|
Thread Number: 95611
/ Tag: Modern Automatic Washers
Happy 19th Birthday to my Whirlpool Duet Front Load Washer |
[Down to Last] |  |
| Post# 1202585 4/1/2024 at 10:20 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
Can't believe it keeps going.
There's absolutely nothing that incidates to me that anything is degrading in terms of the way it sounds when washing/draining/spinning... It sounds the same now as it did on day one... As much as I've loved it over the years part of me wants to try something new...but the other part of me is afraid that I won't like anything else as well so I will keep it and take care of it as I have until something happens If it died today... my next Front load would be an LG with Turbo wash or a Speed Queen Front load. | ||
|
Post# 1202590 , Reply# 1 4/1/2024 at 11:03 by combo52  (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
||
Congratulations
We have lots of customers that have this machine still going strong and next year you can post in the vintage forum for its anniversary.
Appliances today are so much better built and have much better materials in general so there’s no reason that many won’t last 30 and 40 years, all you ever hear about the ones that die early but that’s always been the case all the way back into the 50s and 60s a lot of washers and dryers didn’t even last 10 years. Nothing really has changed. John | ||
|
Post# 1202597 , Reply# 2 4/1/2024 at 11:28 by lakewebsterkid (Dayton, Ohio) |
||
|
Nice! Very glad to see your Duet is still going strong. I can assure you, these new machines are great, but I do miss my Duet. | ||
|
Post# 1202600 , Reply# 3 4/1/2024 at 12:38 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
Mine's turning 14 this year and like yours, no sign of its age.
View Full Size
| ||
|
Post# 1202602 , Reply# 4 4/1/2024 at 15:29 by appnut (TX) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 1202606 , Reply# 5 4/1/2024 at 16:36 by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
||
Congratulations Mark! Your Duet looks like brand new because of the excellent care you’ve given it. I made the statement yesterday in the thread about the POD that the last good domestic FL’s were the White-Westinghouse, Frigidaire and Maytag Neptune FL’s.
I forgot completely about the Whirlpool Duet’s which were also excellent FL’s, which your experience certainly is testimony to. Of course the Speed Queen FL’s are very prized by many, and I’m sure they are good too, but their price is prohibitive for many buyers. I still believe that domestic and foreign appliance companies are losing out on many buyers that would buy FL’s if they still built and sold 3.5 cf models that would fit into the confined space of the dedicated laundry closets in homes that were built in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I’m one of those prospective buyers that the larger 4.5 and smaller 2.4 cf models just don’t work for, the 4.5 cf ones won’t fit into these closets and the 2.4 cf models aren’t big enough to meet my all around laundry needs. You would think that some bean counter would get a clue and bring back the 3.5 cf FL’s. Eddie | ||
|
Post# 1202609 , Reply# 6 4/1/2024 at 16:54 by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
||
 Eddie, you cited the exact reason why Dave and I left our Duet pair (identical to Mark's) when we moved. They were too huge for the new laundry area. We both loved that full-featured, self-cleaning washer. It removed stains that the '97 Spamana TL never could.
I like the Neptune stackers with analog controls that came with the current house, but the extra capacity of that Duet washer would come in handy for the king size comforter, which needs to be crammed into the Neptune. I treat the Neptune well and it performs fine as it closes in on 20 years old in a couple of months, but I will always have a soft spot for the Duets from this period.
Mark, congratulations! It's a keeper for sure, and I hope you get another 19 years out of it! | ||
|
Post# 1202611 , Reply# 7 4/1/2024 at 17:25 by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
||
|
2003 whirlpool duet pair
Worked on this pair today the dryer needed a solder joint fixed on the main power board the couple that bought this pair said it was the first Repair they had on either unit, gas dryer.
Hi Eddie, a 2.4 ft.³ front load washer is the same as a 5 ft.³ top load washer that you have now, 24 inch washers hold a lot more than you think and a lot more than your current washer.
