Wow!

Duet pair here. Almost six years old. The washer and dryer work great. I average around 4 loads per week. The first year the control board went out, but once replaced the remaining years have been great with no issues. No issue with the dryer. Another poster here has the He3t Whirlpool clone that is almost ten years old and still working (unless something has happened since I read her last post). I think she said the only thing that ever went wrong with her he3t in the ten years was the pump went out around the six year mark (if I remember correctly).

How coincidental. I also had a Whirlpool dishwasher installed the same time my Whirlpools were installed. I'm weird I guess because I NEVER use the dry cycle. I was brainwashed as a child in thinking that it would make the electric bill skyrocket! Mom, dad, grandma would say DO NOT USE THE DRY CYCLE (LOL).......But when the dishwasher is done and I open the door and the steam comes out, a few minutes later most everything in the dishwasher is completely dry except for the pooling of water on plastics and bottoms of cups and I don't use rinse aid. In addition to that I have never had an issue with the dishwasher either (knock on wood)

I've been on here before, touting my love for my Duet pair. Now I just feel a little miffed because the previous washer, also a Whirpool, raised the family and lived 19 years. I expected at least half that with the new one.

The DW ought to dry, the silverware grosses me out when it comes out dripping. Just doesn't seem clean when it's still wet. I might try opening the door. Thanks for the tip! (:

are you sure you heated dry is working and that you have it turned on - on some DW it's the default but on others it's not - I've never heard of a DW with heated dry not drying things.

I'm amazed at how quick the dishes dry without a rinse aid or the dry cycle Once the cycle is done, open the door give the racks a shake to remove any standing water on dishes, then wait a few minutes. The dishes are usually so HOT when the cycle is done, that the dishes and silverware dry quickly (at least for me)......The only thing I have to dry are plastics.....Which doesn't bother me, but everything else is usually pretty dry within a few min's

Thanks all..
Yes, the heated dry function is turned on.
The repairman replaced the main board and he said it was working as designed.
Yes, we do keep it filled with rinse aid.
The water supplied to the DW is hot.
Still the DW still doesn't dry dishes, it leaves them covered with droplets of water. I especially hate the dripping flatware. It does get hot in there, however I'm not usually here to open the door at the appropriate time to see if that would help. I will try to catch it though just to see. I simply feel that dishwashers should dry, and do so without assistance.

Next DW purchase I'll be sure to ask for a dishwasher/dryer. (;
It will not be a Whirlpool that is for sure.

Sad to hear about modern, expensive, appliances having such a failure rate. My refrigerator is a 31 year old Whirlpool, still running fine. My 21 year old GE dishwasher also works fine -- it has a very effective heater/dryer, which I rarely use, since I usually find the dishes dry by the next morning anyway on "economy" cycle. Microwave is also 20 years old, and ovens/cooktop have passed 40 (replaced a controller and a coil on the cooktop about 20 years ago). I've had to do a couple of washer and dryer repairs, but never in the 1st 10 years.

I remodel in a few months, and I'm not looking forward to the quality and reliability problems people seem to have.

I feel the same way about dishwashers drying dishes. They aren't designed to do it nowadays to save energy. Most people are fine with the results they get. It annoys the heck out of me. I settled for a new DW (Monogram) that dries pretty well, though it's not the greatest washer. Sigh.

"I'm not looking forward to the quality and reliability problems people seem to have".

I have serviced appliances for many years and in several ways, today's appliances perform much better than the oldies that are so often and fondly mentioned. Believe me, those last century machines, allowed me to save for my retirement and the kids college fund.

The trouble today is, the costs of parts, service call/labor have increased while the original purchase price has not for many appliances. Many problems can be avoided by making sure the machine is installed, maintained and used correctly.

Some new major appliances may perform better at tasks for a time, but they are intentionally built not to last. It's a planned obsolescence, and "the plan" is for the serviceable life to be short. Appliances built-to-fail are a gold mine for manufacturers because consumers are forced to purchase more and more often. So we are not getting any sort of deal with their pricing when we get to pay over and over and over again because these "better performing appliances" need to be replaced much more frequently.

As to the high cost of parts, that begins with the manufacturer. They love their machines to contain some parts which are particular to each machine and then hold the consumer hostage with that part's high price. OR, even worse, refuse to sell a part, claiming that only their technicians are ALLOWED to repair it. That's all part of "the plan"

So, please don't suggest the problems with low-quality of appliances may lie with operator error, installation problems, or the cost of labor when this is "the plan" that many manufacturers operate with.

