I've had my LG 5001C TL ~2 weeks. So far, so good. I believe the cycle times are the same as your machine. Flipping through the dial, here are the standard times in my machine. (As far as I can see my machine differs from the OP in that there is no no heating element and no "Delicate" cycle. So I'll use "Wool" or try Baby Wear" for the rare time I'd need that.)

Cycle times in minutes:
55 Tub Clean
104 Bright Whites
47 Bulky/Bedding
104 Heavy Duty
46 Casual Wear
51 Cotton/Normal
53 Baby Wear
56 Towels
47 Sports Wear (this means gym clothes)
51 Pure Color
35 Speed Wash
44 Wool

Thanks, Cross Stitch. I felt rather silly realizing I could have just turned my knob to get the times. However, there are some curious differences between my 5101 and your 5001. All are the same but these:

1:01 Tub Clean (6 minutes more)
1:32 Bright Whites (28 minutes more)
:56 Heavy Duty (8 minutes less)
:43 Cotton Normal (8 minutes less)
:36 Wool (8 minutes less)

What on earth do we make of that? If it had to do with the time it takes the water heater to heat up, you'd think my cotton normal would be higher. But, it washes on warm, not hot.

Two times not on your machine:

:44 Delicates
2:56 Sanitary

Puzzling.

KM, I've read somewhere that the heating element does take a lot of time. So that could explain the two cycles with added time. But I don't understand why the other cycles take less time. Maybe others here can enlighten us.

Whoa, lots of us have delivered babies faster than it takes to complete that "Sanitary" cycle!

I gotta say, CS, I rarely use the LOL thing, but in this case, it's absolutely true. That last sentence got a belly laugh out of me!

If your comparing the non version heater of the Waveforce VS the one with the heater, I think they extended all the cylce times on the heater version, even if the heater is not in use. The sanitary cycle takes a while due to it heating the water to the 158 degree temp. When I use it, I just run it at night, and use my delay start on the washer and it is ready for me in the morning to dry. Also when you push the cold wash button the cycle times will be increased too and more water is used during the wash and rinse.

That's a great idea, gates--I do that with my dishwasher.

"when you push the cold wash button the cycle times will be increased too and more water is used during the wash and rinse."

Because the machine thinks it takes longer to wash w/cold water?

LG say that the cold wash cycle cleans as well as warm, I assume they increased the wash time to help with this. Also when cold wash cycle is selected, it is not a ATC cold wash, it is tap cold. If you just select cold water to wash inm then you get a ATC cold wash. So far I can say that the cold wash cycle has worked really well for me, and I am a warm and hot water wash guy here. I got spoiled by my 9yr old HE3T washer that used the heater in most of the cycle, not just two of them. I am very please with my wave force so far and I have had it since the end of Dec. I love I can add extra water, up to two times if needed for a cycle

So Gates, how are you doing with wrinkles? I described my experience in the Steam Dryer thread I posted.

No issues with it at all, I will have to look for your thread. Im interested in knowing your experience. What the title of your post?

OK. I have some questions from today's visit from my house cleaner.

1) It seems the times of the loads remain the same per cycle, regardless of how small the load is. I had a small load of dirty rags from my house cleaner. My old machine would allow 'small load, hot water'. On the LG, Sanitary would have taken till the cows come home (almost 3 hours). My preference would have been Speed Wash (35 minutes) w/hot water. But this isn't possible. Ended up doing them on Normal @ 45 minutes. No way to make for shorter loads?

2) What cycle would you use for rubber backed bathroom rugs? They get heavy when wet. With my old washer, I'd choose 'gentle cycle', warm water. Would you use delicate with medium spin?

Karen

Ther is no way to shorten a wash cycle, no matter how small the load. The washer may shorten the cycle depending on the weight of the load. As far as bathroom rugs go, I have used both the delicate and bulky items cycle, I spin the, as fast as I can, and do not put them in the dryer. I hang them out.

I need help with my new LG WT5101. I have tried to follow the advice in the postings for washing blankets and comforters, but mine are not coming clean. I have dogs and use various queen-size blankets and comforters on which they lay and chew rawhide. No matter how I try to wash the comforters/blankets, the spots where they chewed the rawhide don't come clean and there is still hair all over. I never had this problem in my old regular top-loader even washing in cold water.

I have tried washing them in the bulk/bedding cycle one comforter at a time or 1-2 blankets at a time depending on thickness and they won't come completely clean. I then tried adding various options such as Heavy Soil, Stain Care, and Extra Rinse in various combinations and still get poor results. I tried the Heavy Duty and Towel cycles as well for the thinner blankets thinking they might agitate better, but they still don't come clean.

