Speed Queen Top Load washer. Series 1512027833

Manufactured December, 2015

Capacity 3.3 cu. ft.

Picked this up last Sunday in Staten Island. Couldn't pass it up for the price and condition. Many thanks to out intrepid Hyacinth for posting the ad. 

Much more to follow.

Thanks Michael!

Thanks Barry!

Close-up of control panel. Truly immaculate.

There is a slight moldy odor, so I ran a cycle with hot water full fill level with Clorox.

After the cycle, which ran flawlessly, the moldy odor persisted. I also noticed some black, rubbery pieces in the drum. Strange. Then I decided to remove the fabric softener cup...

I have never seen such a filth in a washer. It seems to be filled with solidified/congealed fabric softener, mold and God know what else.

When I removed the agitator, it was even WORSE underneath it. Now it was dirt, mixed with detergent and in some spots became stubborn black scales.

I let it soak with a mixture of very hot water, vinegar and baking soda. Follow by a brush. I got most of it out, except for some totally stuck on scales around the shaft. So now I am soaking that particular area with CLR. Followed with some more scrubbing. I can only imagine what lies underneath the wash basket.

Thanks Pete!

CLR removed a few more scales. But the transmission seal ring around the shaft still has a few black pieces. The transmission seal ring is rough, whatever this was/is certainly corroded the metal. Now I am doing a hot water, heavy duty cycle with Oxyclean.

According to this video, it's OK if the transmission seal ring is pitted. Removing the inner tub seems simple enough.

After this last cycle, I pulled off the agitator, the transmission seal ring is cleaner yet still stained. Nevertheless, the moldy smell continues. So next up is removal of the inner tub to see what awaits underneath.

Hi Louis.  Congratulations on your great find on this washer.

We see this type of mess quite often in even full fill TL machines, as already mentioned it is mostly caused by using too little detergent and too cool water temperatures for washing conditions.

What you are cleaning away is a combination of dirt, oils and mineral deposits, it is not detergent residue, this washer looks like will clean up very well.

John L.

Thanks John.

Thanks MTN.

Well I am nearly done. I have never seen so much mold and grime in a washer.

The remains of some sort of a gasket in which the inner basket sits on the outer basket. I have not found the part number. I was wondering if i could use one of those make your own gasket products.

It helped soften the grime and mold, but it took a lot of elbow grease and SOS pads to get it clean.

After various thorough hose downs and spins it's all shiny. And no more moldy smell.

Thanks Mike. The Kenmore is going to my sister. I think I am going to change the water inlet valve. It's working fine. But it's the original, it may be a good idea to put in a new one.

I already bypassed the lid switch on the Speed Queen.

I found the gasket part #39122. I'll go tomorrow to the parts store. Hopefully the SQ will be in service by Friday evening.

I have never seen so much mold and grime in a washer.

Amazing. No one has that damn gasket. So I ordered it online. Now we wait.

Speed Queen washers are so much fun! You'll fall in love load after load one you get this machine running.

Danke Stefan

Thanks Greg. It was my pleasure.

Thanks David.

Thanks Chetlaham

The Speed Queen has been sidelined until the gasket arrives. In the meantime, I am going to install some sound deadening mats to help quiet down the machine. It's a bit too loud for my tastes. While the area where the motor resides is fairly clean, I might as well wipe it down since it's opened up.

Oh, and there still is a very slight musty smell. I have thoroughly cleaned everything I could think of, yet a faint odor lingers. I wonder if it's coming from the pump, or perhaps some of the hoses. I'll try one of those washer cleaner/deodorizer next. Any recommendations?

Thanks Martin. I checked the drain hose. It's filled with gunk. I wish you could still find smooth drain hoses.

Thanks Harry. Glad you found them useful.

Would anyone happen to know the model number for the matching dryer?

Thanks Glenn. I'll give it a try.

Thanks Melvin.

I would not brother, It will clean itself once you start using the machine properly, 

Worrying about the inside of the drain hose is like taking your house apart to clean the drainage lines.

We see dirty washers like this all the time, when we get them in the shop they will clean themselves but it might take 20-40 loads with heavy detergent and some LCB but they do come clean without disassembly.

We had a full sized  Miele FL washer come in the shop about a year ago, it was the dirtiest washer I had ever seen reeked  to high heaven, after about 30 loads the machine looked like new when we had to take it apart for a spider replacement.

John 

However, I have started installing the sound deadening mats. Yes I know, I don't need to cover the whole panel, but my OCD begs to differ.

Bob, THANK YOU! I really appreciate the link for the dryer.

Not too dirty underneath.

When I saw the black specs around the belt area. I knew the belt was a goner. I ran my fingers while turning the belt and sure enough, there was a large gash and a chunk missing from the inside of the belt. True to form, these washers eat up belts every 6 years or so. I ordered a new one. Part # SQ 38174

Hi Mike. Yes I got the Kilmat at Amazon.

Finally, the gasket has arrived.

Final tub assembly.

It never ends.

