I purchased this from Amazon and was delivered on time without any problem. It took me about 2 hours to install with my wife's help. I could not remove my range so installing is a little bit awkward as I have to lean to the range trying to push the hood up and it's heavy. I concur with other review that there is damper for the 7" round duct, but only for 3 1/4" x 10" duct. But since I only have ductless option, so the damper is extra.
Compare to my old range hood, this is very quiet. The old one was so noisy that my wife didn't turn it on because we can not communicate without yelling at each other. With the new Broan, noise for level 1 is hardly noticeable. The lights are beautiful. Frankly, I should have replaced it few years ago.
The fan is on the left hand side. When I place a piece of 8 x 11 inch paper, it is only sucked up on the left area where the fan is located. I use duct tape to cover places that are intended for ducts. I follow the instruction from 1 - 5 then skip to 15. So far, it works perfectly. I also order charcoal filter from Amazon to filter odor from cooking.
There is one step that applies for ductless installation, that is to remove the blower wheel and insert the retainer ring to steer air directly to the air flow through the non-ducted slots.
Do not use LED lights, the lights always flash even when I turn them off. I read on Amazon review and saw that someone using LED lights. It may works on different model, but not with this model (QS230SS). It works perfectly with Halogen lights.
Cons:
- There is only one blower which is on the left hand side, so the it draws air better on that side.
- The instruction shows to remove Teflon-coated bottom cover, but it never mentions to put it back on.
- The edges are very sharp and easy to cut to my fingers.
- Electrical Cable Clamp is not provided, cost me a trip to Lowes.
- The filters do not cover 100%.
- My old power cable is located on the left but this range hood has the knock-out on the right. Lucky, I found the way to run the cable to the right.
- Smoke from front stoves will not likely be sucked through the filters.
- It would be nice if they include a piece of carton paper to mark for screw locations as I didn't want to cut its box because I may have to return it. First, I wanted to fit it then drilled the screws in, but it didn't work for the left side which was occupied by the blower. Then I measured the left side, drill the screws, put the range hood in place with two screws on the left then work on the right. it became much easier that way. After the done tightening screws on the right hand side, I went back to tighten up the screws on the left hand side with long screwdriver.
So far, it meets our expectation. Now, my wife doesn't have to turn off the range hood each time she answers a phone call. Level 1 is quiet, but it is not very effective. Level 2 is practical, and the noise is still so good compared to our previous one. The installation was relatively easy and two hour was well spent. We should have done it a long time ago.


We had our contractor install this hood a couple of years ago when we remodeled our kitchen in 2011.  We wanted something reasonably attractive, that didn't call attention to itself, that fit in our kitchen. On aesthetics, this hood was fine. Not an award winner, certainly, but quite acceptable and better tha most every other choice in its price category. We had installed a more expensive brand, imported, in another house, that we liked a lot, and in retrospect,we wish we had paid the extra amount to duplicate that earlier hood in this house, as this Broan has been a pain to live with.  Two major functional problems with the design make it a hood that I would avoid.

1. It has some kind of sensor (heat? steam?) that automatically turns it on, at its special super-high and thus super-noisy speed, when you do something like boil pasta. Not immediately, but only after your pot has been boiling a bit, about the time the pasta is done and you're getting ready to sit down to dinner. Once it goes on this way, it cannot be turned off--there is no switch to turn it off. We couldn't believe this, assumed there must be a switch we couldn't find that was too obvious to mention in the manual, which didn't mention any, and so we finally called the local dealer for help. He confirmed there was no way to turn off this super loud fan once it turned on. That meant that every time we made pasta, we had to eat dinner to the accompaniment of a jet engine sound at our kitchen table. I finally installed my own switch in the electric line that feeds the hood, which is obviously hard wired and does not normally have a switch. Not something you would expect to have to do.

2. After about a year or so, we had to replace the light bulbs. That's perfectly reasonable. But the problem is that the normal pressure one must apply when screwing a bulb into the socket easily knocks the socket off its footing inside the hood. The bulbs then flop around and frequently the lights don't work.  I had to take the hood apart to fix this (and that was feasible only because I had previously installed the switch, see number 1, and so could turn off all power going into the hood).  Once apart, the problem was obvious: the sockets are themselves connected to the internal structure via a couple of flimsy clips that are clearly inadequate. You push on the bulb as you screw it in, and you knock the socket out of its footing inside the hood.

Both these design flaws are so obvious it's hard to imagine how any competent designer could have produced this product.  I would stay away from this.

UPDATE:  Just visited a friend who has the same hood--and who experienced precisely the same problem that we had with the bulb socket on the right side coming off.
UPDATE 2 (April 2014): Now both bulb sockets, right and left, come off, and somehow this happens over time in normal use, not just if you are replacing the bulb.  Each time this happens, I have to spend a tedious and unpleasant half hour taking the hood apart (after cutting off electricity to it) to put the sockets back in place.  I would not trust any positive review of this hood unless it is from someone who has owned it a couple of years--long enough to have had this flaw appear.


We actually bought this Bosch dishwasher model SHE45M06UC at Lowes with a 10% discount for a total of about $635 in January 2008. It is superb!  We originally were looking at the Kenmore and Whirpool lines in the $500 range.  But after examining the Bosch we went ahead and spent another $135 to get it.

I think we could easily have been happy with the kenmore or Whirlpool models, but we are glad we bought the Bosch SHE45 instead.  We are very pleased with it even at the premium price.

Significant features:
- All stainless steel interior and nylon coated racks (not likely to wear through and rust)
- Opti-Clean dirt sensor to automatically adjust cleaning time
- Regular, pot scrubber and half wash
- Time delay
- 51 db (super quiet)
- Qualifies for an Oregon State engery savings tax credit
- No heater coils exposed so you can place plastic items on lower rack

PROS: Every Bosch is much quieter that any most other brand because it does not have a food grinder built in. It just uses a stainless steel mesh screen which is easy to empty and only needs to be emptied every month or so. We scape and quickly rinse our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher anyway, so a food grinder seemed superfluous. Fewer moving parts also means fewer things to break or wear out.

Another feature we like is the stainless steel tub/liner which is heavier gauge than the similar Kenmore. Granted, our old Kenmore never wore out its plastic liner, but the Bosch interior is NICE.

This model is not only quieter than even most Bosch models (you can barely hear it and is much quieter than our microwave across the kitchen), it also uses about half the energy per year as the cheaper SHE43 model.

It is fantastic to be able to put large plastic items (mixing bwls, colander, etc.) on the lower rack.  This is because most washers have a heating element exposed in the bottom of the interior and will melt plastic items to close to it.  the bosh uses an enclosed heater that has the water forced through it making every part of the interior the same temperature as the water.

Dishes come out VERY clean.  Only uses one tablespoon of detergent for our Pacific Northwest soft water.

Very easy to raise and lower the top rack.

CONS:
Drying of items takes longer as the heating element is not exposed in the interior.  This is not a problem for just my wife and I and occasional family get togethers. We typically only wash a load ever 1-2 days.  But if you frequently needed to do back-to-back loads for a large family or groups, then the Bosch line may not be the best for you.

The racks seem not to hold our particular type of dishes as efficiently as I expected.  Again, for just the two of us now it is no problem.  I think the Kenmore/whirlpool may have a better rack design.

Installation requires very specific routing of the power and water lines along the floor.  This is because it fits so close to the floor that it has channels molded into the bottom to allow the passage of these two lines.  However, with no experience I was able to do this by making sure I had long enough lines to get them routed through while the dishwaser was just in front of its cubbyhole and fully exposed.  Other guys I talked to suggested taping the lines to the floor at the distances specified in the instructions.


On the upside, this washer fits in tight spaces, provides lots of wash cycle flexibility, and, in my experience, isn't too noisy. But we've had two of them, and I just can't recommend it to anyone.

First, it gets smelly. Soap gunk builds up inside the drum, which you need to wipe out as best you can every once in a while. Our clothes don't get smelly (as far as I can tell) or stained, but it's kind of gross. Using the right detergent helps, and you also need to remember to leave it open to dry out when you're not using it. But this is just the start of your headaches with this unit...

Second, it's too easy for coins, paper clips, etc. to get into the drain pump because there isn't anything, like a filter, that prevents them from doing so. If you forget to take all of the pennies out of your pockets (which will happen eventually), it's likely that one will get behind the drum and into the drain pump, at which point you'll hear a horrific grinding sound when the washer drains. In the best case scenario, you'll stop the washer in time and will be able to remove the coins from the pump. (It's relatively easy to do - search online for "Maytag MAH2400 coins in drain pump" or something like that to find out how - although it requires going through the bottom of the machine to disconnect and remove the drain pump. Voila! You'll find the culprit, which is fulfilling in a perverse kind of way.) In the worst case scenario, your drain pump will get shredded, and you'll have to replace it (approx. $100 I think).

Third, you'll likely face a variety of other problems. Some reviewers here have had problems with the door or with leaking water. We haven't had either of those problems, but our first unit crapped out when the drum essentially broke so that it couldn't hold the belt. After over a month of waiting for the Maytag repairman to get a new drum in stock with repeated assurances that "we'll have it soon!" (they eventually concluded that they wouldn't - their customer service isn't very good), we ended up getting a new one (did so rather than getting a different washer because we also have the Maytag drier that sits on top of the washer). Now, after about 18 months, our new one won't spin either. We're getting the dreaded 3E error code (search for it online) which indicates that something is wrong with the motor or control board. I'm going to spend a few days trying to figure out what's wrong (and there's lots of online info about how to fix the many problems with this unit), but as our laundry builds up, I'm just not sure what I'll do. Pay a few hundred dollars to a repairman who may not be able to fix it anyway? Buy another one? (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.... well, we had reasons for getting our current one. But fool me three times?!?!?) Or just switch to a whole different washer set-up?

