To turn the existing valves, I had to pull the units up out of the box, apply vice-grips, then I was afraid the chintzy tabs would break off, they are so stiff to turn. No hope of turning them with fingers, my husband tried and he couldn't either. Those valves are being replaced. I want emergency shut-off. Which means I do not want to mess with trying to find some extra part that sorta fits on the fitting or pair of pliers or vice grips, that I might fumble and drop behind my washing machine, in an emergency when water is spraying everywhere. That's why I want a single lever, ball valve shut off. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I don't usualy use a stablizer if I have fused the applique unless it isn't laying smooth. I have used the small buttonhole stitch most often on the wall hanging that I used to sell, but have used the satin and decortive stiches, esp. the feather stitch at times. They sometime needed a stabilizer. If I am turning an applique I have used Elenor Burn's techique were you use fusable interfacing, drawing the pattern on the rightside of the interfacing, sewing around the design, trim, silt the facing and turn. The fuse is then on the outside and your press to fabric and do an invisable blind stitch to attach. I have even tried using used dryer sheets for the facing and pinned in place before I sewed them down. It worked but I really would like to hand applique better. Jayne

Be very careful about the build quality, customer service, and promises made by GE. They plumbed up the appliance cash cow for sale. If the sale to Electrolux doesn't go through there will be consequences. The quality of most of the GE laundry appliances is just so-so in my opinion. As in everything YMMV. There are winners, losers, and lemons in every product line as well. You will not find an easy consensus on anything because there are so many choices and no perfect solutions. Many bells and whistles and duplicate cycles to attract your attention. Who does most of the laundry? What are your must-haves? HE toploaders are a disaster. Consumers who don't read manuals or follow common sense have given some perfectly acceptable frontloaders a bad reputation with their bad habits. You will find a following for F&P on the forum as well as those who hate them. Speed Queen has a cult following on this forum. Most of us had to plod through, make a few mistakes, and decide what worked best for each. Do your appliances have to match? My compromise was to get the functionality in the frontloader (LG) I needed and pair it with the same color, but different manufacturer cheaper dryer. It's mostly worked out for us. BTW Speed Queen does make front loaders, but they do not have on-board heaters. I assume you are already acquainted with the differences in today's machines for limits of water temperatures and water levels and what you have been used to. First thing I would do is make sure I knew exactly what I needed at my best price point. Good Luck

Yes! We got it sorred out. So it turned out to be a loose circuit breaker. It was the new sub panel put in for our kitchen reno. We had some electrical work done and hired an electrician tonadd some recessed lighting. He ran it back to the new subpanel and he comes up from the basement nd asks if we were having problems with the stove. I said yes. He said he noticed the breaker wasnt seated properly. It was making a connection but just barely. He popped it out and popped it back in and sure enough I went and ran that oven at 500 for an hour with no issues. The cause imo was the weak current was causing the computer to think there was a fan issue. An anomaly. Want to say we have since moved and it was a relief to be able to have that taken care of. I will buy Thermdor again! They did send us a new range (after repeated service calls). So would so donit again