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Thread Number: 3756
FL'ers - tilted tubs vs. true horizontal tubs |
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| Post# 90852 10/26/2005 at 21:05 (6,755 days old) by zipdang (Portland, OR) | ||
What are the opinions out there of tilted-tub front loaders versus true horizontal tubs? The two FL'ers that I've owned (a Bosch and a White-Westinghouse) were both true horizontals, and they worked great. I'm considering replacing my 2 year-old KitchenAid top loader with a new front loader. It seems like all the large capacity front loaders (Duet, HE3/4, Bosch Nexxt, etc.) all have tilted tubs, and only the small units still have horizontal tubs. What are the pros and cons of each? I seem to remember Asko touting that their horiztonal tub design was more reliable than Maytag's tilted tub design, which makes me wonder if there's greater stress on the bearings or something. If tilted tubs are so great, how come the biggun' triple-loaders (Milnors, Wascomats) in laundromats don't have them? Just curious. | ||
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Post# 90868 , Reply# 1 10/26/2005 at 21:54 (6,755 days old) by toggleswitch  (New York City, NY) |
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why tilt it?  | ||
| Post# 90872 , Reply# 2 10/26/2005 at 22:35 (6,755 days old) by zipdang (Portland, OR) | ||
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Post# 90883 , Reply# 3 10/26/2005 at 23:42 (6,755 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Westinghouse was the last American front load washing machine to have a titled tub, and it was a disaster from a housewife's perspective. Nicknamed "the rope maker" laundry would emerge in a tangled mess that would take ages to set right. IIRC titled tub designs were then a nightmare in terms of design and repair, but could be wrong. For whatever reason European and US front loaders abandoned titled tub design long ago, until now. In order to design large capacity front loaders to appeal to the US market, that have "easy access", the titled drum has made a return. This enables US domestic front loader with this feature to advertise ease in loading and unloading, something which in traditional front loaders seemed to turn Americans away in droves. Commercial laundromats solve the unloading and loading problem of large washers by raising them on platforms. Most platforms designed for home washers in the United States seem more for storage rather than supporting/stablising the washer. Finally the jury is still out on the life span of tilted drum versus pure H-axis front loaders. IIRC tilted drums have slightly more stress on their rear bearings than their "pure" cousins, so it should be interesting to see how these machines hold up say over 10 or so years. Then again considering how many FriGeMore washers with traditional designs needed new bearings after just 3-5 years of use, could mean it all is relative. Launderess | ||
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Post# 90891 , Reply# 5 10/27/2005 at 05:35 (6,755 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Bendix started it and nothing really has changed since then; front load washing requires lifting and dropping against the drum. With a tilted tub laundry naturally will move towards the rear of the tub, unless the machine is some how designed to compensate for this. Still it probably takes "longer" to wash in a tilted tub washer than a pure H-axis machine since no matter how well designed, the laundry still must be moved from the back to the front. Titled tub machines seem also to have more issues with balancing loads. By some accounts LG washers are the worst for this, with Bosch in the middle. The Bosch Nexxt seems more inclined to be more hyper sensitive towards unbalanced loads (or perceived thereof) and use a lower spin speed, while LGs simply take ages to ramp up to spin if at all. Launderess | ||
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Post# 90892 , Reply# 6 10/27/2005 at 05:36 (6,755 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Bendix started it and nothing really has changed since then; front load washing requires lifting and dropping against the drum. With a tilted tub laundry naturally will move towards the rear of the tub, unless the machine is some how designed to compensate for this. Still it probably takes "longer" to wash in a tilted tub washer than a pure H-axis machine since no matter how well designed, the laundry still must be moved from the back to the front. Titled tub machines seem also to have more issues with balancing loads. By some accounts LG washers are the worst for this, with Bosch in the middle. The Bosch Nexxt seems more inclined to be more hyper sensitive towards unbalanced loads (or perceived thereof) and use a lower spin speed, while LGs simply take ages to ramp up to spin if at all. Launderess | ||
| Post# 90928 , Reply# 7 10/27/2005 at 11:47 (6,755 days old) by hoovermatic (UK) | ||
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Both Zanussi and Hoover have had tilted FL machines on the market within the last couple of years so there is still something marketable about them | ||
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Post# 90935 , Reply# 9 10/27/2005 at 13:15 (6,755 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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rinso--- Three cheers to you for defending your Frigidaire FL'er! I have a 2003 rear-console model and I like it a lot. The whole tilted tub thing just doesn't make sense to me. I can see how they'd make loading/unloading a little easier, but I don't know if that would balance the other issues they seem to create.
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| Post# 90936 , Reply# 10 10/27/2005 at 13:17 (6,755 days old) by trok_99 () | ||
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look close zipdang all MILNOR Open Pocket Washer Extractors whether rigid or soft mounts have a 7 degree tilt to the cylinder. | ||
| Post# 90942 , Reply# 11 10/27/2005 at 14:32 (6,754 days old) by knitwits1975 () | ||
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I think the tilting is only very slight on most models and is designed for minimal water usage and to minimize possibilities of door leakages. The tilting is greatest on the Maytag Neptunes. | ||
| Post# 90950 , Reply# 13 10/27/2005 at 16:39 (6,754 days old) by the7 () | ||
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Some of the true H-axis washers (Asko, Danby, Miele, Speed Queen and Staber) have both stainless steel inner and outer tubs. None of the new tilted-drum FLs have stainless steel outer tubs although all of them have stainless inner tubs. | ||
| Post# 90964 , Reply# 15 10/27/2005 at 20:05 (6,754 days old) by zipdang (Portland, OR) | ||
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Thanks to everyone for your input. I have to say that I think I'm still partial to the pure h-axis design. I would have kept my Bosch if it hadn't been so small. Perhaps I will be able to find a FriGeMore variant, or even a Speed Queen FL when I'm ready to make the change. Does anyone know if Miele is coming out with a larger capacity machine for the American market? | ||
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Post# 91007 , Reply# 16 10/27/2005 at 23:28 (6,754 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Post# 91030 , Reply# 17 10/28/2005 at 06:31 (6,754 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Post# 94539 , Reply# 20 11/18/2005 at 08:33 (6,733 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD) |
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The danger of the comparisons between the spin performance of tilted tubs and horizontal axis tubs is the size. Usually the tilted tubs are larger and it is more difficult to spread out a load over the larger surface for spin balancing. | ||
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Post# 99643 , Reply# 21 12/23/2005 at 22:44 (6,697 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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My Neptune 7500 has a 15 degree tilt and tangling is not an issue. If anything, a tilted design will be less strain on the bearings, since it would distribute some of the load in more than just the vertical plane, and potentially lessen the vertical unbalance component vector. But I think the bearing issue is a non-issue. If it was, top loader bearings wouldn't last more than a month. The new GE front loader has a perfectly horizontal and huge triple capacity drum. The jury is out, so far, on performance and reliability, but there is now an alternative for "purists" who also want a very large capacity washer om their home. | ||
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