Washer And Dryers... Any still reliable and able to last a decade?

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Riceburner said:
If you can repair a MC, you can repair a W/D.
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Oh, I am willing to take a stab at it. My wife is not going to be patient while I wait for the parts to come in and also to see if the repair works. If I can get her to give me about a week then I will order the parts and give it a try. In the interim I might break into the tank a bit and see if is the two agitator parts I think may be the worn ones.
 
shanekingsley said:
Yeah it might not be that hard to fix yourself. I know that dryers are a lot less complicated, but when ours broke down this year, I just bought the parts and serviced it myself and I am quite incompetent with tools.



There are lots of videos online about this sort of stuff I would think for washers too, especially if you already know the parts that need fixing. Those parts select videos are pretty well done for non-handy people to do the work themselves. For older, well made stuff, always better to fix than replace.

On a side note, I had a dryer giving me problems in my rental condo about 5 years ago where the thermostat and other parts kept failing. The repairman came by about 10 times to keep replacing the thermostats and other parts and trying to see why the problem was happening. He charged me for the first replaced thermostat and never charged me again because he was so curious to see what was causing the problem. He took that thing apart so many times. He lost so much money on me and I kept offering to pay him and he said that he makes so much money off other people's stupid problems that he liked having a real problem to diagnose and didn't care about the money. Turned out in the end it was a blocked duct not in my unit, but just past the walls of my condo, because the building did not clean their ducts due to a change in property management.
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Keep that guy's phone number. Most service techs don't give a rats adze about finding the real problem.
 
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Ive got 8yrs so far out of a whirlpool residential front load washer and dryer and 'knock on wood' its just fine. There's only two people here and we will go to a laundry if its time to wash large duvets and sleeping bags.
We always wait for a sale with appliances, they are always on sale someplace.

The front load uses significantly less water than most top loads available when I bought, but I understand there are new high efficiency top loaders out now that may be similar or maybe better.
 
Zoodles95 said:
Oh, I am willing to take a stab at it. My wife is not going to be patient while I wait for the parts to come in and also to see if the repair works. If I can get her to give me about a week then I will order the parts and give it a try. In the interim I might break into the tank a bit and see if is the two agitator parts I think may be the worn ones.
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When my washer stopped working it was $6 in parts (or $2 with $8 shipping if I ordered online) and 5 minutes of labour. It took longer to look up and research what went wrong and how to fix it than to actually fix it. If the replacement parts last as long as the originals this washer will be eligible for a pension the next time those parts fail
 
Maytag: We got a set 40 + years ago and all was well until 5+ years ago and the washer needed anew controller at about $500.00 so we got a replacement Maytag that weighed about half the old one. Fingers crossed. Old drier is fine but has had a replacement heating element.

Conventional stoves and driers are simple machines. You can keep a stove going almost forever as the major parts and usually be replaced with a screwdriver. Just remember to shut it off at the panel because the switches only kill part of the power. Lots of aftermarket stuff that works.

The only part of the drier that is tricky is the timer / sensor and the only source may be the OEM. I have heard of people silver soldering a failed element but have never tried it.

Washers, fridges and dishwashers seem to have a lot more non-generic parts.
 
Fixed my leaking fridge in 4 hours. Guy in the video did it in 12 minutes, but didn't show how he removed all of the ice from the bottom.

Check with your service technician if available and any good to see if one brand/model needs less service.
Some companies own multiple brands, so just going by brand might not help.

The problem with the older ones is that they are inefficient, and worn. Then again, you may be saving something from going to the dump.
 
13 year old whirlpool duet set... The front-load washer is made in Germany, and the gas dryer in US.

Replaced one of the fill valves 2 years ago (would fill with a little water when not used) and recently opened the drain filter-screen to clean that out as it wasn't draining properly. It would spin funny due to the slow drainage...

Sometimes you can find similar working models on kijiji for minimal amounts (sellers bought new shiny appliances) and you can salvage parts - did that for a relative who's range conked out just before they were selling their condo - a new control panel was $150+ - found a similar range on sale for $50, swapped the control board and scrapped the rest at the local dump/recycle place.
 
I had a Kenmore frontload machine. It stopped working, turned on just did not do it's thing.
I found out it needed a new controller board (google the problem), called around locally they wanted $300 with 90 day warranty on part.
Checked Ebay and got item locally shipped in 2 days with a 1 year warranty for $50.

It took me exactly 15 minutes to swap the parts (plug and play).

Those machines are basic...sometimes it's as simple as the door latch sensor (which I changed first $10).
 
I would just get a new washer if I were you. Is the washer in a heated area.? If it is not maybe stick with the older one. The new ones comes with plastic piping in the insides & could pop when it freezes. Ask me how I know. With the newer ones, they clean better & you could wash gentle fabrics without tearing them up. My old washer used to do this.

My newer Frigidaire had plastic pipes inside & I installed a pipe heater insides. I plug it in when it gets freezing

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Roadghost said:
I know people who are buying old appliances and refurbishing them because the new ones are garbage. If you think the washers and driers are bad, try those flat-top stoves with the digital controls. What a disaster. Best is to go with the least complicated unit you can find, underneath the parts are all the same.
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Not just flat-tops, but anything with a digital control. The digital panel on my stove went, and to get that replaced was 80% of a new range.
 
If you want long lasting buy the most mechanical oldschool machines you can find, especially for the washer. We have a spare washer (story on that below) in our basement that's about 20 years old, all mechanical dials and simple as hell. Worst that ever happened was the belt started to slip, but I took it off (serving oldschool stuff is easy as hell as well) and went to Princess Auto - 20 minutes later back at home with a new Vbelt and it's worked fine since.

