Updated: Speed Queen Washer Failed

[carolinarider09]

Well..... after some 29 days of operation the new Speed Queen washing machine failed.

Wash room got a smoky look and smelled as if something was hot.  

The washer had finished its last load.  We turned it on again to verify smoke and smell.  

After about 10 minutes the drum was frozen in place and the smell was evident.  

Made call to place where purchased.  Not happy

Luckily, the outside temp in in the low 70's so windows are open to dissipate the smell.  

[cookiedough]

WOW,  sorry I steered you in the wrong direction.  Everything I have read is Speed Queen is the only mfg. that should last 20+ years. 

Am sure your warranty will cover it all (or better) and hopefully is just a fluke and you get a new one that will last 20 years.

Cannot remember did you get the top load washer with the more fancy digital readout/more features or the lower grade unit with more turn knobs, not as many settings? 

[Jess from VA]

That is some kind of karma.   

My new Whirlpool, has done three loads without blowing up.

But holy crap does it do a lot of clicking and buzzing, and starting and stopping, and more clicking, and blinking lights.

It's unnerving to sit there and watch.

Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where the slot machine attacks the man in his hotel room.  (though I have no idea how my washing machine can get up two flights of stairs).

 

[old2soon]

That is some kind of karma.   

My new Whirlpool, has done three loads without blowing up.

But holy crap does it do a lot of clicking and buzzing, and starting and stopping, and more clicking, and blinking lights.

It's unnerving to sit there and watch.

Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where the slot machine attacks the man in his hotel room.  (though I have no idea how my washing machine can get up two flights of stairs).

 

            The guys name was Franklin. I have zero idea where That came from!. A speed queen failin is akin to a Honda crappin out-right? RIDE SAFE.

[carolinarider09]

WOW,  sorry I steered you in the wrong direction.  Everything I have read is Speed Queen is the only mfg. that should last 20+ years. 

Am sure your warranty will cover it all (or better) and hopefully is just a fluke and you get a new one that will last 20 years.

Cannot remember did you get the top load washer with the more fancy digital readout/more features or the lower grade unit with more turn knobs, not as many settings? 

It was the less fancy one.  Some knobs to set water level and type of wash and some buttons to push. 

It does/did a much better job of cleaning the wife said.  We shall see what the "dealer" has to say.

[cookiedough]

keep us all posted for less than 20 loads into it, if  like us 2 loads per week is all, dealer would be replacing it ASAP no questions asked.  If not and they play hard ball which doubt the will, if you paid by CC might even still have time to put the CC charge ON HOLD and deny payment to the dealer if not paid your bill yet.

I have had to do this 2x's on service where a dealer messed up service protocol me proving them they did not know what they were doing.  Both times my CC company fought for me and denied payment since vehicle was still inoperable when they were done with it not fixing a darn thing.  Sorta hard to win when they put the wrong parts on my vehicle not made for it.

[0leman]

Our Speed Queen has been with us for over a year.   No problems.  Been a lot more than 20 loads.

You may have gotten the less than 5%  problems they say they have.  One made on a Friday before a long weekend or One on a Monday after a long weekend.   

[cookiedough]

sure hope you have more luck than I am right now escalating an extended warranty 4 years we bought extra on a little over 1 year old gone bad printer from Staples last November bought for my mother in law.  We want a new printer same thing since still around which is an option under the ext. warranty vs. the less than half full retail price paid (under 100 bucks pd full msrp 199.99) back since black friday deal it was last November and cannot find another color printer under 160 bucks.    Plus, they will not refund us (printer is mother in laws) the 37 bucks for the color cartridges the darn Staples ext. warranty dept. told my mother in law to go get to see if that works to get printer printing again which it did not.   How unfair is that? 

All we want is the 37 bucks refunded back on my credit card or give cash to my mother in law for the color cartridges Staples warranty dept. wanted her to go get which did NOT work and do an even swap out of the same printer is all.  How hard is that?  Seems simple enough to me right?   

[0leman]

Our Speed Queen has been with us for over a year.   No problems.  Been a lot more than 20 loads.

You may have gotten the less than 5%  problems they say they have.  One made on a Friday before a long weekend or One on a Monday after a long weekend.   

My DW told me that I had errored.  We purchased our washer 3 years ago.   Dang time flies. 

[h13man]

Went thru this 2 yrs. ago with our Whirlpool Cabrio series. Tranny locked up @ 7yrs. of age in a 2 person household. Cost of new transmission didn't warrant the price to replace even with my labor cost. So we're back to MayTag conventional wringer style.