If the belt arrives today, I'll inspect the water pump, as far as I could tell it has been working fine, but I'm paranoid. I wonder if it too is filled with mold.

And it will clean itself, in fact the entire washer would cleaned itself out with the exception of the underside of the tub cover if you had just started using it.

John L.

You forget John, the machine STUNK to high heaven. Plus after a few empty test cycles, there were pieces of mold left over in the tub and it still stunk. There was no way in hell I was going to wash clothes in that machine. I'm mighty glad I took it apart to clean. An added bonus was I discovered it needed a gasket that needed to be replaced. Win, win for me.

Hi Louis, That [ gasket ] you replaced is just a fiber spacer, the old one would have worked fine, it does not seal anything.

To clean up filthy machines like this we just run old towels through the machines with aggressive amounts of bleach etc, never had one we had to disassemble to get it to stop stinking.

Good luck with your new washer, What happened to your A806 ?

John L.

Running endless cycles with bleach would be a terrible waste of hot water, electricity and bleach. And not to mention time. No amount of cycles would ever clean all the areas with mold that I found. Nothing beats elbow grease.

As for the gasket, it was virtually gone, turned mostly to pulp (see prior images).

The Maytag A806 is sitting patiently to be finished. I'll get around to it. Eventually. 

OMG, the pump, and the water that spilled out smelled like a sewer.

The original belt had many deep cracks and some missing pieces.

I decided to replace the pump with an OEM one. The shaft was very hard to turn.

The process was super easy, a little difficult because I have large hands.

Yes Stefan, I am a Virgo. Do it right or don't do it at all.

Hi Robert, thanks. I read somewhere it's always a good idea to replace the pump when you're replacing the belt on these Speed Queens. As I mentioned, it was really hard to turn, even with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Plus the genuine Speed Queen ones are relatively inexpensive.

I also cleaned out the inlet hose from the tub with of all things a long refrigerator coil brush. As suspected a lot of foul smelling bits and pieces of mold came out. Might as well do the discharge hose next. The new pump isn't scheduled to arrive until Monday.

I have to add changing the belt on the Speed Queen was the easiest I've ever done with the exception of the Maytag A50.

After you remove the pump, you disengage the spring with the orange sheath. That loosens the tension pulley and you merely slip the belt off. You can also push the pulley outward without unhooking the spring but I prefer the former. The tension pulley is located on the right hand side between the drive pulleys.

Thanks Alex. It's a bit tedious, but the piece of mind is priceless.

One step closer to completion.

Lid switch deactivated with Command tape.

Thanks Mike!

Hey Jonathan. I still can't get over that a machine that looked so immaculate would be so moldy and grimy inside. Thank goodness the belt is easy to change.

The water pump is in finally. Apparently the 2 rear stanchions were a tiny bit too long for the rear clips to snap into place. I had to very carefully sand down the stanchions. Now the rear clips fit tightly. The left rear clip proved to be especially daunting since it was all by feel and my hand could barely fit. My hands are covered with scratches and cuts but I am happy. Its over. Tomorrow I do a test wash to make sure everything is working as it should.

Thanks Mike! I have no idea on whether this machine ever came with a lint filter. I haven't seen any, and I suspect I am the first one to ever disassemble the tub. Believe it or not, the odor is still there. Very faint, hopefully with a few more test washes the smell will go away completely. I've cleaned or replaced every component water circulated through, not to mention cleaned areas where water never touched.

The song and dance I got from the seller was that they redid the laundry and only had room afterwards for a stacked set. But I am certain, as you, that the clothes must have been coming out stinking and with many black particles of mold and grime. I can only imagine the mold growing in their new front loader now.

Thank you Mike. Now to get the matching dryer and I'd be set.

Hey I have Borax, I'll give it a try. Thanks Mike.

Thank you Hyacinth!

I saw that Glenn! All the ads were from Tide.

Thanks Barry. I never liked the idea of a washer not having a lint filter. The Kenmore Elite that I have doesn't have one either.

Yes we will never know precisely what led to this mess, as service techs we see it fairly often and often in otherwise immaculate very nice expensive homes.

It seems that the customer is almost always using Free&Clear type detergents because they always say that their husbands etc  are allergic to the perfumes in laundry products, we always laugh about that because the washer is full of mold which is much more likely to cause allergic reactions than a little perfume.

On this particular SQ washer the water supply might have been part of the problem, to have mold in the fill flume might indicate that it was on well water or a home system where they were removing the chlorine, we have customers that have such systems and we have done service calls where they have heavy accumulations of mold clogging the dispenser drawers on there machines etc.

I am glad you got this machine Louis I think you will enjoy it, yes us appliance guys go a little overboard cleaning things up.

Other than cleaning up under the tub cover and the top of the outer tub etc this washer would have cleaned itself up fairly quickly with proper use, we see. machines this bad all the time.

For the record it did not need a new pump or belt at this age, yes the belt showed some wear but it is not a Tre on your car where it could fail on the highway and cause a real problem, the washer will not work any better with the new belt or water pump.

