The Devil Sells Whirlpool (Appliance gripes and advice)

[AdironRider]

I'm not buying that making a washing machine drum lightweight, which inherently means it takes less energy to spin, or a fridge compressor the minimum capable size and thus less energy to run, isn't tied to efficiency requirements in some fashion. I would argue you could buy cheap shit also back in the day, but you also had the option to buy the bombproof one for a few more bucks and that has been regulated into oblivion. It is illegal to buy a bombproof but inefficient fridge like I inherited currently. It just is what it is. That wifi shit is universally terrible though.

The point I am trying to make is that even my bomb proof fridge costs like 300 a year to run, so a new fridge literally pays for itself in like under 5 years. On a cost basis, you actually come out ahead at that rate typically. This sets aside the environmental impact of replacing a fridge every five years, but I'm not going down that rabbit hole.

[Flounder]

Let us not underestimate the MBAs at the appliance companies and planned obsolescence. Selling an appliance that lasts a lifetime is an absolute horrible business plan when you can sell a new one every seven years.

[XXX-er]

I can talk to my new 2nd bosch DW with my i-phone (assuming it ever works again ) I called repair buddy and told told him to just bring everything his 1st visit cuz he comes from 1.5 hrs east

on 1 of the 5 service calls that never fixed my 1st bosch repair guy smiled and patted my 15 yr old GE fridge and said " these are good " so I just found a near new super clean 300$ GE fridge for the tennant on FB but i don't think its chi-chi enough for a wife to accept

google will tell you exactly but one company make a bunch of these appliances cuz I told buddy that I got a matching 5yr old Amana washer & dryer for 400 $ on FB and buddy said " whirlpool "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Corporation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Appliances


When my tennant's stove shit the bed I gave her mine and got a new cheapest Frigidare, its got self clean and thats all I need ... fingers crossed

as for the poster who said buy from an appliance store it worked good for me cuz i called up Gord at the appliance store and he arranged a mechanical replacement with Bosch I don't think a big box store would have done that, the nearest big box is 4 hrs away so when something dies the appliance store is dead easy you can tell its a small town cuz I bought a new Ranger from Gord 14 yrs ago at the ford dealer

repair guy tells me after covid a lot of small companies that made small parts just dissapeared and he is finding new defective parts are more prevalent than he has ever seen, i mean my new DW lasted about a week

This has all hit me in < the last year, imo If you got working appliances I would stick with them until hopefully quality improves ??

[MontuckyFried]

The lack of reliability seems to be the price we all pay for efficiency requirements.

Having torn into my fair share of appliances over the years, I'd argue it has less to do with efficiency and MORE to do with simply cheaping out on materials. Every microgram they can shave off of every component adds to manufacturing savings, and of course the lighter they can make it overall, the more they save on freight. Or making the very manufacturing of said parts cheap too. Plastic parts that should be solid (or metal) are thin and barely held together with subpar adhesives at that. All sorts of random failures on parts that shouldn't break.

And there is ZERO excuse for the circuit boards to be failing at the high rates that they do... again, cheap ass components, down to the capacitors and diodes. All the under-the-hood things starry eyed shoppers at the big box stores don't GAF about. They just think "OOOHHH!!! It haz screens and wifi!" "OOOooooH!! Matte platinum finish and 6 ice makers!"
You can't tell me that all the common computer failures have anything to do with efficiency.

Side benefit to the companies is they know these failures force you to replace ad infinatum. The world is now run by MBA corporate goons.

[AdironRider]

Having paid the bills for a manufacturing company for many years, I can tell you that the size of a washing machine is the limiting factor moreso than the weight of the drum. You would be hard pressed to overload a typical 53' dry van trailer in terms of weight capacity even if you were somehow able to double the amount of washers that would physically fit in the damn thing.

Ultimately all of these elements play a role, but only one of these elements is legally regulated, and that is efficiency requirements. No one is being fined by the feds for cheaping out on the grade used for aluminum drums.

[oldblue]

LG French Door style fridge owner here. Had it about 6 years. Compressor died. All the repair places LG recommended did not want to touch it. Eventually found one place that would deal with LG. Huge hassle and I would have given up, my wife isn't the type to give up so she's the reason we finally got it repaired. Cost like $1200 I think.

