machines TT or Reg

I do. Danby TT-420. Got it in January. Does a great job cleaning, and it's fast efficient & quiet. Half the power consumption per pound of laundry compared to my Hotpoint TL (which I still use for things that are too big to fit in the compact Danby). About 1/3 less water consumption per pound also. And I don't mind the "manual intervention;" I researched the topic before buying so I knew what the routine is with TTs (actually it's kinda' fun, and I can get more thorough rinses if needed).

Apparently the highly-popular Danby FLs are being phased out at Home Despot as they switch over to LG. That's too bad because those Danby FLs also got rave reviews. And they had a sanitize cycle. And, lower cost & higher quality than many competing machines.

There's another Danby I haven't seen "in-person" or heard much about, which is a compact TL. Like the TT it has an American-style agitator, but it's a regular automatic. Saw a very positive review on That Home Site, the person tried another brand, didn't like it, got the Danby, thought it was great.

Hmm, I suppose I could post pictures if anyone's interested...

Ofcourse we want to see pictures!!!

Some over in THS seem to rave about the Danby compact front loader washer and dryer. Common praise is these machines offer cycles found on higher end units like Miele for a fraction of the price. Of course quality wise Danby units are no where near a Miele, but for the money many seem to think they are getting value for the dollar.

The Danby front loader sold in the US does have a built in transformer (like older Miele washers sold in the same market), which IIRC the heater is powered. The compact dryer is 220v, but not sure if it is "American" or "European" wiring; read 1 220v wire and a ground or 2 120v wires and a ground).

Launderess

Foraloysius, I'll have some pics in a few days or at most over the weekend.

Launderess, re. Danby dryer: It's 220 volts AC, designed so you can wire it up a couple of different ways, so it might be adaptable to US and Euro wiring.

I have the Danby FL washer, but did not purchase the matching dryer, as I also have my Maytag Dependable Care TL's in use as well. Although my Danby is certainly NOT a Miele, I feel like it is a very good machine for the money. I paid $377 at Home Depot before they ran out, and get excellent results.

It is 110V, yet has an internal heater that heats up to 200*F, which is much hotter than any of the other American 110V front-loaders. I know that not too many people "boil" their laundry, but I really like a 200*F wash for whites. I have the brightest whites I've had in years, and I no longer use LCB! (With the help of some quality European detergents with Oxygen Bleach built in, of course.)

The regular wash cycle is 1:05 hours long, and heats the water while it tumbles. The Danby is plumbed for both hot and cold fill. Although I've considered using a "Y-Connecter" to have cold fill only for a good profile wash, I have found a way to avoid having to do that. When washing whties, I use a prewash, which is done in cold water, and then the regular wash fills with hot water, but by the time the small amount of water gets from the water heater to the mahcine, it ends up being luke-warm. Add that to the fact that the Danby drains but does not spin between the pre-wash and the main wash, then the clothes are cool to luke-warm when the wash begins. The heater does a very good job heating quickly, and reaches top temperature from 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the load size. This is pretty close to a profile wash, so all types of stains are addressed during the wash cycle, giving me sparkling clean and BRIGHT WHITE clothes!

I think my next purchase will be a Miele set, but for now I am quite happy with my Danby, and consider it an excellent value. Only time will tell how reliable this little machine will be!

Tex

hehehe

You're wrong Pete, You're wrong!!!!

hoho

in styrofoam no less all around the box

`

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Yep, that's the unit. You beat me to posting pictures there!

Pardon the length of this posting, but here's a bunch of stuff I've learned in 10 months' experience using this machine for everything except large items such as big blankets (for which my large Hotpoint TL continues to serve). Just so you have the information before getting started (otherwise there is a learning curve).

There's a small modification you may want to do, which will make it run really quietly. The rear panel is plain galvanized sheet metal screwed to the back of the housing. (It has somewhat sharp edges so handle it carefully.) Get some duct tape. Take off the rear panel. Line the edges with a single strip of duct tape folded over each edge. When you put the panel back on (careful, do not overtighten the screws, the sheet metal on the cabinet is thin, you don't want to strip the screw holes), the duct tape will form a slight cushion between the metal surfaces. This in turn will eliminate the vibration noise that would otherwise occur with the standard metal-to-metal contact, and it doesn't look bad either. I suggested this to Danby and they said it was an interesting idea, they might do something with it.

Note also, the manual says 10 lb. capacity. Realistically it's 6 lbs., which divides neatly into two 3 lb. loads through the spin dryer. (I have yet to see or hear of a compact washer of any kind that will hold more than 60% of its rated capacity; the issue is the tendency of stiff articles to take up relatively more space in a smaller drum in order to move around.)