If this is the type of excitement associated with your washer that you want in your life, then by all means, consider this washer. Same applies if you like being a handyman and want a wide variety of problems to diagnose and fix in your appliances (especially if you're not careful about cleaning out your pockets). But if you're like me, and you just want a washer that works - for an extended period of time - then avoid this model like the plague. (A last point is that you can find lots of reviews for this model elsewhere online, and I have yet to find a set of generally positive reviews for it.)


Many complain about long drying time and lack of heat with this Haier Dryer. After studying the design a bit and tinkering with it's workings, I found the answer, and it relates to the bad design of the dryer: poor placement of the heater element.

And now for the explanation:

The Physics:
This dryer has a PTC heater element, which means that there is no thermostat in the dryer - the element itself regulates the heat output based on it's own internal temperature. If air flows across the element and is thus cooled, it's resistance drops, more current flows and the element outputs more heat energy. If no air flows across the element, the heater will heat up internally, it's resistance increases until little or no current flows, and will output little or no heat energy (the element itself will be hot, but will consume little current and output little energy). To watch this phenomenon, plug the empty dryer into a watt meter and turn the dryer on high. Note the watts consumed - around 1000. Now open the door and stick a pen in the door switch and again turn the dryer on high - it will quickly drop from 1000 watts to around 300. This is because no air is moving across the element (it is flowing through the open door) and the heater regulates itself to produce the same internal temperature, but with little energy consumption and output.

The Bad Design:
The drum spins in a clockwise rotation. The heater is placed at the 8 o'clock position. When the dryer is empty, air is able to move freely across the element, through the inside of the drum, and out the exhaust. If the dryer is lightly filled with clothes, the clothing is rotated up past the element, slightly blocking the air moving across it and reducing it's heat output. If the dryer is heavily loaded, the rotating clothing will be constantly blocking the heater's airflow and you will wind up with very little heat and 4 hour dry times.

If the heater had been placed at the 2 o'clock position, the rotating clothing would "tumble down" by the 12 o'clock position and leave the heater's air space to be free of obstruction.

This problem is compounded by: (a) A faulty door seal - air leaks in through the door opening, and further reduces the air entering through the heater's air port. (b) a weak exhaust fan, unable to move much air.

The Solution:
There is no real solution to this design but it can be mitigated in a few ways:
1. Do not load the dryer more than half full. (the manual says 2/3 full, but I disagree)
2. Make sure your vent is always clear and the lint trap cleaned - this helps airflow.
3. Glue down a bead of silicon caulk around the outer edge of the door to help seal it. (you'll need to remove the door to do this properly)
4. Install a baffle inside the dryer to guide clothes away from the element as they spin past it. (put your DIY cap on)
5. Cut a notch in the door and install a fan to push air through the heater. (do this at your own risk)
6. Modify the exhaust fan belt / pulley to cause the fan to spin faster (do this at your own risk)

Conclusion:
I think the design of this dryer has a fatal flaw which causes it's normal operation to be severely restricted. Consumers should not need to become engineers in order to use a simple and standard household appliance.

UPDATE: I ended up adding a fan booster to the exhaust vent, which greatly increases airflow, and shortens full load drying times to a more reasonable 1 1/2 - 2 hours (vs. 3-4 hours).


We installed this range when we remodeled our kitchen 2 1/2 years ago and have used it extensively since then, and have come to love it.  Here is what we've learned about it: You better have a GOOD technician to set it up properly and CAREFULLY adjust everything so that all the burners work correctly. BUT once set correctly, all burners have kept their adjustments and we've had no problems.  We have the model with gas burners on top, gas main oven and electric bottom oven.

There is some kind of a vent fan that comes on in the oven at around 375 degrees, or above, and stays on until the oven cools back down, and it blows hot air out the slots at the BACK of the top.  This hot air is hot enough that it cracked the grout between the metallic ceramic tiles of our backsplash and we had to replace the grout with colored silicone.  But the original grout job wasn't done right, and the silicone looks better anyway, soooo, no problem.  However, my wife used to be annoyed by the noise of the fan, but she's gotten used to it.  It isn't loud enough that it ever bothered me, but it is noticeable.

We've seen in some reviews where folks complained about the noise of the fan when cooking in convection mode.  The convection fan is much quieter than the vent fan mentioned in the previous paragraph. In fact, it's almost inaudible, BUT we don't use the convection mode when baking above 375 degrees, so I don't know if the convection fan gets louder above 375.  BTW, the Convection Roast with Probe is a fantastic way of cooking meats.  It has always turned out perfect, without fail, but we've been careful to get the probe properly inserted into the meat.

We've seen complaints in reviews about the front knobs and panel getting hot while using the oven.  We've NOT had that problem at all, ever.  I believe there must be a setup problem with the ranges that are having that problem.  I also wonder if that's a problem with the electric main ovens and not the gas ovens.

The bottom oven has a 120 volt element in it rather than the 240 volt elements that normal electric ovens have, but it still cooks perfectly, HOWEVER, you have to allow for a little extra time for pre-heat, but it's not a huge amount of extra time since the bottom oven is not as large as the top one.

When you go to cook pancakes on the griddle, because of the mass of the griddle, you have to allow it plenty of time to get good and hot.  I drop a couple droplets of water on it and don't put the batter on it until the droplets sizzle good.  You have to keep the burner wide open on high the entire time you're using the griddle to cook effectively.  But it DOES cook well, once it's hot and kept hot.

We really like the heat ranges of the burners.  The power burners heat and bring things to a boil quickly, but turn down to simmer very nicely.  The simmer burner on the back right is terrific for warming and slow cooking.

All in all, we love this range.  The owner's manual could be more clearly written, but the info in it is correct, unlike the one for the last gas range we owned before this one.  We highly recommend this range and would buy it again.


When I was fighting a humidity issue in my workshop, I realized I couldn't solve it without monitoring results - and picked up a SensorPush Wireless Hygrometer with Alerts for that purpose.

It quickly became apparent that, although the SensorPush is awesome, I wanted to be able to see the humidity at a glance when I'm out there - so I also picked up a ThermoPro TP55 Digital Hygrometer that I could just stick to my gun safe using magnets.

If I hadn't been using the SensorPush, I probably would have been happy with the ThermoPro - but I did have a couple of issues with it:

1) The humidity level didn't match the levels from the SensorPush - which was driving me nuts.

2) Even when the SensorPush reported wide swings in relative humidity, the ThermoPro seemed to stay stuck.  It was always reporting 48-52%, even though the SensorPush reported a far larger range.

After a couple of weeks, I came back to Amazon and picked up the AcuRite 01080 Hygrometer - which turned out to be an excellent decision.

1) The readings on the AcuRite are FAR faster, so it reports the same swings as the SensorPush.

2) The AcuRite supports calibration (which I did using a Boveda One-Step Calibration Kit).  It's a little hard to calibrate the Acurite inside the Boveda bag; but, only took a few minutes using the button map from the instruction pages.  (The problem is you can't see the buttons - you have to feel for them.)

It's interesting that the AcuRite was off by almost 5% out of the box - but now it matches the SensorPush (which is also calibrated) perfectly.

After reading reviews, I almost didn't buy the AcuRite because of complaints about the display contrast and size.  Personally, I don't see the issues at all - it seems plenty big for my purposes; and, although the contrast definitely isn't as good as the sticker that comes on it - it isn't bad either.  The contrast is pretty much comparable to any other digital display.

If you're comparing the AcuRite vs the ThermoPro, the ThermoPro has an easy-to use touchscreen and backlighting, while the AcuRite seems to focus more on being a good hygrometer.

If you're going to be constantly switching back and forth between Celsius and Fahrenheit, or want a backlight, then consider the ThermoPro - otherwise just grab the AcuRite, it really is an excellent unit.

[*** Update 12/12/2017 ***]

This has worked so well that I ended up getting another one to track the humidity by my main gun safe.  After letting it settle for about 8 hours and calibrating it - it works just as well as the first and tracks the other sensors perfectly.


I have been using my washer for almost 7 months.  This is the precise model that I have, except mine is black.  I have not had the problems others seem to have.  It has only had an unbalanced load (UL) three times in that period, and each time, adjusting the clothes solved the problem.  Below is the review I originally wrote for the machine, updated by these comments.  It is still relevant in my case.

I will agree unconditionally that Whirlpool's customer service is CRAPPY.  I tried contacting them several times (email and phone) for a part that I couldn't find for the matching dryer (to convert it from natural gas to LP gas) and NEVER got a response.

************************

November 10, 2006

This little wonder is as wonderful as Whirlpool ("WP") keeps insisting.

Now let me first say that every washing machine I have ever owned has been a WP - so there is some loyalty there. But bias aside, this machine delivers.

The 'space age' console that lit up like a Christmas tree was impressive enough, but WP added ease of operation. Use the pre-set wash cycles (turn the knob) or modify each to your liking (press the up and down buttons at each selection) - poetry in motion. One CAVEAT - I have not yet tried to programme a delayed wash, so I don't know how easy that is. The instructions in the manual seemed simple enough though.

LARGE TUB: The stainless steel tub is deceptively large. When I first looked in I noted the absence of the agitator but still I thought it wasn't as large as had been advertised. Then I put in what was in my old machine a "medium" load. My medium load became an extra small. What joy!

WATER SAVING: They do not lie! No more clothes swimming (pun) in water. This washer 'measures/weighs' the clothing (ain't technology wonderful?) and adds just enough water to the clothes to clean them. I was counting the savings (and apparently saving a tree in the Amazon) as I sat in fascination and watched my clothes wash. (Love the see through lid by the way).

CLEANING RESULTS: Clean the clothes it did. My whites were clean and fresh.

LOTS OF CYCLES: To suit every need. The BULKY ITEMS cycle is a gem.

LID LOCK: The lid locks as soon as you press the Start button. You can pause during any cycle by pressing the Pause/Cancel button once (twice will cancel the wash), then pressing Start to continue.

