My search for washing machine bliss - will a top loading LG work for me?

[Jack.Bauer]

Ok not really bliss, just something that works.

The story:

-  My 20 year old well built Maytag just died.  I'm locked into a top loader due to where it sits, alcove off the kitchen.
-  Have low water pressure, on the second floor of a two floor house.  When the downstairs tenant uses water, my pressure drops greatly.  When he does laundry in the basement, I get no water at all while his machine is filling.  (Already have low pressure, at a higher point in the city, have a hospital right across the street which likely draws a lot of water) 
-  Put those all together, and while the 20 year old worked ok - solenoids on the washer had to hold the valve open for long periods sometimes...  A bit concerned about the new LG WT1201CW I just ordered.

Ok so I don't yet have the service manual for this model, but using this awesome forum I found another LG service manual that suggests the "IE" inlet error comes on:

"Correct water level (246) is not reached within 8 minutes after water is supplied or it does not reach the preset water level within 25 minutes."

The header in the error section service manual states:

"If you press the START/PAUSE button when an error is displayed, any error except "PE" will
disappear and the machine will go into the pause status.
In case of "PE", "eE", "dE", if the error is not resolved within 20 sec., or the in case of other errors,
if the error is not resolved within 4 min., power will be turned off automatically and the error code will
blink. But in the case of "FE" power will not be turned off."

Well to me that suggests if I lose water pressure for more than 8 minutes the machine will just shut down.

A call to LG was pretty much useless.  The answer center basically just said that it should work fine (this was before I found a service manual)...  I forget his exact response but it wasn't said with confidence and detail that made me feel like I could trust them.  The people answering the phones really don't have substantial knowledge about the range of products they are supposed to be supporting.

So anyway - with the experts here I was hoping I could gain some insight as to whether what is printed in the text really occurs.  And these machines will literally shut down if it has no water for more than 8 minutes? 

[niobrara]

will a top loading LG work for me? Yes they are very good units. As with all the new HE washers they must have the correct amount of water.

[Patricio]

I think the rule of thumb is the water solenoids need between 20 & 120 pounds of water pressure for them to work correctly.

[lesguns]

rebuild your maytag!

[Jack.Bauer]

rebuild your maytag!

Was tempted, but Maytag is supposedly obsoleting parts, ramping up prices, etc...

In the end though - I'd rip apart the machine to replace the tub seal, and then in a year something else will go.  1.5 years ago I did my first repair - the air gap replacement. 

The washer leaked and damaged the floor, leaked into the downstairs apartment, kinda creating a little mess.  In the end I'm gambling that I can get 6+ years out of a "good" new washer that hopefully won't repeat the leak problem, as opposed to trying to keep the Maytag going without another building damaging leak.

It is a gamble - the LG might leak before the repaired Maytag.

I think in the end the water pressure problem is going to finally push me and the landlord to install a pressure boosting pump.

[dentdaddy]

Your saving grace with the LG perhaps will be that it's only going to need to fill with a few gallons of water since it is auto load sensing and hopefully won't go past 8 minutes to do so. You'll have to figure out which cycle(s) use more water and avoid them.

[theoldstoveguy]

I just put a transmission in a 27 year old Maytag washer and belts, will outlast any new machine. Came with the seal bought online at half price from Ebay. Bearing was fine. I do center seals and bearings about 2 machines a month. Of course I am an ex Old Lonely Guy.

[RAH52]

Same her ...back in the day those maytags were a dream machine ..I would fix it .The fix will outlast any new washer hands down !

[lesguns]

remember when you could raise the lip and oil the tub seal !

[Wedgeman55]

I've rebuilt no less than 10 maytags in the past 3 months.   I have been very successful at getting homeowners to rebuild their old Maytags.   After explaining what pieces of crap the new ones are,  most choose to rebuild.   

[Jack.Bauer]

It was a tough (and stressful to an extent) decision...

My decision was pretty much at the time based on a local appliance parts place that told me Maytag was starting to discontinue parts... 

And again to me it was a gamble - invest some money and a lot of time to fix it myself (or pay someone a lot of money to repair), and then something else goes.  And I really could not have another leak event.

In the end, $900 for the washer + 5 year warranty was worth it to me for my perception of the lower risk of leaking due to the next thing failing.  (Versus $100 parts & tools (guess), plus hours of my time, with the likelihood that something else would go bad in the next couple of years)

I don't know if there is any "right" answer here to be honest.  (Although had I known about washing machine drip pans I MIGHT have gone a different way)

So I have my new LG, and it does clean very well actually.  It is not light on water usage either - which was one of my big concerns, so many HE washers use so little water.

I have water pressure problems, which complicate things - but am working to get those fixed.

[scottesh]

I suggest speed Queen. They are tanks.

[gregaguilar]

Man guys you are right, thos top load two belt Maytag washers are gold, they will out last any washer on the market and you can use any kind of soap you want.