When installing a new pump the pump clips are sometimes hard to get on, if you slightly straighten them and put a lint bit of lubricant on the tabs they will go on easily, I would not sand down a new water pump. [ and always wear gloves to protect your hands and get a tetanus shot every 5 years ]

Let us know how you like the washer, if it was my laundry room I would keep the Kenmore you have it is a better performer other than the SQs slightly faster spin.

John L.

Oh thanks Martin. I will definitely try it on the air conditioners.

Forgot to mention, the drain hose was really bad in terms of mold. Not bits or pieces, but CHUNKS of black, tar like mold spilled out. It took many bleach/hot water soaks, and ammonia/hot water soaks to get most of it out. The hose is translucent, so you could see the areas where mold had accumulated. If I had known all the work that this would entail, I would had simply bought a new drain hose.

The Speed Queen is installed now, I'm going to run one final wash/rinse with Affresh. Then depending on the results, comes the maiden wash.

It seems I ordered a bad pump. When the washer engages the pump lets out a high pitch whine like an unsatisfied bottom. It diminishes after awhile, and stops altogether once the washer goes into drain/spin. The cycle works normally.

The part I ordered was #201566P. The updated replacement pump model is #205217P. They look identical.

I knew something was off when it was impossible to engage the 2 rear mounting clips.  I ordered the updated pump now.

Oh yeah, the stink is GONE!

There is talk Speed Queen plans on discontinuing their front load washers. If you go to their website, you will notice the animation ONLY features top loaders. Somethings afoot me thinks.

Of course, now the pump is not making any noise at all. I guess what ever was causing it settled into place. Nevertheless, when the new pump arrives I'll switch it out and keep it as a back-up.

Thanks for the tip Martin.

Reply # 108, There is NO difference between the two PT #s you posted, both are completely interchangeable, it sounds like a tiny foreign particle was stuck in the impeller [ maybe from filing down the pump mountings ] which worked itself out and went down the drain, so there is probably no reason to buy yet another pump and throw more plastic into landfill.

John L.

Hi Mike,

Good to know they are not discontinuing the front loaders. Eventually that is what I would replace this Speed Queen with.

John, you need to reread what I wrote. You're misconstruing my posts.

The new pump arrived. Turns out the pump I had installed before was a COUNTERFEIT. Not a genuine Alliance part. No wonder it did not fit, nor performed well. Since it was purchased via Amazon, I'll be getting a full refund. I also alerted Amazon about this seller. Fake water pumps. How do you like them apples?

The real deal:

Knock off on the left. Genuine on the right.

No identifying marks:

Not so with the Alliance part.

Super easy to install. Clips just snapped into place.

Official "maiden" wash video coming up.

In my reply #91 I did not say that Free & Clear type detergents cause mold , I said that many of our customers that use F&C products say they do because they are sensitive or allergic to scents in detergents etc and the irony is they are often the ones that have washers that are full of mold and gunk from poor washing practices which is far more likely to cause allergic reactions than scents in detergents that millions of people have no problems with. 

The F&C products are no more likely to cause mold and gunk than regular detergents.

John L.

As to imitation appliance parts, DON'T use them unless there is no alternative.

"As to imitation appliance parts, DON'T use them unless there is no alternative."

Which is why I reported the seller to Amazon. The seller had advertised it as a genuine, OEM Alliance part.

UPS picked it up today and I left a scathing review of the product in Amazon.

Hi Douglas,

The packaging was a plain box, just some code printed on it. That immediately raised an eyebrow. I already got my refund, but I sure had a hard time installing it. Funny, most of the reviews on the product were good. But then again I read somewhere ratings on Amazon tend to be questionable at best.

Funny, I just finished it today. I am currently uploading it to YouTube. As soon as it is done, I will post the link.

Here's it's "maiden" wash:

Thanks Louis!

Thank you Mike!

Would I do this over again? In a heartbeat. Yes, it was frustrating at times what with the water pump, and the time it took to get parts but ultimately it paid off. I am happy with it's performance and fast wash cycles. 

The sound deadening mats really make a difference and I will install them on the Maytag A806 and DE806. Not to mention the KitchenAid KDS-58 is going to get the treatment as well. I tend to run the dishwasher late at night and it's a tad too noisy.

Thanks everyone for the advise and encouragement.

Hey thanks Barry. So far I have been very happy with the results. It seems to perform better than the Kenmore Elite I had before it.

As for detergents, for this particular load of underwear I used Gain, Lysol and Suavitel. On occasion I'll use bleach and for stains, Spray 'n Wash.

It's a tradition for all my "maiden" washes David.

I couldn't begin to tell you what percentage of noise was reduced. I can say it is noticeably quieter. I've used the mats also on my Maytag A50 and Maytag DE806. It does help muffle the "booming" of the cabinet panels.

It seems the Speed Queen has developed a slow cold water fill. First thing was to check the cold water hose filter, it was dirty, cleaned it and the cold water pressure increased, but only slightly. The water lines to the washer are brand new PEX-A. I am beginning to suspect the water inlet valve may be going bad.  I'll check it with a multi-meter. I hope the issue is not with the control board.