When we bought out house in 2000 we bought one of the first front load washers on the Market, a Fridgidaire, and matching gas dryer. That thing was workhorse and did it's job faithfully for about 12-13 years before the main bearing started to go wonky and it wasn't worth fixing. We replaced it with a "Maytag 2000" front loader which turned out to be a nightmare - it tore the door seal/bellow in about 8 months. We had it replaced under warranty and it tore again a few months later just out of warranty. I replaced it again myself (that was interesting) and it tore that one as well in less than 6 months. I got ******, pushed it into the corner, and the $75 Kijiji oldschool washer (from above) came into play and worked for years.

I decided about 6 months ago to repair the Maytag again - I discovered Maytag had released an updated door glass that supposedly resolved the door seal damage issue. So far, so good. But I'll never buy another Maytag.

Anyhow, front loader vs top loader is a no brainer for us - front loader all the way. They extra SO much more water (and use less to begin with) so the dry time (a big part of the cost of a load of laundry, especially if you have an electric dryer) is significantly less. To dry a load from our cheapie top loader it would take about 80-90 minutes, but to dry a load fresh out of the front loader dries in 50-60.
 
Kenmore front loader washer and dryer here. Lasted more than 10 years and they are extra large load ones and get some heavy use. I did some research before buying them and bought a year or so older model but top of the line at the time.
 
Whirlpool owns Maytag and a number of others. I believe Kenmore?

Front loads were all the rage due to their efficiency and water conservation.

Doesn't matter model lines, all are prone to seals leaking and needing replacement. Others have door lock issues which prevent operating.

Top loads have returned with equivalent water efficiency as front loads. They also have better agitator designs to prevent damage to laundry and can spin dry just as well as front load.

All the gear drives are sourced from the same Chinese manufactures.

Need a repair tech. Call a Leons or appliance retailer and ask who they have.

Most will tell you over the phone if you machine is worth a look or not. Many don't want to waste their time either.

A lot blow a circuit board and depending on age can get spendy to replace.

For those wanting to save space and stack, Samsung makes some good equipment. Skip the low end and get to the midlevel.

LG, don't bother.

Top loads? Samsung is still king with Whirpool a close second.

I don't have the specific models that are better than others but, any appliance sales associate in the biz for 10 years or longer and values returning customers will steer you to the more reliable models.

If you want high end and serviceable equipment, check out Appliance Canada. Browse their web site. Some brands you won't recognize. Fisher/Paykel is one example.

Avoid GE at all costs.

That's my two nickels. Don't sell appliances. Just finance them and hear the stories from the vendors and salespeople.

I found HomeDepot and Lowes to have knowledgeable staff and you can get decent clearance models depending on the timing/stock etc.

My clients are The Brick, Leons and Appliance Canada but, I have contacts with Goemans.

A benefit of a top load is typically larger capacity. And they don't develop leaks from blown seals.

Cheap Whirlpool had the seal replaced twice.

Current Samsung is doing well but has chewed a couple of sweaters but, I think it's from overloading. It's not consistent when it does it.




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Good advice above.

from my research Whirlpool and Samsung make the best washers and dryers in the biz. Last time I checked, some Whirlpool models are made in Germany.

Maytag "used" to be good, and had to be rescued by the Whirlpool corp.

Oh, and ditto on the GE advice. anything to do with Water, they suck. washers dryers, and esp dishwashers. atrocious.
 
nakkers said:
Top loads have returned with equivalent water efficiency as front loads
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That's beginning to hold true for full-load type washing, but for partial or small loads the front loaders still win hands down as they basically tumble the load through a tiny skiff of water in the bottom of the drum.

Front loaders still spin faster than any top loader that I know of, as well, so there's still a saving to be had there on drying - even a 20 minute difference multiplied by 2-3 loads a week can be a 4 kilowatt energy saving for people with electric driers. The $500 saving on a top loader vs a front loader makes less sense from an efficiency standpoint when that 4KW difference equals perhaps $1/week in extra electricity, or $4/month, $48/year...and say the machine lasts 15 years = $720 in extra electricity, not to mention any added water/hot water (more $$$ if electric hot water tank) costs - the number could potentially surpass $1000 in extra cost of ownership.

Yes, there is an argument to be made that a few repairs on the front loader can wipe that out in a hurry, but they are a lot better - many (most?) of the issues they had have been eliminated now.

As for Brand, I wouldn't be so hot on Samsung - don't forget that this is happening right now with many of their washers and they're in the midst of recalling 2.8 million washers as well. I saw one in the receiving area of Home Depot a few weeks ago and the appliance salesperson wheeling it back there said that Samsung washers cause them the most grief right now, hands down.
 
PrivatePilot said:
As for Brand, I wouldn't be so hot on Samsung - don't forget that this is happening right now with many of their washers and they're in the midst of recalling 2.8 million washers as well. I saw one in the receiving area of Home Depot a few weeks ago and the appliance salesperson wheeling it back there said that Samsung washers cause them the most grief right now, hands down.
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the recall only affects top loading models due to improper loading during the spin cycle. and samsung is doing the right thing and doing a proper recall like they did with the Note 7. Good on them.

Their motors, which is no doubt one of the priciest components in the unit, have a 10 year warranty. and Samsung knows a thing or two about electronics so I'd be confident on the touch panels and electronic controls on their units, where as Im guessing the "american" brands sub out their electronics to third party suppliers.


When you are a huge company like Samsung that dabbles in everything from tv's to phones, to appliances, to just about everything else in our daily lives, no doubt they will have a few issues here and there at some point. This is to be expected.

How big is Samsung.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Afpey7Eldo
 
Base models for all makes are junk. Doesn't matter. Samsung middle of the line and above should serve well.

Agreed on partial or small load efficiency in front load. Can't be beat. My perspective was from full load. Top loads are back and even do well with part load for efficiency.




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