My thoughts on Speed Queen

[gottahaveahoove]

Thanks, Alex.

We moved a Hotpoint gas dryer and General Electric washer upstairs from the basement when some remodeling was done. After a while, they developed issues.
My mother was visiting Ireland. One day, the dryer died. I went to the appliance store and got the Maytag gas dryer.
The NEXT day, the washer died. I returned and got a matching Maytag washer. They live in a little laundry closet. My mom came home from Ireland. Next day, she went to do her laundry, opened the door and gasped! "What happened while I was gone"? I replied, "$800.00 happened". In 1992, $800.00 for that set was a lot of money.
They served all of us well.
Thank goodness!!

 

[electroluxxxx]

but that $800 got you a quality machine that was well worth the price and also many years of use.

Alex, thank you for the compliment, I am a member in AW.org but I rarely post on there, once in a while when trying to source something I will post or when someone is looking for info that I am capable of providing. between all 3 sets I have about 1500 invested and that includes... purchase, replaced parts, replacement parts, belts, time, fuel and food for travel. for as old as they are they still work today like they did back then and they are all used weekly when this Cinderella does her household chores. As for the Neptune series! they were to my understanding part of Maytag's downfall and I could be wrong but that was something I have read and something I have heard working in the appliance industry. Maytag was always a dependable machine that would always provide many many years of great service. I have seen a few renditions of the Neptune and I do believe the front loaders were known to be really good. As for the top loaders there was one model that used rotating discs in the bottom of the tub and this machine was proven to be extremely problematic. Now on to the centennial, that machine came out when Whirlpool acquired the Maytag brand and what better company to take on such a great name. They were a direct drive in the beginning and as whirlpool moved away from the Direct drive transmission and went with the new style gearcase the performance was drastically cut in my opinion. They just don't agitate like the older ones did. As for the Speed Queen, nothing but good things to say, they are as reliable as the old ones were and will still last you years and years, as a matter of fact when it comes to electronics Speed Queen (Alliance) holds the title for having some of the most reliable electronics in the industry.

 

[dysonman1]

Does Speed Queen even make front loaders any longer?

I did buy a brand new mechanical timer for my Speed Queen washer "just in case", as I don't believe any one manufactures them any longer.

 

[panasonicvac]

Tom, I believe they still do. I've heard from one user on AW that you can still get the FF7/DF7 either in white or stainless steel.

Mike, I've heard that the Neptunes were one of the reasons why the original Maytag company went bankrupt. Interesting to hear that they made Neptune top loaders, or maybe I am thinking the other way around here. But yeah I really liked our Neptunes. Even though we are very impressed with our LGs that replaced our Neptunes, I still however miss the Neptunes. Our set had the touch screen control boards which I thought at the time was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen on a washer and dryer before. This picture isn't ours but it's to give you an idea of what it looked like when we had it. Although oddly from what I remember, the dryer was slightly taller than the washer. Maybe it's just because it was a gas model since that was the only gas dryer we've ever had.

 

[kirbyklekter]

The Neptunes!

I knew people who bought the front load Neptunes when they first came out. They were really nice. The sound of the spin cycle ramping up was very unique. There was a laundromat in town that bought all new Neptunes to replace some very tired Norge machines. The Neptunes only lasted about 3 years. The biggest problem they had with these were the bearings at the rear of the wash tub.

Was told that using too much liquid detergent was the main reason for failure of the bearings. I've seen videos on you tube where they explain why this happens.

 

[man114]

I got one of the digital Speed Queens in 2016. Same day I got a Samsung Addwash.

I had had a Haier Top Loader and GE front loader prior to it. The GE bearing went and the Haier had been dead a few months it was a better model but I paid very little for it and the drain pump had gone again.

So I said to my wife Let’s do this right and get a speed queen. So we went to a local place that was getting out of sales to only do service and bought a digital control one for like $700. Now I’m not afraid of the digital controls because my parents have the old Raytheon Amana Speed Queen digital control one from like 2001 when circuit city stopped carrying appliances and the controls are awfully similar. I wasn’t worried about the reliability of the digital controls. So as it stands it still works fine.

The hilarious part of this is after buying it I say to my wife I bet Sears marked the Samsung Addwash down. Anyway the Addwash was brand new but has a cosmetic dent in the top. So I go over to Sears immediately after and what do you know they marked it down to $467 or something, plus it had like a $150 in shop your way points rebate from Samsung. So yeah impossible deal to refuse.

Haven’t had any issues with either thus far.

I’ve already decided that if either go before my daughter is 5 I’m getting a Dexter front loader.