Speed Queen - The Way of Water

[Mdragger88]

Congrats on the new set!
I recently replaced my lg front loader with a 2016 model speed queen as I didn’t want the capacitive touch buttons. Old school all the way ! It cleans clothes that are actually dirty- like real dirt, grease, blood, & sweat - none of that that yuppy dirt And it rinses clean! Which really matters when you have dirty but also sensitive skinned people in your clan. All in around 30 minutes- not 2hrs….
Ahhmaaazing!
The search was long but I finally found one that was barely used & I am currently seeking a matching mate for her. I sold the lg’s for nearly what I paid for them (i got them barely used from a friend who decided front load wasn’t for them) & scored the speed queen for $120 - it sat unused for most of its life, she cleaned up real nicely with some ahhsome & dish tabs.
I just got a basic hot point dryer for $60 of fb marketplace while I wait for the matching dryer to come along.

 

[Mdragger88]

Agreed. So here's the "dirty little secret" about washing machines - the stated tub capacity is almost always meaningless. The stated tub capacity that's used on advertising is almost always the MAXIMUM open volume of the tub which is useless because no machine ever fills up the entire tub.

For example, my old Maytag washer was 5 cu. ft. This newer Speed Queen is 3.2 cu. ft. So you'd be led to believe that I made a HUGE mistake and bought a machine that is only 2/3rd the capacity of my old machine .... what a fool that Joyful guy is!! But here's the deal - my old Maytag, on ANY cycle, would never even come close to filling up half the tub. Even on the bulky cycle, the tub was filled to half volume at most. So, in reality, it was a 2.5 cu ft machine. You could certainly pack 5 cu. ft. of clothes into it but good luck getting them clean and rinsed free of soap. By contrast my new machine is 3.2 cu. ft and, if I press the "DEEP FILL" button for ANY cycle, it fills the tub to the top and uses all 3.2 cu ft. So, again, my new machine uses more water than my old machine to clean and the cleaning performance is better.

Also, I actually bought TWO washers. I replaced the useless combo unit (stacked washer/dryer) in our casita which was ancient and couldn't clean more than 4 pairs of underwear at a time, with a TC5. So now I have 6.4 total cubic feet of washing power!!!

Careful, its a slippery slope …

 

[Randrx2]

Do those SpeedQueens have mechanical controls or are the dials actually electronic? I thought in the US that washing machines had to have electronic controls to meet the EnergyStar guidelines.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Do those SpeedQueens have mechanical controls or are the dials actually electronic? I thought in the US that washing machines had to have electronic controls to meet the EnergyStar guidelines.

I have not fully taken it apart but the dials are electromechanical selectors and the cycle dial is an electromechanical timer. Buttons are mechanical with one of them being capacitive-touch. So they are “modern” in some sense but the main point is that they A LOT CHEAPER to replace when they break than a membrane pad or touchscreen. When membrane buttons start to fail, you typically have to replace the entire interface board, good and bad buttons alike, which usually costs around $100-$150. The cycle selector knob on the Speed Queen washer is less than half that cost.

 

[dleonard1122]

This setup looks exactly like what I want my next washer/dryer combo purchase to be when either of our current machines that we inherited from buying our house decide to die. Can I ask what you paid for it and where you purchased from?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Congrats on the new set!
I recently replaced my lg front loader with a 2016 model speed queen as I didn’t want the capacitive touch buttons. Old school all the way ! It cleans clothes that are actually dirty- like real dirt, grease, blood, & sweat - none of that that yuppy dirt And it rinses clean! Which really matters when you have dirty but also sensitive skinned people in your clan. All in around 30 minutes- not 2hrs….
Ahhmaaazing!
The search was long but I finally found one that was barely used & I am currently seeking a matching mate for her. I sold the lg’s for nearly what I paid for them (i got them barely used from a friend who decided front load wasn’t for them) & scored the speed queen for $120 - it sat unused for most of its life, she cleaned up real nicely with some ahhsome & dish tabs.
I just got a basic hot point dryer for $60 of fb marketplace while I wait for the matching dryer to come along.