FEATURES: Too many to adequately expound on here. I love the THREE DISPENSERS - detergent (only high efficiency liquid or powder), liquid bleach and fabric softener. The end-of-cycle ALERT is indispensable and can be turned off, soft or loud. The machine is QUIET. Capital QUIET. Amazingly QUIET! (which is why you really need the end-of-cycle alert). The DRAIN AND SPIN cycle is great for those times when you start a wash and can't finish. The CLEAN MACHINE cycle - also a keeper.

The machine has a pleasing design and despite greater capacity and features, seems to take up less floor space than my older model washer.

I personally suggest using a surge suppressor with this washer simply because so many of the features are computerised and it is a large investment (would be a shame to watch it go down in flames).

I haven't had it long enough to comment on energy savings, but for every other reason cited above (and more), I fully recommend this washer.


Whirlpool Duet Series WFW9400SW 27" Duet Front-Load Washer with 4.0 cu. ft. Capacity, 14 Wash Cycles & 1200 RPM Speed: White

  I have had my new Whirlpool Duet pair for about 1 1/2 weeks now. I am completely in love. I had a Kenmore top load washer and dryer for almost 10 years. I was happy with how my clothes came out and I never really understood when people had complaints about their washers not cleaning clothes well or wearing out their clothes so quickly. I now understand. I washed a load of whites in the front loader. Not doing anything different than what the washer's manual suggests doing (I also followed manufacturer's suggestion on old machine) and I can not believe the difference. I took a white sock from the load out of the new machine and one out of my drawer that had been washed using the old machine. My 12 yr old, 9 yr old, and 4 yr old all noticed the difference without me telling them which came from the new machine. My husband even noticed. They all thought that the old machine sock was actually dirty. Needless to say, I have been slowly rewashing all of the clothes that supposedly were already clean from my old machine.

  Now, I read a lot of reviews about the Whirlpool front loads. Some were very discouraging. I was a little nervous making the purchase with some of the information that is out there, however, I am glad to report I have not had any of the issues. One thing that I did read about in the manual is that you have to use HE laundry detergent or your front load machine will suds too much. This will lead to mildew smell or mold inside the drum. Our sales guy told us it would be the equivalent to putting hand dish soap in your dishwasher. The manual also says that you need to leave the door open after you complete laundry so that the washer drum can fully dry. The reason is that the front loads have an airtight seal that will not let air in to dry, thus causing mildew and mold. There were also complaints about the vibration when the unit is spinning. We had the machine installed by the store we bought the units from. Unfortunately, when my husband came home and I told him that they did not seem as sturdy as I would like, he found that they did not tighten the locking bolts after they "leveled" it. However, it was not leveled properly either. Becuase of this, as the machine spun the clothes, it wiggled even more unlevel which made a horrible vibration noise. Now that my husband leveled it and locked the locking bolts, we have had no problems.

I think the best part of the machine is that it sprays water into the soap, softner, bleach trays to completely get out the soap. It makes it nice not having to clean out the tray each time so build up doesn't happen! I feel that if anyone gets the unit you will not regret it! Good luck shopping!


I am happy for those of you who have not had problems w/this machine!  HOWEVER, you seem to be much fewer than those of us who have had issues w/this machine... 2 weeks after we purchased this machine things started to go bad, but I was in denial because I wanted to LOVE this machine so desperately!  It was SUPPOSED to be our dream machine, but turned out to be our laundry nightmare!!!

It all started w/an LD error... okay, that means "long drain" check for a kink in the hose, not enough of the drain hose in the wall drain, blah, blah, blah... a repair man came here & told me it is because of too much soap & taking too long to drain.  I had done my research BEFORE we bought this machine because I was so determined to make it work, that I wanted to make sure I used it right.  Showed the repairman my HE bottle of WHIRLPOOL endorsed detergent, & told him I was using about 2 tsp (if that) of soap for a FULL load... told him I kept checking to see how many suds there were to make sure there was enough, but not too much soap.  He told me to add a bucket of water to the machine if the LD error came up again & to use LESS soap... I smiled & said OKAY, but was thinking that he STILL thinks I am using too much soap... whatever!!!  NOT the case... I know to check the rinse cycle to check for any soap residue & there was NONE.  I also asked him if there was too much detergent, then WHY DIDN'T I get the sud error message, hmmm?!?!?

Of course, the LD error came up again & again & again.  Adding water did nothing, nor did cancelling the load & starting over... I had to unplug it & let it sit EMPTY overnight before it would work again.  Not very productive, let me tell you!  I humored the repairman & even tried less detergent AND same thing!!! had I used any less detergent, I would have been washing my clothes w/water!!!!

Then the whole ridiculous F1 error came up... UGGHHH!!!  WHAT IS THAT???  According to Whirlpool it is an "electrical" issue... the repairmen came here 4 MORE times & guess what, IT STILL DOES NOT WORK!!!!  I have had a new control board (brain), things taken apart & cleaned, etc.  GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!

I am seriously FED UP, & so is my hubby.  He is determined he is going to peorsonally take this machine back to Sears & tell them to eat their return policy... I hope it works... not sure what machine to get next, assuming Sears takes this hunk of junk back?!?!?

I read Fisher & Paykel is great & one of the 4 different repair guys that came here said that F&P has the bugs worked out of their products since they have been around so long... BUT I read some bad reviews on-line & am leery now... I need a machine w/out an agitator (we have a history of our clothes being ripped apart by our washer w/an agitator, so I am not even willing to risk it again.... also a Whirlpool... hmmm?!?!?  We went w/WP again though because we figured that w/out an agitator we would be fine... yeah, nice try.).

Anyway, if you try a Cabrio I hope it works... chances are it won't, but I also like to try things for myself sometimes ;0).  Does anybody else have the F1 error???  Is that the updated code for the F51 error since my LCD screen can't even display 3 numbers and/or letters?!?!?


I bought this LintEater kit plus a competitor's kit (everbilt) to use as an extension if needed, since my duct is 24` long and the other kit was the same price as the extension. I ended up not using the other kit at all and will be keeping this one as this kit is superior in every way:
* the rods are much more flexible, yet just as strong than the other kit.
* the brush on this kit is better designed in my opinion. It has tufts of bristles arranged in a spiral pattern, with plenty of space for chunks of lint to blow past the brush. The other kits' brushes are arranged in rows, but with even gaps between bristles, so I believe they are more likely to shovel lint in front of the brush if you are pushing the brush upwind. For light lint loads the other brush may be better for "polishing" your ducts, but if the job gets tough, the LintEater should be better.
* My favorite accessory: the vacuum hose adapter. I duct taped a vacuum hose to my leaf blower, attached the other end of vacuum hose to this adapter, threaded the rod (with brush attached) through the small port provided in the adapter, then plugged the adapter into my vent after feeding the brush into the vent. I was then able to brush the first 12' of duct from inside the house, with air from the leaf blower pushing the lint out of the other end of the vent. Then I removed the brush, plugged the small port with a provided plug, and plugged the adapter back in the vent. From the outside of the house I was able to clean the outside 12' of duct, with lint blowing out the vent towards me. A little messy but not bad. If I used a 12' extension, I could have done the whole job from the inside, but this worked almost as well.
* there are two small set-screws plus an allen wrench provided; one is used to lock the brush in place on the rod to avoid a disaster in case you accidentally spin the rod counter-clockwise.
* there is a metal clog ripper that I didn't need to use, in case you have a nasty clog of lint to remove that is too tough to dig through with the brush.
* there a smaller diameter brush that looks useful for brushing out ducting within the dryer. This brush attaches to the same rods.
* I have no idea what the "french fry cutter" is for unless it is to collect all the big pieces of lint at the outlet so you can watch them all come out at once? Not sure why you would want to do that. Or maybe it helps prevent you from running your brush into your dryer if you are running your dryer to blow lint outside and brushing from the outside in. I should have read the directions.

I did use duct tape on each of the joints as I fed the brush in, as it doesn't take much counter-clockwise torque to start unscrewing things. I would not run this counter-clockwise on purpose; it won't take long for the duct tape to come loose and then you will have fun getting everything out of the duct.

I found that these rods could screw into the everbilt rods, but the everbilt rods could not screw into these rods. If I remember right, the everbilt rods would not fit the LintEater brush, so I would have had to use the everbilt brush if I wanted to combine the two kits to get a 24' length. I decided it wasn't worth it. If I really wanted 24', I would buy the LintEater extension (I am returning the everbilt kit to HD).

When I bought it, this kit was the same price as the other kits, but it is definitely worth paying more.


This review is for Gardus RLE202 LintEater 10-Piece Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning System

Weve been paying $75 per visit for the service guy from the appliance store to come every 4-5 months and clean the flexible duct thats routed in a less than optimal manner due to location and a variety of road blocks from the dryer to the outside wall.

We knew the time was coming for a cleaning when clothes didn't dry very well and right near the end when it REALLY needed cleaning, there would actually be water on the floor under the dryer.

I had to use some vacation days or lose them and was recently at home for the first time when he came. I watched the process and thought, *I* should be doing this if thats all it is!

I did my research, LintEater is pretty clearly the way to go and made my purchase. Youve got to love Amazon Prime!

Like with ANY product, you have weigh the number of positive reviews against the handful of bad ones. The bad reviews are likely from people who are mechanically challenged or didn't read the manual or watch YouTube videos to get an idea of how the process works.

The pictures of the twisted rod? Someone had one of more of these: Speed too high, clutch too high or didn't use a clutched drill at all, pushed against an impassable bend or obstruction on the vent pipe.

Disconnected or broke in the vent pipe? The rods cant come apart if you run the drill ONLY clockwise. Thats simple physics they simply cant come apart IF you use clockwise ONLY. The brush head broke or stripped out is going to be like the twisted rod; speed too high, clutch too high or didn't use a clutched drill at all, pushed against an impassable bend or obstruction on the vent pipe.

- CLOCKWISE ONLY for both going into and back out of the vent tube!

