances.

I have a Samsung range and OTR micro/grill and they have been generally decent but not perfect. I've had to replace a hot surface igniter on the range and the micro I had to add a boost transformer on the power to as it seems to be pretty sensitive to low voltage conditions unlike any other item in my entire homestead.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

I am surprised you don't use your own Speed Queen washing machines . They are fearsomely expensive here but still the best value for money over the long term .
Pump machines ( no agitator ) are good for office clothes and linen but just don't have the scrubbing power of a drum or agitator .
Most machines here in Oz no matter what brand are made over ' there ' or in Thailand , none come close to the US product . Most will only last five years .

 

[Geo-TH,In]

BTW the old Kenmore dryer is still going strong.

I had a kenmore dryer that lasted me almost 40 years.
I would keep it as a backup dryer.

 

[showcrop]

I just ordered a new LG Washer and dryer set for my wife. The old ones were Kenmore and have served us for over 12 years. The washer is making a grinding noise so I figure it's time to replace both. The washer (top loading) has a 10 year warranty. Hopefully this will be the last ones we need. They have come a long way with design. No more agitator sticking up in the middle and a window in the top so you can watch it spin and get dizzy. LOL Direct drive so no belts. Any comments on LG appliances?

The Speed queens are tough to beat for longevity, but for the additional that you pay for your water heating, detergent, longer wash time, and rewashes you could replace a front loader every five years and come out ahead. The simple physics is that a front loader will use 1/3 the water and give you three times the agitation. Perhaps this is why there is no such thing as an industrial top loader. Commercial laundries are in it to make money.

 

[Eric in IL]

BTW the old Kenmore dryer is still going strong.

My Mom bought a new gas Kenmore dryer in 1967. I replaced the light bulb for the drum last week. It is the only dryer she has owned in her lifetime.

 

[DRussell]

I just ordered a new LG Washer and dryer set for my wife. The old ones were Kenmore and have served us for over 12 years. The washer is making a grinding noise so I figure it's time to replace both. The washer (top loading) has a 10 year warranty. Hopefully this will be the last ones we need. They have come a long way with design. No more agitator sticking up in the middle and a window in the top so you can watch it spin and get dizzy. LOL Direct drive so no belts. Any comments on LG appliances?

Expect it to last 10-12 years.

 

[mechanicfred]

I like all the comments about how long the machines last. I was at a store the other day and a 92 years old man had a garbage disposal he was purchasing. The checkout girl asked if he wanted an extended warranty, He said "I'm to old" and smiled. Made everyone's day that was in earshot!!

 

[504]

LG, expect it to last for 12 months and good luck getting any warranty out of them.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

The Speed queens are tough to beat for longevity, but for the additional that you pay for your water heating, detergent, longer wash time, and rewashes you could replace a front loader every five years and come out ahead. The simple physics is that a front loader will use 1/3 the water and give you three times the agitation. Perhaps this is why there is no such thing as an industrial top loader. Commercial laundries are in it to make money.

Things are obviously different this side of the pond . Laundromats almost all use Speed Qeen uprights here , the wash cycle is much shorter than front loafers of similar capacity and the water we use us usually cold or at the most warm .
I suppose I was turned off front loaders travelling for months in Europe where they use nothing else . I found them so complicated to use you almost needed a PhD to run them . Heaven help you if you needed to open one early and don't get me started on the ones that wash , spin dry then tumble dry in the one cycle , a recipe for mayhem and disaster if ever there was one .

 

[showcrop]

Things are obviously different this side of the pond . Laundromats almost all use Speed Qeen uprights here , the wash cycle is much shorter than front loafers of similar capacity and the water we use us usually cold or at the most warm .
I suppose I was turned off front loaders travelling for months in Europe where they use nothing else . I found them so complicated to use you almost needed a PhD to run them . Heaven help you if you needed to open one early and don't get me started on the ones that wash , spin dry then tumble dry in the one cycle , a recipe for mayhem and disaster if ever there was one .

No, exactly the same. It appears that you think of a laundromat as a commercial laundry. No they are laundromats, so they have domestic machines, BUT due to the clientele they have to use machines that as I posted are known for longevity. Cycles can be short and cold because the clientele is going to use double the correct amount of soap anyway. Commercial laundries in Australia have industrial machines. just as you adapted to the new YT, you would adapt to a front loader if you had to.

 

[chvet73]

We had that washer. Wife totally disliked it. It left dirt streaks on all sorts of clothes. Was worse with large things. Replaced it with an agitator type. She’s very happy with it

 

[Keith True]

My wife bought a new washer a few years ago,it was computer controlled.She bought it herself,I wouldn't have anything to do with that machine.After about a year it quit and threw a code.The repair guy hooked his computer to it and told her how many loads she had run through it,and had shut itself down because it sensed a drainage blockage.It was under warranty,and he fixed it,Then he wanted to look at how I had it tied into my septic to see what could be corrected to fix the problem.He was actually trying to be helpful,so I showed him my drain.It drains into a 2 inch pipe,that gravity drains outside onto the flower bed.It did it again a year later,and he came back out to reflash it.That time it wasn't free.Then the house burned down and that machine was gone.The scrap guy brought in an old Maytag he found on the side of the road,and I had to free the sticky intake valves.It has been 45 months now,and a few weeks ago the original belt rotted and fell apart.It is a 1979 machine,and it has been my wifes favorite.Up to about 8 years ago I used to do a lot of sandblasting.I would eat up 2 or 3 washer pumps a year,the used appliance place always saved good used pumps for guys like me and they would sell them to me for $20.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

No, exactly the same. It appears that you think of a laundromat as a commercial laundry. No they are laundromats, so they have domestic machines, BUT due to the clientele they have to use machines that as I posted are known for longevity. Cycles can be short and cold because the clientele is going to use double the correct amount of soap anyway. Commercial laundries in Australia have industrial machines. just as you adapted to the new YT, you would adapt to a front loader if you had to.

"they are laundromats, so they have domestic machines, BUT due to the clientele they have to use machines that as I posted are known for longevity"

Actually the machines in a laundromat (a trademark word from 1953 through 1993 but now expiired - owned at one time by Speed Queen via General Electric) are not the same as machines for use in a home. I guess you could buy one and put it in a home but they are expensive. The primary difference was that the laundromat machines could be completely serviced through the top and front panel and the machine rarely if ever had to be pulled out of the line. In the 70s and 80 when I repaired Speed Queen as a side gig if you were in a business called a laundromat you were for sure to find Speed Queens.

 

[Dusty MI]

I remember my mother's Speed Queen wringer washer.

 

[zuhnc]

My new tool for the SO is shown in my avatar, in a couple of years, when I get it rebuilt! zuhnc

 

[Tom from Buckeye Lake]

I remember my mother's Speed Queen wringer washer.

Heck, we used/had one when 1st married 1969. All we could afford.