leftoverpasta's Full Review: LG WM3431 Front Load All-in-One Washer / Dryer
My husband and I bought our condo about a year ago and the only thing that we didn't like about it was the communal laundry room on the ground floor. With only one washer and dryer to share between three units, washing and drying clothes quickly (inevitably the neighbors always wanted to do laundry at the same time) in the middle of a Midwestern winter became quite a chore.
We didn't have the kinds of hookups or space in our unit that we needed for a regular washer and dryer. This was the best solution for our space. We removed one of the kitchen cupboards and installed it under the countertop, running the hoses through another cabinet to the sink cabinet. It took quite a lot of plumbing work but my Dad knows plumbing, so it turned out to be relatively painless. The entire installation took about four hours because of plumbing, drilling holes through cabinets, and reinforcing the countertop since it could not rest on the washer/dryer (if installing it this way, you want to make sure it is one inch away from anything on all sides).
The machine itself has proven to be great for us. I did a lot of research before buying this and so I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew that I could only dry half as much as I could wash, and I also knew that I would not be able to do the usual big laundry day thing. Anyone who buys this unit really has to change the way they think about and do their laundry.
This is *NOT* a good machine for a big family (I would say four is the max you can do laundry for). This is also *NOT* the machine for people who *make* a lot of laundry--i.e. people who wash towels and jeans after one use, people who wash their king-sized sheets every day. It is, however, a great machine for people like me who hate--and often forget to--transfer clothes from washer to dryer.
With that said, I usually can do a load or even two a day, depending on whether or not I'm home. I keep the loads half-sized and I almost never have a problem with drying. Occasionally my jeans will come out damp and more wrinkled than I like, but I think I just need to make the loads smaller. I have no problem washing and drying towels in this unit, and I also have no problem drying a set of queen-sized sheets. I also washed and dried a king-sized quilt, although that took quite some time.
The clothes do come out feeling kind of damp, but they quickly lose that and are ready to fold. Also, in the beginning, my clothes had a rubbery smell from the seal around the door, but that has gone away now.
The one biggest concern for us when we bought the unit was the vibration. Because this machine spins at twice the normal speed of a regular washing machine, it can create quite a ruckus, especially if it's on a wooden floor and in an older building. In fact, our downstairs neighbors said that it sounded like a plane taking off overhead. So we purchased the rubber cups that the manufacturer recommended for wooden floors, but they only kept the unit from dancing around, they did not reduce the vibration.
I looked around and found some thick rubber pads made especially for front-loading washer/dryers and they significantly reduced the vibration. (I found them on Ebay and they're made by Kellet Enterprises, I think). I would recommend getting these over the silly cups that the manufacturer offers.
My neighbors are noise-sensitive (I'm not sure why they decided to live in a condo), however, and would still complain if given the chance, but we only run the unit during the day and the noise is isolated to their kitchen, so I'm not too worried about it. Furthermore, the noisiest part of the cycle is the final spin, and it is only truly noisy when it is revving up. Once it gets going, it's actually not that bad. It lasts for 10 minutes and, I think, is much less noisy than a traditional top-loading washing machine overall. I can only just barely hear it in other parts of my condo.
I highly recommend this unit for people who cannot install a traditional washer/dryer and for those who are capable of rethinking the way they do laundry. Big laundry days are out; but if you remember to do a load a day, you'll never have laundry piling up.
Update, February 2007
I'm sorry to report that the LG washer/dryer combo has already broken down and the unit is just under a year old. Nothing, not even a single item of clothing, will dry. The dryer starts up and says that it will take 1.5 hours to dry the clothes, but within 10 minutes of operation it says the clothes will be dry in 5 minutes and then basically turns off. The clothes are obviously still quite damp. Also, there's a reallllly funky smell coming from the machine, like fabric softener gone off. Long before the technician showed up, I figured there was a problem with drainage. I cleaned the filter and did all the things that one has to do before calling the technician, and still no luck.
The unit is still under warranty with LG, so I called them up and they sent out a technician within a couple of days. The man was very nice, but he was a little didactic about his repair (I don't need a lecture about lint, thanks), and in the end he didn't even fix the machine. He opened the top of the unit, cleaned the lint out of the fan and off the sensors. (This is something you can do yourself if you are the least bit handy and can operate a screwdriver; you might even want to do this before you call the technician so the person actually has to address the real problem).
He did NOT test to see if the problem was resolved (he just assumed it was fixed), and I didn't think--and this was my fault--to push for this. So as soon as he went away, I attempted to do a load of laundry, and low and behold we had the same problem. The machine still would not stay on and the dryer did not get hot at all.
So I called LG back the next day, and they scheduled another appointment for the technician to come out. On the day of the appointment, I got a call from the technician saying that he wasn't going to come out because he needed to order the parts---he figures it's the drain pump and something else--and there's no point in coming out to check the machine when he didn't have the parts to fix it.
Over TWO WEEKS LATER I am still waiting. Officially, I've been without a properly functioning dryer for about a month. Given that it's February and I live on the third floor, I'm not exactly happy about carting my laundry out of doors after I paid $1400 for the luxury of having an in-unit washer/dryer.