- My cordless drill is a Ridgid model R82005 3/8. The clutch goes from 0 to 16.5. It has a switch marked 1 & 2 for overall speed. I set the clutch to FOUR and the speed to ONE. You're not drilling holes or driving screws... you're not going as hard and fast as you can. Slow and easy wins this particular race.

- I put red Loctite thread locker on the threads attaching the rotary brush head to the rod AND to the set screw.

- As I added each section, I tightened them against each other with a pair of pliers on each section. THEN, I wrapped electrical tape a couple times around the joined sections. This is all just common sense insurance against disaster.

- The female ends of the rod that go into the drill chuck aren't knurled, but I had no problem with them spinning in the chuck. Slow speed and minimal torque are probably why this was not an issue.

NOTE: I didn't think Id need the extra rod extensions, but I do and came back to order them. To get this done for now, I had to do half from inside the house and half from outside.

- INSIDE the house, vent pipe disconnected from the dryer, I used the vent insert in the vent pipe end with a Ridgid 6HP shop vac and the cleaning tool rod through the provided hole in the insert. This worked fantastically well; I had to clean the vac filter a couple times due to all the lint.

- OUTSIDE the house, I didn't bother with the vacuum, figuring the birds would get whatever lint they found or the elements would just break it down pretty quickly. Turn the dryer ON to blow out the loosened lint as you clean the pipe, wear googles or something to keep the lint dust out of your eyes and off you go!


IMPORTANT - Follow the directions and remember... CLOCKWISE CLOCKWISE CLOCKWISE! You'll understand when you see it. Our home is 20 years old, and we've lived in it for 16 of those 20 years. We have never cleaned the dryer ducts, and we're certain the previous owners would've had no need to do so. Our washer went out a week ago and so we decided to replace the dryer as well. The dryer had never been moved in 16 years and when I went to unhook it, I was amazed that the connecting pipe was almost completely clogged with lint! We clean our dryer lint collector every time we use it, so it got me to thinking - If there's this much lint in the connecting pipe..... how much lint is in the main pipe that I can't see????? So.... in anticipation of getting a new washer and dryer set, I decided to look into ways of checking into this, and came across this product.

Our vent pipe is 30 feet long, and a 90 degree bend 2/3 the way down! Well... that's where this AWESOME TOOL comes in! I was a bit nervous about it until I got it. This thing is made very well, and I had no issues with it at all. I followed the directions and MADE SURE that I - 1. Duct taped the joints 2. Made sure my drill was set to CLOCKWISE 3. Went slow and steady and didn't force anything. The directions are VERY important cause if you do not follow them, you could find yourself in trouble. I recommend that you have a 10 gallon shop vac with the 2" hose to help you with this job! The vac will help in declogging the pipe by sucking the lint as you loosen it. I could NOT BELIEVE how much lint came out of our pipes! I had to unclog the vac hose like 4 times because there was so much volume! Amazing to think that there was so much lint that it clogged up my 10 gallon pro shop vac 4 times!!! The MAIN THING is to GO SLOW! There's no need to put your drill on high. If you don't have a variable speed drill - I recommend you get one. You may get yourself into trouble if your drill only runs in super fast mode because should you run into a snag, you could break the rods inside your duct! Can you imagine that? Therefore... have the right tools for the job, and follow the directions to the letter, cause you don't want that to happen.

Due to our 30 foot run, I bought 2 kits rather than buy the extention set because to me, for a few bucks more, why not have extra brushes etc too? The tool assembles with ease and I LOVED the shop vac attachment tool it came with. It made this job sooooooo much easier.

Bottom Line -  I love this tool! It did exactly what I wanted it to do, and it did it with ease, and sure beat paying someone to do it. I was completely done in about 1/2 hr, for a 30 foot pipe, and I have more airflow from our dryer than ever before! Take a look at some of the pics some people have posted with their lint because this is exactly what I experienced. I removed approx. 2 pounds of lint which is a considerable amount when you think about it. Our pipes are clean, and I can relax in the knowledge that we've increased the life of our new dryer exponentially, and removed the risk for a duct fire. Totally worth every cent to buy this tool in my book ;)


Outstanding, well made product.  I have a 15 ft. dryer exhaust duct made of heavy foil "accordian".  It's a straight run from the dryer wall to the outside of the house at near ground level except for a 90 deg "S" bend where the duct enters the wall and continues below the floor next to the basement ceiling

Since the total length of the rods is 12 feet, I had to clean the duct from both the outside and inside.  After reading all the options in the user manual I concluded that the most efficient cleaning method was the following general procedure.  I ran the brush through the duct from the outside (while keeping the dryer connected to the duct) and then turned on the dryer on the unheated air flow setting to blow out the debris through the louvered outside vent that the brush did not extract.  Then I disconnected the duct from the dryer to the wall and ran the brush through the duct from the inside...being careful to allow the flexible line to let the brush negotiate the two 90 deg bends.  I reconnected the dryer to the duct and again turned it on air flow to blow the debris out the outside louvered vent that the brush didn't remove.

DETAILS: When cleaning from the outside, I attached the brush to one 3-ft. rod and attached it to my drill.  It's best to have a two speed drill (set at the low speed) or a variable speed drill.  The outside vent is plastic with three flexible louvers which are easy to remove.  I inserted the brush into the end of the duct, turned it on, slowly worked the brush into the duct the full length of the rod, and slowly withdrew the rotating brush (and watched all the debris being pulled out).  I did that three times. I then turned on the dryer (unheated air flow) to "clear" the duct.  After that I rotated the brush again into the duct to near the end of the rod, disconnected it from the drill, attached the second rod and repeated the process.  I reinserted the brush to near the end of the second rod, disconnected it from the drill, attached the third rod and repeated the process....etc... until I had all four rods (12 ft.) attached.  When I finished cleaning from the outside, I cleaned the duct from the inside, but I just needed to use one 3-ft. rod. to ensure the entire 15 ft run was cleaned.  Of course, don't forget to clean out the duct that connects to the  dryer.  I also opened the back of the dryer and cleaned the inside.  The debris sitting on the grass below the louvered vent was easily cleaned with a house vac using the suction tool.

Be patient, read the instructions and pay close attention to what it says about connecting and securing the rod sections.  Also, wear a good quality dust mask and hat.  If you have a long duct like mine, don't connect all four rods at once and then try to insert the brush and run the drill from 12 feet away -- it'll be too unwieldy.  Simply start with one 3-ft rod and add the additional ones to the rods that are inserted in the duct and protruding from the opening as described above and continue rotating the brush.  Push the brush in slowly and let it do the work; don't force it.  If you apply a little common sense it's really very simple.  But the whole cleaning process will take a long time, especially if you have to also clean from the inside which requires moving the dryer, disconnecting the duct and other contortions...so be patient.  It's a well-made, effective tool that really does the job.


This is a great dryer vent pipe cleaning system!

Our dryer is in the middle of the second floor of the house, so there's a 24-foot pipe from the wall behind the dryer up into the ceiling and across the attic beams to the outdoor vent.  Hasn't been cleaned since buying the house brand new in late 2005!  Not being a fan of paying strangers to come into my home, I bought the LintEater 10-piece kit and a 12-foot extension rod pack.  The "chore" of cleaning the dryer vent pipe turned out to be a real joy because of this inexpensive and very effective tool!

Assembly is simple - screw the brush into the end of one of the flexible rods.  A little set screw and allen wrench are provided to ensure the brush stays on.

Turn your dryer on to the AIR Dry setting to blow unheated air out the vent pipe.  Go outdoors with your cordless drill set to turn forward/clockwise, attach the rod/brush assembly to the drill and rotate the brush/rod while pulling it in and out of the dryer vent pipe.  When lint stops blowing out - (You won't believe the clumps and quantity of lint this thing dislodges!) - screw another length of rod onto the end of the first rod, insert its end into the drill, make sure the drill will turn clockwise, and spin the lengthened assembly in and out of the dryer vent.  Repeat until all rods have been attached and lint stops blowing from the dryer vent as you pull the spinning brush assembly fully back out of the vent.

The ONLY thing one must remember in this extremely easy task is to always run the drill in forward/clockwise rotation because the rods will want to unscrew from one another if the drill is accidentally run in reverse. The instructions do offer the idea of putting duct tape around the rod connections after screwing them together to prevent disconnection inside the dryer vent pipe if you forget to only turn the drill in the clockwise direction.

As a do-it-yourself kind of guy, I'm willing to buy a tool if it can give me the ability to do a job myself whenever it's convenient for me rather than having to schedule some stranger to do something for me.  Rarely, however, does one find such an inexpensive and thorough tool as this!  This $40 kit (including the extra pack of extension rods I needed) made the job of cleaning my dryer vent pipe very satisfying and even fun!  It stores easily behind the dryer until the next time I'll need it.  (The instructions recommend cleaning the vent pipe every few months.)  The whole job only took half an hour from start to finish - including getting the ladder out of the garage and set up.  There is simply no reason to pay a contractor to do this easy task nor to forego keeping one's dryer vent clear of accumulated lint and the associated fire hazard that it creates.

  When ordering, measure how far your dryer is from the outside wall of your house where the dryer air is vented and add the vertical distance from the air outlet on the back of the dryer to the ceiling so that you know how many flexible rods you'll need in order to clean the whole thing from the outside.  If disconnecting the dryer from the wall pipe is convenient, one could even clean the pipe from the inside outward or from both ends.

My experience with the LintEater is unquestionably rated 5 stars. I would heartily recommend it to a friend.  It's inexpensive, easy to assemble and use, fast, does a thorough job, is almost impossible to goof up and small to store for future uses.  I will not go 6 years without cleaning my dryer vent again now that I have this kit on hand and will happily take it to friend's houses to share the benefits of a clean dryer vent with them.