View Full Size
| ||
| Post# 1202613 , Reply# 8 4/1/2024 at 17:43 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
We had a set before up at our last cabin. According to Airbnb where it's being used as a rental cabin now, they still have that set! Or at least when the pictures were last updated which would've been a couple years ago, it was still there. I wish we could've bought two Duets at the same time. We bought two front loaders at the same time from our local RC Willey store back in 2004, one was of course the Duet but the other was a Maytag Neptune. One was going to go up to the cabin that we had just built and the other was going to replace our GE top loader at home which we did brought up to the cabin as a second set. Eventually we chose to put the Duet at the cabin and kept the Neptune at home because from what I was told, the Neptune had more features. I think we would've had the Duet today if we had it at home instead. And I also think the Neptune would've still been working at the cabin if we took it up there instead. So this year would've been the 20th anniversary for ours. I've used a grey supposedly a top of the line model before when I was living at a ranch years ago, it's still to this day the best washer I've ever used! If I could have any set that's still being made today, I'd easily pick one of these two Duets. Or have both if I get a house that's built for two sets, though I'd like to have a top loader for one of the sets just like up at our cabin.
| ||
|
Post# 1202614 , Reply# 9 4/1/2024 at 17:45 by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
||
|
Hi John, my current TL is 3.5 cf capacity and really holds a lot, a full laundry basket full or a kingsize comforter or bedspread.
I recently took a look at the GE 2.4 cf FL’s and I can’t see how it would hold what my current washer does. The basket looks very small. I know with an FL that you can pack it right up to the top, but not tightly. I just don’t think this washer would work for us. But thanks for the feedback. Eddie | ||
| Post# 1202616 , Reply# 10 4/1/2024 at 18:16 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
I think these Duet's are 3.8 cubic feet? I could be wrong... anyway, at that time these were very large... but it comparison to what's out there now these are much smaller... This is why I wouldn't be upset at the SQ 3.5 cu... that would be really close to the size I have now... and that can still wash a LOT of laundry..
I think my favorite thing about this duet is the way it rinses... after wash/drain/spin it slows down as it fills with rinse water, continuing to slowly spin and the water gets more and more sloshy as it fills.. then once it's satisfied with the amount of rinse water it tumbles for a bit.. then drains that/ spins again, does the same thing...I feel like it's really good at rinsing... I think a lot of the reason for the longevity aside from me taking care of it is that it's on concrete.. My single story house is on a concrete slab I do turn the water off when done doing laundry... because the hoses have never been changed. I've gotten used to it and don't mind. Better than having a flood. I've never EVER used liquid detergent in this... Not that I wouldn't...just powder is easier to deal with.. I wish Costco still made Kirkland powder. I really liked that.. | ||
| Post# 1202618 , Reply# 11 4/1/2024 at 19:04 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 1202634 , Reply# 12 4/2/2024 at 01:12 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202636 , Reply# 13 4/2/2024 at 01:48 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202644 , Reply# 14 4/2/2024 at 09:05 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
Unable to give mine an age....
View Full Size
| ||
| Post# 1202645 , Reply# 15 4/2/2024 at 09:11 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
3.5 or 3.8 cubic feet?
this must be from the way back machine or something. CLICK HERE TO GO TO mark_wpduet's LINK | ||
|
Post# 1202646 , Reply# 16 4/2/2024 at 09:11 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
|
See if anyone can age this for me please
| ||
|
Post# 1202652 , Reply# 17 4/2/2024 at 12:52 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202653 , Reply# 18 4/2/2024 at 12:55 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
| ||
| Post# 1202665 , Reply# 20 4/2/2024 at 19:30 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202670 , Reply# 21 4/2/2024 at 20:37 by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
||
|
Capacity We got our Duet pair in 2007. I know the washer had a larger basket than the 2008 Frigilux Affinity that we got for the new place, which was 3.5 cf and had the same footprint as a TL machine.
What sold me on the Duet were the TV ads claiming it could hold 16 pairs of jeans. I quickly learned that those were tiny Nancy Reagan size jeans, if not smaller, and not the 36 x 36 size I wore. I think the basket was close to 4.0 cf. | ||
| Post# 1202682 , Reply# 23 4/2/2024 at 23:50 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202688 , Reply# 24 4/3/2024 at 06:06 by chetlaham (United States) |
||
 | ||
|
Post# 1202691 , Reply# 25 4/3/2024 at 07:08 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
|
Reply 18 Logixx | ||
|
Post# 1202692 , Reply# 26 4/3/2024 at 07:23 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
|
Logixx | ||
|
Post# 1202693 , Reply# 27 4/3/2024 at 07:45 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
Differences
At least the second generation of the Duets sold here (like mine) had hot and cold fill. It starts with some cold and then alternates to achieve a fill of about 40C, heating from there up to 203F.
