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Thread Number: 216
Fisher + Paykel TL Dryer vs. Consumer Reports |
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Post# 46314 10/5/2004 at 07:30 (6,741 days old) by frigilux  (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Post# 46335 , Reply# 2 10/5/2004 at 15:52 (6,741 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 46337 , Reply# 3 10/5/2004 at 15:55 (6,741 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 46378 , Reply# 5 10/6/2004 at 02:15 (6,741 days old) by kenmore1978 () | ||
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F & P TL dryer So what's the point of a top loading dryer, anyway? What's the advantage? Besides the issues CR brought up, you lose the space on top of a dryer a lot of people use as a workspace. What is F & P thinking? | ||
| Post# 46382 , Reply# 6 10/6/2004 at 05:26 (6,741 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
FP TL dryer
I saw these at the KBIS here in Orlando,Fl.in 2002.The ones that were on display and running were very quiet.They sounded nothing like a jet taking off or landing.Their capacity was huge and the loading and unloading of items was a lot easyer than the traditional dryers especialy if you own a top loading washer because the transfer of items from one to the other was a breeze.My recomendation to match it would be the GE Harmony.I like their agitation better than the FP as far as top loading washers are concerned.I realy do not care for them(top loading washers) but if I had to own a current model,that would be the one.
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Post# 46383 , Reply# 7 10/6/2004 at 05:55 (6,740 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 46385 , Reply# 8 10/6/2004 at 07:49 (6,740 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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I'd imagine loading the F+P TL dryer is easy, especially when transferring clothes from a TL washer. It's unloading the machine they found cumbersome. It will be interesting to see if any other manufacturers follow their lead. I'm all for encouraging new designs, but I think most of America will probably choose to continue to bend over for their dryers.
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Post# 46408 , Reply# 9 10/6/2004 at 16:10 (6,740 days old) by brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia) |
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Bending Americans I was reading some literature I think from the F&P website ages ago. Apparantly the TL dryer is aimed soley at the American market, because Americans dont like to bend over. Strange I know, since the US pioneered the constant use of the dryer, but that was F&P's logic | ||
| Post# 46440 , Reply# 10 10/6/2004 at 23:33 (6,740 days old) by golittlesport (California) | ||
hahaha..."Americans don't like to bend over." Sad, but true. Too many Amercians would just like to stand there and not move at all and watch life pass them by. Just as CR said unloading the TL dryer is hard, I think unloading a deep-tub top load washer is harder than a front loader. Reaching down into the bottom of a TL washer and lifting heavy wet wash up and out(and remember with TL's spin speeds the wash is a lot heavier) around the clunky auger agitators in todays machines is no cakewalk. I wonder how the vertically challenged among us cope with these three-foot deep wash tubs. | ||
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Post# 46464 , Reply# 11 10/7/2004 at 17:30 (6,739 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 46508 , Reply# 13 10/8/2004 at 14:23 (6,738 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 46513 , Reply# 14 10/8/2004 at 15:32 (6,738 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 46518 , Reply# 15 10/8/2004 at 16:00 (6,738 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
EXCELLENT! | ||
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Post# 46545 , Reply# 16 10/9/2004 at 00:41 (6,738 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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First quickie report on the dryer. I haven't yet run any loads. 1. The drum really is quite large, and deeper than I expected. Thus, CR's comment/complaint, LOL. I don't imagine any more so than a typical 6.5 to 7 cu ft capacity front-load dryer . . but one doesn't normally look down into a front-load dryer drum to directly observe the depth! 2. It's a little noisier than I expected when running, quite a strong thrumming sound, I suspect from the blower. It (the blower) makes a slight turbo-whine at the start, vaguely like the SmartDrive motor revving up to 1000 RPM. And there is a strong, distinct KLUNK when the drum lid latches/unlatches . . but it's brief. | ||
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Post# 46550 , Reply# 17 10/9/2004 at 03:38 (6,738 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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| Post# 46557 , Reply# 18 10/9/2004 at 04:36 (6,738 days old) by kenmore1978 () | ||
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TL dryer So this is really good timing, bring out a TL dryer just as they're trying to switch people to FL washers. So now, you end up bending over anyway, except that it's the washer instead of the dryer. | ||
