Speed Queen uses SS for all their outer tubs on their FL washers.

I have thought several times lately that it would be interesting to compare the amount of plastic used in a SQ FL or TL washer for that matter compared to other manufactures.

Between SQ using real cast iron for their counterbalance weights and SS outer tub and an all steel base plate compared to many other companies plastic parts a very % of a SQ FL washer will be easily recyclable and the machine is also much less of a fire hazard in the home is something goes terribly wrong.

It would be interesting to require appliance makers to state the %s of metal to plastic etc in their new appliances.

John L.

I can’t imagine the temperature of the bearings has much to do with their life.

 I have felt the bearings on frontload washers they barely are warm to the touch after a heavy spin cycle.

The type of bearings used in a front load washer can be used in automotive engines etc. that easily run at 200 or more degrees and it’s still not much of a factor in their failure.

On front load washers with a plastic outer tub there is generally a huge cast-iron piece of metal that is cast into the plastic which would easily dissipate any heat buildup to begin with anyway.

John L

I do believe Asko still uses stainless outer drums...last one I looked at did.

I remember a few years ago when I took the front off of my Maytag washer to replace the pump. I hadn't seen the insides of one of these machines since I was very young working at an appliance store while I was attending school. I thought to myself that everything looks about the same as it did way back then. The motor was a little smaller, the Polly pump was slightly different and it had that same warning sticker on the outer tub that said that the spinning power unit could smudge your lipstick. Everything looked pretty much the same except when I took a closer look at the outer tub. I noticed it was plastic. It was interesting that it was the same color as the old porcelain steel outer tubs used to be. I thought it was unusual that Maytag (pre-Whirlpool) would go to the trouble of using this color of plastic instead of the usual stuff that looks like giant Tupperwear.

When I first took the front off of the machine I was fooled, but only for a few minutes.

Maytag did this on purpose as they desperately tried to get Maytag dealers to accept these cheaper to build Norge washers as a good machine, strange if they were so good they did not make it in to the coin-op side of things.

These machines and about a dozen other things Maytag management ruined a highly successful and profitable company in just over 15 years.

John L.

That plastic outer tub Maytag/Norge/whatever is still working fine after 20 years. The only thing I have done is replaced the pig-stuck-in-a-fence squealing pump and the belt. And yes, the two new Speed Queens I bought two years ago are still in my garage covered up with a blanket. I'm beginning to think it is doubtful they will ever make the 12 foot trip into the laundry room. The Speed Queens aren't the only things I have purchased new but have never used like big screen TV's and audio equipment. The older I get the less energy I have and the more money I waste. Lily Tomlin, in one of her  comedy skits as an"impulse shopper", would say " I would buy fresh bread and day-old bread the same day I was just not using good sense". That's me.