[exsparky]

The lack of reliability seems to be the price we all pay for efficiency requirements.

Which, in all honesty, are significant. I inherited a fridge from my grandmother that has been running since the 60s. That thing is bomb proof. I'd literally hide behind the door of it if the ruskies ever send a bomb over. Keeps my beer at a steady 34 degrees come hell or high water, and has been doing so for 60 years without a hiccup.

That said, it costs literally 25 bucks a month in electricity, so when you look at it that way you are paying out the ass either way.

You really hit the nail on the head.

The new units have compressors running like 4 cyl engines red lined and running all the time. They don't use much gas but they don't last long and blow up.

The old compressors are over sized big block 454 V8's with dual 4 barrel carbs. They don't run as much and when they do they are at idle but they still chug gas. They last forever but you are going to pay.

Do you want cheap electric bills and have to haul off a fridge to the dump or pay $1800 for a new comp or pay more for electricity? Also, the comp's on the old ones can be easy to swap out sometimes if you can still find the parts.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I talked about how reliable our Kitchenaid fridge was yesterday so our Whirlpool washing machine threw a tantrum by way of multiple error codes today.

[singlesline]

I keep hoping that eventually we will reach saturation on bullshit features and some companies will go back to competing on quality. Maybe that's a pipe dream.

Where's the equivalent of Speed Queen washers/dryers for other appliances? (although some say those aren't what they used to be either)
Costs more (but not like...Thermador more), has limited features, but just works like a commercial piece of hardware.

I think I can count on one hand the time I used any mode on my last dishwasher besides auto/normal. The control board that died...what was it actually doing that added value? I guess I used the 2/4/6 hour timer button, but I could handle not having it (especially if it is as quiet as a nice Bosch).

My wife likes the icemaker and cold filtered water dispenser on the fridge...but we could get a Brita and some ice cube trays. I don't need to be able to set the temperature with touch sensitive buttons and a display on the front of the fridge...just give me a mechanical thermostat dial inside the fridge. I definitely don't need wifi or a touchscreen.

But I do want it to look nice...I suppose that's the one difference from the Speed Queens: I don't really care what my washer/dryer look like, but the kitchen stuff needs to match my kitchen.

[XXX-er]

The bosch is really quiet when its broken

I just use an ice cube tray

and i still jerk off manually

Old fridges in the garage full of nothing but beer are causing an energy crisis

[skaredshtles]

My wife likes the icemaker and cold filtered water dispenser on the fridge...but we could get a Brita and some ice cube trays.

When we were looking for a new fridge back in the 2011 timeframe I talked with an appliance repair buddy and he basically said don't get a fridge with water in it. He said those were the biggest failure systems in his experience.

Sometimes it's a bit of a pain with the ice cube trays, but we make it work. And if we really need a shitload of ice for a get-together or something I usually just make a bunch of ice the couple weeks prior and ziploc 'em until the party.

Or I buy a 20lb bag of cubed ice at the grocery.

Fuck in-fridge water bullshit.

[singlesline]

Fuck in-fridge water bullshit.

Especially since our house came with a bottom-freezer fridge that still has the ice maker/water dispenser hardware up top.

Great...now they have to figure out how to insulate and cool a secondary area to freezing temps. That's definitely not another failure point...

At least the ice drawer is smaller. At our old place, the ice maker made so much ice that we'd never work through it fast enough and you'd always end up with either a giant clump you had to go in and break up or a bunch of shriveled old cubes with "fridge taste"...this one is small enough that we can mostly use them before they go bad.

Although it does mean that if you need a lot of ice you're back to bagging, using trays, or buying ice.

[Mazderati]

I'll gladly deal with the complication of in-door water and ice until I get my countertop glass filler and Hoshizaki.

It's a balance. An ice box has no moving parts but no one is scrambling to go back to those.

[AK47bp]

I covet this.

https://www.culinarydepotinc.com/hos...ser-120-volts/


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[Thaleia]

I had an LG refrigerator. For about 14 months.

[XXX-er]

I'll gladly deal with the complication of in-door water and ice until I get my countertop glass filler and Hoshizaki.