The people at the LG call center have been very nice and apologetic about things, which I do appreciate, but they are extraordinarily ineffective when it comes to actually getting something fixed. I called on Friday (three days ago) to inquire about the status of the parts--had they been even ordered, I wondered? How long would they take? This was something that the technician could not (or would not) tell me. I spoke to a young lady who was trying to get that information. Her supervisor got on the phone and informed me that the technician was scheduled to come to my house that day. I had no idea this was the case. The supervisor said that he would check on the status of things and call me back.
He never did call back. Instead, that afternoon I got a call back from the technician informing me that he had, as he had told me before, ordered the parts and that because of the weather they were taking a little longer to get to him and that he would "let me know" when they were in. I'm sorry, but the weather is not an acceptable excuse for a two week delay--this is the US, we have lots of bad weather, and delivery companies of all kinds are capable of dealing with it quite well. Further, "letting me know" when my washer/dryer would be fixed is also not acceptable.
Frankly, I was quite aggravated that I got a call from the technician rather than the supervisor. The reason I called the 800 number to begin with was because I had found the technician's answer to be unsatisfactory. Instead, I got the exact same information from the exact same person. So helpful.
So I called again today to find out what the heck was going on, and spoke to yet another customer service representative. The man was, as always, very nice, but he could tell me nothing. He put me on hold while he tried to track down the technician so he could get an order number for the mythical parts. Without that, he could not look up the part order to check the status of the delivery. Unfortunately, because today is a a public holiday, the CS rep could not reach the technician. I get to call back tomorrow and speak to yet another person who will probably do the same exact thing as everyone else has done: call the technician, get the run-around, and have the technician call me back so that he can tell me to wait indefinitely for my machine to be fixed.
The fact is that I could have probably ordered the parts, found a manual for repair, and learned how to fix it myself at a speed faster than what LG seems capable of.
Sadly, I think this is par-for-the course with LG electronics. I had hoped my experience would be different from other reviewers, but alas I too am stuck with an inoperable machine and a lot of crappy service. I have an extended four year warranty with Repairmaster, and I can only hope that this will be better, but honestly, my expectations are pretty low at this point.
To sum up: the bottom line is that the machine, when it works, is fabulous and convenient. When it breaks down, be prepared to deal with HUGE delays getting it repaired and a customer service department that doesn't seem capable of actually getting anything done. You might want to learn washer/dryer combo repair so you can fix it yourself. You'd probably have it working sooner.
Update March 2007
After hassling them for three weeks, LG finally caved and is sending me a new machine. The parts that were supposedly ordered never showed up, so I was authorized to receive a replacement.
Throughout this experience, I have had to constantly call and nag LG about the problem. Even though I was told that I would hear from a return authorization agent once I faxed in my receipt, I never did get a call and had to phone her myself. When I spoke to her, it sounded like she had never heard or seen my claim before. This was a week after I sent the fax.
Despite the replacement, I will never buy another LG product again. At no time in this process have I been convinced that things would actually get resolved. The replacement is supposed to be delivered today, and honestly I'm still convinced something will go wrong.
Kudos to LG for inspiring such low confidence.
Update: August 2007
Did get a new machine from LG. 5 months later it's having drying problems. I've been religiously cleaning the thing after every wash (draining the water out, cleaning the tub). I stopped using fabric softener and use about a teaspoon of detergent for each load. But the smell is back and the clothes aren't drying. Going to have to call for service again and dreading it.
Update: One day later
I was determined not to go through the hassle of getting a repairman in if I didn't have to, so my husband and I decided to have a look inside ourselves. After the last time, we figured that we understood our machine better and could figure it out ourselves. And, if not, then we'd call the repairman.
We got the service manual from compactappliance.com and my husband, who has some experience with this, took the machine apart. What we discovered was astounding.
First, this appliance does not have a proper lint trap like a conventional, vented dryer (but we knew that). Whatever hair/fibers/scraps of paper/tissue you put into the machine is going to end up in your condensor tube/duct. This component is part of the drying system. You can see the top of it by removing the top cover. It is a white, plastic duct that can be seen more closely by removing the back panel.
In any case, that's where we found enough lint to clog up the works and produce a foul stench. Most of the wet, stinky mass was sitting at the bottom of the duct, blocking the air from getting into the tub and interfering with the drying process. After unscrewing the duct from the machine, we were able to remove all the lint (we used a good ol' wire coat hanger to dislodge some of it). All told, the clump of lint was baseball sized and sopping wet.
Unbelievably, the dryer works again! Clothes are nice and toasty as they should be, and the drying cycle was shorter than I've seen it in a long time.
If you decide to fix it yourself, be very, very careful. There are sensors and hoses that sometimes cannot be removed or can but must be handled with care. I do not advocate trying this if you are worried that you will break it and cannot afford to have it repaired/replaced. If you are worried about voiding the warranty, definitely do not try this.
But if you've got a foul odor in your tub and on your clothes, things aren't drying properly, and you suspect that lint is an issue, this is your main suspect. If you call in for repairs, make sure you tell this to the repairman, otherwise he will blame it on sensors and/or the drain pump. The only time to suspect the drain pump of anything is when you're tub isn't draining properly (i.e. it has water in it).
Btw, in my quest to fix the thing myself, I found that you can get parts at partstore.com. I've never ordered anything from them, but I'm guessing stuff comes a lot faster than it would from those nincompoops at LG.
(Finally, for those of you have found this review too long, I apologize. But in my quest to find info about this unit, I have only come across a hodge-podge of posts on the web as a guide. I am hoping this will help others who have had the same problems).
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