Customer Reviews

LG : WM2016CW 27 Front Load Washer

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Length:: 7:23 Mins

Heath L. Buckmaster presents a video review of the LG WM2016CW Washer. See an overview of the washer controls, then watch the machine in action from start to spin.

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UPDATE UPDATE --June 29, 2011.

The washing machine started having real issues a few months back. It started making grinding sounds. The Best Buy extened warranty plan replaced a broken part.

Now excessive water leaked and spilled through the floor on my two story house and seeped to my garage. It looks like the pump that extracts the dirty water failed.

With the help of the extended warranty plan I purchased from Best Buy I traded this piece of junk for a new HE LG top loader at no extra cost other than paying $149 for another 4 year extended maintenance plan.

This is one time I feel feel like a winner that I bought the extended warranty plan!!!

Lets see how that goes...!!!

BTW I never really got away from the stinky mildew smell...

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NOTE:
A warning to people migrating from a top loader to a *water saving* front loader like this LG - because they like the look of front loaders like I did initially.

Let me give you an analogy:
A traditional Top loader washes your clothes like in a bath. Lot's of water being used here.

A Front loader in contrast washes your clothes like in a shower with very little water. When you run your first load you even wonder if it's getting enough water to clean the clothes as it barely gets soaked looking at the wash cycle through the window!

Problem:
With heavily soiled and stinky clothes like the polyester dri-fit fabric, the clothes do not smell good after coming out washer nor after the dryer even after putting on the fabric softener.

Solution:
Press the extra "rinse" button that gives you another rinse cycle, how much less water you save is anybodys guess.

Problem 2:
You *cannot* use the regular laundry detergent. If you do, in about 2 to 3 weeks your clothes will start smelling of mildew. Just like when you put damp clothes in your clothes drawer before they fully dry.

Reason: water trapped with residue from suds generated by the regular laundry powder does not dry and bacteria forms on the tub and seals.

Solution:
Throw away your leftover detergent for your top loader and buy "HE" type laundry detergent. The HE detergent is designed to generate less suds. They are more expensive but what can you do?

Also wipe down with a dry cloth or paper towel, the rubber door seal innards and leave the door ajar so the internal tub can dry.

Conclusion:
If the sales people at B-Buy knew their stuff and genuinely cared for me they would have warned me about this and I would have stuck to a top loader. Honestly, there is more hassle that comes with owning a Front loader than with a conventional top loader.

Now each load takes 1.5 hours with the extra rinse option. So my family of 6 takes the whole day to do the laundry. It may well be that the H20 savings is nulled out by the extre money spent on electricity.

The only thing I can say that I like it's looks. It's modern and nice to look at in a my new house.

LG engineers... fix the stink problem!!! If you don't believe me do a Google on "odor musty stink Front loader" and see al the complaints.

Read [...].

Nov 1. 2009-
After over a year of ownership I still stand by my comments that a front loader is more hassle in maintaining than a top load washer.

When the smell started to return even after using HE detergent I started a throrough clean of the washer. There are 3 areas that have *gunk* build up and need to be cleaned by wiping.

1. Under the detergent dispenser.
Open the detergent drawer and press the middle blue depression to release the drawer from the unit. Look at the receiver and you will see detergent residue that has accumulated.

>>>Wipe the deposited soapy gunk out<<<

2. The bottom filter. Make sure you drain the water first then remove filter to reveal gunk and hair.

3. Finally -- Even though we all know to wipe down the door seal after each use there is also a *hidden* areas where gunk residue collects. Located the bottom rear most edge of the grey seal where there are 3 drain holes. If you peel the seal slightly back to expose the white metal chassis of the washer . You will see gunk collected between the seal and metal chassis. I had to wipe it off with rag with some difficulty. The gunk is mainly located on the bottom half.

I am very tempted to strip the unit down to do a thorough clean of the tub area...

Just replaced my Maytag Neptune Washer (purchased in 2000) with this LG WM2016 1 week ago. I also purchased the stand so that the door would be more at my height. I use the drawer stand to sort clothing (it's not intended for a huge amount of laundry but it helps with sorting). I find the drawer very useful and am very glad I purchased it. The clothes have come out clean and almost dry. That means less drying time. The only down side is that opening to the tub is smaller on the LG than on my maytag. Compared to another Kenmore washer, the LG opening was 3 inches bigger (which for me makes a big difference) especially when you need to wash comforters or bulky items. You might want to take a measuring tape when you go look at washers, that really helped me. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and would recommend it to others.

The LG is my first front loader. Comes with a vast array of options that are easy to use.

Upon starting the machine apparently measures the amount of laundry by measuring the torque required to spin both wet and dry. Adjust water accordingly. Control panel shows time remaining which is nice.

Another much appreciated feature is a completion tone that is adjustable from off to loud.

You need to read the manual if you want to use one of these machines and be satisfied

* Drain the sump per the manual

* Run the tub clean cycle on occasion per the manual (no soap but use bleach)

The machines do a great job of making dirty cloths clean with a minimal amount of water. They do take a while to run. They are also a lot easier on stuff than the upright machines.

The spin dry cycle also does a great job of getting the water out and as a result the dryer cycle takes less time.

One additional word . The water valves are fast acting . Therefore your plumbing may rattle or have hammering sounds . If so, buy some of the water hammer arrestors at Home Depot that attach to the faucet and dampen the pressure surge.

