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Thread Number: 38840
GE Front loader help needed |
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| Post# 576147 2/15/2012 at 15:47 (4,445 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
I bought a new GE model WCVH6260FWW front load washer in early 2005. It has given me no troubles whatsoever, even after having salt spray all over it during Hurricane Ike in 2008 (it was in the garage near an open door, it is now inside the house).
Now, when it spins, it sounds like it is banging against the left side - hard. I ran an empty load and it is louder and vibrates more on spin than it used to (I've run empty loads before). The drum itself seems a little loose when I move it by hand. Is there a stabilizer that could be broken? Could the drum be loose from its mounting? I know nothing about front load washers, I've only worked on top loaders, and that was years ago. | ||
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| Post# 576205 , Reply# 1 2/15/2012 at 19:29 (4,445 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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sure sounds like a broken spider or failed bearings...Is this a "frigilux" machine or something asian? | ||
| Post# 576214 , Reply# 2 2/15/2012 at 20:29 (4,445 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 576240 , Reply# 3 2/15/2012 at 22:16 (4,445 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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little swan must be a "little swan"built washer.By description,sounds like a broken or corroded away spider the likely problem-bad bearings should roar or rumble.Wonder what getting parts for GE imports is like... | ||
| Post# 576287 , Reply# 4 2/16/2012 at 07:20 (4,445 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Post# 576301 , Reply# 5 2/16/2012 at 10:02 (4,445 days old) by Volvoguy87  (Cincinnati, OH) |
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Looked it up at work.
I looked up your machine at work (I work for Cincinnati Appliance Parts) and it looks as if you'd need a new rear half of the outer tub and a new inner drum. I could not find the spider or bearings listed as seperate parts. I think this is like the machine my mother bought around the same time you got yours. The thoughts on that design of washer here at the store are "mostly junk." Based on using my mother's washer, I'd have to agree with my coworkers.
The type of washer we reccommend to our customers who are replacing an older machine is a Speed Queen. They are durable, good performers, and the parts (when needed) are available at reasonable prices. Servicing procedures aren't too complicated either. Let me know what part numbers you may want and I'd be glad to see what they cost for you. Shipping, however, on something that big may be cost prohibitave. Good luck, Dave | ||
| Post# 576318 , Reply# 6 2/16/2012 at 12:21 (4,445 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Thanks, Dave.
I really don't know how to work on these units, but when I figure out how to get the front panel off, I can probably fix it myself. My appliance guy hasn't returned my call yet. I would be interested in the cost of the parts, it will help me to decide whether to repair it or get a new one. Shipping might be prohibitive, but might still be cheaper than paying for a service call.
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Post# 576330 , Reply# 7 2/16/2012 at 12:55 (4,445 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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Sounds like
the same thing that happened to my next door neighbors Kenmore branded Frigidaire. The Sears repair guy quoted her $775 for a new outer tub and all the parts labor needed. Naturally, she was flabergasted and went out and bought a new Kenmore that went 1 month and the electronics fried. Sears replaced it with another new one and so far she says it is ok.
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| Post# 576355 , Reply# 8 2/16/2012 at 14:57 (4,444 days old) by ronhic (Canberra, Australia) | ||
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| Post# 576436 , Reply# 9 2/16/2012 at 19:53 (4,444 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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After looking at some diagrams, I'm not sure I want to take the time to work on this myself. When I hear back from my repairman, I'll decide if I'm even going to spend the money. I started looking at new front loaders at Conn's and will hit the box stores this weekend. Speed Queens, while an attractive choice, are not sold in my area and I'm a little hesitant with their 2.84 cu. ft. capacity - I prefer larger. Plus, I've read here on the forum that they tend to vibrate a lot during the spin cycle. My house is on a chainwall foundation and has wood floors. Also, I will need to finance this purchase so I can't pay cash outright.
