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Thread Number: 97840
/ Tag: Modern Dryers
Happy 20th Birthday to my Whirlpool Duet FL Washer |
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| Post# 1227873 4/2/2025 at 15:54 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
I know this gets tiring each year... but it's still going with no issues at all.. officially 20 years old! Crazy
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| Post# 1227874 , Reply# 1 4/2/2025 at 16:06 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
That's awesome! | ||
| Post# 1227875 , Reply# 2 4/2/2025 at 16:15 by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Post# 1227880 , Reply# 3 4/2/2025 at 18:01 by GELaundry4ever  (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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Whirlpool! Whirlpool made some good stuff back then. Now, not so much. | ||
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Post# 1227882 , Reply# 4 4/2/2025 at 20:16 by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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| Post# 1227903 , Reply# 6 4/3/2025 at 05:01 by agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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Congratulations mark! May you get many more from the old gal. | ||
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Post# 1227919 , Reply# 7 4/3/2025 at 09:59 by Chetlaham (United States) |
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| Post# 1227920 , Reply# 8 4/3/2025 at 10:14 by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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HE3 set my HE3 kenmore set from 2001 still going strong -washer is German,dryer US made.Drain pump was replaced on the washer. | ||
| Post# 1227939 , Reply# 9 4/3/2025 at 15:32 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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Post# 1227956 , Reply# 10 4/3/2025 at 18:50 by murando531 (Augusta, Georgia - US) |
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Congrats! It’s a gorgeous machine so keep it until it completely dies. My Duet Alpha WFW92 set is 8 years now with no issues, aside from one worry it gave me about a month ago where for 2-3 cycles, it would occasionally make this tiny muffled squeal during the spins, and yet when turning the drum by hand or during slow rotations, it would be completely silent, so I don’t think it had anything to do with the bearings. After those cycles though, it’s been perfectly fine, so I’m thinking now something could have somehow gotten wedged against the seal, like a wad of hair or lint or something, and it cleared itself up. Otherwise, best washer I’ve ever owned, smooth and quiet as day one, and built like a tank. I’ve debated giving the set to my granddad after the house burning before his new house is built, so that I can get the 8620 set before they’re discontinued and they go back to the center knob design (barf), but I also wouldn’t mind keeping it until hopefully hitting that same age.
It does make me wonder why in the world you’d be strongly considering LG or anything but Whirlpool again as a replacement, after having this washer and the dishwashers that have done so well for so long. Despite the hate train that’s seemed to flare up around here recently against Whirlpool, their dishwashers, especially the KitchenAids, are the best they’ve ever been, and have been raved about by those that own them, myself included. As for their laundry and other appliances, the internet, specifically that Maytag-costume wearing Samsung apologist, and two *ahem* “very active” members of this site, seem to rant about apparent wide-spread issues, and yet the people who are actually in the field and dealing with customers directly aren't backing those claims up. The two local appliance stores around me say they’re still at the top in reliability compared to most of the other brands, save for Speed Queen, Miele, Bosch, of course, and one of them has flat out stopped selling LG or Samsung entirely because of their reliability and difficulty getting parts and service handled. | ||
| Post# 1227967 , Reply# 12 4/3/2025 at 19:55 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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Honestly, I actually like the looks of the NEW FL Whirlpools... I just wish I could see how they actually wash/rinse...
To be clear, the only LG appliance I would consider is their FL washer... Nothing else that they make appliance wise.. I would get a Whirlpool dishwaher/Range/Fridge/dryer before LG... I agree with you. I really LOVE their dishwashers I just think of all the appliances LG makes, I think they make their FL better than their other appliances.. But the MAIN thing is actually watching them go through different cycles and liking what I'm seeing more than I do the Whirlpools (but there's really NOT a lot of Whirlpools in action on youtube)... Like the new FL models (which I actually LIKE the looks of) I would totally consider that but first I need to see it in action.. Another thing I've run into is I feel like Whirlpool can't get it together with parts shortages since Covid... I LOVE my kitchenaid blender...it works great but the pitchers start falling apart after a couple of years... so I call and then send me another since it's a 5 years warranty.. I'm on my THIRD pitcher so far... and I called them again for another one and they're shipping it out when they become back in stock... this was 2 months ago and I haven't received it. I think it's just little things like that that make me wonder about them NOW vs then.. that's all. | ||
| Post# 1227968 , Reply# 13 4/3/2025 at 19:58 by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas) | ||
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Post# 1227975 , Reply# 14 4/3/2025 at 21:13 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 1227977 , Reply# 15 4/3/2025 at 21:47 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
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cfz2882 | ||
| Post# 1227986 , Reply# 16 4/3/2025 at 23:03 by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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HE3 design the doors are dark smoke plexiglass with black controls area.I will see if a good pic can be taken. | ||
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Post# 1227995 , Reply# 17 4/4/2025 at 03:46 by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.)) |
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Not Surprised that your German made WP duets: | ||
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Post# 1228038 , Reply# 18 4/5/2025 at 07:03 by Logixx (Germany) |
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Post# 1228040 , Reply# 19 4/5/2025 at 07:19 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Congratulations 20 year-old German built, whirlpool duet
These were quite good washers overall, and we have many friends and customers that have one this old that are still going. Some have barely been repaired at all. Others have had a number of repairs.
