so waht ya doin today?

[Pistolero]

A collegue engineer and her hubby used to work at the Whirlpool plant in Iowa, and said that their
opinion of Whirlpool appliances was very good, and a lot of engineering effort put into making them
reliable. For what it's worth, if anyone is looking for new appliances and wants to buy USA made.

I think the Iowa plant was making clothes washers and driers, though, not sure.

OK, looked it up Amana, Iowa plant, 3,000 people, they make Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air
and KitchenAid refrigerators there. Maybe a different plant in Iowa makes the washers and driers.

We have a Jenn-Air from about 10 years ago, has done fine. I have had most of my refrigerators
for about 20-30 years, so don't know much about them. Anymore a lot of old line "US brands" were
sold to foreign companies and are not US brands anymore, and I am not up on what is what.

 

[Hawk]

My daughter said she had a top loading washing machine that went out.
It was a circuit board.
The cost to replace the board was $650, and the cost of a new washer was $700. She bought the new washer.

 

[Ian]

Standard.

I bought some drum wheels and a belt for my ancient Kenmore dryer a few years ago and they guy at the used appliance place told me I was doing the right thing, keep patching it as long as I could because the new ones of any brand are all made out of tin foil, microswitches, and circuit boards and life expectancy is 2-3 years.

Every person I know who's replaced their washer and or dryer in the past five years or so has horror stories to tell. MIL's house flooded due to a bad fill sensor on her new $1000 washer, Mom bought a new set and after the circus of getting it actually ordered and to her house and the right hookup kit obtained, the washer wouldn't fill. Turns out it has to have 60 PSI to work, city only provides 55 psi at the meter, so the new machine's not broken but it won't work, either. Stupid-rich acquaintance at big country estate has same problem with megabuck "smart' WiFi washer, well cycles 40-60 and washer won't fill, shuts down with "low flow" code and must be power-cycled and filled with a bucket...at a very specific rate. Dryer circuit boards dying on several. Sure, they're efficient......but at what cost? My old analog chit works great and has for decades.

 

[Pistolero]

$650 for a circuit board is just crazy, absolute ripoff, intended to produce the result that
it did produce. CB was probably worth $50-100 in reality. This sort of "service" is really
frustrating to me.

 

[Pistolero]

I have a spare washing machine out at the cabin, essentially never used. It is 25 years old, like new.
A friend asked if I needed a washing machine, his neighbor was getting rid of hers, like 2 yrs old.
I thought it might be worth fixing, at least worth trying for free. Picked it up, took it home. Tried
it out, traced the issue to a plastic extension arm on the switch that says the lid is closed. A pin in the
lid goes into a hole, depresses the paddle, which broke off. I started to fix it, but checked and the
switch assy with a better paddle was like $7.50 at the local "all brands" appliance parts center ( really,
really useful company!). Fixed it and moved it to the cabin, have used it perhaps 3 times in 25 years.
Probably will be my backup if my current Whirlpool washer fails.

My dishwasher had the plastic axles for the rollers for the top rack to pull out, snap off. Self tapping screws
into a 1/4" diam plastic axle, aobut 3/4" long, 4 places, two on each side. The available part was the entire side
structure with rack height adjustment (never have changed the height) for $105 each side. So, I got some delrin
and machined up new axles, WITH LONG mounting screws, drilled and tapped instead of self tapping,
to avoid the stresses tending to rip the plastic apart with the self tapping screws. The new machine thread
screws extended full length, providing a SS center structure so it won't break again, ever. Crappy design of a tiny
detail part. Should have had a drilled axle, head the opposite way and full length screw to begin
with. Other than that (which would have been $210 parts plus....???$100 installation?? for 'normal
folks') it has been a super dishwasher, ultra quiet, works well. A real shame for a tiny detail part, designed
by some 1st year out of school guy, no doubt, to take down what is, overall, a great design, built very well.
Same thing with the washing machine above, a crappy, badly thought out plastic third tier small component,
causes the whole washer to be scrapped. My gain, but for a $7.50 part the woman bought a new washer.

 

[Rick]

A few years I bought an LG washing machine, thanks to Lowes return it in 30 days for full refund policy I didn't have it that long. They came and picked it up and I got a Whirlpool front loader and I've been a happy camper. So far. This washer was the first time I have ever bought an extended warranty. The washer it replaced was 5 years old and not exactly overworked, it only does laundry for one person not a household 8-10 people.

Just read a Consumer Reports article that said Whirlpool has brought all of it's mfg. back from Mexico to Ohio.

 

[462]

Spent a working career selling and repairing home electronics, and selling major home appliances. I watched the overall quality of almost all the brands make a slow progression from excellent to mediocre to poor.

