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Thread Number: 28077
2010 Admiral-pool washer and dryer |
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Post# 429726 4/18/2010 at 20:43 (5,119 days old) by KenmoreGuy64  (Charlotte, NC) |
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I have been intrigued by inexpensive washers for quite some time. I remember in high school in the 80s when an appliance store in Denver would advertise in the Rocky Mountain News every couple days - they'd offer either an absolute BOL GE single cycle washer or a Frigidaire. Both were offered at $249.99 and were single knob models. I was fascinated by them. Kenmore and Whirlpool had them too, but they were more expensive.
Fast-forward to 2010 when I saw a thread on here about two months ago discussing the merits of an Admiral washer available at Home Depot. Not a BOL machine in the same sense as the one-cycle wonders I mentioned above, but the machines went on sale again for $259 ($239 for the electric dryer), so their prices anyway are reminscent of 28+ years ago. $498 for a decently featured washer/dryer pair in 2010 amazed me, so in a weak moment, I hit the 'buy' button online. The machines arrived yesterday. Not sure what I'm going to ultimately do with a brand new washer and dryer when I'm accustomed to using machine 30 years old or older, but they should be fun. For now they're staying in their boxes. Pics to follow.... Gordon | ||
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Post# 429734 , Reply# 1 4/18/2010 at 21:37 (5,119 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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Here's a few pics - still in the boxes | ||
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Post# 429735 , Reply# 2 4/18/2010 at 21:38 (5,119 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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Post# 429736 , Reply# 3 4/18/2010 at 21:39 (5,119 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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Post# 429737 , Reply# 4 4/18/2010 at 21:40 (5,119 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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| Post# 429744 , Reply# 5 4/18/2010 at 22:18 (5,119 days old) by supersurgilator (Indiana) | ||
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Awesome machines. I wouldn't mind having a set of those myself. Is there any way you could post a vid when you have them up and running? | ||
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Post# 429852 , Reply# 6 4/19/2010 at 09:21 (5,119 days old) by Pulsator (Saint Joseph, MI) |
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Post# 429862 , Reply# 7 4/19/2010 at 09:48 (5,119 days old) by 48bencix (Sacramento CA) |
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Bol is the way to go Maybe the Roper is the way to go. You could use a "y" adapter and attach the cold inlet to hot and cold and use the knobs on the "y" to select your water temperature. No more automatic lowering of the hot water temp, if that's what you want. | ||
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Post# 429886 , Reply# 8 4/19/2010 at 11:01 (5,119 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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I wanted one of those Roper machines, and the first time the Admirals were on sale I said "no", but the overall value just astounded me. There is a dealer in Charlotte which has offered the Ropers, but when I tried to buy one they wouldn't sell them. I found a store in Atlanta that had them, but they were $298.
I was amazed that is has only one inlet valve, and yes, as Martin says above, you have total control of temperatures that way. I'd still like one of these Ropers.... | ||
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Post# 429889 , Reply# 9 4/19/2010 at 11:04 (5,119 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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Post# 429897 , Reply# 11 4/19/2010 at 11:26 (5,119 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land) |
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Post# 429917 , Reply# 12 4/19/2010 at 13:10 (5,119 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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Rob - I thought of you and your Kenmore 500 fiasco when reading the owner's manual for this machine. It has the three 'every-day' cycles, but the Gentle cycle doesn't seem gentle to me. It runs with high-speed agitation apparently, and the only thing on the machine that uses the low-speed motor capability is the spin in the Perm Press cycle. I will yield to Whirlpool's near 30-years of history with these machines and figure they know what they're doing, but I don't know why you'd offer a machine with a Gentle cycle and it operate at warp-speed agitation. Seems to me that the Regular cycle should be termed "Heavy Duty" and the Gentle should wash on low-speed and be called Normal/Gentle depending on the time setting. This is how my 1993 Kenmore is set-up and that seems to make more sense. This may not have worked for Kenmore though (not sure how consumers reacted to that set-up), as using the low-speed Normal cycle on high water levels is very unremarkable. I learned to use Normal for medium loads, and Heavy Duty for full loads. Using a medium water level with high-speed agitation results in dizzying turn over.