The drum is around 95 liters or 3.4 cu.ft. The bleach dispenser on mine is fully functional but the manual simply disregards its existence and says not to use it. The door glass protrudes further into the drum. An employee of the R&D department here told me that they had issues with clothes getting trapped in the door boot (if the washer was fully loaded the way we do), thus the modification. Of course there is the access door to the lint trap. As mentioned before, the cycles are different with numerical temps and spin speeds. No warm rinse. A steam generator was only an option in some countries. | ||
|
Post# 1202694 , Reply# 28 4/3/2024 at 07:53 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
Austin | ||
|
Post# 1202696 , Reply# 29 4/3/2024 at 07:57 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202702 , Reply# 31 4/3/2024 at 12:51 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
| ||
| Post# 1202708 , Reply# 32 4/3/2024 at 16:51 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
I just saw these three videos about the Duet, it was very cool and educational to watch because there were some things that I didn't even know about them. Just like when I watched the owner's video of my grandparent's Kirby G4 vacuum as a kid. I might still have the video for our old Maytag Neptune, not sure though but I do have the manual still.
I did reach out to the current owners of the cabin from Airbnb and I'm gonna find out if the Duet is still there or not because I'm curious now to see what models the set were, I already know the GE set is gone unfortunately. And when I go to Costco this week, I'll also find out if the powder detergent is still available or not. According to amazon where you can buy them at, they're not discontinued. | ||
| Post# 1202711 , Reply# 33 4/3/2024 at 17:31 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
I think I still have the DVD that came with my washer and yes I did watch it...that was cool to see again...I have a really DUMB question. in the detergent dispenser, there is a divider that you can change wheather or not you're using detergent or powder. Obviously mine is placed in for powder...for liquid is sort of locks the liquid in... so if you're using liquid...I'm imagining the water jets spraying into where the liquid detergent is... how is that actually getting into the wash drum when the water starts ... since the divider is keeping the detergent from running down into the laundry before you start the wash.. does it overflow into the prewash and go down that way or something? You'd think I'd know this at this point. LOL
I was scrolling through youtube shorts and came across a video of someone filming their laundry room... it was a duet pair like mine and in the caption they said 20 years old and still going strong. | ||
|
Post# 1202712 , Reply# 34 4/3/2024 at 17:49 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
On my divider (that's somewhere in the pedestal) there is a small cutout in the bottom that causes residual water/detergent in the dispenser to seep out after filling has stopped. It's sort of delaying the release of liquid detergent until the water comes in, at which point it probably just overflows into the pre-wash compartment.
| ||
|
Post# 1202740 , Reply# 35 4/4/2024 at 05:00 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK) |
||
|
The divider in mine | ||
|
Post# 1202742 , Reply# 37 4/4/2024 at 05:32 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
| ||
|
Post# 1202743 , Reply# 38 4/4/2024 at 05:56 by Logixx (Germany) |
||
|
Let's not forget | ||
| Post# 1203257 , Reply# 39 4/11/2024 at 19:38 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
I went to Costco today in my area and the Kirkland powder detergent is still in stock. I also reached out to Costco and they told me that it's not listed as discontinued. I guess it's like some of the things they sell is only seasonal or limited like the vanilla chocolate chip muffins or the cherry pies for example. Or it could be that the demand for the detergent is so high here where it'd be unwise to quit selling them.
View Full Size
| ||
| Post# 1203258 , Reply# 40 4/11/2024 at 19:49 by Pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 1203274 , Reply# 41 4/12/2024 at 01:49 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 1203290 , Reply# 42 4/12/2024 at 13:02 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
I agree, 17 years is a pretty good run. And honestly, if we still owned our cabin and if there was ever a problem with our Duet today, I would've had them fixed. Even this year marks the 20th anniversary of my grandfather's Maytag Neptune up at his cabin and I'd also have it fixed as well since right now it's questionable of whether it survived from the flood that happened during the winter. We'll be having someone to take a look at it after the renovation to see if it'd still work or not. Hopefully it'll be back up and running again cause I really love that set. If worst case scenario, we may have to get a replacement set. When I took this photo last month, there was water in the drain pan.