My husband wants to return the machine if we can't figure out how to get the comforters/blankets clean (we have 2 weeks two decide), but I keep telling him that our struggles are just part of the learning curve to use it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Brock702, I have the same washer I have no problems cleaning blankets, and sheets. I do them on the bulky cycle, same gors for my dog beds. I max out the soil level to heavy and add two option rinses to it. What kind of detergent are you using? Ive had my machine since the end of Dec, it cleans as well as my Front loader did and better than my top loader. Removing dog hair can be an issue in any machine. My advice is to either brush or vacuum the hair off first. I wash the dog stuff in hot water

Gates1 - Thanks so much for the quick response! We are using Cheer Free liquid for HE machines. My husband has heavy sensitivity to fragrance additives. In our old top loader Cheer Free was one of the only brands that didn't cause him to itch - we tried Tide Free but that was a problem too. What do you use? Do you recommend powder instead of liquid? If you use liquid, how do you judge how much to add? Since I'm not yet familiar with how much water is used for each cycle, I have been adding between halfway to the 1 line in the cap up to the 1 line based on how much I think the load will weigh.

As for getting the blankets clean, we'll try hot water and two extra rinses. We have been using warm water and just one extra rinse (as well as heavy soil). The dried rawhide residue seems to be a bigger issue than the dog hair. The Heavy Duty cycle with added water seems to do a better job on that residue than the bulk/bedding but again that is with warm water. Do you recommend sticking with the bulk/bedding cycle no matter what?

Water level isn't an indicator of how much detergent to use in HE machines, so much as is the load size and soil level ... i.e. how much "dirt" the detergent must handle.

For a grungy queen-size blanket used as dog bedding, I'd use a full-load dose (up to the 2-line on the cap of Tide or Wisk HE liquids, or at least 1/2 measured cup of Tide or Gain HE powder). A bit more for two blankets. I do have somewhat hard well water, but have never had trouble with anything not coming clean out of my HE toploaders (a Calypso and a Neptune TL). No excess suds and rinsing is good, although I do always use an extra rinse on the Neptune (Calypsos rinse 4 to 5 times as standard).

Broke702, I have used the full dose on heavily soiled items, on both the heavy duty cycle and especially the bulky cycle, since this cycle uses much more water. If i is over kill, it has not been a issue, since the Wave force rinses clothes really well. You do know that when you use the cotton or heavy duty cycle to push the fabric softener button before you start the load, if you want a "deep rinse" vs the spray rinse that the machine will do. It is stated in the owners manual about this. Once time i forgotto do it and the machine must of sensed large load in it and automatically did a deep rinse. The spray rinse is not impressive at all, might be good for a few cleaning rags and thats about it. I use both powder and liquid, because total care does not come in a powder, and I used tide with bleach powder also. Ive had no complaints about it fading colors, especially dark stuff like others have commented on. I love the scent of tide bleach orginal scent. Maybe the food coloring in the raw hids are staining the beds and blankets. I have dogs too, but I dont give them those treats, Im afraid they will choke on them so I cant say for sure how hard it is to clean up after them. Try each cycle with hot water and see how that works for you. Cheer is a good detergent, it made by P&G just like tide so that should not be an issue I wouldnt think. Let me know how it goes, Im very happy with my washer and I am picky as the day is long about having clean clothes and Im a guy LOL

I am interested in asking about the idea of returning a machine because it doesn't wash a particular item. Is this a defect in the machine design or manufacture? How long would you keep a machine and then still want to take it back. Is this done with other products?

Are return policies discussed before the purchase of a machine or is it the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" strategy?

Should the dealer refund the money and then lose money on the machine trying to resell it as a used machine if the machine operates exactly the way it is designed?

I am not saying a defective machine, I am asking about a machine that is fully functional but the customer doesn't like the agitate time or the water level or the hot and cold water mix?

Why should "working as designed" satisfy a consumer who was never told how it's designed, and who would find it difficult to get the answers if they did know to ask the questions?

I'm still learning how to use the cycle modifier & cycle option buttons to get what I want from this washer.

RE: Use of 'Fabric Softener' and/or 'Water Plus' option buttons:

Gates, I just learned from you about using the Fabric softener button to get a full water rinse. (Didn't read carefully enough first time through!) That's very helpful and improves wash a lot.

From my reading of the manual, in order to use the 'Water Plus' option, I cannot pre-set it to use extra water for *both* wash & rinse at the time I select cycle & start wash. I have to 'Press start/pause button during wash or rinse cycle'; *then* 'press & hold the Extra Rinse Option button'; *then* re-push the start/pause button.

