Speed Queen washer redesign/discontiued

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The Solid Top Load has be redesigned, with major cost cutting measures such as eliminating the all metal transmission/slapping in relays and bolting the agitator to the wash tub.(no 260 degree stroke, no spin drain)


Also the Front Loading washers will be discontinued this month. They will only be making solid mount Front loaders/commercial.

I wonder how the task of washing clothes could have gone backwards so quickly. I never thought clothes were as clean as with 15 year old Kenmore. My plan was replacing my '08 TL with Speedqueen FL when budget allowed. Now I find out it is changing too. I don’t like idea of being guinea pig and having another dud to contend with. Ruining clothes and throwing out washer after 4 years is not saving the environment or progress.
 
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We were sad to have to say goodbye to our 19 year old Whirlpool direct drive top loader in December, but went immediately and got a new Speed Queen top loader. I had no idea the change was coming. Quite thankful now, as I would not buy the new model. The roll over action on the new machine is very poor with large loads, especially considering it can still fill with water!
 
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Well, was hoping to get a Speed Queen.....not any more...

Not going to say much here, but I expect the company to be sold or bought in the very near future.

Only going to get worse from here....
 
picked up my top loader washer USED in 1992 from my brother's apartment building. 25 yrs later still going strong. I don't even want to think of what I'll have to use after this fails one day.
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Well, was hoping to get a Speed Queen.....not any more...

Not going to say much here, but I expect the company to be sold or bought in the very near future.

Only going to get worse from here....


Ditto. I was hoping they'd stick to the proven formula so that I could pick one up in a few years.

My GE top loader is fine, but I've had to take the whole thing apart once already to replace a tub seal.
 
Anybody that does not have the old proven design should get one quick while they are still available. Best washer I have ever owned.
 
I've got a Kenmore washer from 2003, the lid switch went out and the agitator didn't work anymore. I was about to get a new washer and was not looking forward to it, I've seen some bad new ones in the family.

I ordered a switch and agitator dogs for a total of $15 and fixed it in 20 minutes. Like new.
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs


Not going to say much here, but I expect the company to be sold or bought in the very near future.



Speed Queen is losing ground to Dexter in the laundromat wars - also Electrolux owns Wascomat and those are also a favorite in the laundromat/commercial laundry arena. All the laundromats within my house all use Dexter machines. Speed Queen dominated in the 1980s-1990s.

Raytheon used to own Speed Queen alongside Amana - the former was probably spun off to private equity and operated as Alliance Laundry Systems, Maytag bought the former. While my parents can't splurge on a Speed Queen, looks like there isn't much competition against the Koreans or the for the well-heeled, the Germans(Miele). Samsung and Haier have been making high-stakes buys in appliances - but only the high-end stuff as Dacor(not the scuba brand) was bought by the former, Fisher & Paykel is now a part of Haier. Maybe Speed Queen is prepping for a equity firm flip or a potential purchase?
 
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Had the repair man in last week to repair our Maytag washer(loose wire,$116) I ask him about Speed Queen,according to him they are all JUNK !He went over the 8 main parts of a washer showing were they substituted plastic parts instead of metal and other cheap designs which resulted in poor performance and early breakdowns.He included Speed Queen,Maytag, LG, Samsung,GE,and whirlpool!
 
there is nothing wrong with properly designed and loaded plastic gears. That thing is, going to be bigger.

Frigidaire did a roller scotch yoke transmission, no oil that was quiet, durable and no gears, no oil to leak. Used plastic rollers and a reversing motor, the roller either was sucked in or pushed out between rollers. That transmission never failed.

Rod
 
From Speed Queen rep: Hello, Thank you for your question. We are leaders in commercial laundry and our home products are no different when it comes to quality and longevity - the same care, quality, and dependability that you’ve come to expect from Speed Queen is exactly what you’re getting in the new 2018 product line. Made in Ripon, WI, we still use the commercial grade components, the same that would be used for a laundromat.

Fortunately, at Speed Queen, we believe in quality over cutting corners. The 2018 product line has been tested to 10,400 cycles (equivalent to 25 years' worth of laundry in your home) and has even proven to wash clothes more gently and thoroughly than our previous model. It also has been in development, production and testing for over 3 years to make sure we're delivering the quality everyone expects from us. We would recommend visiting your local Speed Queen dealer to see and learn more about the new models. Once you see everything first hand and have all the facts, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the new machine.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
Had the repair man in last week to repair our Maytag washer(loose wire,$116) I ask him about Speed Queen,according to him they are all JUNK !He went over the 8 main parts of a washer showing were they substituted plastic parts instead of metal and other cheap designs which resulted in poor performance and early breakdowns.He included Speed Queen,Maytag, LG, Samsung,GE,and whirlpool!


While that may be true of all the others, there is only one 'functional' plastic part (besides the water pump) in the old (2017) Speed Queen top loader. I did a lot of research with the parts breakdown looking at components, price and availability before I bought our 'Queen'. It is an amazing machine internally.

The new machine doesn't even have the single, plastic part. I suspect it will be extremely durable. The washing action / roll over is the problem with large loads. Just won't work for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClhWH_lT6_w

The old machine is still available under the commercial, on-premises, laundry line. The old design machine is still available in the Australian market too. You can draw your own conclusions.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
Had the repair man in last week to repair our Maytag washer(loose wire,$116) I ask him about Speed Queen,according to him they are all JUNK !He went over the 8 main parts of a washer showing were they substituted plastic parts instead of metal and other cheap designs which resulted in poor performance and early breakdowns.He included Speed Queen,Maytag, LG, Samsung,GE,and whirlpool!

Yaaawwnn, pilots have reported they have seen UFO's
 
I bought a Speed Queen top loader in late 2016. I really, really hate the small capacity of it. It doesn't fit our king size comforter. The house I had custom built is set up to have two washers and two dryers in the laundry room.


GE makes a large capacity top loader with a deep fill option which means it should clean clothes well.
I'm going to look at this model today:
http://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-specs/GTW460ASJWW

Unrelated thread with my washer in the pic:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4320831/1
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv

GE makes a large capacity top loader with a deep fill option which means it should clean clothes well.
I'm going to look at this model today:
http://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-specs/GTW460ASJWW


The Q&A on how to reset it when it malfunctions are impressive too.
mad.gif
 
I bought a new top load a couple years ago. Besides a couple quirks and a bump as an agitator at the bottom, it cleans the clothes fairly well.. How long it will last? Who knows but definitely under 10 years, no doubt.
 
NONE of them are made to last anymore. Bought a LG front loader and dryer set 10 years ago, and I've had to repair both several times. If it weren't for YouTube and online parts stores, it would have been 3x as expensive. I will say the washer seems to get clothes cleaner than my old top loader, but I think, just due to physics, the high capacity beats the heck out of the entire machine. You get the high capacity, so you load it up to the max, but just by the nature of where gravity distributes the weight on a front loader means a lot more vibration to mitigate and wear and tear. Now granted, this set has had to live through kids since starting middle school and that meant A LOT of loads with how much girls change clothes, all the sports uniforms and workout clothes, etc. They are on their last legs and I was looking at SQ too, but have noticed the reviews on them have degraded, so I'm going to have to look hard when my son finally graduates here in May.
 
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