I have the WP Duet too and don't think they will get to ten years. They are four years old now with no problems but "they don't make them like they used too".
I closed up my parents home when they passed away and their KitchenAid dishwasher was still going strong. It was 41 years old, built to last, quiet, my Mom loved that thing. I had another Kitchenaid dishwasher in a rental unit, 32 years old when I replaced it, great machine.

There was a discussion about planned obsolescence with appliances. I wish I could remember where. I remember someone saying basically what you said and that manufacturers test their product to simulate ten years; that if they knowingly produce "designed to fail" junk knowingly, that all that will have to be done is appliance junkies will take it apart and easily see how it was designed, bring it to someones attention and the next thing you know, there is a class action lawsuit..........

That said, I do agree they do not make them like they used to......Sad too with todays technology can you imagine what the appliances COULD be like? They could probably last a lifetime

"They could probably last a lifetime"

LOL, they'll never do that for consumers!

Pretty much anything would be an improvement. I was looking at the pump my hubby took out of the washing machine. It's a delicate plastic that looks like it belongs on a balsa-wood toy plane. It really is a disgrace.

I feel the same way about dishwashers drying dishes. ... Most people are fine with the results they get. It annoys the heck out of me. I settled for a new DW (Monogram) that dries pretty well, though it's not the greatest washer. Sigh.

I don't get that. To me, it is a must that the dishwasher wash excellently. What is the point of it drying poorly washed items excellently? If I really had to choose, I'd hand dry excellently washed dishes.

Fortunately for me and those who think the way I do, there are many excellent washers (the Bosch I have does a stellar job every time and has done so since early January 2005). Yes, I have to blot the cup ends and dry some plastics. Oh well. - I'm just blotting and drying pristine-ly washed items - which is *my* minimum requirement on a machine.

This is the first major appliance I'd ever bought purchased even before I bought my house. It has operated for more than 5 years now and it works as perfectly and reliably as a workhorse as it did when it went in. I don't know what its expected value on life is but so far I am quite delighted with it.

I only have 3-5 years (still ok) experience with new appliances; but I got 30 yrs from old sears (whirlpool) washer and dryer. I had to replace a drive belt and an idler pully (both easy to do with inexpensive parts) on the dryer. I also replaced a belt and drilled out a rusty hole in the dryer tub (after 20 years)and repaired it with a rubber stopper. These were harder to do in limited space.

What angers me is that when you purchase TOL appliances, you're basically getting the same cheap material (other than the stainless steel tub) that you would get in the low end dishwashers/ washers dryers/vacuums......The price increase is because of "features", not build quality.........Look at the Kenmore progressive canister vacuums......You would think that you would be getting a much better built vacuum paying 500 dollars than you would the 189 dollar vacuum. WRONG! Same build quality plastic crap with just more features tacked on. I'll bet you Whirlpool has that same CHEAP pump on its TOL washer as it does the BOL front load washer.

Same issues with our duets. They are 7 years old. About 3 months ago the washer wouldn't drain at all. Service call required. 2 months later the dryer would not produce any heat (although drum would turn). Another service call.

A friend told me her repairman (also on a Duet pair) told her the dryers with the vent traps at the top last a lot longer than ones who have the vent traps at the door - apparently does a better job of keeping the lint out of the working parts when you empty the vent trap from the top of the machine. I don't know but I replaced my old ones (13 years old and working fine) for higher capacity and no agitator. Not sure it was the best decision!

Thanks for the tip on the vent location. Ours is in the door. We keep it clean with every load, and hope we can squeeze some more time out of this one as we are at the moment trying to redo the kitchen and do not need the extra burden of replacing these machines which haven't had that much use.

hmmm... my 25 year old Hotpoint washer just bit the dust and I was considering a Whirlpool replacement. Of all the manufacturers that build crap, I have always felt WP builds the least crappy. But it will take several years to find out how any given current crop holds up. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. (oops... thats stock disclaimer, not appliances... LOL)

I am also concerned about going high-efficiency or low-efficiency. I don't want to give up the current speed and known quantity. I can currently get 3 normal loads done in one evening. I like that. I don't do enough laundry to really care about saving a little water or electricity. Its a non issue for me. But when I do laundry, I like to do it quickly. Does HE really clean as well?