It's a balance. An ice box has no moving parts but no one is scrambling to go back to those.

Even if the complication is that it breaksdown and you will probably be buying a new fridge ??

https://prudentreviews.com/reliable-...#Key-Takeaways

bad things about Samsung & LG ^^ products

somewhere in there it talks about the most problematic areas water/ ice temp control

the side by side double doors fcuk up too , by comparison when is the last time you seen a cheap dead-unsexy top freeezer/ bottom fridge with interchange hinge & handle fuck up ?

the drain tube would clog or freeze so the freezer got wet but once you fixed that it was good

btw the last fridge I bought on FB was from a retired appliance repairman and he said don't forget to let the fridge sit upright for at least an hr after you move it and before you plug it in cuz I had it on its side in the back of the PU

[skaredshtles]

Even if the complication is that it breaksdown and you will probably be buying a new fridge ??https://prudentreviews.com/reliable-...#Key-Takeaways

bad things about Samsung & LG ^^

My main gripe with the water system being the main source of failures is that often it fucking floods the kitchen when it shits the bed. Ain't nobody got time for that shit.

[Bunion 2020]

by comparison when is the last time you seen a cheap dead-unsexy top freeezer/ bottom fridge with interchange hinge & handle fuck up ?

My cheap white top freezer 2008 GE suddenly stopped cooling in August of 2020 when you could not get a refrigerator very easily and certainly not cheaply and no one was going to deliver one. Pandemic and all that.
Found one (Whirpool) nearby that I could go and pick up without losing the contents of my broken fridge and it had in the freezer ice maker. Just never hooked the fucker up and removed the wand that tells it to make ice. But is was expensive, like $ 1400.00 if I recall.

[The Reverend Floater]

Oh shit. Didn't see this thread.

We've tried every appliance under the sun. House had a Wolfe stove when we moved in. It broke three times in the first year. Got rid of it.

We've tried GE, Samsung and some other clothes dryer. Again, they all go about two years before they start to fall apart. Our Samsung washer has been generally good to us.

If anyone has an absolutely bulletproof clothes dryer, I'd love to hear about it.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>

If anyone has an absolutely bulletproof clothes dryer, I'd love to hear about it.

We have a Kenmore 80-Series dryer. Dead simple - all knobs - no digital controls.

I don't remember when we bought it, but it has to be close to 15 years old, if not older.

I had to replace the moisture sensor once, but that was an easy job. No other repairs, IIRC.

[BCMtnHound]

Yup, got a 90 series from ‘98 I think. I take off the back panel every 5yrs or so and vacuum it out. Check the rollers and belt. Still find parts for it, not that it’s needed anything so far.
Matching washer. Replaced the lid switch about 4 yrs ago. Clothes come out clean. What more does one need.

[mud]

Consumer reports is about as reliable as the BBB or yelp at this point. They are bought and paid for. Listen to your repair guy, most of my appliances in my rentals that last over 10 years are whirlpool or other USA union made appliances.

[Mazderati]

Oh shit. Didn't see this thread.

We've tried every appliance under the sun. House had a Wolfe stove when we moved in. It broke three times in the first year. Got rid of it.

We've tried GE, Samsung and some other clothes dryer. Again, they all go about two years before they start to fall apart. Our Samsung washer has been generally good to us.

If anyone has an absolutely bulletproof clothes dryer, I'd love to hear about it.

Speed Queen. Even more so if you're willing to track down something from the commercial line. They still break but take longer to get that way and are built to be repaired. US manufacturing. The counterpoint is you could buy two or three shitboxes for the cost of one.

[old goat]

The problem with asking advice on reliable appliances is that if anyone has a 20+ year old appliance still going strong chances are the new ones from the same company suck.

[BCMtnHound]

The problem with asking advice on reliable appliances is that if anyone has a 20+ year old appliance still going strong chances are the new ones from the same company suck.

The old appliances still come up on various local swaps. Most still working, some need a simple part. Depending on what is available and my need, I have bought old used before new (DW, fridge). The most recent was the new range. And I went basic whirlpool glass top.

As said above, seems best for durability is basic models without frills, or go near commercial grade and pay the premium.