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My Samsung washing machine is already on the list of things to replace. It came along with the place I'm at, and the previous owners apparently didn't know tha

My Samsung washing machine is already on the list of things to replace. It came along with the place I'm at, and the previous owners apparently didn't know that front loading machines need to be left open when not in use. Upon our initial load of the machine we discovered it to be filled with swathes of mold/fungus. Took a week of heavy, caustic cleaning to get it usable. Apparently it's a fairly common issue with frontloaders; only recently did manufacturers get around to including sanitizing features. Knowing that Samsung is selling machines that explode and catch fire ... I guess I'll bump our replacement up on the schedule. I do like the little ditty it plays when its done though. Reminds me of traveling through eastern Asia. Cute ditties seemed to be very common over there, from vending machines to garbage trucks. It's a small thing, but it has a way of brightening your surroundings the way an ice cream truck in America does.

dc_gregory 10y ago
Gosh, the finish tone on my one goes for a solid minute or more. After the initial load, I was considering unsoldering the speaker until a search provided the secret key combination to turn the damn thing off.
- icanhackit 10y ago
  Still better than my old LG washer-dryer which would sound an alarm when it had finished, only the door would remain locked for the next minute or so afterwards. So you'd go to empty it, realise that it was still locked despite only being on a wash cycle, wander off to do something else and forget about it, then remember the next day that you had washing sitting in the machine. By this time it smells stale and you have to wash it again. So you set a timer slightly longer than the wash cycle to remind you to take out the washing. Success! Only then you load another pile of clothes and forget to set another timer. Fuuuuu... Purchased a Bosch washer-dryer after the LG decided it no longer wanted to pump water out of the machine, eventually flooding our hallway. The Bosch works nicely - you can open it when the alarm sounds! - but you have to reset the cycle toggle for every new load (basically set it to off then on again) otherwise it just beeps at you and won't start the cycle. If we can buy $50 touch-screen smart phones with a fully fledged OS in the supermarket, why can't we bolt similar devices to dumb microwaves, washers etc to make them smarter? I mean, why do I have to dig out a manual to figure out what the fuck error D7 means?
  - AstralStorm 10y ago
    Price. Those things are expensive and prone to fail when exposed to prolonged humidity. A longer LED display with scrolling text would be good enough. The cycle wheel alarm reset is an interlock so you cannot accidentally launch the program again by opening and closing the door.
vmarsy 10y ago
Front loading machines aren't supposed to be left open, are they? I've used decades one always closed, never had mold/fungus. Could it depend on the water quality? Those were Whirlpool though, not Samsung.
- fpgaminer 10y ago
  Based on my research, prompted by finding the machine filled with mold/fungus, yes. It's a container filled with moisture, locked behind a water tight seal, with layers of soap; more or less the perfect conditions for mold. It's a prevalent enough problem that there were rumblings of a class action; though it's America, so take that with a grain of salt. I'm not sure if there's another variable that would lead to different experiences. Like you say perhaps it's dependent on water. Water in my area is very hard. Perhaps it depends on soap. Some detergents contain borax which is particularly good at killing mold in this situation. Maybe some machines are better at draining and/or airing out when not in-use. Frequent use of bleach may help. The previous owners of the machines were not ... the best of tenants. Perhaps they did something else to compound the issue. Excessive soap is an additional culprit.
  - McKayDavis 10y ago
    > there were rumblings of a class action; Not just rumblings. A recent settlement was reached and consumers who own various models of Whirlpool, Kenmore, or Maytag front-loading washing machines are entitled to numerous clams including a 5% discount on a new purchase, a $50 rebate, or a $500 reimbursement for previous repairs. [1] [1] http://www.washersettlement.com http://www.washersettlement.com
- Stratoscope 10y ago
  My LG front loader has a special feature just for this purpose. The door has two "closed" positions: fully closed and sealed for washing, or if you just close it gently there's a magnet on the door that holds it slightly ajar. This way the door is not fully open and in the way but is open just enough to let it air out.

dc_gregory 10y ago

Gosh, the finish tone on my one goes for a solid minute or more. After the initial load, I was considering unsoldering the speaker until a search provided the secret key combination to turn the damn thing off.

icanhackit 10y ago
Still better than my old LG washer-dryer which would sound an alarm when it had finished, only the door would remain locked for the next minute or so afterwards. So you'd go to empty it, realise that it was still locked despite only being on a wash cycle, wander off to do something else and forget about it, then remember the next day that you had washing sitting in the machine. By this time it smells stale and you have to wash it again. So you set a timer slightly longer than the wash cycle to remind you to take out the washing. Success! Only then you load another pile of clothes and forget to set another timer. Fuuuuu... Purchased a Bosch washer-dryer after the LG decided it no longer wanted to pump water out of the machine, eventually flooding our hallway. The Bosch works nicely - you can open it when the alarm sounds! - but you have to reset the cycle toggle for every new load (basically set it to off then on again) otherwise it just beeps at you and won't start the cycle. If we can buy $50 touch-screen smart phones with a fully fledged OS in the supermarket, why can't we bolt similar devices to dumb microwaves, washers etc to make them smarter? I mean, why do I have to dig out a manual to figure out what the fuck error D7 means?
- AstralStorm 10y ago
  Price. Those things are expensive and prone to fail when exposed to prolonged humidity. A longer LED display with scrolling text would be good enough. The cycle wheel alarm reset is an interlock so you cannot accidentally launch the program again by opening and closing the door.

vmarsy 10y ago

Front loading machines aren't supposed to be left open, are they? I've used decades one always closed, never had mold/fungus. Could it depend on the water quality? Those were Whirlpool though, not Samsung.

fpgaminer 10y ago
Based on my research, prompted by finding the machine filled with mold/fungus, yes. It's a container filled with moisture, locked behind a water tight seal, with layers of soap; more or less the perfect conditions for mold. It's a prevalent enough problem that there were rumblings of a class action; though it's America, so take that with a grain of salt. I'm not sure if there's another variable that would lead to different experiences. Like you say perhaps it's dependent on water. Water in my area is very hard. Perhaps it depends on soap. Some detergents contain borax which is particularly good at killing mold in this situation. Maybe some machines are better at draining and/or airing out when not in-use. Frequent use of bleach may help. The previous owners of the machines were not ... the best of tenants. Perhaps they did something else to compound the issue. Excessive soap is an additional culprit.
- McKayDavis 10y ago
  > there were rumblings of a class action; Not just rumblings. A recent settlement was reached and consumers who own various models of Whirlpool, Kenmore, or Maytag front-loading washing machines are entitled to numerous clams including a 5% discount on a new purchase, a $50 rebate, or a $500 reimbursement for previous repairs. [1] [1] http://www.washersettlement.com http://www.washersettlement.com
Stratoscope 10y ago
My LG front loader has a special feature just for this purpose. The door has two "closed" positions: fully closed and sealed for washing, or if you just close it gently there's a magnet on the door that holds it slightly ajar. This way the door is not fully open and in the way but is open just enough to let it air out.