Our electric dryer took a big dump.....

[electra225]

It is a 13-year-old Whirlpool-built Kenmore brand. The timer went out of it. The wife has never liked the washer because she can't control the water level, it runs too long to do a load and it has no agitator. So, after spending over $30 for breakfast of biscuits and gravy (!!??), we found ourselves at Spencer's TV and Appliance "like having a friend in the business". Our appliance servicing guy said not to buy Whirlpool again, he recommended LG or, preferably, Speed Queen. They don't make Whirlpool Gold Series anymore, not a good sign. We could buy three of the cheapest Whirlpool for what one Speed Queen costs. The high-end Whirlpool was $969, Speed Queen was $1250 with senior discount, a little wrangling and their Black Friday sale. Normally, $1599 for washer and dryer individually. We got free delivery and "extra widgets", water lines for the washer and electric cord for the dryer. There are two versions of Speed Queen appliances, the electronic version and the manual control "old school" version. The electronic version has a seven year warranty due to more electronic gadgets and the old school version has a five-year warranty. They are built and parts sourced 100% in the US of A, in Wisconsin. You can still buy parts for Speed Queens built in the earliest days, in the wringer washer days. The are designed to be repairable. Both washer and dryer have solid stainless steel baskets, not stainless-lined plastic. The transmissions are metal. Speed Queen puts the same parts in "domestic" versions that they use in their commercial washers. They have belt-drive instead of solid mounted motors that are part of the transmission. We chose the old school version with knobs you can turn and settings you can actually use. The dryer has an optional steam feature to keep your clothes from wrinkling, but, since we are both wrinkled ourselves, we won't connect that option. The wife can fill the drum completely with water and can control the wash time. There is no lid lock, a bane of my existance. I think appliances should last more than 13 years, but everybody says we were lucky to get that much time. The Speed Queens are not designed for energy effeciency, they are designed to work and to last. They actually have a "gas guzzler" tax like a Corvette.....

I was raised by my grandparents who went thru the Great Depression and World War 2 rationing. I was raised to buy the best you could afford (and pay for) to use it for its intended purpose and to take care of it. That old but still working was as good as new. We bought the Kenmore appliances when we were snowbirds and figured it would only be used six months out of the year. When we decided to move here permanently, we figured we would likely have to replace the washer and dryer at some point. We replaced the kitchen appliances with all Whirlpool Gold appliances and they are still working. A new ice maker in the fridge and a broken plastic wheel in the dishwasher (my fault) are the only issues we have had. I hope the Speed Queen "laundry pair" serve us as well....

I am getting really sloppy in my verb usage here lately. Miss Mary K. Jackson is rolling over in her grave and may come back to rap my knuckles with her ruler.....

[TC Chris]

Maybe about 8 years ago my 1965 Kenmore dryer gave up for the last time. I went shopping. After a bad experience at Sears I went to the downtown appliance dealer. First he was offering some sort of fancy high-end device but I said "cheaper" and he pointed me to a basic Speed Queen. I switched to gas with it. Very happy so far. And yeah, it's repairable.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Grandma had a Speed Queen wringer washer setting out on the back porch that she used to wash grandpa's clothes he wore in the garage. She would pack a five-gallon bucket of hot "wash water" out to the washer, then dump greasy clothes, Fels Naptha soup and ammonia in the washer. It would run as long as necessary, until she flipped the power switch to get the clothes clean. I think my cousin still has that old washer and her '52 Packard. Speed Queen doesn't make kitchen appliances, only laundry appliances. I asked the salesman why the paint on Speed Queen washers were not as shiny as on Whirlpool. Because they are porcelein, not painted....

Grandma also had a four-line clothes line outside, about 50 feet long she used to dry clothes "when the weather is fittin'". No such device can be had when you have an HOA. Outside clothes line will get you a letter from the snitch squad....

[TC Chris]

Hang a clothesline up and tell 'em it's a radio antenna. Wait, that won't work either. But what a shame you can't air-dry clothes in your arid environment.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Wet laundry also attracts dust. Next to sun, dust is our greatest commodity......

[William]

Well, here is my laundry appliance story. Five years and now 3 months ago I purchased a pair of Speed Queen appliances. Their models, for the washer, are TR7, TR5, TR3, and TC5. Dryers follow the same except they start with a D. I purchased the TR5/DR5 with the thought that, like everything I read, they would last 20-25 years. NOPE, my dryer failed at 5 years and 2 months. Now this is partially my fault, not that I broke it but that I did not report it earlier. Occasionally when selecting the setting I wanted with the timer control the dryer would start up, tumble but the heating element did not come on. I just figured I did not turn it far enough, but it turned out not to be the case. After the warranty expired it just stopped working on that setting all together. A call to Speed Queen got me now where, they absolutely refused to help with anything towards a repair. I was told, it is out of warranty, so we recommended you call a repair guy and pay the bill. Five years and two months and nothing! I then asked for a service/schematic for the dryer (I had already provided my model and serial numbers) and the gal did email me one. I wanted to see how it was put together. After looking it over, finding the part number I decided to order it up. But first, I once again provided my model and serial number to Speed Queen to verify I selected the correct part number. NOPE, the gal had sent me the wrong service/schematic, and I needed a different part number which they provided. Just how hard it is to do something right now days.

I guess the good thing, if there is one with all of this, is that the part I needed was a hundred bucks cheaper than the one I selected. The other positive thing, Speed Queen is designed to be serviced with ease. As far as I can tell everything can be serviced from the front, so no need to pull them out from the wall. The part arrived and within 10 minutes it was up and running again. Would I recommend Speed Queen, ask me that in 5 more years.

And by the way, friends have LG laundry equipment, and the dryer is still working after 15 years but last year they just purchased their 3rd LG washer. They like front loaders and apparently LG's front load washers have a life expediency of 7 years.

Bill

[electra225]

The guy who works on our appliances is a Speed Queen fanatic. Also an authorized Speed Queen service tech. Time will tell....

[danrclem]

We have a Speed Queen washer, and it's been around a long time with no problems. My wife wants a new front loader washer and dryer, but I can't see any sense in changing them out as long as they are working. The dryer is a Maytag, and it's been around a long time too.

[electra225]

We have been Speed Queen-ing for a week. Loud, clunky, crude, sounds like doing laundry in the laundromat. But, you can stuff clothes into the washer until you can barely get the top closed, select the high water setting, dump in a "pod" and some ammonia and you are good to go. Washes a mountain load of clothes in about a third the time of our old washer. The dryer will dry bed clothes in about 20 minutes, versus over an hour with the old dryer. I'm impressed, so far.....

[William]

[electra225]

I think the Speed Queen "laundry pair" would clean one of my car covers. The drum on the dryer is big enough to crawl inside. I'd have to wash them one at a time, rather than both at once like in the laundromat. I use a cover over a cover so I can keep the fine dust in the air off my black car. The covers get filled with dust. The outside cover is waterproof.

The Speed Queen outfit is physically smaller on the outside than the old ones were. I asked why that was. I was told, and later confirmed, that Whirlpool had lined the cabinets of the Kenmore outfit with styrofoam so it would be quieter. This necessitated making the cabinets larger to accomodate the insulation. Speed Queen doesn't have that layer of insulation.

[danrclem]

I can put up with a little more noise if a product works well and lasts a long time.

[electra225]

I;m not complaining. It's nice to be able to hear the washer running so you will know if something goes wrong.

[William]

After 5 years of ownership with Speed Queen I am used to the extra noise and being half deaf helps too.