I don’t think this is unusual the whirlpool full-size front load washers that came after this are also holding up very well. Like most good washer dryer pairs the dryer that matches these duet washers will far out of the washer, just basic physics and dealing with water. The two big exceptions in history to the dryers outlasting The washers were Frigidaire dryers from the 70s often died long before the washers and Maytag stream of heat and halo heat dryers Often didn’t last as long as the Maytag washer people just got tired, repairing the stream of heat dryers often times. I have one of these German built KitchenAid proline washers and while I’m quite happy with its performance overall I’m glad that it’s in the outdoor laundry room because it’s always been a frustrating machine to watch these duets. They have too much trouble balancing and they keep timing out to a longer cycle time. We sold a pair of these to my former partner and he still has them. The washer was only repaired once the dryer never but it used to be so frustrating to do laundry and because it would say 11 minutes to go and you’d come back 20 minutes later and it was still trying to balance made it very frustrating to get things done around the house But with mine it’s outdoors I don’t pay any attention to it, the only other problem with this machine was the tangling of jeans and long sleeve shirts, so I just don’t wash anything but towels and such in it. Overall, my front load three year-old Speed Queen washer is superior, it never has trouble balancing it never extends its cycle time and virtually no tangling. My last service call Friday evening was a German Maytag duet, the little plastic piece that hits the power button broke, and you have to take the control panel apart and take the broken button out so you can take a pencil with an eraser and hit the button manually this is one of many common problems on these German duets. They had really bad plastic Parts. Other common problems were bad, drain pumps, bad motor boards, bad inlet valves, but there’s never been a washing machine made that didn’t have some problems eventually so overall I would rate the German duets as a very good washer, certainly far better than the Maytag built duets. John L | ||
| Post# 1228045 , Reply# 20 4/5/2025 at 08:02 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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Did I mention my duet dryer died like 6 years ago? It was probably TOTALLY repairable... but I replaced it with a standard WP dryer.. It was giving me an error code (I forget which one)..I understood at the time the dryer was probably fine and could be repaired... but I wanted a regular whirlpool dryer... and at that time I got mine for $300 something dollars.
About the Duet washer... Speaking of drain pumps going bad. Mine has never been touched... but I wonder if it's going... I really don't know to be honest, if it's always done this or it's something new. I'll explain: So I'm in the laundry room folding clothes and the duet is getting ready to do the LAST spin.. As I'm folding clothes and it's trying to decide if it's satisfied to do the last spin... I see the drain hose behind the washer "shaking" more than usual.. A cord that's touching it shakes too... and it only does this WHILE it's trying to decide to spin... it stops doing it once the spin starts... and I don't see this behavior with other drains or interim spins... and it almost makes, gosh, I don't know how to describe it... sort of a knocking sound in sync with the shake (not horrible) but as I'm seeing it I'm asking myself "Has it always done this?" But it drains perfectly... who knows... I wouldn't be surprised if it's on it's last legs.. tell me... is there like a sign that a drain pump goes or does it just go on its own without any indication something might be wrong? I would say if I were to guess the first time I noticed it was like a year ago..I just happened to be in the laundry room... since then I've taken notice if I'm in there if it does it before intermin spins and it doesn't. | ||
| Post# 1228049 , Reply# 21 4/5/2025 at 09:08 by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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Duet drain pump pump on mine got noisy and erratic starts.pumps were made by Askoll and i would say these are noisier than average.On the failing pump the impeller was very loose on the rotor magnet. | ||
| Post# 1228054 , Reply# 22 4/5/2025 at 10:37 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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Post# 1228057 , Reply# 23 4/5/2025 at 11:52 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Drain hose, jumping and shaking
Hi Mark, that is not a sign of the pump failing.
It’s up to you to repair or replace the machine when something goes wrong. It’s easy to replace the drain pump. I just do it myself if it fails. The board failure that you had on the dryer was just the solder joints on the motor relay takes 15 minutes to fix that and no parts. It’s always a tough call to decide whether to fix something or not just up to you. John L | ||
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Post# 1228058 , Reply# 24 4/5/2025 at 12:09 by Logixx (Germany) |
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| Post# 1228071 , Reply# 26 4/5/2025 at 14:22 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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I think pump shaking is not a sing of it failing then I think it's all good... because it sounds really healthy when it does its drains...just for whatever reason before the final spin it gets shaky like that for some reason. It's possible that it's always done this and I've just never noticed it.