I have owned this unit for 1 1/2 years so far, and it has operated very well.  It uses about 1/2 kwh per day or 180 to 240 kwh per year depending on the temp in the building.  The unit is clean, not too loud and does its job.  HOWEVER, after 1 1/2 years the relay starter switch went out.  This is caused by arcing from each time it is fired up.  When this happened I panicked and thought I would lose all my frozen foods and have to go buy a new freezer, BUT a little homework on youtube and thought came up with a quick solution to the problem.  I removed the transfer switch from  the compressor which is shown in the picture.  Don't forget to unplug the freezer first!!  To help you find the switch you have to remove a little cover over it on the left side of the compressor.  Don't take off the overload protector that has one black wire going into it that is above the relay and that occupies the top prong of three that come out of the compressor.  Make sure you make note of the colors of the wires or take a picture of the wires as they are placed on the relay switch.  You don't have to undo the ground wire that looks like it is in the way.  It is not.  You can just use a flat blade screwdriver to ease off the relay switch.  Then use the same screwdriver to nudge the wiring connectors off the pins on the relay switch.  You will find a part number on the relay switch.  I ordered one on Amazon for $10 that had a number that was pretty close and that a reviewer said he had used on a similar freezer.  It worked, but then I saw on a youtube video that there is a little disk inside the relay switch that does the work.  I carefully opened up the relay switch and pushed the blade connectors out of it from the back which freed up the little disk.  There was scoring on the disk and one of the blades.  I scraped and sanded off the black ash and then reinserted the blades into the housing.  I used a small screwdriver to slightly bend the contacts where they would make good contact with the disk instead of being loose.  Now the critical part is that I removed and LIGHTLY sanded the crud off the disk and reinserted it where it made contact with a part of the disk that still had the contact metal whereas the scored area had none.  I think this could be done several times to be able to use the disk again, OR this will buy you time while you wait for a new part.  The part I ordered on Amazaon was Ministry of Warehouse QP2-4.7 New 3 Pin Start Device Relay Starter Danby Magic Chef Kenmore Refrigerator aftermarket; PMN4534TG48 3464YHRE323299.  This unit I believe is manufactured in Ontario, Canada.  Hope this saves you some time and money.  I would give the unit 5 stars, but good luck searching for parts, and a repairman would cost a fortune most likely and you can lose food waiting so this is good to know if you don't mind rehabilitating the unit on your own and have 30 minutes to do the job.  Of course, it could be some other problem with your unit, but I suspect this is bound to happen to most of them due to the nature of the part.


My wife really liked this dishwasher for the first 12 months. The full warranty period was 1 year, then 2 years parts and the customer is responsible for the labor. A little over a year into the dishwasher and the drain hose had rotted, become brittle, and was leaking. Round and round with customer service and they finally send us a drain hose which I replace. This bought a few more months. At around 18 months, the dishwasher started leaking from the water inlet valve. After a long talk with LG's customer service they finally concede that the valve (that I can clearly seek leaking) is bad. Looks like a simple fix, so I kindly ask them to send us a new valve and I will replace it myself. No dice. LG insist on sending one of their certified repair men out this time(which is located 80 miles away) to replace the valve. After arguing over this for a while, I give up and tell them to "have a nice day". The repair man is going to be at least $100 and 4 to 5 days out. I had already looked the part I needed up on repair clinic and found that it cost around $30. So I buy the part, have it shipped, clean out the nasty water inlet meter (remember this part) and have our dishwasher up an running again in a snap. (Our 18 month old, $700 dishwasher that has ruined our floor by now with two leaks). Now a year later I get home and it is not working again. This time it has an OE error and an awful grinding noise when it does decide to run. If I pour water into the tub it drains water fine but only starts the wash cycle sporadically. Again, I remove the dishwasher (I skip calling LG because we are almost 3  years into this $700 POS and the last time they were no help), find that somehow that part of the food grinder has come in contact with the blade AND that the nasty grease trap, I mean water inlet meter, is clogged up again with grease and fowl smelling funk. This seams to be the reason for the bad odors coming from these dishwashers.  If you have this problem, remove the dishwasher, look on the left side of the dishwasher and there is a clear plastic part with two switches and a couple hoses coming from it. Remover this and clean it well. While you are at it remove spray arms, and filter assembly and clean all of this as well. After cleaning the funk out, and straightening the bent part on the grinder, my wife's lovely dishwasher is running again. Fingers crossed, this time it didn't cost us anything but a Saturday morning. IN short this dishwasher is Junk and I would not recommend to anyone. POINT IS THIS POS KEEPS BREAKING DOWN.  BUYER BEWARE AND READ THE REVIEWS!!!!LG LDF6920ST Fully Integrated Dishwasher with 5 Wash Cycles, 3 Spray Arms, SenseClean System, Delay Start, Food Disposer and Self-Clean Filter: Stainless Steel


I bought this unit after a glowing recommendation from a salesperson at Home Depot.  She said that she owned a unit and loved it.  The finish and price seemed to suggest "quality" to me, so it seemed like a no-brainer and between that and Black Friday discounts, I ordered one. Did I do research?  Noooo.....  Well, buyer beware.

At first the unit seemed fine, it looked (and still does) great, and was *extremely* quiet, so I was happy.  But after no more than 10 cycles, it started making a very loud, high-pitched, continuous, otherworldly noise.  Like something from a Sci-Fi movie.  Think of the phasers on the original Star Trek from the 60s ... it sounded something like that.  Better yet, go to youtube and search on the model number.  You'll find several videos demonstrating the exact same noise.

I called LG for service and I spoke to a very helpful, very polite service rep.  He didn't hesitate in issuing me a service ticket with a local independent repair company.  They got an email authorizing the service visit, and I called them and set the appointment for less than a week later.

When the tech arrived and I described the symptom, he seemed to know of the problem, had addressed it before.  He'd evidently replaced a lot of motors on this unit.  But what he went for first, once he got the thing open, was the "chopper blade".  It's a roughly 2.5" blade in the bottom of the unit under a cover.  The blade lies flat, parallel to the floor, and is sharpened on the leading edge, the better to chop up food particles before they go out with the wastewater.  According to him, "they told us" (I don't know if that means LG or his company or someone else) to first try removing the blade, turning it over, then reinstalling it to see if that cured the noise. In my case, this made 95% of the noise go away, so I am mostly satisfied with noise levels at that point.  However, with the blade turned over, the sharpened cutting edge is facing the wrong way, and the blade now depends solely on its speed of rotation (I think the tech said 3000rpm) to chop up the food.  In other words, to fix the problem, the functionality of the unit has to some extent been negatively affected.

I mentioned to the tech that it seemed to clean my dishes just fine.  This seemed to make him slightly happier, as if "not cleaning" was a chronic complaint that he'd encountered and was happy not to have to deal with with my unit.  That was just my impression, he didn't say that.  He *did* say "don't use it as a garbage disposal".  I don't know if most people are in the habit of doing so, but he clearly approved of me rinsing dishes before putting them on the racks.

In summary, it's my impression that the unit has a design defect that is well-known but hasn't been fixed.  I'm not a dishwasher engineer, but I'd think that some simple modification to the chopper blade would rectify the problem and could be made available as a field-replaceable part.

So as they say on failblog, "learn from my fail" and do your homework!


In various homes, we have had ceramic, gas and ceramic with halogen. For us, this is the best we've ever had. Going back to non-induction will likely never happen.  We've used the Miele for two months now and believe we've seen both the good points and the bad.

Pros:

Excellent burner layout. While this may seem pretty simple for any manufacturer to provide, in our looking at many cooktops, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Plenty of room between burners, large pots up front or in the middle where they are simple to handle.

It's not about boiling water quickly, it's about control. Better than gas, much better than ceramic. Low temperature cooking is a breeze.  Very quick response both up and down.  Can switch burners on the fly with virtually no heat up time, like gas.  No waste heat and no smell, unlike gas.

Easy clean up. You can clean as you are cooking.  Or lay a paper towel right against the pans if you'e ladling a risotto.  No risk of burning or even getting warm.

Can handle pots of widely different sizes.

As a note on pots:  Older stainless pots/pans may ring when heating up. Our old Sitrams do, new ones do not. Our cast iron pans are the most induction happy. They make no noise, heat up the fastest, heat all the way up the sides almost simultaneous with the bottom, cool down quickly.  After cast iron, our tri-clad pans and titanium Cybernox are excellent.  Aluminum with a stainless bottom is not great. Notably slower compared than the other materials.  If you need to buy new non-stick pans, go with coated stainless. You will pay more but cooking on them is much better than induction ready aluminum pans. We have both.

Power. We use boost frequently and nothing suffers as a result even if 4 pots are going. What's funny to me is the cooktop is on a 30 amp circuit instead of the 50 amp called for (8 gauge wire, short run) as I forgot to put in a new breaker. One of these days I'll get around to it but it's obvious the Miele has a substantial amount of power we have yet to need.

Cons:

The touch controls.  We have first generation touch controls at another home and I detest them. While the Miele's are better, I view them as senseless.  Why introduce a control set that is more difficult to use, sensitive to; leaning on them, covering them with an old baggy sweatshirt that drapes across them, or the towel over my shoulder that drags over them, or a spoon I lean on a pot and the handle happens to end up on a control, or moving a pot and having a control activate?  All while providing no addtional benefit over a knob???  Senseless, give me a set of knobs any day. The touch controls on Miele's oven are a joy to use. The cooktop's are not. Having said all of this, my wife loves them and never has an issue with them. I will admit they are light-years better than the first generation touch controls but, our other cooktop must be 10 years old so progress appears slow in coming.

It's very shiny.  I'm not talking about good quality absolut granite shiny, or the normal run of the mill black glass cooktop. The Miele's surface is like a mirror. As in even a damp micro-fiber is going to leave streaks. An almost dry, completely clean micro-fiber towel is the only way to wipe it off, once any crud or oils have been totally  removed.

All in all we are extremely pleased with this cooktop. The control set being my rationale for knocking off a star. My wife would give it 5 stars.


