Some background: I am *not* new to front load washers. I think it must be close to a decade ago I got a Kenmore 970-C40052 which was around a 3 cu ft. It has performed virtually flawlessly and the only reason we upgraded was to get a bigger capacity and something new since odds were after almost 10 years something was going to go that might not be all that economical to repair.

So after shopping around the 4.4 cu ft Whirlpool looked like a pretty good deal and we bought the steam washer and matching non-steam dryer.

Almost immediately there were problems:

-Every load with something smaller (underwear, socks, napkins) something was getting stuck in the gasket. This last happened years ago with baby socks in the Kenmore. So repair called and they think something is malformed so are installing a new one. Strike one.

-The dryer thumps rather loudly every revolution, even when warmed up. So either bad drum seam or rollers (probably the former). Repair called and agree but are trying rollers first. Strike two.

-Capacity increase very disappointing. I knew the numbers were a bit deceptive but this is really bad. Since I still have the old one off to the side I compared and I only get a couple pair of pants and medium towel more in the new Whirlpool. Strike three.

-Fabric softener siphons out very easily before anything started but then often does not siphon out completely at end of cycle. Strike four.

-At least a third of my loads so far have failed to spin completely dry probably due to machine not getting a balance or being too sensitive to imbalance. I then have to do a spin only cycle which seems to work. This happen only a couple times a year with the old Kenmore. Strike five.

-Dryer sensing sucks. Half the time a normal dry still leaves a few damp clothes. Strike six.

-And, WORST of all the washer twists clothes up terribly, particularly pant legs and shirt arms, compared to the Kenmore. There is also noticeably worse tangling. I am going to hook back up the old washer this weekend to confirm but I think it is a design defect due to a combination of the tilted drum and asymmetrical blades. I believe the blades are shaped that way to compensate for the drum tilt. I think the idea is they push the load a bit back towards the front of the drum as the laundry rolls off the blade which is higher towards the back. In any event it is my theory that this also imparts a rolling or twisting motion to the laundry which translates to a severe twist in longer articles of clothing. I'm not sure if all tilt drums have this issue. Strike seven.

So anyone else seeing any of this? Particularly the last effect? I am *not* going to accept having to iron jeans and not being able to damp hang my wrinkle resistant shirts! If I prove this with my test loads in the old machine these lemons are going back for sure.

I'm in the middle of my tests right now. One followup observation is on extraction. Notwithstanding the problem somethimes not getting a balance for a good spin; the old Kenmore (which I think had a extraction speed of around 1000 RPM) spins out better than the new whirlpool with a supposed extraction speed of 1300 RPM. Heck I often had to peel stuff off the drum of the Kenmore in spite of it also have the "shake-off" tumbles just like the new Whirlpool. Since this seems impossible I'm going to get my hands on an rpm meter to see if I am really getting 1300 RPM.

I agree with you on some of the things. Dryer sensing is BAD. I've figured out how long it usually takes based on load size and just set mine for timed dry. I do get twisting of clothes (sometimes) not all the time and it's just something I've learned to deal with and now it doesn't seem as bad as it did at first. I do have a question to ask you about your machine. My Duet is almost 5 years old. If you look on the panel of your machine, over at the extreme right, is there a "rinse" button that says Normal, extra rinse, or max rinse? I'm VERY curious if MAX rinse is selected how much more water it uses. I know you have other fish to fry regarding your machine but I've been looking for someone to answer this question for me.

Thanks

The only thing about my washer is sometimes the drawer underneath comes open when it spins but I think that is from the painters sliding out the machine and us not making sure it was level.

Other than that I love my set.

I am now a bit worried about the comment that someones went bad after 2 years. I am hoping that doesn't happen to mine.

"Every load with something smaller (underwear, socks, napkins) something was getting stuck in the gasket. This last happened years ago with baby socks in the Kenmore. So repair called and they think something is malformed so are installing a new one. Strike one."

Well they replaced the original gasket and it is better. Still find smaller items in there once in a while (as opposed to basically never on previous front loader). Gasket design sub-par but I'd call it half a strike now.

"The dryer thumps rather loudly every revolution, even when warmed up. So either bad drum seam or rollers (probably the former). Repair called and agree but are trying rollers first. Strike two."

Got rollers replaced and really not better. Have not yet called again to try and get drum replaced. Either rollers need to be softer or seam smoother. Still a strike.

"Capacity increase very disappointing. I knew the numbers were a bit deceptive but this is really bad. Since I still have the old one off to the side I compared and I only get a couple pair of pants and medium towel more in the new Whirlpool. Strike three."

After a trying the old one a few more times I'm willing to back off a bit on this. I'll rescind my strike vote.

"Fabric softener siphons out very easily before anything started but then often does not siphon out completely at end of cycle. Strike four."

This is still problematic. I'll keep it as a strike, albeit a minor one.

"At least a third of my loads so far have failed to spin completely dry probably due to machine not getting a balance or being too sensitive to imbalance. I then have to do a spin only cycle which seems to work. This happen only a couple times a year with the old Kenmore. Strike five."

After a lot more loads I find the percentage a lot better than the one third. However it still fails more often than I'd like. I'd down grade this to half a strike.

"Dryer sensing sucks. Half the time a normal dry still leaves a few damp clothes. Strike six."

Again here it seems to have either improved a lot or I had a statistical anomaly. I'll rescind this strike.

"And, WORST of all the washer twists clothes up terribly, particularly pant legs and shirt arms, compared to the Kenmore. There is also noticeably worse tangling. I am going to hook back up the old washer this weekend to confirm but I think it is a design defect due to a combination of the tilted drum and asymmetrical blades. I believe the blades are shaped that way to compensate for the drum tilt. I think the idea is they push the load a bit back towards the front of the drum as the laundry rolls off the blade which is higher towards the back. In any event it is my theory that this also imparts a rolling or twisting motion to the laundry which translates to a severe twist in longer articles of clothing. I'm not sure if all tilt drums have this issue. Strike seven."

This issue is still the most annoying and fundamental. Pants and shirts are almost always twisted and loads with many of them are quite tangled up. I am almost certain the tilt drum and asymmetric blades are to blame and will never again buy (nor advise anyone to buy) a front loader with any sort of tilt.

So final verdict is still pretty negative. I'd probably be neutral if it wasn't for the constant twisting and tangling of pant legs and shirt arms.

-First and foremost a tilt drum with asymmetric blades. While I haven't done computer modeling or anything it seems logical that the mechanics of the situation lead to laundry slumping to the back and then the larger blade profile at the back pushes it back forward. This seem to both theoretically and practically impart a twisting action on the clothing. While smaller items randomize and come out in the wash, so to speak; larger, narrow items such as pant legs and shirt arms end up with a net twist and tangle up amongst each other. I also think think the tilt drum makes balance and spin out more finicky and subject to more vibration and failure to complete.

-Second is baffle design. I would look for something without the *massive* cavity that the Whirlpool and similar have. I think I looked at an LG in the last month and it was much better in that respect.