Now, if I buy a new washer, I need to decide if I want to keep the 7 year old GE dryer and hope it doesn't go out soon, or go ahead and buy a new matching set. | ||
| Post# 576486 , Reply# 11 2/17/2012 at 00:28 (4,444 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
Kenmore FL by Frigidaire owned by White and name leased to China. Eyeroll. Brand identities mean absolutely nothing these days.
I have a Fr'daire (98) by White, fortunately from a European design which is why it still works. I dodged a bullet. A few years later they were Chinese. The exact same product sold under GE and one other brand. If your 7yo dryer works fine, keep it. Who cares if it "matches"? What's important is that it WORKS. A new "matching" one might not last 7 months. Or even 7 WEEKS. Gawd, I've become so cynical. But I grew up in the era of generational (20yr) appliances and there just ain't no such thing anymore. | ||
| Post# 576663 , Reply# 12 2/17/2012 at 17:53 (4,443 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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My repairman said about $700-900 minimum to fix, so washer shopping I go. Two places, one 40 miles away and one 50 miles away, can order an SQ front loader w/ pedestal for me. Total with taxes will be about $1840 which is about the same price as A.J. Madisons who will deliver for free. I'm also looking at some other options. I've read a bunch about Maytags, Frigidaires, Whirlpools, LGs and Samsungs. So far, the choice for me is SQ or LG, maybe a Samsung. I'm leaning towards SQ for the reasons given on other posts. One retailer has Electroluxes - any opinions about them?
I didn't take any vacation last year so the boss told me today that I can cash it in. I will thus be able to pay cash for whatever I decide to get. | ||
| Post# 576668 , Reply# 13 2/17/2012 at 18:12 (4,443 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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did the repairman tell you what was wrong with the washer? | ||
| Post# 576762 , Reply# 14 2/18/2012 at 10:42 (4,443 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Basically what Dave said above: Need to replace the rear outer tub half. It is possible the front half is damaged too. That is about $600 or so in parts plus labor. I can't justify fixing it when I can get a new washer for about $1000, or bite the bullet and get a Speed Queen with pedestal for ~$1840. Since members here say SQ washers are designed to last about 25,000 cycles verses about 3,000 - 5,000 cycles for most other brands, I think I will go with SQ - I may never need to buy another washer again. Now that my laundry is inside the house, hopefully no salt spray exposure will occur to shorten its lifespan. If it does, that means I've probably lost the entire house.
Before I make a final decision, I'm going to look at SQ top load machines too - the one comment I keep hearing about the FL is vibration. As I said above, I have a chainwall foundation with wood floors so that might be an issue. | ||
| Post# 577014 , Reply# 16 2/19/2012 at 13:11 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Before I spend the $$ on a new Speed Queen, I decided to go ahead and take the top and front off of the machine. The repairman, who didn't charge me since I work for his bosses' father (therefore he didn't completely disassemble everything since it was a no-charge visit) took the top off and moved the inner drum around to diagnose. He was mainly drawing on his 20+ years experience and gave me his opinion, which is really all I was asking: Do you think this is worth spending money on, or should I buy a new washer?
After I took the front off of the machine, I took a video and posted to youtube, I would appreciate any comments any one can give: CLICK HERE TO GO TO 58limited's LINK | ||
| Post# 577020 , Reply# 17 2/19/2012 at 13:23 (4,442 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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bearings myself,i'd dig in further to see if the shaft,tub bearing housings,or spider are damaged,parts cost/avalibility and evaluate from there..I am very used to working on all kinds of machines though and have a lot of special tools,ETC. If you would have to "farm out"the repair work,i'd say time for a new washer... | ||
| Post# 577022 , Reply# 18 2/19/2012 at 13:25 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 577029 , Reply# 19 2/19/2012 at 14:10 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 577030 , Reply# 20 2/19/2012 at 14:11 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 577031 , Reply# 21 2/19/2012 at 14:12 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 577032 , Reply# 22 2/19/2012 at 14:18 (4,442 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Looking at the GE parts website, you cannot just buy the shaft and trigon bracket. You have to buy the entire basket (inner drum) assembly which is $536.00 plus S&H. That plus the front outer drum half makes this not worth repairing. I can buy a new machine for a little more than the cost of these parts, or go for the SQ and hopefully not deal with this again in my lifetime - I doubt I will ever come remotely close to doing 25,000 loads of laundry:)
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| Post# 577045 , Reply# 24 2/19/2012 at 15:16 (4,441 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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GE Parts
Get your GE parts here. HeHe.
