Shaky front loader washer

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JHZR2

JHZR2

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Are they just that way? Shaky and move during spin?

I'll be the first to say that our basement floor is not flat. But that is why the feet adjust. First try was to make it level. Still shook like crazy.

Now my attempt is to just lift/shift and adjust the wheels until the shake is minimized.

The washer is a Bosch that spins really fast, over 1000 rpm iirc. I'd like to prevent bearing failures, because this thing shakes. It can walk a fair distance during high speed spin cycle.

I've jarred the machine every way that I can, adjusted the wheels so the washer has good contact with the floor on all corners. Still shakes and wobbles. I'm not sure how else to fix.

Do I need a thick rubber mat or wood shims under the feet or something?

The washer is great, gentle, efficient, and the spin really pulls a lot of water out... But the vibration is terrible.

Suggestions?
 
If you Google "shaking front load washer" you'll see a lot people had problem with shaking during spin cycle with various brands. I was lucky to not have any problem with previous front load washer which lasted 12 years, it died 2 years ago and replaced with LG front load washer without any shaking problems during wash or rinse or spin cycle.

One person post this on the houserepairtalk.com

"I read somewhere, where a person sat their washer on a stall mat. These are one inch thick, dense rubber mats that are made to put inside horse stalls. They make life easier on their hooves. The person had a double-wide, and said it cured their vibration problem. I figured it was worth a try, so I went down to Southern States (Tractor Supply, or any other farm store should also have them.) and picked one up. These measure 4'x6' and are HEAVY! It's about all one person can do to wrestle one around. First impression, was that it was about the perfect firmness. Cool!

I took it home and used a utility knife to cut out a 30"x32" section to set the dryer on, managed to get the dryer on top of it, and started a load....

WOW! The mat absorbed pretty much ALL the vibration from the dryer! It didn't walk anymore, and the floor didn't shake anymore! I STRONGLY recommend anybody buying a front loading washer to invest forty bucks and a little bit of time in a stall mat! They are PERFECT for this application!"
 
Ours is in the basement, a 5 month old samsung front loader. The anti-vibration technology works really well, it doesn't really shake that much at all, unless it's very uneven (such as a comforter). Since it's in the basement sitting on concrete though, it wouldn't make much difference if it did I suppose.
 
WHOoooooo, you do NOT want to get me started on this subject!

All I will say is never again!

For my now extinct FL washer, I ended up using straps and bolted it to the wall.
 
I use a $400 Frigadaire bare bones loss leader front loader installed on the 2nd floor of a 100 yr old home. The house is solid. I decided to use a mat and it helped a bit.

I also think the wood floors have enough give to dissapate the shake. It shook more often in our basement but thankfully my wife/I decided laundry on sleeping floor was a must. We had to drop $1000 in electrical upgrades to get it up there and some minor plumbing.

Interestingly the only other machine that would make it up our tight stairs that was also large enough was Bosch.
 
My in-laws have a GE front loader that shakes and dances all over the floor when it spins. They've had repairmen out several times during the warranty period, and it appears to be the nature of some of the poor quality front loaders.

Our Samsung front loaders (at home and the lake house) have VRT, and you never feel them shake. If you happen to be watching them while they ramp up to full spin speed you can see the tub shift as the bearings even out the weight. When it's up to full speed you can put your hand on top and it's no more vibration than the dashboard of a car at highway speeds.
 
G.E. front loader = factory defect= no customer support= eventual class action lawsuit or recall
 
Ours is from Sears (Kenmore perhaps). We bought the 3 year service contract when purchased. They come out once a year (at a minimum) to do an inspection/service. Year two the vibration bushings were starting to go so new ones were ordered and it was replaced in a month. No issues since.

Repair and house call would have cost as much as the service contract so its paid for itself.

The tech was very good, inspecting everything including the electronics board as he said those sometimes corrode and have been an not uncommon replacement item. Same for the bushings. Poor original design. The originals always end up getting replaced on that particular model made during that year within a 2-3 year time period. The replacement bushings are redesigned and have shown no issues.
 
What's the floor made of? Concrete floors will prevent the shaking but wood floors are pretty much useless. Your solution might be the mat described above.
 
You need to check the shocks. Our Kenmoore/Whirlpool has 4 of them (they look like the type you'd see holding up a trunk lid, just fatter). They can fail. See about pulling the lower front panel off and check underneath the drum.

jeff
 
Our 2-year old Samsung washer is pretty much vibration free. If for some reason the clothes are not distributed evenly resulting in excessive vibration during spin, the machine will slow down, try to reshuffle the clothes, and then continue spinning. Ours sits on tiles.
 
Our issue is a combination of a crooked concrete floor with doing stuff that Ive searched and found to be "difficult", like loads of towels. I think the issue is that the slight variations in the floor can cause issues when slight vibrations smlowly move the machine a tiny bit. The feet are fixed, so the combination of big, hard stuff with some slight inconsistency equals problems.

Some loads it is silent and motion free, others it goes through some harmonic where it really shakes and then smooths out, and others it really shakes. But it seems that there is some flex in the body contributing as much as anything else.

The fact that the unit is on a 1ft pedestal storage unit probably doesnt help...

So now my question is if there is a cheaper option to the $50 stall mat or similarly priced pickup truck bed mat. Welcome mats from HD are neither thick enough nor large enough, and Im not sure I want it to just be corners...

Thoughts?
 
We have a GE, it only shakes when we put too many bath towels in it. I guess they retain alot of water and causes the shake.
 
You just have to endure the shaking to get cleaner wash than that of a top loader...Oh wait they don't wash nearly as well. I am amazed so many people buy into this charade.

I know they save water, and I do have a well. But if I were to buy a front loader my wife would leave...hmmmmm.......
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Oh wait they don't wash nearly as well. I am amazed so many people buy into this charade.


Really you think so? We have been really happy with ours. It is more gentle on the clothes and seems to clean as well or better. We cant complain and would buy another one.
 
After reading about the shaking of these front loaders, I'll stick with another top loader when this 13 year old washer and dryer wear out.
And they will be Whirlpool once again.
 
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