Product works great so far (2 weeks since installation), fraction of cost of Maytag part ($90+) or other online appliance parts stores ($50).
My washer started making a horribly loud screeching, grinding noise during the spin and rinse/drain cycles (i.e. whenever the tub is spinning to get rid of water).  From what I researched online, I thought it might be the drain pump.  First, in order to move the washer around in order to access the back panel, I unplugged the washer, and removed the drain hose from the wall (you have to pull the last part of this hose out in a spiral fashion so as not to break the tabs at the end of it).  I didn't have to turn the water off and disconnect those hoses since they're long.  I opened the back panel, took the hoses off the pump (have a medium plastic bowl and rags on floor to catch lots of water), and unscrewed 3 screws.  Then you have to move washer and tip it back in order to get under and take off belt - it helps to have a heavy block or something to hold washer up as you tip it back - be careful it doesn't drop on you.  Then put it down, & go back to the back panel and simply lift drain pump out.  I noticed that the metal sleeve on the bottom pulley had come out in an uneven way.  When this sleeve comes up and out it grinds against the bottom of the pump during spin, and makes that horrible noise.
I put the new pump in the hole (don't screw it in yet), tilted the washer up to put the belt back on, then went to the back panel again to screw in the new pump - this part is tricky because the belt is designed to be really tight, so pushing the new pump into position to lineup the screw-holes will be difficult.  What makes this possible is the fact that the motor actually is designed to move a little from its housing towards the drain pump in order to screw it in - when you're under the washer, you'll notice that the screws under the motor glide along small tracks, back and forth.  So after a little trial and error, you'll screw the new drain pump back in, connect the hoses with the clamps (put the clamps on the pump first, then slide the hoses on) and clean up.  Don't put on the back panel just yet b/c you'll want to safely (i.e. from an appropriate distance) look at the drain pump with a flashlight when the washer is on and in spin/rinse mode to check for leaks.  Of course, before you can do this, you'll need to reconnect the drain hose to the wall, plug in the electricity cord, and turn the water back on if you turned it off.  If this is your first time doing this, it'll take about an hour to be sure you do everything safely and carefully as not to break things.
So, with shipping costs, I spent $24 on this part instead of a $130 service call from Sears Blue Crew or the Maytag Authorized repair crews, who would've also charged about $100 for a new drain pump, plus tax.  Thus, altogether I spent $24 versus around $250!  Gotta love the internet!  Good luck!
P.s. when checking for leaks after installation, I did see some water drops, but turns out they were from the water hose at the top of the washer where it connects to the flume which channels water into the tub.  The clamp there had become rusty and needed to be replaced (I also replaced the flume as well just to be safe - and it was cheap).  But that's a whole other story!


Just got this range at the end of Feb 11, and it took a couple weeks to get it installed in the house. The impact this range has had over our stock Whirlpool flat top electrical range I bought with the house almost two years ago, was significant. My wife was won over by the "Bread Proofing" function and a couple visits to local stores for comparisons to other models under consideration (GE, SAMSUNG, LG, BOSCH). Anyway, the ease of cooking with this range is much greater than we would have imagined in a couple short months. A few pros, two small cons, and a small warning are all I have to say about this excellent range.

Pros:

1) Easy to clean up. However if you let any food items get on the recessed cook top surface below the grill, your cleanup will be that much harder. Seems obvious, but I have a teenager in the house. The oven surface is also easy to keep up on.

2) Easy glide racks. I slowly worked on the wife for two years about easy glide racks being a major selling point. Every day use has made my case for this seemingly minor feature by significant labor saving feature.

3) Wave touch controls. My wife who does all the baking in the house loves these more than she ever would have realized until she sat down and read the instruction manual. Staged baking programming has made her a believer.

4) Gas cooking. I've never liked electrical coils, and using the range top has made cooking enjoyable if not fun.

5) Looks great with the understated control panel idle and when it is being used. All cooking information is visible and easy to comprehend.

6) Internal lighting with the shiny blue interior helps you see everything. The old Whirlpool had an internal light that made me feel I was looking down a mile deep shaft with a match trying to squint just a couple more photons of reception out of it.

7) No failures, no glitches, and no problems whatsoever to date. Build quality is high and I have yet to see a single operating issue and neither has my wife. I also didn't buy an extended warranty after looking up consumer complaints against the warrantor for the vendor I selected. I expect in one year and a day (after the manufacturers warranty expires) I'll see my first glitch.

8)Bread proofing function. This is what got my wife on board initially. She is a pretty good baker, but proofing the bread in our previous range was a lot of effort for her. This simple function has made it easier for her. Not one loaf has fallen since she started using it.

9) Precision control on burners. I am very impressed with how the burners are responsive and precise. Going from full flame to the lowest setting keeps food warm while you finish up other food items is simple. I have had no issues with our burners to date.

10) The oven comes with convection but my wife hasn't really used it a lot yet. The regular oven setting cooking results have been more even and come out cooked more thoroughly compared to our previous electric range.

Cons

1) Price, this nearly killed the deal. If I hadn't gotten shipping and installation with no sales taxes online, a local buy would have cost us well over $2600.

2) The recessed cook top scratches somewhat easily, so don't use metal based scrubbers.

Warning: If you leave a burner on simmer, it can be difficult to see in a well lit kitchen. It gets pretty low.

In short, this range has been one of the best deals I have ever gotten and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I would highly recommend it.


We have had our NXR for almost exactly 1 year now.
We have the older model "NRG3001" mainly because we preferred the look of the older one. Only difference is the door handle is curved instead of straight and the panel the knobs is on is tilted up instead of flat.
I have heard NXR went from the 304 stainless (NRG) to the 430 stainless (DRGB)but can not confirm that myself, ours is 304 stainless.

The Range is very well made, is solid stainless steel on all sides & top, has heavy cast iron grates, heavy thick stainless oven racks.
4 excellent burners that are the exact ones used by Wolf, made in Germany and 15,000BTU each and all 4 are the same which I required.
I cant stand stoves that have 4 different burners, one big powerful burner one or two medium and then one tiny almost useless burner for just simmering.
That is just a total waste of a stove top to me.

I much prefer 4 really nice powerful burners where all 4 also become very low simmer burners, MUCH better configuration.
The burners are spaced enough apart to be able to use 4 large pots/pans at the same time.

Like ALL stainless it is rather easily scratched but other than that it is easy to keep clean and except for a couple tiny scratches still looks like brand new after a year of constant use 3X a day, 7 days a week.

Prior to buying ours last March this one review right here on Amazon was the one and only bad review I had ever found for this stove, and as you can tell has NOTHING to do with the stove itself but is a shipping problem.
 Have since seen 2 others both complaining about the enamel on the inside of oven chipping badly. Both were the DRGB model and seemed like it was probably a bad batch of enamel.
Have only seen 2 reviews about that so must not have been wide spread problem.

The other review here from August 17th sounds as though they don't even own the stove just regurgitating something they have heard, which I have heard the same thing. But all they say is that it "can rust & spot", but apparently either they don't really own the stove or it hasn't rusted or spotted they just suspect it "might".

Not exactly sure how much difference it really makes between 304 to 430 stainless on a stove that is an indoor range and not some outdoor BBQ sitting in the elements. 430 stainless is only slightly less stain/rust resistant and I think the only molecular difference is 430 does not have the 8% Nickle that 304 does.
Technically the best stainless would be 316 stainless which virtually no one uses except for BBQs made for marine environments.

Anyway, we are very happy with the stove so far, cooks great, looks great and didn't cost an arm and a leg. We bought ours for $1799.00 total cost shipping included. A Kenmore we were looking at cost more and the NXR is easily 10X the stove that Kenmore would have been.

The Infrared broiler works very well, oven works great, knobs are nice, the door is heavy duty and even after having the oven on at over 400 degrees for hours the door is only just warm to the touch.

For the price there is NOTHING that beats a 30" NXR for value, not even close.
Can you get stoves just as nice? Yep, but you will pay dearly for it.
Only other stoves that are as good and even better in some respects than the NXR start at least $1000 more.

Blue Stars are decent, although I see a lot of complaints about them, Capital Culinarian is very good but both of those will cost considerably more.


As usual, I spent a whole lot of time looking for a replacement dishwasher. Looked at a lot of models, and narrowed the choices down to models from Whirlpool, Bosch and KitchenAid.

The high end Bosch and Kitchenaid models were great - read nothing but good things (for the most part) about their performance, and they are very, very quiet. But, cost was a factor, and I just couldn't see paying more than one grand for a dishwasher (and some are a LOT more than a grand!).

Looked into Whirlpool since they get excellent reliability ratings from the "consumer" magazine. This model caught my eye since it offered a fully-integrated panel (i.e., the controls are hidden) and some nice convenience features. So far, it has been a top-notch performer.

The potscrubber feature works very well, and is identical to the one on the Kitchenaid (not unexpected, since Whirlpool owns Kitchenaid). Love the movable cutlery basket! You can hang it on the door for more room, or put it on the front or side of the lower tray. If loaded properly, silverware comes out clean no matter where you put the basket. If, however, you tend to just toss in forks and spoons and not arrange them, you'll want to put the basket on the lower rack so it gets more direct spray time.

The interior is light gray with a tile-type pattern. It's plastic, so it's not as fancy looking as stainless. But, I care more about what the dishwasher looks like from the outside, and the stainless steel outside looks great. It also has a unique feature among hidden control models in that the steam vent is on the front of the machine, and not the top. That's important to keep the steam from hitting the bottom of your counters. Can't figure out why everyone else doesn't do it that way.

Many different cycles to choose from including regular, adaptive (which uses sensors to figure out what to do), high temp and sanitary rinse. Lots of nice little touches, such as foldable tines and clips to hold light plastic items so they don't flip over during the wash cycle.

Noise levels are very low. No, it is not as whisper quiet as a higher end machine, but the sound level is not at all objectionable.

Excellent value - lots of features, works well, looks great, holds a boat-load of dishes, and has lots of convenience features. Can't ask for more than that!