Lots of good parts, but probably the ones that never fail, so I doubt there is a market for them. If anyone needs anything though, let me know. I didn't know what the "spider" was, thanks for enlightening me. It wasn't even shown on the parts diagram. Heading to my office to wash my work clothes for the coming week. This post was last edited 02/19/2012 at 19:45 | ||
| Post# 577148 , Reply# 25 2/19/2012 at 23:16 (4,441 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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7yrs not too bad for chinese import was thinking 7 yrs really not too bad of a lifetime for a late model asian import washer-may have made the 10 yr mark if spider had not corroded and broke... Last year there was a thread about a repair on an LG direct drive and it's spider, though still intact,was really nasty! | ||
| Post# 577150 , Reply# 26 2/19/2012 at 23:56 (4,441 days old) by alr2903 (TN) | ||
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Now that's some "Imagination at work". Go GE, its very disappointing when you pay several hundred dollars for something thats so poorly made. alr | ||
| Post# 577163 , Reply# 27 2/20/2012 at 03:21 (4,441 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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I averaged about 2-3 loads per week which came to about 1100 loads total for this machine. Despite my earlier comments about salt spray during the hurricane, there was no corrosion inside the cabinet. The electronics looked new and all of the screws and bolts were clean. The only rust was along the top edge were the top mounts to the cabinet and at the very bottom where the bottom cover under the door mounts to the cabinet.
I was thinking that simply powder coating the spider would probably solve the corrosion problems. | ||
| Post# 577173 , Reply# 28 2/20/2012 at 06:24 (4,441 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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| Post# 577994 , Reply# 29 2/24/2012 at 17:44 (4,436 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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Just to update, I ordered a Speed Queen model AFN50F from A.J. Madison this past Monday. It will take about 14 business days for delivery.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO 58limited's LINK | ||
| Post# 577995 , Reply# 30 2/24/2012 at 17:52 (4,436 days old) by mtn1584 (USA) | ||
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Best of luck!!! Mike | ||
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Post# 578264 , Reply# 31 2/25/2012 at 22:55 (4,435 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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BROKEN SPIDERS David congratulations on your purchase of a new SQ FL washer and thanks for going to the trouble of dissembling your old GE and documenting it for everyone to see.
The problem is that you should not have had a heavy build-up on the spider and in the seal area in the first place and if the new SQ is used in the same manner it may not fare much better. The only good thing about the SQ is if it has seal and bearing failure it is much cheaper and easier to repair.
But you truly need to use some combination of hotter water, softner water, more detergent or better detergent [ It is almost impossable to harm a washer in this manner buy using too much detergent and doing so will NEVER cause this type of build-up and damage ]. It interesting to note that in my long experance of working on residential and commerical washers [ which are the same machines in design and construction ] We NEVER see ANY build-up and damage in the commerical machines like yours experienced. We have seen Cheap Frigidarie FL washers used Commercially for many years and the spiders never fail even doing 10 loads per day for more than 8 years. Be especially careful to avoid using too cool wash water with liquid detergents and liquid fabric softener and using Cheap powered detergents like Arm and Hammer , Am-Way and the Sears detergents as these are the ones that we constantly see problems with unless you have perfectly soft water, liquid chlorine bleach used properly will also extent the life of any washer.
Good Luck with your new washer.