Appliance quality went South about the end of the last century, with the introduction of electronic circuit boards that replaced mechanical devices, the invasion of foreign brands, and the federal government's seemingly loving embrace of the unnecessary and unrealistic dictates of whining and screeching enviro-whackos. Another cause, and without getting political, was the high cost of unionized labor that forced manufacturers to turn to foreign labor and factories.

Bill, I've replaced many Whirlpool washer lid switches and direct drive motor/transmission couplers, and Whirlpool dryer belts, and repaired gas burner assemblies. Locally, the hard water eats dishwasher racks within three to five years, even those that are nylon coated.

Rick, thanks for the Whirlpool Mexico-to-USA update. It appears that Whirlpool has learned a hard lesson.

 

[Rick]

In the Consumer Reports article Whirlpool said that American labor was much higher but that with the American workforce much more efficient and reduced shipping costs for large appliances they would break even on the higher wages paid. Could be, could be PR, dunno but it sounds good to me.

 

[Brad]

The name on the product may not indicate who actually makes/owns it. GE no longer makes any appliances but sold the right to the logo along with the product. You might be amazed to know that GE makes very few, if any, consumer products anymore.

 

[462]

I've been out of the business for a while, so this may not be currently correct: Whirlpool owns the Maytag, Amana and Jenn-Air brands. Frigidaire is owned by Swedish Electrolux. RCA is/was owned by French Philips. Don't know what company is making GE/Hotpoint products, but suspect it is off-shore.

 

[Pistolero]

GE got out of the consumer products business years ago, sold the rights to the name to highest bidders.
IMO, GE as a company is .......well, not a place I would ever consider working. When they brought in "GE's
advanced management practices" to my company, IMO they were a totally brainless disaster, yet the company
execs were so enamored of the outside experts who would teach us all how to be so much better......

I better stop there. Suffice it to say, I avoid all things that say GE on them these days, and feel sorry for
the people working where GE management practices have been implimented. A guy named Welch (IIRC)
is the chief perpetrator. Hope he has a special spot beside The Big Fire.

Really glad to hear Whirlpool has brought their production back to the USA, that will go a long way towards
making me consider their products in any future buys.

And RCA.....the French had absolutely no idea how to solder, at least about 25 years ago when they
made my RCA TV. I had an electronics expert from work who had a side business, and he'd laugh and
reflow a couple hundred solder joints to find the one or two that had cracked. I spent a good part of my
career designing electronic circuit boards for severe shock, vibration and thermal swings environments in
a military application products that quality was absolutely MANDATORY, and I do know what I am talking
about on that topic. I hope that the folks at Thomson CSF make their French military electronics to a higher
standard than their RCA TVs, at least a couple decades back. Miserable, incompetent soldering of PWBs.
Great TV, but got sick of it failing every 12-14 months. I bought a Panasonic LED TV and it has been perfect.
Every Panasonic electronic device I have owned, over 40 years or more has been dead reliable and
all that I have kept still work just fine, including old Technics amp and reciever from the 70s, although
I replaced them a decade or so ago.

Bill

 

[462]

Thanks for the correction, Bill: Thomson rather than Philips.

Sony and Panasonic are my go-to home electronics brands, and I've been a Whirlpool man since about '73.

 

[Pistolero]

The only reason I knew was that I looked up what company was THAT incompetent in soldering a printed
wiring board. World class.....incompetence. I think Phillips is Dutch.

I hope the LG refrigerator is not an expensive repair.

Bill

 

[Tom]

I used to have old maytag washer and dryers. All mechanical and easy to repair. Iirc, most of the internals stayed the same over the years so finding parts locally wasn't a problem.

 

[waco]

Bill. Did you ever get a chance to try your hand at powder coating? If so, how did it go?

 

[Ian]

Yeah, dadgummit, we're waiting.......

 

[Brad]

Yes we are!

 

[Pistolero]

No, not yet, but I am now at the point where I can pick up the toaster oven and move it out to the shop by myself
and then make the hardware cloth rack cover, and set it up to try. So, maybe tomorrow. Pretty much
not using the cane anymore around the house, I carry it when outside, just in case. Two weeks tomorrow.

I have the poppin silver from Eastwood, and the black from....???I forget.

Bill

 

[Ian]

Well some of us may have given up for the moment.....

 

[Pistolero]

That cat probably doesn't care much about it, but sure looks relaxed and comfy.

I had a small intrusion, a matter of dropping in a non-OEM load bearing suspension joint, still
slowing me down a touch. But taking stairs pretty normally on the way up now, not QUITE there
for down yet, but close. Was doing leg presses with 45 lbs today on the new joint, two sets of
ten. And a lot more. Progress is happening. I walked around the property this PM just because,
first time across the bridge and to the far NW corner, felt good to be just cruising around where
I wanted to go. Slowly and carefully.

Bill