[carolinarider09]

Repair man is here now.  Will see what is the outcome.  

Update:

Took off front and back cover.  Could not find a defective component after several trial runs.

Replaced drive belt but the drive belt looked to be in ok condition.

Next step is to replace the capacitor associated with the motor.  It will have to be ordered (could be local but if not will take one from a unit in stock) and replaced out of caution.  

In hindsight, I did forget about motors using capacitors for phase shifting and they are no longer metal cased devices but plastic.  So, that is the most likely problem.

He said to continue to use it and if it breaks it will be easier to fix.  in other words "RTF".  

The smell issue is the bad part if it happens again.  

He also said that Speed Queen got the Maytag design when there patent expired so, the Speed Queen machines (according to him) are the Maytags from 20 years ago, by design.  His only complaint was the increased use of "electronics" in the new Speed Queen machines (last six or sever yers).  He preferred the older fully mechanical machines (no electronics for operation or control from the panel).  

[Valker]

Went thru this 2 yrs. ago with our Whirlpool Cabrio series. Tranny locked up @ 7yrs. of age in a 2 person household. Cost of new transmission didn't warrant the price to replace even with my labor cost. So we're back to MayTag conventional wringer style.

Did you mean "wringer" or did you mean "agitator"? Just curious since I didn't think you could even buy a wringer washer in this country anymore.

[carolinarider09]

Ran a load of clothes and when it got to the rinse cycle, drum stopped turning and began to smoke. Shut down machine (took a video this time).

Called the dealer and the repairman returned about 90 minutes later.  This time when he activated it, it would not turn so it was broken when he was here.  Motor cap read 160 uf and was suppose to be 220 - 250 uf. 

Will replace cap and motor tomorrow.  Said it was the first time he ever replaced a motor on a machine this new.  I did not inquire what the normal time was.

[Jess from VA]

He preferred the older fully mechanical machines (no electronics for operation or control from the panel). 

This is exactly the advice I got from my longtime repairman.

I'm not trying to sell you my parts and labor, I'm telling you you are better off with these older machines, as long as I can fix them reasonably. 

Unfortunately, my last 30yo old one (fixed a couple times), was unfixable last time.   

[Rams]

He preferred the older fully mechanical machines (no electronics for operation or control from the panel). 

This is exactly the advice I got from my longtime repairman.

I'm not trying to sell you my parts and labor, I'm telling you you are better off with these older machines, as long as I can fix them reasonably. 

Unfortunately, my last 30yo old one (fixed a couple times), was unfixable last time.   

Was told the same thing about wives.   Shrug.

Rams

[cookiedough]

He preferred the older fully mechanical machines (no electronics for operation or control from the panel). 

This is exactly the advice I got from my longtime repairman.

I'm not trying to sell you my parts and labor, I'm telling you you are better off with these older machines, as long as I can fix them reasonably. 

Unfortunately, my last 30yo old one (fixed a couple times), was unfixable last time.   

Was told the same thing about wives.   Shrug.

Rams

Well,  less miles on a new wife but probably turn out to be like that Speed Queen leaving you broke if on a younger, newer wife....

[carolinarider09]

Capacitor and motor replaced. Did not correct the issue.  Now looking at the control board. 

Here is what it looked like yesterday when it failed.

https://rumble.com/veqqi3-washer-smoke.html

[Jess from VA]

One more time, and then I'd be telling them I want a new one that doesn't let the smoke out of the wiring/electronics. 

Better never leave the house with it running.  Install extinguisher (my one full size extinguisher is in my utility room)

[carolinarider09]

Just want I told the repairman and there is a fire extinguisher in that room for two reasons. 

Washer/dryer and main breaker box are in this small area.  Kitchen is just a few feet away. 

[carolinarider09]

The circuit board has been replaced.  When the repairman was replacing the board, he said he noted that one of the "molex" connectors was not fully seated. 

I asked, after he had the new board in and the machine running, to look at the circuit board.  It was still mounted in its holder so all I could easily see was the top part of the board. 

I inspected the molex connectors (the male ends on the circuit board) and noted one of them had an edge that was different than the others. It was a little "melted".

It is possible, that this was the issue.  The connector was not properly seated and as current flowed through this connector and it got hot, it would lose contact with the female part.  Just a thought.

Machine is being tested by the wife now.  We shall see.

[..]