Highly recommended.

UPDATE: 12/14/2011

WOW!! It have been over three years and this thing still runs like a charm like the first day we installed it!! Very low maintenance, quite and does a fabulous job with cleaning the close. STILL with about 30 loads of laundry per week from clothes, sheets towels, comforters... you name it! Fabulous product!!!!
++++++++++++

First off, I have been a front-load washer owner for over 7 years. We owned the Maytag Neptune, which finally gave out via the drum bearing. I researched a variety of front load washers under $700. From Amana, Whirlpool, Kenmore, etc... This product beat them all on paper with the existing reviews and the warranty.

We've had this washer for two months now and with six people in the house and we do almost 20 - 25 loads of laundery per week. This machine has performed better than our Neptune, with the cleanliness, quietness (even at the highest spin cycle) and ease of use. We wipe down the door and rubber seal after each load and leave the door open to reduce the likelihood of a smell, as we did with our old Neptune. We've never had problems with mold or smells.

My wife loves this product, even with the fewer wash options than our old Neptune, there are so many other pluses. So far, we are very satisfied with our purchase. But with any front-load, there is some regular minor monthly maintenance that you have to perform to keep it in top condition.

We just had this machine delivered 9 days ago. We got an error message on day 4 and the drum was filled with water. When I called the customer service line here are the instructions that I received. First Look at the picture of the machine and you will see a little door on the bottom left corner. There is a drain in there with a small, short tube and a drain door. First I was instructed to get a tub and towels, pull the little tube out and let the water drain into a tub. The drain is so close to the ground that you have to stay there and hold the tube while it drains and that takes at least 30 minutes. When it has drained you then open the other drain thing and the rest of the water rushes out. It is so close to the ground that it is all but impossible to prevent water from getting on the floor and under the machine. Over time this will ruin our hardwood floors. Then you have to rerun the load that was ruined when you first got the error. The CS rep said that if you are doing @ 1 load a week (who does ONLY one load a week) that this process should be repeated once a month. More often if you do more loads. We have repeated this process twice in 5 days. It is a terrible system and unrealistic to think that anyone can preform this level of maintenance on a regular basis. DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT. We are trying to return this but HD says that since it has been used it is not in resalable condition. So we have to try to return it through LG. Keep in mind that we have had it for 9 days and we would not have purchased it if we knew that this was part of the deal.

Had to replace my older Kenmore front loader as the bearings failed, costing about the same to fix as a new washer. Price checked all over for something entry level back to a top loader which I wasn't crazy about, and I went to Home Depot they offered this 10% off, free delivery, a $180.00 tax credit, and $150.00 for gas and water rebates, so after all that the price is really quite competitive. Pros it uses only 5 gals of water, has a direct drive motor, no agitator allows for larger loads, entry level machine with consumer reports excellent rating comparable to a Bosch washer. Cons door seems a bit weak will see over time, doesn't spin out the items as well as my old Kenmore washer. So very excited about a new washer I seem to be very hard on washers so time will tell if its as reliable as I hope it will be.

Initially I really loved this washer. It uses hardly any water and is very efficient. However, after a couple months of use, I started getting a mold/mildew smell in the washer drum and in my clothes. The smell won't go away no matter what I do. I have tried using bleach, vinegar, Affresh (manufacturer suggested product), etc. and nothing helps.

I've also tried wiping down the door after each use and also leaving the washer door and detergent tray open to dry out. Nothing gets rid of the smell. I use hot water on most loads and don't use fabric softener (I don't like it). I leave the washer door completely open in spite of the eyesore it caused sticking out into our main hallway. I do not use a lot of the HE detergent either.

Apparently this mold/mildew issue is a common complaint among owners of front-loading washers and there are several class action lawsuits out there for various manufacturers because of this issue. I've also heard from family members that the smell is worse down South because of all the heat and humidity they get in the summer. I heard about a class action lawsuit for LG washers (and other manufacturers) and signed up. I'm sick of the smell.

It's a great washer--if you want to live with the mold and mildew smell in your house and in your clothes. A top of the line washer SHOULD NOT have a major problem like this. Buyer beware!

Bought the LG washer in May 08, so far no problem. Does a good job in cleaning. Like the large door openning (had a Sears Kenmore front loading which has a small door), the capacity (handles 10 pair of pants easily), and cloths don't get tangled.

There are a couple of things that I don't like. First is the noise. The noise is not from the driving motor (actually the motor is very quite when it spins), but from the water pump. I could not understand why the LG engineer could not make the water pump quiter. Consider the sump pump handles far more volume, but is much quiter than the water pump in this washer. Contacted LG custormer service, and they told me it is 'NORMAL'. I guess he must wearing hearing aid. I would not recommend this machine for 2nd floor. The second is the drain/clean requirement. You have to drain the water with a small tube near the bottom of the machine, before you remove the filter. Again, I consider this is a poor design, since you don't need to drain the water when you replacing the water filter on the refregirator.

We researched all over and know about the need for special detergent and to leave the door open to prevent musty smells. Have had it a month and done at least 5-6 loads per week. No problems. Very quiet - our TV room is 10 feet from unit, no problems watching the tube. Seems like a good one, but we are aware that others have had problems. However, our research showed that every manufacturer turns out lemons. LG and Samsung seemed to have fewer lemons. Bought at Best Buy with extended service contract.