YES! 27.5 minutes for the standard wash with no options. My Maytag required 44 minutes for the standard wash. The center agitator is the key to cleaning. My Maytag was a top loader that washed like a front loader - it had no agitator just a impeller plate on the bottom that would turn opposite the tub rotation during the wash cycle. It would cause clothes to “roll” in the puddle of water at the bottom which then led to clothes that were all twisted up. There were times when I would pull out clothes that had dry, un-washed spots on them!?!?!!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

This setup looks exactly like what I want my next washer/dryer combo purchase to be when either of our current machines that we inherited from buying our house decide to die. Can I ask what you paid for it and where you purchased from?

The MSRP from the manufacturer is around $1200 I think. I bought them from a local appliance store here in Tucson called Christie’s. I went right after New Years and got an end of year sale on them (about $200 off). I also had to buy a new dishwasher as the 17 year old LG that came with the house finally bit the dust (yeah, it was a maddening holiday - all the major appliances in my house aside from the fridge went kaput). The nice part is they come with a full 5 year warranty on parts and labor from Speed Queen and Christie’s is a good shop to deal with - they handle all the warranty paperwork themselves and they service everything you buy from them. I’ve been dealing with Christie’s for years and I prefer their service above the independent appliance service guys.

 

[setsailsoon]

Wow! Didn't know you could still get them like that. Seems like it's been over 10 years since I could tell the washer from the dryer. They both have round clear doors in the front and a lot of controls. And the washer hasn't made the chunka-chunka noise forever either! The electronic-connected-to-the-internet has downsides too. This one tells her when things are done and my wife calls me to take clothes out of the dryer, hang them up and all kinds of things I never used to have to do.

The last set after about 4 years washer got unreliable, required unplugging and re-plugging to reset it every time to start it. I fixed it by hanging an extension cord over the side so we could access the plug easier... I thought it was fixed. Wife said it was ugly and dangerous. So I replaced the main control board that cost me more than I ever remember paying for the old Sears and Roebuck. Next time we'll look closely at Speed Queen!

Chris

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Wow! Didn't know you could still get them like that. Seems like it's been over 10 years since I could tell the washer from the dryer. They both have round clear doors in the front and a lot of controls. And the washer hasn't made the chunka-chunka noise forever either! The electronic-connected-to-the-internet has downsides too. This one tells her when things are done and my wife calls me to take clothes out of the dryer, hang them up and all kinds of things I never used to have to do.

The last set after about 4 years washer got unreliable, required unplugging and re-plugging to reset it every time to start it. I fixed it by hanging an extension cord over the side so we could access the plug easier... I thought it was fixed. Wife said it was ugly and dangerous. So I replaced the main control board that cost me more than I ever remember paying for the old Sears and Roebuck. Next time we'll look closely at Speed Queen!

Chris

My old Maytag was purchased on 2013. It lasted about 6 years before needing the main shaft bearing replaced. I opted to change the bearing rather than replace the washer and that cost me around 60% of what a new washer would cost. It also required a new rotor on the direct drive motor and the original wire harness needed to be replaced. That bought me 5 more years of life. The bearing was getting loud again. Thankfully the control board stayed solid the whole time as did the membrane buttons. The control board on that machine would have cost $350 to replace (assuming I could even get one nowadays). I opted to replace now while the machines were running because I absolutely can not be without a washing machine with a house full of kids. Even a few days downtime is a huge hit.

I definitely wanted to stay away from anything IoT connected … it’s is simply unnecessary and just one more thing that breaks. My neighbor had a similar issue you with having to constantly unplug and “reboot” her washer (Samsung I think) … the repair guy told her “it’s a computer for goodness sake!! They always need rebooting …” I think he finally replaced one of the control boards in it and it cost her $200 for the part and additional $100 for his labor … crazy.

 

[markayash]

I was at my sisters house and took me 10 minutes to figure out how to wash my dads clothes..
We have a bare bones unit I bought at sams club 20 years ago and still running..I have had to replace a few mechanical parts over the years but I agree simple is better.
Why I miss my 97 Civic I drove for 18 years!

 

[markayash]

The band Queen briefly came out with a line of appliances.

They were endorsed and signed by Freddie Mercury and the alarms were the songs like "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".

