Bought a new front-load washing machine. At no time during any cycle is water visible in the machine, but clothes are damp at the end of operation. Is this normal?
Yes, it is normal. There is water in the machine. One of the big draws for this style machine is that they use much less water than top load machines. If you stopped the cycle and opened the door, dug down in the clothes, you would find water. The machine fills a small amount of water (below the level of the door) and tumbles. As the water is absorbed by the clothing, the water level drops, so the machine adds more to maintain the water level. This is basically how the washer figures out how big your clothes load is and how much water that load needs. (Of course most sales persons at the big box stores and Sears have no idea how this works)
If you'd like, try running a cycle with no clothes to see how much water is in the machine. (It's not a lot) Now remember this: Because there is so much less water use than a top load machine, you must cut way way way back on the amount of soap and fabric softener used. Use no more than one tablespoon of HE (High Efficiency) soap (even less if it is 2x or 3x concentrate) and one teaspoon of fabric softener per load !!!!!
This should be a Fix-Ya for your question. Thanks.
Hello,
I have a Whirlpool DUET (almost - it's actually a Whirlpool AWS 931-1000, which is almost exactly the same machine) and I got sick and tired of clothes that didn't seem clean.
So I:
1) Unplugged the machine
2) Opened it up (2 "star" type screws at top of back panel)
3) Looked for the water level sensor (right side, behind timer)
4) The water sensor looks like a flying saucer
5) Screwed in plastic set screws about 5 times (clockwise)
6) Placed top on washer, screwed it in
7) Plugged in washer
8) Placed a bathrobe in the machine (to give it a load)
9) Turned it on
The machine now has visible water at the bottom of the porthole.
I have a video blog of this experience underway, just look for MY MAN THE MAKER on google and you'll see the whole adventure in photographs so you don't make any mistakes.
After doing this modification (took about 5 minutes) my clothes are now coming out of the washer clean, fresh and NICE
Graham Leach
XX15D21D
Hello,
I have a "almost" Whirlpool DUET (it's actually a Whirlpool AWS 931-1000, which is almost exactly the same machine) and I got sick and tired of clothes that didn't seem clean, which I thought was the result of insufficient / invisible water levels.
I couldn't care less about Consumer Reports and eco/green feel-good factors/features if my clothing is coming out DIRTY, which what was happening.
So, after doing the below modification (which took about 5 minutes) my clothes are now coming out of the washer clean, fresh and NICE - which is what the machine is for, no?
Here's what I did:
1) Unplugged the machine :)
2) Opened it up (2 "star" type screws at top of back panel)
3) Looked for the water level sensor (right side, behind timer)
4) The water sensor looks like a flying saucer
5) Screwed in both sensor set screws (clockwise, first 2 then 5 turns)
6) Replaced top on washer
7) Screwed top screws back in, just to be safe
8) Plugged in washer
9) Put a large bathrobe in the machine (to give it a "hefty" load)
10) Selected Program 1 (longest)
11) Turned it on
12) Watched the action :)
I have a photo / video blog of the above experience underway, just look for MY MAN THE MAKER on google and you'll see the whole adventure in photographs so you don't make any mistakes.
After the fix, the machine loaded water until an inch or two showed on the porthole. After a while in the duty cycle (tossing the bathrobe around) it absorbed a lot of the water, but a little tiny bit remained visible.
Now, if I want to be extra sure of sufficient water in the machine, I just manually add about 2 liters of extra water once the machine has initially filled for the first time (the clothes are sufficiently wet thereafter to made adding water unnecessary). Seeing as the door is locked, I added the water through the TRAY 1 section of the soap dispenser, the section reserved for "pre wash". I normally put ONE SCOOP (about 1 tablespoons) of powdered detergent in TRAY 2 and I never bother to put anything in TRAY 3 (fabric softener). The clothes smell fine without it and they are soft enough now.
This experience has piqued my interest in washing machines.
I am now considering developing an ethernet-enabled micro-controller that I will connect to my washer to give me ultimate control over how my clothes are being washed. THat way, I get clothes cleaned the way *I* want rather than the way THEY want. Hahahaha!
It will also eliminate the "sour smell" that can plague washer
Oh, it will also tell me when the cycle is done so I don't forget to leave clothes standing in it overnight.
Graham Leach
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MNTECH mentions that with HE front loader machines you need to cut way back on detergent and fabric softener. He says no more than 1 Tbsp. of HE soap and less if concetrated and one tsp. fabric softener? I was so surprised to read this. My question is, why then on the bottle of HE detergent, does it tells you to fill the measuring cup provided to line 3 for large loads 2 for med. etc. this is WAY MORE THAN! a Tbsp. or tsp. Besides them obviously wanting you to buy more of there product why do they tell you so much If it will effect the final result. We just had ours installed 2 days ago. I have been doing quite a few loads trying to catch up from our old top loader kicking the bucket a week ago. I have noticed that the clothes seem to leave a bit of a residue feeling on my hands after folding. i'm assuming it's from too much detergent and fabric softener? I feel like the clothes will not clean properly if I use so little product. Just stuck in my old ways I guess :}
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We have the same problem with our Whirlpool Duet. I would like to find a way to have the machine add more water during each cycle. I hope this is possible, after doing this manually for awhile are cloths are getting clean and oder free. We can now leave the door open to the washer without any bad smell and we don't have to use all of the cleaning products that I have read about in the bolgs to clean out the washer and drain pump. I need away for the machine to do this without having to add water manually at the beginning of each cycle. If anyone knows how to get the machine to use more water please let me know.
Thanks,
Tim
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