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| Post# 578321 , Reply# 33 2/26/2012 at 07:13 (4,435 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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John, I always used either warm or hot cycles. When doing whites such as socks I used the sanitize feature. I used bleach with the whites too. I usually use Sauvital softener. I was using cheap bulk powdered detergent and not much at that. I always left the door open after a load was run.
The water here isn't too hard. It can take years to see any kind on mineral deposit form on my faucets and shower heads, very little if any mineral residue in the shower stall. I haven't had the water tested so I don't know its actual softness or hardness. The part of the spider that corroded was the part that wouldn't be under water while running a cycle, but would probably get splashed. Or water would run down it towards the center as the drum rotated. So now I'm wondering if residues would splash or run onto this area , not be fully rinsed off, and cause corrosion. The center shaft is steel so there could have been a galvanic process going on too. Again, if the manufacturers would simply powder coat these, problem solved (except for the possibility of stress cracking). Bud, I looked at a a diagram of the SQ and it looks to have the same suspension/shock absorber set up that my GE had, so hopefully the vibration will be no worse. | ||
| Post# 578438 , Reply# 34 2/26/2012 at 14:17 (4,435 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Will AJ Madison install your machine, or just drop it off on your driveway? | ||
| Post# 578462 , Reply# 35 2/26/2012 at 15:49 (4,434 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 582963 , Reply# 36 3/17/2012 at 03:58 (4,415 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 583019 , Reply# 37 3/17/2012 at 12:39 (4,415 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Was that GE FL machine you had the Adora model? | ||
| Post# 583193 , Reply# 38 3/18/2012 at 08:41 (4,414 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 583208 , Reply# 39 3/18/2012 at 11:02 (4,414 days old) by mysteryclock (Franklin, TN) | ||
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| Post# 583684 , Reply# 40 3/19/2012 at 17:37 (4,412 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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| Post# 585972 , Reply# 41 3/30/2012 at 17:35 (4,401 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
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The Speed Queen is in Houston. The delivery company only delivers to Port Arthur on Thursdays and next week's truck is full, so they told me that I have to wait until 4/12. They said I had to call the seller to see if there is any other delivery option (meaning another company to get it and bring it here). Needless to say I'm pissed. I called A.J. Madison at 4:30 Eastern time (3:30 my time) today. Their answering system said "we are closed, our hours are 9am-5pm M-F...." Needless to say, I'm even more pissed.
I ordered this on 2/20, there was a back order and it was shipped on 3/15 - supposed to be delivered within 14 business days which would be 4/5 at the latest. I'd see if I could go pick it up but my truck gets 10MPG and has a Chambers Imperial in the bed that I don't want to unload. | ||
| Post# 586051 , Reply# 42 3/31/2012 at 07:10 (4,401 days old) by qualin (Canada) | ||
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Hang tough man.. I had to wait six weeks for my washer and I'm still waiting for my dryer, I placed the order for it in late January. It's been two months and counting... | ||
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Post# 910299 , Reply# 45 12/9/2016 at 08:37 (2,687 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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Post# 910319 , Reply# 46 12/9/2016 at 10:32 (2,687 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Post# 910377 , Reply# 47 12/9/2016 at 16:58 (2,686 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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it is sort of a blessing Ben.....
and sometimes works to our benefits.....so many people wash in cold water, which either ends the machines life early, or the mold baffles them and they are off to a new machine.... theres another thread going on about mold issues and the machine not cleaning well....we encounter so many of them, almost wishing for a PDF file on our front page, follow these rules, and you will never have an issue....ever!....its not rocket science.... this only allows me to purchase these machines, super cheap or free from these people.....a bearing job, or just a simple clean out.....and I have a brand new machine, with my own laundry practices, will never see the issues its original owner has had..... almost like adopting a pet from the shelter, giving it a second chance at a better home.... people will not wake up.....blaming the machine or manufacturers.....if it was truly the machine, wouldn't every machine built have the same problems....and wouldn't I have the same issues?.... like twisting their arm to use 3 gallons of hot water..... | ||
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