View Full Size
| ||
|
Post# 1203305 , Reply# 43 4/12/2024 at 18:17 by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
||
 | ||
| Post# 1203325 , Reply# 44 4/13/2024 at 00:46 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
Thanks for the detergent costco pic... I'll have to see if I can locate it..
Actually, I might start using their Kirkland liquid (not sure yet) Frigilux - Oh, trust me... I've lusted over several models over the years.. Remember back when LG had one of those REAR control front loaders? It was on the market a few years (I think the late 2000s early 2010s maybe? I wanted that model so bad
View Full Size
| ||
| Post# 1203361 , Reply# 45 4/13/2024 at 15:13 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
I do like their free & clear liquid detergent, but not the regular cause I don't care about their scent. Interesting, none of those two were available at my local Costco yesterday. But they do have the pods which I honestly hate. Their powder is still the best in my opinion. I also like Kirkland's dryer sheets, I prefer Bounce but I like taking turns with using both for different loads.
| ||
| Post# 1203371 , Reply# 46 4/13/2024 at 17:31 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
Using pods for laundry..
I honest have no clue how that would work because I've never used them in my life. I'm thinking it would be an adjustment.. What if you only have one item to wash? If it's a large load do you use more than one or is one enough? I've seen videos and they seem to create a lot of suds.. I wonder if Windfresh and the Costco Power in a bucket are made by the same company? The wind fresh is always easy to find at sams.. I remember years ago the costco powder was in a big box.. but now it's in a bucket but apparently difficult to find depending on your store. My wind fresh is getting towards the bottom so I'm deciding what to buy next. | ||
| Post# 1203388 , Reply# 47 4/13/2024 at 22:15 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
|
I wouldn't be surprised if they're the same thing cause their buckets are identical to each other. But I've never used Wind Fresh before so I can't say for sure. Regarding the Kirkland pods, I personally don't care for them because not only I didn't liked the scent of them but also I didn't think they did a good job. Maybe it would've done better if I had put in two pods instead of one but even with a small load, I'd be concerned about the excessive foam it'd create as you said. I love the Kirkland dishwasher pods, I think those and the Cascade Complete pods are good enough for me cause I don't plan on using any other pods. As far as what other detergents to use, my go to one is Tide Original liquid. Been using them for years. I also really like Tide Mountain Spring liquid but they're getting more harder and expensive to find nowadays. Both powder versions are alright but I prefer the liquid kinds better. Persil Deep Clean Intense Fresh liquid is another one that I really like. All Original Stainlifter liquid has been the new favorite of mine. If scented detergents are a deal breaker to you, again I like the Kirkland Free & Clear. Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin is another good one too.
| ||
|
Post# 1203390 , Reply# 48 4/13/2024 at 22:25 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
||
 I did some laundry last year when staying a week+ at a friend's for his son's wedding. He uses Kirkland pods. Bath towels were exhibiting faint musty odor, even a few clean ones in the nearby storage. I loaded all of them, reasonably large load including some other items in a Kenmore/LG frontloader. Initially tossed in two pods. Paused to check the water after the fill level got settled, not slippery enough, added another pod. Very little sudsing occurred. The towels had a better scent when done. | ||
| Post# 1203395 , Reply# 49 4/14/2024 at 01:09 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
|
Earlier I was trying to figure out which detergents actually have enzymes. I know some USA detergents do..but they aren't labeled as such.. For example.. does the Kirkland free/clear or regular liquid have enzymes?
I'm pretty sure this wind fresh does not have enzymes...Honestly, I think it's mostly washing soda but I do know that I don't have to use much and the water is slippery as all get out...but there's virtually NO suds.. I know you WANT that slippery feeling. I'm with you .. I'd be willing to bet the Kirkland and Wind Fresh are the exact same thing... but you never really know as far as musty towels at the friends house...Been there done that.. Step out of shower, have one of their "clean" towels that smell like funk? I think that has more to do with their washing habits or machine than detergents...I mean, I use super cheap detergent and my towels smell awesomely clean... I credit the machine, not overloading and using a tiny bit of chlorine bleach and of course hot water | ||
| Forum Index: |
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}