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Post# 46560 , Reply# 19 10/9/2004 at 05:02 (6,738 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Well, F&P certainly isn't trying to switch people to FL washers. And it makes sense, combining a toploading washer and a toploading dryer. Siemens already had matching toploading sets in the sixties. There is a picture in my Yahoo album. I think it's also a good idea that people have a choice between toploading and frontloading. I guess it's very convenient to have a toploading set when you have a narrow laundryroom.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO foraloysius's LINK | ||
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Post# 46601 , Reply# 20 10/9/2004 at 18:11 (6,737 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Excellent Glenn, you're going to be the F&P expert! Does the dryer have a variable speed blower? You can slightly hear the blower starting on the Harmony dryer, but that too is brief and not THAT loud. It will be interesting to hear about the lint filter/storage system too... I once had a supervisor that insisted on something negative or "needs improving" when writing performance reviews for subordinates. I wonder if this is CR's philosophy as well? | ||
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Post# 46612 , Reply# 21 10/10/2004 at 02:46 (6,737 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Initial Report Details -- F&P SmartLoad Dryer
ARGHHH!!! I had a very long post composed, and lost it when my browser crashed. Will gather my thoughts at some point and try again. To be more brief for now . . . I apparently am wrong about the blower making the start-up whine. I believe it's the drum motor. Someone on THS mentioned a while ago that the blower does not run during the reverse tumble periods, and the start-up whine *does* occur during reverse tumble. I haven't yet checked the vent outside during a reverse tumble period to comfirm the blower status . . but I believe it does not run because the machine is quieter during the reverse periods. The drum is belt-driven, not direct-drive. I pulled the console to retrieve the tech sheet, and saw the belt wrapped around the right side through a wiring access opening. The tech sheet indicates the motor is 3-phase. I didn't specifically notice, but I assume it's DC-powered like the SmartDrive. There is also mention of a 24-volt drum-lid motor, I don't know exactly how that comes into play. A small load of sheets (queen-size flat, fitted, three pillow slips) was resting comfortably in the drum. Absolutely no tangling or balling! A real test on that point will be my queen-size quilt, which always balled up horribly, needing to be rearranged several times until completely dry. For those who may not be aware, the 'wrinkle guard' functions for 24 hours. A brief tumble every five minutes (I think). I believe each tumble period reverses direction. One other 'negative' comment, besides the noisiness, is that the signal beeps need to be louder. It beeps when the damp dryness level is reached during a cycle, in case one wants to remove some items for ironing, and it's easy to miss the beeps if not paying fairly close attention. Anyway, I'm liking it thus far. :-) A few more details later, along with comments on the Intuitive Eco. | ||
| Post# 46646 , Reply# 22 10/10/2004 at 19:17 (6,736 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
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Awesome Reports | ||
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Post# 46703 , Reply# 23 10/11/2004 at 00:15 (6,736 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Another correction :-)
!!Correction!! -- The blower *does* run during reverse tumble. It stops during the pause preceeding a reverse . . which leads me to believe now that the blower is driven by the drum motor, and not by a separate motor as I initially surmised. Which also means that it isn't variable speed, unless the tumble speed varies . . which I suppose is possible. If it's a SmartDrive-type motor, then it could have feedback sensing for the load size. Note: The wiring diagram on the tech sheet indicates dual heating elements -- 1.4 KW and 3.6 KW. I've love to have a factory service manual for the two machines. A load of towels was in the cool down phase when I left for work this evening. A good-size washer load, not a full load but pretty close. Sorry, I didn't time it, but the load dried in record speed, on the Regular cycle at 'normal' dryness level. I did check it before I left (restarted it to finish the cool down and wrinkle guard), and didn't find anything damp or stiffly overdried. This contrary (at the moment) to CR's report that indicated performance with larger loads is not as good as smaller loads. I took a peep at the lint hopper during the check on the towels. Lint is deposited in little balls. Cute little lint balls! Didn't seem to be very much. Lots of things yet to investigate -- performance on a load of jeans, testing on what it comes up with for the Damp dryness level, the effect of reverse-tumble on that challenging quilt. Hmmm, maybe target air temps could be checked by placing an instant-read thermometer in the lint receptacle. | ||
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