The owner's manual for this washer is underhelming to say the least. Nothing in the manual applies to this machine, and all the comments are in generalities, including the explanation of cycles. It says that not all features are found on every model, so perhaps my actual results will be better or different! I am going to have a bit of separation anxiety from the Belt-Drives if I begin to use this machine on a regular basis. Kevin - I don't know about these babies. If they remain in my garage instead of going to storage, they'll likely be unboxed and used this summer. I think curiosity is eventually going to get the better of me. If I put them away, then yes, one day 10 years from now they could be making their debut. What would be fun is to bring my 1993 DD out of hybernation again and compare it side by side to this washer in terms of noise, etc. People seem to be saying that DDs have become louder, and perhaps they have. A relatively unused 17-year old DD would be cool to compare to a 2010 DD. | ||
| Post# 430008 , Reply# 13 4/19/2010 at 19:30 (5,118 days old) by aldspinboy (Philadelphia, Pa) | ||
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| Post# 430009 , Reply# 14 4/19/2010 at 19:32 (5,118 days old) by aldspinboy (Philadelphia, Pa) | ||
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| Post# 430010 , Reply# 15 4/19/2010 at 19:34 (5,118 days old) by aldspinboy (Philadelphia, Pa) | ||
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| Post# 430053 , Reply# 16 4/19/2010 at 22:13 (5,118 days old) by spookiness (Alexandria VA) | ||
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good machines noisy, but get the job done. I've had mine for about 6 months now I guess. | ||
| Post# 430063 , Reply# 17 4/19/2010 at 22:32 (5,118 days old) by surgilator_68 (Maryland) | ||
Manuals/Tech Sheets | ||
| Post# 430126 , Reply# 18 4/20/2010 at 06:03 (5,118 days old) by dnastrau (Lords Valley, PA) | ||
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Noise You could always try adding some sound insulation to the inside of cabinet to quiet it down. | ||
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Post# 437327 , Reply# 20 5/25/2010 at 10:07 (5,083 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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| Post# 437383 , Reply# 22 5/25/2010 at 14:53 (5,083 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Isn't the control panel supposed to be white? Is there a layer of plastic on it causing it to look blue. I hate that when people install their machines and leave the plastic on them! | ||
| Post# 437528 , Reply# 23 5/26/2010 at 02:56 (5,082 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
Actually | ||
| Post# 437529 , Reply# 24 5/26/2010 at 05:44 (5,082 days old) by tbolt25 (Kentucky) | ||
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good washers but... I think these Whirlpool-made washers are good, but I don't like the way they agitate. I like old-school, long style slower agitation strokes. | ||
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Post# 437544 , Reply# 25 5/26/2010 at 08:35 (5,082 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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| Post# 437809 , Reply# 26 5/27/2010 at 10:42 (5,081 days old) by gmmcnair (Portland, OR) | ||
Nice Machines!
I have the same washer as my daily driver. I am very pleased with it, especially for the price. They're a screaming good deal and wash very well. I find that the fast agitation isn't terribly harsh as long as you don't overload the machine. I drop everything in loosely, and I haven't had a problem.
I too was put off initially by the Gentle Cycle, but the pause and then agitate hasn't hurt anything I've used it for in the last several months. The only downside is Hot is now Warm, Warm is now Cool, Cool is Cold....and so on. | ||
| Post# 437813 , Reply# 27 5/27/2010 at 10:53 (5,081 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
Temp Control | ||
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Post# 438104 , Reply# 28 5/28/2010 at 21:04 (5,079 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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| Post# 438177 , Reply# 29 5/29/2010 at 01:52 (5,079 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
"To get hotter water, what would happen if you select hot and just turn off the cold supply?"
The Environment Police would come and arrest you. You'd be stuffed in a dungeon with washer that only does cold water washes. Seriously, I have heard of people doing this. I wouldn't be surprised if some modern washers wouldn't stop filling and wait for the "problem" to be corrected. But the Admiral might let you get away with it. Given its low price, I imagine the temperature limiting would be the cheapest/easiest approach. Plus,I don't see anything that looks like an error light or display on that machine. Which raises one thought about another value of this machine--it appears that the timer is an mechanical one. If you are really lucky, there is no "control board" that costs more to replace than the machine sold for, and which will be impossible to even find in 3 years. | ||
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Post# 438273 , Reply# 30 5/29/2010 at 14:07 (5,079 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL) |
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Nice Pair! | ||
| Post# 438275 , Reply# 31 5/29/2010 at 14:15 (5,079 days old) by surgilator_68 (Maryland) | ||
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Hotter water.... | ||
| Post# 439002 , Reply# 32 6/1/2010 at 23:52 (5,075 days old) by spookiness (Alexandria VA) | ||
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but what about the dryers? There has been a lot of chatter about these washers and their value (I own one). But any experience with the dryers? Or they all too similar? | ||
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Post# 439429 , Reply# 33 6/3/2010 at 13:50 (5,074 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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The dryer is the typical Whirlpool fare, 29-inch top-mount lint screen, ten bazillion made, dependable dryer. I would be surprised if there is anything truly objectionable about the dryer in design, but I'm not completely sold on the timer they're using.
What's interesting is that the Estate, Roper and Inglis (I think) variants of the washer are essentially identical except the control panel itself. The dryer though has some differences. Reading the reviews of the Admiral dryer, users object to the 30 or 35 minute timed drying cycles, especially the 30-minute low-heat timed cycle, which won't dry much in 30 minutes except a doily. I believe the Estate version has a 60-minute timed high-heat cycle, and an automatic termination cycle for the low-heat, which makes a lot more sense. All this can be wired in with no added materials, just plug-in a different timer. Apparently Maytag/Whirlpool on this dryer wanted to encourage users to use the auto cycle, but some users seem too stupid to know how to use them, let alone read an owner's guide. Gordon | ||
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