Also note, the "gentle" setting is plenty strong enough for almost everything. The only time I use the "normal" setting is with a full load of nothing but white underpants & white socks but even then, "gentle" will do the job perfectly well. I tend to suspect the "gentle" cycle is also a bit too vigorous for *really* delicate items, but I haven't tried that yet (like, dood, guys don't have lace undies!:-). The agitator looks deceptively simple with its four plain-Jane straight vanes, but in fact works quite well. Note, the "normal" setting, when used with larger items, may cause some splashing if you leave the washtub lid off.

Don't wrap pant legs around the agitator; bunch up your pants and toss 'em in on one side or the other and they'll do fine. Same case with long sleeved shirts. Same case with any compact washer having a standard American-style agitator.

I don't leave the fill hose attached when the machine isn't in use. Instead I unplug it from the control panel (the fittings are quite durable enough to deal with constant plugging & unplugging of the fill hose) and let it hang vertically from a hook in the kitchen, so it will dry thoroughly inside. This way only the discharge hose remains attached, so there's one less hose to think about when maneuvering the machine back from the sink to its storage spot next to the counter.

The sink adaptor that came with the unit fit my sink faucet slightly imperfectly such that it wouldn't stay on all the time when the faucets were turned up high, eventually the threads stripped. I went to the hardware store and got a new one for a few bucks which fit perfectly and has stayed on with no problems. I suspect the issue here is a slight measurement difference in the original adaptor, but since it only costs a few bucks to remedy it's no big deal.

Remember to clean out the lint filter, which is located in the agitator post (a quarter-twist of the top part will release it).

I've never found it necessary to remove that coarse-items filter at the top rear right side of the washtub, or the one at the right rear of the agitator; lint does not build up in those places. Though if you do, don't use a sharp object to pry it out, use a blunt object such as a butter knife or similar.

Re. water fill: turn off water supply manually; the overflow drain does not automatically turn on the water pump all the time (if you briefly switch the drain selector to "drain" and back again, the pump will stay on to handle overflow).

Keep hot water temps at or below whatever it said in the manual, I think that translates to 140 Fahrenheit if I recall correctly. Water too hot will cause deformation of the plastic tubs; this pertains not only to the Danby TT but all other washers w/ plastic tubs. (Yes, the folks who prefer stainless steel will laugh, but OTOH if you need to sanitize a load, there's always bleach or hydrogn peroxide.)

Re. the spinner: an evenly balanced load will spin almost silently. Most of the time loads are slightly unbalanced so you get a certain amount of vibration though it's still pretty darn quiet. However if you have a serious unbalance and hear the spinner bump against the inside of the compartment, open the lid immediately and repack the load; you don't want that thing bumping aound at high speeds.

And *always* put the spin mat (that circular plastic thing like a slightly warped frisbee) in on top of the spin load, to prevent socks etc. escaping and causing much mayhem.

I don't think it's possible to defeat the safety brake attached to the spin lid; it's a very clever design, opening the lid releases the cable, which causes the brake to be applied.

I've been thinking about trying to order a replacement washtub lid and spintub lid, and cutting large circular holes in them and mounting some 1/4" thick plexiglass (perspex) in there with white nylon screws, to provide visibility with both lids closed. Then I'd put the replacement lids on and keep the originals for spares if ever needed (and if I screwed up the modification, it wouldn't be a loss 'cause I'd have the original lids in hand to put back on).

Note, this unit is not designed for Hoovermatic-style extract/spin rinses. If you try putting water through the spinner while it's running, it will bog down the motor and I suspect that could cause the motor to wear out prematurely. However, what does work is: Don't snap-shut the inner spin lid, just leave it casually closed. Unplug the water hose; and when the spin motor stops and the spinner is coasting to a stop (which takes about a minute), turn on the water, lift the lids slightly, and poke the water hose under the outer & inner lid, and direct the water into the center hole of the spin-mat. This will a) re-soak the load for a subsequent spin, and b) cause the spintub to slow to a stop more quickly; after which you can turn off the water and set the spin timer for another minute or two. This is as close as you'll get to an extract/spin cycle, but it works quite well and you'll see the results with the suds that get discharged each time you do this. Caution, do not stick your fingers in there or let the hose contact the moving spinner; at high speed it can cause serious injury.

No mixed loads of towels *and* plain sheets; this combination a) tends to wrap around the agitator, and b) can offbalance the spinner badly. In fact this combination is not recommended for large TLs and FLs because it can offbalance them pretty badly during spin also.

To encourage suds, stick the drain hose over the edge of the washtub and switch the pump on. Suds are caused by water falling into water more than by agitation as such. This is useful for determining if the amount of detergent you're using is adequate (i.e. "enough" suds but "not too much", is a useful indicator). You'll discover that you can use less detergent than normal with this machine and get the same level of clean as you would otherwise get with more detergent; I think this has to do with the more efficient spin cycle.

