[ponjohn]

Anybody have an feedback on the new steam washers?

[1967Clone]

Front loader washers are a gimmick to separate consumers from their money IMO

[PonchoV8]

How much more money is front load at 569 than a comparable top load? The top load uses about 30% more water per load. Our sewer bill is 1.5 times our water bill. The difference ought to pay for itself by the time the two yr warranty is up on the front panel. The top load has balance issues also--always been a problem with my girl loading it.
It's a super quiet machine for sure. I believe I spent under $200 for the last washer we had ($40 to buy, about $125 to repair once). And it lasted since 1991.

I couldn't repair the old one either.

[Primitive Artist]

What?!! Over here, the sewage gets charged less, because they assume you are drinking some of that fresh water and using some to cook and water your plants.
Those top-loaders are obsolete. There's nothing a side loader can't do that a top-loader can. You can get a side-loader to spin at least up to 1600 rpms, so that you wouldn't need a dryer (saving energy).
If you tried revving a top-loader to that speed, it'll roll on the floor as if to laugh at you

[md1twal3]

Originally Posted by 1967Clone

Front loader washers are a gimmick to separate consumers from their money IMO

...but for my money, we got in return: we can get 3 times as many loads done at once, use incredibly less soap and water, and the cloths come out as clean as could be. They are quiet, energy efficient and look great.

We have the matching dryer for ours and the same deal....lots of capacity, a great variety of settings, energy efficient and again looks nice.

I don't so much care about them being a front loader. There weren't a lot of top loaders that gave us what we got with the fronts so we went with them.

They are more modern, but honestly easy to work on. My wife repaired the dryer by replacing a thermister and also solved a poor spin issue by removing the access plug to the pump and removing a large sock.

Works nice for a family of 5, a home run daycare and 3 dogs that make their share of messes too.

In our case, no regrets....Momma's happy, we are all happy!

JMO...

[gregneun]

About a year and a half ago. It worked for a couple of weeks. Then we called the Sears guys in. It was so new that they didn't know how to repair it. Pretty soon we had Electrolux, electronic parts being drop shipped to our house. I was still going to the laundrymat.

Finally we returned the new "water and energy saving" front loader and brought home another top loader.

I still have the electronics shipped to use by Electrolux. When the Sears tech came back and found out we switched the thing, he said that water and electronics don't always work well together.

I hope they have the bugs figured out on these things.

A friend of mine has the Neptune stuff and they have not had problems. I was sick of hanging at the laundry mat and watching Spanish language TV shows here in SoCal.

I've repaired the old kind for a a long time, just ours and some advise for others. I've repaired the old belt drive, with the wigwag and the newer direct drive units.

When we bought the front loader, the plastic tub was leaking, on the top loader and the replacement part was $200, for a Kenmore. I should have just plugged it since I had recently replaced the drive motor.

The gas dryers are a lot easier to get running again.

[PonchoV8]

Impressions: I noticed that the towels are fluffier than with the top load we had. I asked my girl leading questions, like that the dryer took the same amount of time, and her reply was that it was not taking as long to dry by a good amount. We put up a clothesline to help with the electric bill anyway.

[Primitive Artist]

Originally Posted by gregneun

...When we bought the front loader, the plastic tub was leaking, on the top loader and the replacement part was $200, for a Kenmore...

Plastic?! I've never seen one of those yet. Even the slip-shoddiest machines, so far, were equipped with stainless steel

[jeffgoss]

All are plastic tubs(shells). Stainless baskets(drums).

Electrolux=Frigidaire=crappy front loader.

[Primitive Artist]

In general, the newer the washer, the less likely you could repair it yourself. Once the electronics crap out, you'll have to decide if the replacement unit is worth the value of the machine. New electronic components are bath soldered with a new type of solder which contains much less lead. These new electronic components are practically in a development stage and are prone to early failure. What you really need is a 7 year guarantee on the electronics. That heavily wounded motor, in that Korean-built LG, is less prone to failure. You don't really need a guarantee for that. This is just some deceptive hype used to coax potentia buyers into purchase.
Here, some expensive machines with an impeccable reputation and friendly customer relations. They referr to these as the Mercedes-Benz of washmachines:

http://www.miele.co.uk/Products/Prod...ing%20Machines

[Slick 50]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Anybody have an feedback on the new steam washers?

We bought the LG steam 4.0 cubic foot washer and matching dryer about two years ago. They clean and dry clothes better than any washer/dryer I have ever had. So far no problems.
Yes, we did turn loose of some money!! Bought them off the net and delivered to the door, saved about $400 dollars from the local discount place. I can see either one of them being a real pain to work on.