What a HEAP of TRASH! REPAIR NIGHTMARES!
Written: Jan 11 '03 (Updated Dec 07 '03)
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Pros: Uses less water which is better for the environment and costs less to use.
Cons: It's been serviced TOO MANY times! See update at the bottom of the review
The Bottom Line: I expected more--promises of the laundry coming out cleaner than ever just wasn't true. TOO MANY repair visits already under its belt and it's still not fixed.
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| briandalsmom's Full Review: Kenmore 22062 / 22064 / 22066 Top Load Washer |
We use a lot of towels at our house. 6-8 bath towels a day isn’t anything unusual. Add to that the kids’ blue jeans, blankets, and whatever the dog threw up on, and you’ll see we do a lot of laundry. About a year ago, our 14-year old washer stopped working. Looking for a new washer to fit our lifestyle led us to the Kenmore Calypso. The biggest selling point? It claimed it could handle 20 bath towels at a time! Can it? NOPE! The most I've been able to get in is 12 and they're old and thin--in addition, they needed extra drying time!
The sell was easy. We purchased it at Sears and were enticed by the following information:
• Gentle, Thorough Cleaning: Using cascading water & detergent which would lift out stains and rinse clothes with 100% filtered water. Our old washer was rough on clothes--taking apart twisted clothes which had become tangled in the wash was becoming an everyday event.
• Energy Star® qualified: This got us a small rebate with our utility company. The brochure claims that a normal machine uses 41 gallons, this one uses 22 (which means it uses 50-66% less water than regular washers). Kenmore claims the machine will pay for itself in 10 years in the water savings alone.
• King-size capacity of 3.5 cu.ft. – Remember those 20 towels!
• Fabric Care Options: From delicate to whites, there were plenty to choose from.
What’s This Calypso Thing All About?
What makes this washer different is that clothes are not immersed into a water bath; instead, the agitator was replaced with a patented Calypso™ plate (this is a sloped metal plate that fits inside the tub—reminds me of a snow saucer turned upside down with a 5” mini agitator in the center which looks like a lemon juicer) that bounces and lifts the load while forcing the soapy water through the clothes. Without the agitator, there’s more room in the basket—thus accommodating larger objects or loads.
Detergent is placed in a special spot outside of the basket. Throughout the wash cycle, small amounts of detergent and water is repeatedly showered onto the clothes—the water is repeatedly recycled with the filter trapping out dirt—it’s likened to your clothes taking a shower instead of a bath.
You never set the water level as in regular machines—the machine adjusts automatically. Soap isn’t diluted by massive amounts of water so is supposed to work better.
They also claim that the Ultra Hand Washing Cycle can be safely used on any garment labeled Hand Wash Only. You don’t need to balance the load – no more off balance washer dancing around the room.
HOW’S IT DOING?
I’d rate it a 3 out of 5 (I've rethought this rating--see the update below). Perhaps it’s my fault—without an agitator, I haven’t a clue how much it can handle. I miss the old “fill line” and seem to be washing tiny loads. In addition, we use liquid detergent instead of powdered, but we still end up with white detergent lines on dark clothes. The only way to avoid this is to set it for a second rinse cycle which seems a waste, but even with a second rinse, they sometimes are still spotted. I also notice that all of my clothes have a strong detergent smell and suspect those white lines I see on all the dark clothes are on the lights and prints as well but we can't see them we can only smell them. I have tried using less detergent and the lower suds kind, but so far, they're still coming out with cleaner on them.
Clothes are still tangled, maybe not as bad, but in order to dry in a reasonable time they must be separated and shaken out before putting them in the dryer. In addition, it says that it cannot go off balance, but ours did. Granted, just a few times, but it did. The old one was off balance quite often. I used the Ultra Hand Washing Cycle for undergarments with underwires—sadly this wasn’t an improvement over the older washer with an agitator. It pushed the underwire through the fabric ruining the garment.
I rarely use any of the many settings—I resort to the normal, warm water, warm rinse cycle. I’ve tried them all and they don’t seem to make a difference in the outcome.
Our last Kenmore lasted 14 years (of hard use) and this one's made been nothing but a pain with no end in sight.
RECOMMENDATION
I really cannot recommend this machine. Having to add extra rinses to get out all of the soap and having to wash on warm when cold should have been adequate were bad enough, but it is already broken--see below. By the way, the 20 towels that was so prominently promoted was actually 10 bath towels and 10 hand towels so TECHNICALLY they weren't lying, but really, didn't we all think they were talking about 20 full-size towels!
We purchased the matching dryer—that I LOVE! Here's the review: http://www.epinions.com/content_87528607364 I just wish the washer were as good.
UPDATE 05/16/03
Well, it is broken. Amazing. Somehow the machine has sucked clothes down the outside of the washing tub into the innards of the machine and the repairperson cannot come until Monday--today is Friday. To top it all off it's a pair of my underwear and a sock stuck in there. The seal around the inside of the tub that was supposed to prevent this has been sucked in as well. Thank goodness, we bought the extended warranty--we haven't had it even 6 months.
UPDATE 5/20/03 Thank goodness we bought an extended warranty! We have had the plate replaced (it's a unit--something goes wrong and the whole thing has to be replaced--in our case it was the seal) and the push pads replaced--together it would have cost us over $300. The extended warranty was a godsend. Sadly, $300 later it's still not fixed. The repairperson will be coming out again this week. Add to the cost the broken toilet lid the repairperson kneeled on and you'll see that another visit or two and we'll be up to our original purchase price! Steer clear--this is the same Whirlpool machine--Calypso's suck!
UPDATE 07/04/03 Still not working--getting the dreaded error message CA repeatedly. We've been tracking every wash load--what we put in, the settings, etc., to try to determine what's causing it because the Sears repairperson has no idea. There is absolutely no pattern--we've washed tiny loads, medium loads, and heavy loads. Some work (about 1/3 of the time) the rest we have to shift the contents and restart the wash repeatedly. Right this minute I have three pair of adult jeans and one pair of adult khakis--I've had the CA error 5 times and it is still not finished. This is the most frustrating machine I've ever owned and even though repair has been here 3 times they can't fix it. I am downgrading this machine because you simply cannot put in a load and walk away; you have to listen for the beep that tells you it stopped again. Unbelievable for a machine so expensive.
UPDATE 9/12/03
One more visit from the repairman and we get a new machine. I don't know if that's a good thing as I'm finding information all over the web that the new units are reconditioned--I paid for a NEW washer, not a reconditioned unit. I'm so frustrated by this machine. The few times that I tried to run it without actually babysitting it I've come back to water and suds all over the floor. This was the biggest mistake--DO NOT BUY A CALYPSO WASHER unless you're lonely and like a repair man in your home every week. I'm tired of missing work to take care of this--am I frustrated? YES!
UPDATE 12/03/03
YEP, STILL having to have the repairman out at least once a month. It's always something "new" so he says so they haven't replaced it yet. It is so frustrating not to be able to use something I paid so much money for. DO NOT buy this machine--Calypso's are JUNK!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 900.00
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briandalsmom
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