I was at Lowe's yesterday, and saw a very unique, and smart design. It was a top-loading dryer! I had t o stand there a little while and figure out how the thing worked. The drum is posistioned transversely, and it's top half is open. The drum doesn't spin however. Only the paddles of the drum move! The clothing is loaded in one of the gaps between the 3 paddles.

Very neat design. Does anybody here have one of these? I bet these things are great to watch while in operation. How do they perform? A horizontal-axis washer using this same design would probably perform quite well too!

Glenn...oh Glenn....

Top-load HORIZONTAL-AXIS washer...

I have not heard good things about it though....

There are a few people posting at the Laundry Room Forum that are quite happy with their Staber. Initially there were quite a few problems with those machines but apparently they have worked out the flaws. IMHO the technique of these machines look a bit oldfashioned to me, but it might be the simple workhorse that people are looking for.

Both toploading dryers and toploading washers are not uncommon overhere on this side of the big pond. Especially in France toploaders are very popular, even more than frontloaders. I have a weak spot for H-axis toploaders. I have a few of those compact machines myself.

in France....


Louis you DO mean top-loading HORIZIONTAL axis machines,

C'est vrais n'est ce pas?

Its true. Mostly the washer stand in the bathromm, the houses are so little. We in belgium has them too. But I only thrust the miele and aeg. Those are build by those manufacturings thems selfs. The rest are all just the same with an other name on.

Mais oui monsieur Toggle, c'est vrai! I meant H-axis toploaders. The nice things about those machines is that they are smaller (less wide) than the frontloaders and still can hold the same amount of laundry.

Steven,

I've had a SmartLoad dryer since 10/8/2004, and the IWL12 Intuitive Eco washer. It's my 2nd F&P laundry pair. My first set was a GWL08 washer and DE04 dryer on 8/2/1999.

The dryer works great, in my opinion. It's perhaps a touch noiser than some other dryers, and makes some unique sounds, but one quickly gets accustomed to them. I don't know if you're aware from examining the store display model, but the drum reverses tumble direction for ~40 seconds every 4.5 minutes. Reverse tumble really does have an impact on helping prevent bulky items (sheets, blankets) from rolling into a ball. Another feature I like is the wrinkle guard function, which tumbles the load for a few seconds every five minutes for up to twenty-four hours after the dry cycle ends.

You are not quite correct that the entire drum doesn't rotate. It does. Just the *left* sidewall doesn't, where the lint bucket is located. This would be akin to the back wall of a typical Kenmore/Whirlpool dryer that also doesn't turn.

Access to the drum interior for loading is through a panel that slides open, and of course closed when the machine starts. There's a latching mechanism that basically grabs hold of the panel and holds it still while the drum continues to turn to a stop position. When it closes, the drum rotates the other direction and the latching mechanism lets go of the panel. Here are a couple video clips showing the latching/unlatching.

Drum Open

Drum Close

I that drum going into a spin or is this the normally drumspeed.

I forgot some thing.
I can't find any consumer reports of the staber washing machines. Of cours the manufacture will give you only pos reviews. Where can I find non commercial reviews about the staber?

I forgot some thing.
I can't find any consumer reports of the staber washing machines. Of cours the manufacture will give you only pos reviews. Where can I find non commercial reviews about the staber?

askomiele, if you are referring to the video clips above, the machine is a dryer so it doesn't spin. That's the normal tumble speed at the end of the clip showing it close.