They got into a trademark dispute with the Queen of England over the use of the name Queen for appliances and they had to stop using the name Queen.

They sold the company to Ozzy Osbourne and he now makes custom appliances in his spare time.

Then, the band Queen decided to get into music and the rest was history.

LOL, I love Ozzy but can you imagine calling him for help..
After 5 minutes of not having a clue what he said you would give up..Or tell him to write a song and sing the directions

 

[JoyfulNoise]

LOL, I love Ozzy but can you imagine calling him for help..
After 5 minutes of not having a clue what he said you would give up..Or tell him to write a song and sing the directions

I believe that when they want to test AI algorithms they feed videos into the machine of Ozzy discussing something to see how well the AI can translate natural speech …. I don’t believe any AI has managed to decipher more than 2% of what he says … and the server running the code blows a couple of fuses.

 

[kimkats]

I made sure I could control how much water went into the wash bucket. For most things like my school clothes the auto water worked. NOt so much our "dirty from working outside clothes.".

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I made sure I could control how much water went into the wash bucket. For most things like my school clothes the auto water worked. NOt so much our "dirty from working outside clothes.".

Smelly teenagers !! They need to have a wash and water fill setting for sweaty, smelly teenager clothes. It would probably use 100 gallons of wash and rinse water and run the wash cycle for 3 hours … all hot water!

 

[HeyEng]

I love 'em! I absolutely hated the "new and fancy" front loaders. Our dryer was my Dad's (passed away in 2018) and it's about 15 years old. The last one he had was an old school all in one front loader...wash and dry in one. I don't know how old it was, but there is picture of me in it as a very small child. It worked well and lasted many, MANY years. The washer we bought was selected to best match the dryer. It does an OK job but is too technical with the microswitches and sensing BS that we don't like.

When it comes time for new ones (hopefully not for a while) I will most certainly look at the Speed Queens. I love the look as I have always disliked the new styling...they are for washing clothes, not sending man back to the moon.

Edit....looks like you got an AWESOME deal. Best Buy has them listed at almost $2700 for the set!!!

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/combo/washer-dryer-bundles/dfd2a53f-0f3c-4695-9f98-69f3ce3f8243

 

[JoyfulNoise]

And, before anyone asks, yes I did run an empty hot cycle with Ahhsome before using the washer. They were dusty from sitting in a cardboard box so I figured that cleaning them first would be a good idea.

 

[JamesW]

Edit....looks like you got an AWESOME deal. Best Buy has them listed at almost $2700 for the set!!!

He got a great deal by agreeing to post about what a great company Speed Queen is.

 

[JamesW]

He got a great deal by agreeing to post about what a great company Speed Queen is.

In fact, I just went out and bought a new washer/dryer set based on the good recommendations.

Edit: I wasn't paying attention and I got a set made by Dairy Queen.

Hopefully, the quality will be just as good.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

In fact, I just went out and bought a new washer/dryer set based on the good recommendations.

Edit: I wasn't paying attention and I got a set made by Dairy Queen.

Hopefully, the quality will be just as good.

I think that one has the “soft serve” option so you can enjoy some ice cream while you wait for the wash to finish …

 

[JoyfulNoise]

One other aspect of “modern” washers too is the concept of the “detergent compartment” on most newer machines. Because they are load and fill machines, the dispenser compartment tries to separate out detergent, bleach and fabric softener and water is run to each compartment in an effort to add the chemicals “at just the right time”. On my old machine, this meant a water distribution valve that had about 4 different hoses running from it to the various compartments. Each one of those is a potential leak (and they did) and the distribution valve is much more expensive as it’s not only a temperature mixing valve but also a multiport valve. I hadn’t ever priced it out but I bet the water control valve was expensive.

On these Speed Queen units it’s simple - you add the liquid laundry detergent (or pods) FIRST to the drum and any powdered boosters you want (Borax, oxiclean, etc). Then you add the clothes. There is a separate well for liquid bleach and, if you choose to use fabric softener, you add that to the top of the agitator (there’s a special cup that feeds liquid fabric softener down into the agitator arm by using the centrifugal force generated when the spin/rinse cycle starts … it’s really a cool concept). That’s it. No compartments with water hoses to fail and leak.