>>>>>>>Update June 2010: It's been a year since I've had this, and I'm still 100% satisfied with the machine. I run about 2-3 loads per week and so far I've not had one item not come out perfectly clean. I use an enzyme-based detergent and the rinse-aid. Settings that work for me are adaptive wash with the high-temp option.

I usually run the machine after dinner and then unload it the next morning. To save on electricity, I don't use the heated dry. I find that dishes come out completely dry, but plastic items are sometimes damp, especially if it's humid out. Usually the plastic is not damp enough to warrant a towel dry except for a few pieces that I have with a recessed base - enough water collects in the indentation to warrant a quick pass with a towel before putting it back into the shelf.

I've tried the sanitizing rinse and that does help dry items a little bit better. I tend to use that only when I have really greasy dishes and want an extra high temp rinse to ensure all grease is gone.

Zero mechanical problems so far. Hope this keeps up!

>>>>Update March 2012:  Working as good as the day I bought it. Very pleased!


I bought this dishwasher 2 or 3 years ago. I wanted to give it a zero rating, but this is not possible. I suppose it can get a one star rating, it still beats hand washing, most times. We bought this dishwasher brand new from a chain store that sells "all the brands". We had traditionally bought our appliances from a local appliance dealer. This dishwasher was to replace the 10 year old Maytag that had endured the abuse of my children. They had abused the Maytag until it's final cry for mercy. During the six months of having them wash the dishes by hand I had done research on what would be the best, rugged, teen proof, bring it!, dishwasher I could find. This was a relatively new model and the reviews on it at the time were great. There seemed to be a lot of room to place a large family amount of dishes in. It was supposed to clean even the toughest (plate missing for six months found under child's bed would make a good science project)dishes. I loved the idea that the upper rack had a height adjustment. I have a huge stock pot that wouldn't fit in the previous dishwasher. It fit in this one. I loved the idea that you could put a pot in the middle of the bottom rack and not worry about the upper rack's dishes getting clean. It was a great dishwasher on paper and in the showroom. My husband and I spent more money on this dishwasher than we had expected but we figured it should last and that over the years the cost would depreciate. Boy, were we wrong. It does not do a great job of washing the dishes. You cannot utilize every prong set so that all the plates can get washed at once. You have to use every other prong set. Sometimes the top rack comes out with food particles that were on the dishes in the bottom rack. The only cycle that does a decent job is the power wash cycle and even this cycle doesn't do the job I spent $1000 to do. I rinse most of my dishes before placing them in the dishwasher, except for things like coffee cups. So, I know it isn't me. Within the first six months the fan on the door went. Luckily, it was still under warrantee. It was very quiet machine, until lately. For the past couple of months, at the end of the cycle, before the cute chime melody, there's a 30 second loud, grinding sound. If I don't hear it at the end of the cycle, I will hear it at the beginning of the next cycle. Today, the dishwasher didn't drain. There is no "drain" button. After cleaning up the flood in my kitchen, I Googled and found out how to drain the dishwasher. It's in the FAQ on the LG site. I drained the dishwasher. After this review, today's quest will be to find the receipt and warrantee info.
The lessons I learned from buying this dishwasher: Cost doesn't always equate to quality. Buy your appliances from a local, reputable dealer. They know their products and won't try to sell you the most expensive product unless that's what you're looking for. The $10-20 more it would cost is well worth it in service and repair. especially service. Don't buy new models with very little reviews. Read the reviews, Start with the negatives. Disregard the one star "I wanted pink and it only came in white" reviews. Pay attention to the reviews that tell you not to waste your money.
I know this is long. Thank you for your patience in reading this  :)


This works very well, the deluxe is IMO the only way to go. If you're a DIYer and can understand how to do something just by looking at it, you'll be fine. The directions however are lacking in several important ways. For example it says to trace the front plate openings for where to cut the barrel: DON'T. You need remove the doors to trace the openings, AND add enough to the cutout area so that the flange of the front will cover the cut edges of the opening (for me it was about a half-inch more on the main opening and 3/8" for the cleanout opening). If you didn't, the flange that should stick into the stove over the cut edge will hold the entire  assembly proud of the barrel and you can't get a seal. It's obvious if you visualize it carefully and think about how the stove functions, but it's not in the directions at all. You also need to remove the screws and nuts that hold on the hooks that receive the latches, or they'll stick the face proud of the barrel while you're doing all this. You need to to remove them also (and drill a hole for the screws, another omitted step) for installation of the front, but nothing in the instructions. Instructions also say "the smooth end of the stovepipe fits *over* the stove pipe collar" (emphasis mine).  Anyone in the stove business will tell you that's hogwash, and luckily the pipe cannot fit over the collar anyway. You have to put the NOT smooth end (the male, rippled  end) INSIDE the collar, so that any condensation drips inside the chimney and not run outside. Vogelzang tech confirmed this. Also when mounting the flue collar, you need to remove the pin and the damper plate to access two of the mounting holes and for ease of tightening the nuts. Its easy, you just have to compress the tensioning spring against the handle and then rotate and withdraw the pin with an extra turn midway, but again nothing about this in the instructions. Like I said, if you're not skilled at DIY it would be a head-scratcher.

Additional notes for a 30-gallon barrel installation: the kit is curved to fit a 55-gallon drum, so a 30-gallon requires some mods to work. The front plate is fine but is mounted on the bottom of the barrel where there are no plugs. The flue collar (and, in my case, the stove plate doodad) absolutely require a gasket replacement kit to seal. I placed the base plates in place and drew the cutouts (again, with some consideration for what would actually work) and cut them out. Then I clamped them in place and drilled two screws to hold in place. Then drill the rest of the holes using the holes as guides, as they will shift about due to the curvature and if you just mark them through the holes, remove and drill it would be off. Put all the screws in place with the nuts barely threaded on to them to give maximum play. Now, *important*, saturate the gasket with the black cement/sealant and using the space those loose screws gives you, tuck the gasket into the space between the barrel body and the iron plate all the way around. THEN you can go around and using a ratcheting socket set and screwdriver, tighten opposing screws incrementally until a good seal is formed all around and the barrel forms as much as you can to the more-shallowly-curved fittings.

This done, you'll have a properly-installed kit that won't leak and will give you years of service.


(12 month update at the bottom)
I received this unit as a gift some time ago, and just finally got around to hooking it up last week.  Let's start with the good:

-It looks nice, particularly from a distance.  The Coca Cola logo is spot-on, and the window showcasing the cans inside adds a nice touch.
-It *does* work as a refrigerator.  "Ice cold" would be overstating it quite a lot, but it will chill whatever cans you put in there...eventually.
-It uses a fairly low amount of space, at least when compared to a traditional mini-fridge.

Hmmmm...short list.  Let's look at the bad, then:
-It's (very) cheaply made.  What looks nice from a distance is revealed to be cheap plastic when closely viewed, the buttons feel like they're going to break sooner rather than later, and ditto for the latch mechanism which holds the front door in place.
-It does "leak".  Thankfully I read the other reviews before hooking it up, and thus placed it on an old towel atop an end table.  Not the classiest look, but it's functional.  And I say "leak" because the fridge itself doesn't appear to leak, but rather the condensation from the cans inside tends to collect at the bottom...which is sloped forward a tad to facilitate easy removal of the cans, and thus produces a leak.
-While it's much smaller than a normal mini-fridge, it stores far less than you'd expect from something this size.  10 cans is your maximum when using it as a traditional vending machine, although you can sneak a couple more into the bottom area at the price of not being able to use those fragile buttons to send cans careening downward.  And speaking of careening cans...
-Any cans stored above the lowest shelf are going to need to sit for a bit before opening, unless you enjoy wearing your favorite canned beverage.  The drop is sudden and uncushioned, which carbonated drinks stored under pressure generally don't take very well to.
-The "door" at the bottom is fairly useless, and I've found it much easier just to open the front of the unit to remove cans, as well as to load new ones.  And lest you think this is a way to bypass the can drop, no...the cans fit pretty snugly inside each shelf, and are more trouble than it's worth to pull back out of them.
-The bottom- and top-most shelves take a bit longer to chill than the ones in the middle.
-Each shelf is perfectly proportioned to hold two 12oz cans...and absolutely nothing else.  Smaller cans will fit in but may or may not dispense properly, and anything larger is only going to work on the very bottom...where upper shelf items are ejected.

In short, this is an item which is going to look a ~lot~ cooler inside the box than it will once it's been opened.  For someone looking for a small refrigerator for a dorm room or man cave, just buy a small refrigerator.  For someone looking for Coca Cola memorabilia, spend the extra money on the genuine item (or a smaller item in this price range).  I'll give it the second star simply because it *is* a mini-fridge with Coke branding, but I cannot imagine a circumstance where this item would be the best choice available.

UPDATE:
Almost a year to the day after I began using it, the motor stopped working without warning.  On the positive side, the buttons and latches I was worried about *did* hold up even after twelve months of daily use, but that's hardly enough to make up for a "fridge" with barely any cooling potential to start with that burned out so rapidly.  Stay away.


Holy wonderful washing unit! I really cannot tell you how impressed I am, but I am sure going to try.

I've had the Wonderwash for about a week now and I've done laundry every other day. It's so quick and easy that I start it while waiting for my coffee to brew, let it drain while I make breakfast, do a rinse run while my eggs finish cooking, plate up my food while it drains, rinse one more time, and eat my meal while it drains the final time. It doesn't even need that final rinse, I'm just picky.

It is absolutely perfect for my scrubs. I can wash and hang a couple of uniforms every couple of days and never run out again. No more waiting for the laundry room in my apartment to have a free machine.

I've converted a closet into a make shift drying area with dollarstore plastic drop cloth, clothesline, and clothespins.

This machine has successfully washed scrubs, delicate, jeans, workout clothes, towels, sheets, and tonight I ran my tennis shoes through it! The absolute success of it, across the board, has me writing this review while it drains.

The machine is almost entirely plastic so it is super light weight. It snaps together easily for use. It uses very little water and detergent. Best of all, it really cleans.