Am I correct that I have to be there to do this manually, after the wash and rinse cycles have already started? If so, it's annoying.

If I want extra water in the wash cycle, what are my choices? If I put soil level to high, will that add more water in the wash cycle, without having to fuss with the 'Water Plus' feature?

Karen

Karen, I think the reason the manual states if you want extra water to push the water plus in either wash or rinse, its to give you a option of which one it goes in. I dont recall ever not seeing the same amount of water in both the wash and rinse if I added it to the start of the wash cycle. Some people may just want more in the rinse. Any cycle used, along with the cold wash button will automatically add more water. Towels cycle uses more, and I think heavy duty does too along with bulky. It just depends on the weight of the load and cycle chosen. The wave force action accures best when the load size/weight and water level are at optimum level. It is quiet impressive to see it in action, and it does work on the towels cycle too. Anymore questions please ask, the manual does stink thats for sure

Thanks, Gates. So, a couple of followup issues:

1. When I stop the cycle to push the 'water plus' button, no light appears; there's initially one beep; then if I do it again (unsure if it worked because there's no light), it beeps twice. I'm now thinking the number of beeps indicates how much extra water I've asked for, despite no light? Correct?

2. I'm confused by this experience:

Just used 'Heavy Wash' for the first time, with a small load of cleaning rags and a very dirty dog toy. I chose hot wash/cold rinse. Pushed for extra water twice.

While wash water loaded, I paused it a couple of times: first to push Water Plus; then to check water temp, and IT WAS COLD! Not even warm.

Any idea why? (Of course my mind goes to 'there's something wrong with the washer's heating system', but given the complexity of using the options I'm wondering if I goofed up my original settings when I paused it those times, making it not heat up.

The load washed a long time in a large amount of water (whole cycle was 54 minutes). When rinse came on after spin, I looked at it & saw it was doing a 'spray and dribble'. I figured this meant it would be a low-water rinse. So I paused it and again pushed 'water plus', at which point the darn thing filled up ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP, and then proceeded to drain out ALL the water it had just filled. No wave force action for rinse, just fill up and unfill. Weird. Then it sprayed the drained load awhile and instead of agitating it, just began the spin cycle.

So: what do you think happened? Is it just a question of me confusing the electronic system by asking too much of it? Am I using the extra water feature inappropriately?

Oy. I'm a pretty smart cookie, with a Ph.D., tho not in science or engineering. Sheesh, if I'm baffled by the quirks of using this thing, imagine how it is for working class folk who are used to the simplicty of old time top loader machines?

Your thoughts (or anyone else's who's following this thread) appreciated.

Karen

Karen,

I would suggest you try the set it and forget it approach. Let the machine complete the cycle with no interference and then judge the results.

It might be helpful to begin logging cycle behaviour to determine what is normal action for cycles and options chosen.

Just my 2 cents...

MRB

Karen, when you add extra water to the washer, let it fill up first, then judge if you need to push the add water button and no light will show up when u do this. The light is for the use of the extra rinse. If you got a spray rinse, it was due to the fact that I think on this cycle you have to push the FB button for a normal rinse, which I always push anyway, whether I use FB or not. When the washer adds extra water, it will be cold, stupid I know. The heater only works in sanitary cycle, not any other cycles. I do not add any extra water till the add garment light goes out. It sounds like you confused the program LOL.

I have had my LG Waveforce for one week and have trouble with lint and residue left in the clothing. Any advice?

I've had mine for a week and I'm just really surprised at the lack of details as to what each of their trademarked cycles/options actually does. I've read the manual well. Has anyone tracked down an LG website the info? I've goggled the heck out of it which is how I found y'all. The tips are helpful but i'd still love to have a chart that says "Pure Color does "x".

page 15 in the manual tells you about all you need to know.

Here is a link that might be useful: LG 5101 manual

Nunyabiz1, I've read over that I guess i'm just weird and want to know not just when they think i should use a feature but what it precisely does. I'm a bit spoiled by my old Neptune which let you know which spin was the equivalent of hang dry v. flat dry for instance. I'm getting used to it and I like the washer, just wanted a bit more data. I'll check the online manual just in case it gives more information than what I have. Thanks.

I have no issues with lint or residue being left on clothes. I make sure I wash things that give off lint together and not with items that attract it. Are you using powder or liquid detergent in your machine. I have used tide and gain HE in mine on cold and the water coming in is 60 degree's but It still disolves the detergent.