I have to also decide whether or not to get a matching dryer or wait until current 25yr one breaks. This conversation is exactly why I might wait. newer is not always better.

wendyb, for what it's worth I have an eight-year-old Frigidaire Gallery front-load washer/dryer pair and a "normal" wash takes about 45 minutes. The clothes come out dry enough that the dryer doesn't take any longer than that, either. I don't know how many 45-minute blocks you can fit into your evening, but that timing works for me.

I bought a washer/dryer set because I needed both. But if there's no one to see the appliances but you and there are no features you "gotta have", there's no reason to replace a well-working dryer.

I'm not quite sure where I fall on the "planned obsolescence" scale. On the one hand, I certainly can see that manufacturers have seized on the income stream that repairs represent, and have made parts unique and/or combined them into assemblies. For years (maybe still) GE's standard-line dishwashers were pretty well disposable because the pump, which failed not infrequently, was sold only as part of a much larger assembly that cost a couple hundreds of dollars (plus labor).

On the other hand, though the costs of everything (other than electronics) keep going up and up, the costs of basic appliances really haven't changed all that much. You can still buy a cheap top-load washer or dryer for $250-300 -- after all these years. Inflation alone should make that appliance cost maybe double what it does. Yet people (usually those who don't frequent THS) get nosebleeds at the idea of $1200 washers or $900 dishwashers. So there is a market for lower-priced appliances. Something has to give.

"...3 normal loads..."

There's your first required mental adjustment. Whatever new machine you may consider will expand your idea of "normal" by 2-to-4 times.

FWIW, I've had Whirlpool Duet FL for just under six years. It's been flawless from day one. Cleans wonderfully (better than previous TL), is quiet, and hasn't broken.

If you make the move you WILL need a new dryer that is capable of handling the increased machine-load. All the new ones do.

yeah, I think I am leaning towards skipping the HE. I think the "conventional" one with the agitator will be closest to my current normal. It does have auto-sensor for water level, though, so maybe even the conventional style will still be too "new and improved".

I didn't think it would be so hard to choose a washer.

Maybe that's a good reason for planned obsolesence. If I make a bad choice, won't have to put up with it for another 25 years - LOL

To all of you above---you have to remember, there has been a consolidation of manufacturers over the past few years into just a few really big appliance manufacturers. i.e...Whirlpool bought Maytag and Amana. Whirlpool also makes appliances for other retailers like Sears that put their own brand names on them. Our 2006 Sears Kenmore dishwasher was made by Whirlpool as an example. What I'm saying is that once there are only 2 or 3 giant monopoly manufacturers left after they swallow up all the smaller manufacturers, then you will begin to see that you are over a barrel when it comes to planned obsolescence, parts, and service.

For all the advances we continue to make in science and technology, don't forget that they are also figuring out how to make that dishwasher at a cheaper and cheaper cost by integrating all the parts and circuits into one big part so that if one small capacitor or part fails, you have to buy the whole integrated system, that will cost almost as much as a brand new appliance, to fix it. In the past, if you were even somewhat mechanically inclined, you could diagnose that your appliance just needed a cheap part and fix it easily yourself saving yourself up to hundreds of dollars. Whereas if you called out an appliance repairman, you were taking a huge risk that he was unethical and would prescribe an expensive, unnecessary repair just to line his pockets because he knew that you did not know how to fix it yourself. Just like in the auto repair business.

What's been taken out of the above equation with these newly designed integrated, plastic, delicate computer board controlled appliances that have failure engineered into their flimsy computer boards (a failure programmed to execute almost precisely to the day after the 1 or 2 year factory warranty expires) is the ability to either FIY (Fix-It-Yourself) or, the feasibility of paying a repairman to fix it for you. Because of the higher cost of integrated systems and their associated higher repair labor costs, you are now forced to disregard paying to repair the late model bomb and into buying a whole new unit instead. The repair (FIY or 3rd party fixer)now costs almost as much or more than buying a whole new unit. Just what the monopolistic manufacturers were shooting for.

As in the new autos, manufacturers don't want anymore FIY consumers. They've adopted the unethical attitude and unethical business model of the software industry--you don't OWN anything (software or hardware) anymore--YOU RENT IT! Isn't that wonderful?!! A rented world. A leased world. They want you to pay and pay and pay because continuing to make a Kitchen-aide dishwasher model that lasts 20-30 years before it needs service is not a money maker--and letting the consumer fix it themselves is also a money loser. Makes you want to become Amish and hand wash your dishes and clothing in a wooden trough or bucket.

Here is a link that might be useful: ecoveauction