When not in use, I wipe the drum dry and stash it in the same closet I use to hang clothes. This is a must have for travel nurses. No more hunting for open laundromats at 2am, or checking the facilities machines every hour hoping to get some laundry done.

I see this being great for camping too. I can't wait to take it on a trip. For now, it certainly sees enough use. Love love love this.

TIPS AND TRICKS (Because I can find a dozen reviews and very little advice)

Add water and soap before clothes.
Keep a hand towel nearby for inevitable dribbles.

If using hot water, pressure builds up (that's a feature, not a bug!) and sometimes the lid will start to leak. After a few turns, release the lid, lock it back down, and keep going. You may have to do this a couple times based upon how hot the water is.

This is where that hand towel comes in. Give the drum a quick wipe to reduce splatter.

Use a permanent marker to indicate the grooves on the drainage tube (see picture). This saves you the messy fumble of trying to line it up while water leaks everywhere.

Use less water to rinse than you did to wash. The clothes are already wet, and too much water causes the unit to wobble and thud loudly when it is turned. I have found that my rinse cycles take about half the water of my wash cycle.

Wash with hot and rinse with cold to save the "lid dribbles" when you don't need them!
I rinse twice. After my wash, I add a spoonful of fabric softener to the first rinse, and plain water to my second. My clothes smell fantastic.

If you are line or coat-hanger-drying indoors, set up a fan to decrease your drying time exponentially. Also, it makes the whole room smell like clean laundry which is awesome!

Worried you're not rinsing out all the soap? With dry hands, rub your washed clothes between your fingers and then rub your fingers together. If they feel slippery rather than just wet, rinse again. And stop using so much soap, jeez.

Hope that helps.


If this item weren't so cumbersome/awkward regarding the stand it would be PERFECT.

 A child could play ball with the tumbler -- its so light weight, I was very surprised. Light and  seemingly cheap plastic. The stand itself that the washer sets in is flimsy and is coming apart. NOT falling apart just comes undone. There are plugs to keep it together but my arthritic hands cannot  get them in. The one page instructions are not enough  on how to put the stand together. I'm in poor  health but am no weakling for sure. The washing directions are fine. I however, will use 1 tsp. liquid laundry detergent for my average load (rather than 1 T. as directed). My clothes just aren't that dirty. There are clips to lock the tumbler piece within the stand but again I am unable to attach them. Working the Wonderwash is incredibly eas yand washes my clothes well in only 90 seconds. FYI you have to prespot before washing your load. I've routinely done that for years anyway. I let them sit at least 30-40min. (or overnight) after prespotting before washing. I even washed my gardening gloves and they are very clean. Still dingy, as I expected anyway but look and smell clean. I posted  the  AFTER pic. on Facebook under Pam Vasquez (I'm from MN). I don't know how to get it from there (FB) to here. Finally figured itout. See pic. You will have to use your imagination on how dirty they were before I washed them.  IMHO WONDERWASH is best used set in a bathtub or in my back yard (I watched many how-to Vids on YouTube for hints and tips before purchasing WW))In the tub or yard o you have plenty of room to turn the handle. And room to drain. I just turn the washer upside down and dump b/c its easier and faster and I make less mess. The drainage tube attaches well and drains good but its faster to just dump the water out into the tub. I can even save the rinse water(s) into a bucket to use was wash water for my next load (Remember the old days and wringer washers where you could do the same.)  After the load is done,  I then put the clothes into a spinner type dryer (electric)) to spin/wring out excess water  and then hang to dry. I am sticking with Wonderwasher for now b/c I am THAT impressed with the gloves. I originally bought this washer b/c as a retired person on a limited income I wanted to save money on electricity and gas and detergent. Also save $$ not having to buy new clothes b/c the washer and dryer wore them out sooner than necessary.  Its also a great way to exercise and stay flexible. The WW does not make my arms or shoulders or back sore. NOTE: Turning handle to a count of "one mississippi-one is the righty tempo. Too fast is not good. Also remember, friction of clothes rubbing against each other is how this cleans in part, not the soap or spinning agitation. To end, I say nothing wrong with being "green" at age 64. ;) I would buy this again. Pricepoint could be lower b/c the cheap plastic is worth pennies at most. If I could I would wash my clothes by hand in a bucket with the plunger method but I'm not able to go back (in time) quite that far. But when TSHTF I will at least have clean clothes!


I live in a condo which has a laundry room, so a washing machine isn't an absolute necessity.  However, I was beginning to find it inconvenient to pack up my laundry and bring it over (and sometimes finding all the washers in use).  Laundry was beginning to back up.  So I began to think I could start washing at least clothes and lightweight items by hand, and watched a few videos featuring the Wonderwash plus spin dryers as an alternative.  The two items together seemed to create an elegant, energy-efficient system.  So I purchased both Wonderwash and the Nina Soft Spin Dryer (both by The Laundry Alternative) and I was actually excited about washing clothes by hand.
The good news is, I have found a lot of wash can be done quickly and easily by hand.  The biggest change to old-fashioned hand-washing is thanks to the Nina Soft Spin Dryer.  (More on this later.)  However, I cant say that the Wonderwash has performed as well.  In its favor, it does do everything as promised.  My complaints are:
(1) The suction cups at the base do a great job of holding the unit down, but do not prevent it from sliding sideways, especially when the surface gets wet (which is always).  And when you want to pick the unit up after use, the suction cups have to be released one at a time.
(2) I tried using to spigot to release the water.  This should just twist on the valve at the base, water being released when its twisted a quarter turn.  The times where this works, the water leaks  a lot -- at the point where the valve joins the spigot.  Sometimes I cant get the spigot on the valve at all.
(3) The other option for water release is to just tip the Wonderwash upside down and let the water out through the top.  This works well in some places.  But if you are using the Wonderwash in a tight space (a tight area near the kitchen sink, for example), you might have to turn the whole unit, so that the handle (which is probably positioned to your right for turning) must be turned to the front or back, so that you can tip the water into your sink.  Here again, the suction cups make simple turning into an awkward operation.
(4) The quality of the wash seemed fine, but I am not sure that it is any better than a wash in the sink.  I probably would wash really dirty clothes in a commercial washing machine, but even when I purchased this item, it was only meant to augment my regular washing routine.
(5) The last reason to consider before buying the Wonderwash is that if you think you can easily return this item if you are not satisfied, my current situation is that I am finding the cost of boxing up and mailing the Wonderwash will just about cover what I paid for it in the first place.
To sum up, I am finding the Wonderwash to be awkward, messy, and now taking up valuable storage space in my apartment.  I am sorry, I really wanted to like it.  If you are thinking about a manual laundry routine, I would encourage you to buy The Laundry Alternative Nina Soft Spin Dryer first and use it in combination with a simple sink or plastic basin for a washer.  The Dryer takes all the water-dripping mess out of hand washing.  After washing and rinsing, you just move your sopping wet laundry by bucket to the Soft Spin Dryer, and in a few minutes, you have a laundry load that is dryer than after the spin cycle of a regular washing machine.  Your clothes are then ready to be put on hangers or clothes rack for no-drip drying.


The answer is, yes! When shopping Amazon for an inexpensive washer to eliminate my trips to the laundromat, I found two that appealled to me. One was a motor driven machine and the other was the Wonderwash. I was attracted to the motor driven machine but after watching and comparing YouTube videos of the two machines, I didn't like the idea of needing to turn the machine upside down to empty it. Another thing was that the videos usually showed the machines being used in a bathtub. I'm 78 years old and have arthritis so a countertop machine that didn't make a mess was a number one priority. Wonderwash filled that criteria. The next questions were will the wash look clean, smell clean, and feel clean. My first use answered that question...Yes! Then I wondered if the suction cups would really hold the machine in place on the counter? They did! Careful measurements of the space available under the kitchen cabinets and adjacent to the sink indicated that I had just under 18". The machine is 18" tall. If I placed the machine at the rounded edge of the countertop, all would be well. As soon as the machine was delivered, I was anxious to try it. Where is the instruction manual? There wasn't one. This machine is so easy to assemble that one isn't needed (I seldon read them anyway). It went together quickly. I placed it on the countertop. My measurements were right on the mark! I was in business! One important thing was, will the machine wash a pair of heavy denim jeans and remove the stains. I took a pair, sprayed some dollar store stain remover on the spots and put them in the Wonderwash. A few minutes of cranking and drained the soapy water, filled with rinse water and cranked away. My next concerm was, did the rinse remove the detergent? I'd soon find out when I took the jeans out and put them in the sink to wring the excess water. No sign of detergent! This little machine's name is certainly appropriate! The stains were gone, the jeans looked clean. They smelled like clean laundry should and they felt clean! Now comes the important part: I live in a condo and have my own washer and dryer. The washer failed some time ago and I had been using a nearby laundromat for my wash. I live alone so my wash isn't like washing for a family. I was seeking a solution to the visits to the laundromat. Wonderwash was it! The problem was wringing the items. My solution was that I have a gas dryer that still functions so I didn't need to wring all the water. If I didn't have the dryer, I would certainly look into one of the machines that spins the excess water to supplement the Wonderwash. Otherwise, I suppose I'd need to hang the wet laundry somewhere while it dried. In three nights, I was able to do all my laundry and didn't need to leave my condo! Well worth the price! What I learned was: don't put a lot in the machine. With a 'full load' of clothing and the required amount of water, cranking can become an effort. I prefer a smaller load. One heavy pair of jeans, or one big bath towel, or one double bedsheet would be my limit. What did surprise me was that with so little effort, my wash is as clean as it would have been in a commercial machine. It smells much fresher, and it is really soft feeling. I'm really pleased with Wonderwash. If you are comparing various machines, I suggest that you watch some of the YouTube videos showing them in use. One last comment, when I was screwing the top for the first time, it was a bit difficult so I used a rubberized glove to make things a bit easier. The top must be screwed completely, otherwise water will leak.