as for fixing things. I'm sure it's easy... but unless there's a tutorial with kindergarten instructions... forget it.. fixing things is not my bag... although I have surprised myself with a few things over the years that I've done myself. Hey Combo - I was pretty sure that was the case with the dryer... but it gave me an excuse to go back to a standard WP dryer which I prefer much more... I think the dryer was about 14 years old anyway. | ||
| Post# 1228168 , Reply# 27 4/6/2025 at 13:13 by whatsername (Denver, CO) | ||
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Post# 1228282 , Reply# 28 4/8/2025 at 02:11 by MattL (Flushing, MI) |
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Congrats on 20 years! I have one of your machines siblings - it's going strong too. Bought it used in 2010, wanted to experiment with a FL,soon became my daily driver. Wishing you many more years of Duet washing. | ||
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Post# 1228355 , Reply# 29 4/9/2025 at 08:08 by lakewebsterkid (Dayton, Ohio) |
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Congrats! Honestly not shocked. I see a few floating around every now and then! Ours made it to 11 years with heavy use. Here is to another 10! | ||
| Post# 1228368 , Reply# 31 4/9/2025 at 11:39 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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The only thing I can think of that the board is still working is the surge protector. It could be luck... but it definitely hasn't hurt it all these yrs so any modern washer I have will be plugged into one...
YEARS ago, I learned this machine had a hidden clean washer cycle... you have to press a sequence of buttons to activate it and it works just like the built on more recent clean washer cycles... At the time I made that post... a few ppl on here had a similar machine to mine but mine is MOL while there's was TOL with more features... They couldn't get the same sequence I was using to work on theirs... Well, yesterday I saw someone with a TOL model on youtube...and his worked... and I checked because I have the sequence saved in case I ever need to use it... and his is exactly the same... So it's weird that some on here who had this exact model couldn't get theirs to work... CLICK HERE TO GO TO mark_wpduet's LINK | ||
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Post# 1228540 , Reply# 32 4/11/2025 at 17:42 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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The 2006 Duet pair are retired today from RJ's rental property. The current tenant says the washer is leaking and she's "done" with them. Both have been used-and-abused as renters do. The washer is *gnasty*, she uses those froofy boutique liquid detergents and never runs the cleaning cycle per the instructions I provided. RJ is no longer providing laundry machines (or apparently a refrigerator) there, gave her an allowance to buy her own machines and a refrigerator that she can take along if/when they leave. She wants a unitary stacked set of some brand (probably LG). The machines are in a corner of the kitchen beside the refrigerator. The house was built in 1961, originally provided for only a washer. The previous owners had a dryer in the one-car garage. The dispenser drawer isn't missing, it was taken out during the removal. I don't want them. Aim to check for stray coinage in the dryer and the pump trap before they're disposed. The washer bearings and drum replacement I did when they were put into service apparently is intact. I'm curious to see the condition of spider but that'd be a huge disassembly effort. | ||
| Post# 1228546 , Reply# 33 4/11/2025 at 21:08 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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I vaguely remember you doing that. I think I remember the pictures of where you had this tore down....but I can't remember the story behind it...something about you got it from a relative and tore it down, fixed some things and cleaned it....
It's so funny... of all of the people over the years who have had this duet... they've all been the TOL model.. I remember being on the Whirlpool website and trying to decide if I wanted the TOL model or the MOL model... the BOL model didn't have a heater... so that was out.. so I just went for MOL... and I've never seen anyone that ever had that MOL model... Most ppl just must have bought the TOL... which is basically the same with just some added cycles. The one thing I really wish mine had that the TOL had is prewash...but anything else I didn't really need. But if I ever want to prewash something I just use soak. it's insane to me that this lasted with a renter who doesn't give a F. Because although these are well made for the most part, there are some things about it that feel cheap like the handle.. I remember when these were still for sale in Lowes you would often see the handle broken on the display model. I wish there were some way to get mine to you when/if it does so you can tear it down and examine what the inside looks like. I'd be so curious to see if my laundry habits are as good as I think they are. | ||
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Post# 1228569 , Reply# 34 4/12/2025 at 02:26 by MattL (Flushing, MI) |
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Mark,I could never get the cleaning cycle to work using your method. I have the exact machine in the link you posted,someday I'll try that method although it's been fine all these years without it. | ||
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Post# 1228598 , Reply# 35 4/12/2025 at 12:09 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 1228669 , Reply# 36 4/13/2025 at 01:21 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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I hardly EVER use it... Maybe once every couple of years... and remember, I didn't even discover it until after I had been using my machine like 13 years or something (LOL)
I mean, it fills with lots of water and does the crazy rotations and water goes everywhere... but the water itself ISN'T even that hot. It's like luke warm... and I hate that it doesn't spin... It just drains... I feel like it leaves too water water in the system doing that...so after it's done I always do drain/spin.. then I just wipe everything down in the nooks and crannies.. I don't think it's nearly as fine tuned as some of the new clean washer cycles. And I had to take a picture of the sequence to keep on my phone, otherwise I totally forget | ||
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Post# 1228903 , Reply# 37 4/15/2025 at 14:48 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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A few more retired Duet pics. The pump trap reeks of sewage odor. I'm surprised there's no debris or coinage. | ||
| Post# 1228908 , Reply# 38 4/15/2025 at 15:56 by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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