Having had a catastrophic house fire a few years ago I wouldn't want that thing in my home.

[Patrick]

Kinda sounds like they are just throwing parts at it.

[carolinarider09]

Yes and yes.  I think the failure rate is low but....   anyway, it has progressed through one load with no issues.  And we never leave the house (well leave the property) with the machines running.  Dryers could/can be the same way since they can get lint and stuff trapped.

The picture below is the board in question and the connectors are the large ones at the bottom.  This shows the board that was taken out (I took the picture while the repairman was on the road to get the new part).

[GiG]

The circuit board has been replaced.  When the repairman was replacing the board, he said he noted that one of the "molex" connectors was not fully seated. 

I asked, after he had the new board in and the machine running, to look at the circuit board.  It was still mounted in its holder so all I could easily see was the top part of the board. 

I inspected the molex connectors (the male ends on the circuit board) and noted one of them had an edge that was different than the others. It was a little "melted".

It is possible, that this was the issue.  The connector was not properly seated and as current flowed through this connector and it got hot, it would lose contact with the female part.  Just a thought.

Machine is being tested by the wife now.  We shall see.

Improperly seated Molex connector could cause more resistance in that circuit, creating heat, witness the melted connector housing.
More heat in the circuit could definitely cause harm to the the control board and allow smoke to escape, but probably does not explain the motor and related cap to burn up. It seems the damage would have been limited to the control circuit. More resistance = less current and should not affect the motor and cap.
Looks like you got a lemon of a washer, and they are throwing parts at it. I hope they get it right for you, Carolina.

[Jess from VA]

I think I would run 5-10 quick loads through it right away, to build confidence.  

Maybe change the settings around while you're at it.

If it's going to fail again, better sooner than later.  (esp since one more should = new machine)

[carolinarider09]

GIG, yes, I tend to agree.  I think the issue was not clear since there was no obvious failed part when he arrived (it worked through the cycle). Replacing the belt was the easiest thing to do until it failed in his presence. 

Having that failure, the motor was the suspect.  Replacing the motor was sort of easy and one was in stock.  Since replacing the motor did not solve the problem the only thing left, in that circuit was the controller.  The lose connector was the culprit it appears as evident by the melted conector. 

Jess,

Running loads as I type (well my wife is).  Will run several loads through today.  Issue is it takes the dryer  twice as long to dry them as it takes to wash them (well sort of). 

[Patrick]

Well, lets hope this fixes it !

[Wizzard]

sounds like you got a "parts changer" not a service tech. Anyhow hope its fixed

[Rams]

sounds like you got a "parts changer" not a service tech. Anyhow hope its fixed

Was thinking the same thing.................

Rams

[F6Dave]

I have a Maytag washer that's nearly 40 years old and still runs fine.  All this talk about the problems with new washers makes me like my old washer even more.  I've heard similar stories from friends.

I bought a fancy new Bosch dishwasher several years ago and regretted it.  The dishes never came out as clean as they did with the old machine.  And the wash cycle ran forever -- almost 2 hours!  Then I read that thanks to our government, dishwashers and washing machines now run much longer so they will use less water.  They also removed phosphates from the detergents.  So I started running 2 quick wash cycles instead of the single regular cycle, only using detergent for the first.  Amazingly, the dishes now come out very clean, in less time than it took to run the single regular cycle.

[carolinarider09]

Regarding the "Parts Changer". 

I will give him the benefit of the doubt.  When he first got here and fired it up, it ran.  No issue to trouble shoot.  He replaced the belt, I think, because he actually had one I his parts bag.  Told me to run it to failure so it could be fixed. 

The second time he was here it did not rotate, so the motor was the next step. 

No issues today so far.  Wife ran out of laundry to do.   

[cookiedough]

wow you have more patience than me I would have asked for a new replacement ASAP vs. throwing parts at it.  Good luck.

[ridingron]

I'd run that thing through many many many loads! Use some old clothes and run them over and over. Don't bother drying or using soap on them.

[h13man]

Went thru this 2 yrs. ago with our Whirlpool Cabrio series. Tranny locked up @ 7yrs. of age in a 2 person household. Cost of new transmission didn't warrant the price to replace even with my labor cost. So we're back to MayTag conventional wringer style.

Did you mean "wringer" or did you mean "agitator"? Just curious since I didn't think you could even buy a wringer washer in this country anymore.

Agitator! And Yes I'm old enough to know better as my Mom got her hand caught in a old wringer Maytag gas powered converted to electric motor.