Washer dryer- My turn

[bobk]

The 1989 stacked Kenmore WD on Chateau de Mer (1981 48MY has died). I'm considering trying to get it completely refurbished in place, assuming that were possible, because new machines will not fit with out a lot of remodeling. Any thoughts? It doesn't seem terribly rusted. The problem is the cabinet just fits the 65" height of the old machine and all the new ones I found were 72-75" high.

Also, I searched and read the old posts here on the replacement subject, but would welcome fresh opinions from others on how their replacements have worked out. Stackable vs combo? Best brands? We liveaboard 6-7 months a year so want household type performance if at all possible.

R&R will require removing the center windshield. Does the entire frame need to be removed, or can just the glass be pushed out?

Bobk

 

[magnawake]

Opening up can of worms huh? I looked at mine as well and have no ideas how to replace mine. Mine are in the aft stateroom. Mine are working for the time being, but one must have plan just in case. I dont think the PO used them at all. Good topic Bob.

 

[sunset grill]

Most likely some of the parts will be obsolete from Sears. I had a tub bearing go out on 1990 model and could not get bearing, but I think mine was GE or Hotpoint. Good luck

 

[GJH]

My Maytag front loaders are 69" high stacked. One option you have is to go to a combo unit like this (though people with experience say try to find a vented one) and free up some storage space:

http://www.compactappliance.com/LG-...city-Silver-WM3455HS/WM3455HS,default,pd.html

Good site to peruse for this stuff.

 

[Pascal]

when i took out the stackable out of my boat, i had to disassemble the washer to take the tub out, and then fold the sheet metal body...

for a couple and occasional guest, a VENTED splendid is good option. the key is to do frequent and reasonably small loads. it's a bit slow and drying a full load takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours but you set it up at night and by morning it's all clean and dry, so who cares.

but you need to get the vented version! mine is 7 or 8 years old now, and the heating element failed. have to order a new one. but even without heated drying, i just spread out the cloth on the bunk and it finishes drying quickly.

a big bonus is that you get a lot of extra storage.

i called Splendid once with a question, excellent fast customer service. in english.

 

[DCMY #92]

I have a VENTED Splindid I removed from out boat. It's in excellent condition. As Pascal suggests it works very well. Send me a PM if you are interested.

 

[stilespb]

After the over and under unit on our 58 Yachfish went years ago, we replaced with a vented Equator 1500 which is similar to a Splendide model in that it washes and dries in the same tub.

That one had a rather rinky dink discharge pump with poorly designed seal such that it would start leaking after 1-2 years. Also fried the electronic control board twice over the years. After the second round of that replaced with Whirlpool stacked units. Of course we got 8-10 years our of the Equator so probably should not complain. And we did like 15 loads/week as full time liveaboard.

Whirlpool units are now about 6-7 years old. They do a great job cleaning and no leaky pumps yet. Controls are a bit qirky in that the door lock has a safety switch embedded with a bimetalic time delay device so if that fails to engage, the washer will not start up. Slamming the door seems to make it engage easier.

Cleans great. Can fit two queen sheets and four pillow cases in one load, or 5-6 dress shirts. Dryer auto cycle for a load that size runs about 45 minutes.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I have had 3 vented Splendide units, one in a boat and two in motorhomes. I hated all of them. They are slow, don't dry well, and all of them had electrical problems after minimal use. IMO, I'd try anything but a Splendide.

 

[Bill Root]

We have the Bosch Axiis stackable units on BUFFALO GAL. Height of both units combined including legs is 68", width is 23". The dryer vents out through the same ducting as the vent over the range. They fit in the same space as the old combo unit, although some modifications to the cabinetr door were required, and opening the detergent drawer is pretty tight. On balance, we like them.

 

[bobk]

OK, I'm red faced again. I had a hard time getting a service tech to come to a boat . Anyway after waiting almost a week, a guy came out and pronounced the machine to be working OK. HUH? Remember I had water on the floor, would not pump out, all kinds of noises. Well, the tech found the discharge was plugged and wanted no part of that. $98 well spent though. I spent many hours over two days working with a snake, water hose, vacuum, when finally the snake jammed in 11 feet into the discharge and would not back out. I ruined the snake in the process and got it out with a piece of rubber attached. It looks like a disintegrated one way valve like a light duty joker valve.?? The parts diagram for the machine didn't show any thing like it. But the up shot is the machine is working fine....and to think I was close to pulling the trigger on a difficult and costly replacement. DUH.

If anyone else runs into something like this, try disconnecting the discharge hose and test the machine to see if it pumps into a bucket. That was the convincer for me.

Many thanks for all the suggestions.

Bobk

 

[airattacksmith]

I have a 70' Hatteras, 1988 vintage, and we just replaced the Thin Twin washer dryer unit made by Whirlpool. No knowledge ahead of time kept us a little apprehensive about the job. Knowing what we know now we could have done it in in less time. It took a day but could be done in a shorter period of time knowing what to do. The whole machine cannot be moved in one piece. We could not remove the bottom washer frame unit so we kept the frame. We did begin with removing the wall in front of the machine plus we removed the bottom step on the stairway to allow for slide room.
After that remove the front of the washer unit, lower unit, and the top of the washer. Disconnect water, electrical plug and drain line and the remove 2 bolts to slide the tube assembly out. 2 people can now carry this up the stairs and out to the dock. Then we begin with the top dryer unit and remove the front, back, top, and unplug electrical. After removing the bolts that hold it in place it too can be removed and taken to the dock. Once all this is done you should be left with the base frame only with the vertical braces that hold the upper unit. Thats the easy part. The hard part is taking apart a brand new unit to rebuild in the original frame and getting it right. If not mechanically inclined you may want to hire some one. Neither one of us that did this job had no expertise in the assembly or disassembly of a washer dryer but managed to do the job. Our last unit lasted 26 years.

 

[airattacksmith]

The 1989 stacked Kenmore WD on Chateau de Mer (1981 48MY has died). I'm considering trying to get it completely refurbished in place, assuming that were possible, because new machines will not fit with out a lot of remodeling. Any thoughts? It doesn't seem terribly rusted. The problem is the cabinet just fits the 65" height of the old machine and all the new ones I found were 72-75" high.

Also, I searched and read the old posts here on the replacement subject, but would welcome fresh opinions from others on how their replacements have worked out. Stackable vs combo? Best brands? We liveaboard 6-7 months a year so want household type performance if at all possible.

R&R will require removing the center windshield. Does the entire frame need to be removed, or can just the glass be pushed out?

Bobk

See washer dryer my turn below. Rebuilding in place your best and cheapest way to go. Get a washer dryer man in there and buy the same unit if you were happy with it. Less than a day or just hours for some one who knows the machine. We did it.