Also do not drain the washtub while spinning; the manual says that the water could back up from the washtub into the spintub which is trouble; instead, drain the washtub while moving the load from washtub to spintub.

Leave the lids off/open overnight after use to allow everything to dry out; same as with any other washer, to prevent mold from forming.

Fast wash procedure: 4-1/2 lb. load, wash for 6 to 9 minutes, move to spintub, spin for 2 minutes while re-filling washtub, move to washtub, use overflow rinse for 6 to 9 minutes with incoming water at 1-3 gallons/minute (discharge will be intermittent as water level fluctuates slightly), move to spintub, final spin for 5 minutes, done in less than 30 minutes. A decent TL will do twice that load in twice the time, so the time-efficiency is comparable or a little better. A large TL (12 lbs.) can be more time-efficient depending on cycle, but many users of compact machines don't have space for a large machine. (Note, the point of the 4-1/2 lb. load is, that's the max capacity of the spinner; so you can put the entire wash load in the spinner at once, which saves time compared to a 6# wash load that divides into two 3# spin loads). If you're doing multiple loads in one day you can wash or rinse one load while spinning another; more time-savings there; this can be as time-efficient as a large TL.

If you have more time: let the load soak for 10-15 minutes before turning on the agitator for the wash cycle; this is a "free" soak cycle!:-).

BTW, maximum power consumption (measured) is quite low, so this unit is very suitable for houses on offgrid power. Agitator is about 250 watts, spinner is about 150, pump is about 27. Total power consumption is an amazingly low 0.06 KWH for a 4-1/2 lb. load, which is about half per pound compared to Hotpoint TL; and should be even more efficient with a 6-lb load (I'll run that test this weekend).

Hello to all!

New member here. Just want to add about the Danby DTT-420W the following.

I had mine since the middle of September and I make a little modification to it.

Normally, when you set the spin timer on, you must close the external spin cover so the drain pump and the spin motor will start.

The change that I made let me activate the drain pump as soon as the spin timer is on, regardless if the external spin cover is close or not.

That let me do a pseudo drain spin like this:

1- After spinning the cloth, I let the cloth in the spin tub and I saturate them with fresh water.

2- When the cloths are saturate, I start the spin timer with the external spin cover open. The drain pump starts and drains the excess water in the spin tub.

3- When only a trickle of water is coming out of the drain hose, then and only then, I close the external spin cover to spin the cloth.

That let me do spin rinse without straining the spin motor because there is no excess water in the spin tub.

If you would like the procedure, let me know.

About draining the spin and washtub at the same time. You could do it if you respect the following sequence.

1- Start spinning the cloths.

2- When ONLY a little bit or no water is coming out of the drain hose while the spinner operate, you can start to drain the wash tub without problem to the spinning action.

The problem of draining both tub at the same time arise when there is a lot of water in the spin tub to open a check valve at the bottom of the spin tub. If this check valve is open and your drain the washtub, the water of the washtub will go into the spin tub during the draining operation. However, if there is no or almost no water in the spin tub, the check valve will be close and the draining of the washtub can be done while the spinner is still functioning.

Hope it make sense.

As you can see, English is not my language and I better read your post than making one. ;-)

So be patient with me and do not hurt me to badly... :-))

its open

spin lid

what a cutie-pie of a machine!


Lawrence/Maytagbear

right side

front

not sure might be pressure switch for pump used on overflow wash rinse in main tub

spin motor

drain pump left side white hose clamp

back panel

dent

bought as scratch and dent

crack

prolly be fine

Cute machine indeed. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Could you make a picture of the control panel please? I hope you have lots of fun using this machine!

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wash motor

Thank you very much! I love the spin timer!

I got around to taking some pictures tonight; will process & post in a day or two.

Yes, the timed spin is a useful feature, as is the timed wash. Simple mechanical timers that wind down with the familiar ticking sound, the wash-timer having a periodic tick-tock as the power-reversing relay operates to control the agitator. No computer controls to get out of order.

Bpetersxx, thanks for the pictures; I've got some of the internal workings but yours are better for detail. For example now I see how that clever spinner braking mechanism works; it's a pincher that grabs a disc on the shaft.

Chribeau, thanks for the heads'up on the pump during the spin cycle. The way I achieve that result is by quickly switching the drain selector to "drain" and then back to "wash/rinse." Sometimes it catches on the first try, sometimes it takes a couple of tries. I also use that method to be sure the pump is running during overflow rinse, in case the overflow valve doesn't trip on its own.

going to try to fix the overflow rinse

will post details on how I come out on it