Manufacturers look to settle the issue of vibrating washers

The Beach Boys famously sang about good vibrations, but when it comes to washing machines, there's nothing good about vibrations. Not only do washers that vibrate too much make a racket but they can also cause structural damage in your home. Sound unlikely? Check out the discussion about washing machines and vibration in our laundry appliances forum.

Vibration is a bigger issue with front-loaders than it is with top-loaders, since front-loading machines spin more rapidly than top-loading models. Also, their drums rotate on a horizontal axis, meaning vibrating energy is transferred perpendicular to the floor (up and down); with a top-loader, the drum spins on a vertical axis, so the vibrations are moving along the plane of the floor contained within the washer.

Information on vibration appears in the troubleshooting guides from most manufacturer. Their standard advice is to check that the washer's leveling feet are in firm contact with the floor and to ensure proper load size and distribution. (One way to do this is to add a few towels to balance the load.)

Minimizing vibration has become a selling point for manufacturers. Samsung touts its patented Vibration Reduction Technology, Whirlpool plays up a six-point suspension system, and at this year's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference, LG featured the WM3001HWA Ultra-Capacity SteamWasher front-loader running through a full cycle while perched atop four wineglasses (shown).

Our engineers have developed a way to test vibration. It involves placing each washer on a simulated floor hooked up to a triaxial accelerometer. This sophisticated sensor measures three properties of vibration—acceleration, amplitude, and velocity—as the washer cycles through two eight-pound loads.

While every top-loader scored an excellent for vibration in our last test, results varied widely for front-loaders. Several models, including the Samsung WF448AA and the Whirlpool Duet Steam WFW9600T, scored a very good, making them suitable for laundry rooms in main living areas, in particular second floors. But others, like the Maytag 5000 Series, earned only a fair, so they should be installed on a concrete slab, say in the basement or garage. Check out the vibration scores in our ratings of washing machines (available to subscribers).

An after market for antivibration products has sprung up. One of the latest is VibeAway, an antivibration pad made from recycled-tire rubber ($24.50 for a set of four). Recesses in the top of the pads keep the washer's feet from slipping, claims manufacturer B Green Innovations, Inc. (Watch a video of a vibrating washer on the VibeAway Web site.) Good Vibrations and Shake Away Vibration Isolation Pads promise similar results.

We haven't tested any antivibration pads, but some posters to our appliances forums have given them positive reviews.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Read our latest report on washers and dryers (available to subscribers).

Comments

[Jay]

I've tried all three mentioned in this blog to resolve a Maytag top loading vibration issue and the only one that keeps my machine from walking is the vibeaway. Unfortunately, it was the last one I purchased. As for the other 2, the machine walked off of the shakeaway pads and the good vibration ones stayed under the legs but moved with the machine vibration. They have adhesive pads available at an extra cost, but I didn't order them. It's a cheap fix for an annoying problem. I would go to the machine when it's done washing and find it turned clockwise against the dryer.

[Marc]

Autoparts catalogs sell self-balancing tire gadgets. Perhaps they would work on washing machines.

[Bob]

Why not just purchase a conventional top load washer of traditional design that DOESN'T walk off, and send a message to the manufacturers and the government what they can do with their poorly-designed Energy Star mandated washing machines?

[Helen]

Thanks Jay, for your advice. We have both a front loader and a top loader which vibrate. And yes, I have found my top loading washer rotated within the drain pan underneath my washer. The front loader doesn't rotate only because its too heavy, but it vibrates a lot and makes a lot of noise. I will try the VibeAway.

[Ute Miethe]

We have a walkabout Kenmore front loader washing machine, model 417 48102701, that would also struggle with unbalanced loads, despite being set up properly on concrete floor and operated correctly (right detergent, no overload, etc.).

At first we thought the machine was not leveled properly when delivered, but that was not the case. It got so bad a few days ago that the machine stopped, the door popped open in mid operation and one of the door prongs broke off, wet, soaking laundry inside!!This machine is only about ONE year old!!

Upon doing some research over the weekend I found that this has apparently been an ongoing problem with this type of machine for at least the last 7 -8 years or so and seems to involve a very, very poorly designed spider bracket and bearing assembly (see here: http://www.appliancejournal.com/appliance-repair-help/washer-repair/why-kenmore-front-load-washers-fail-271/ ) There should be a class action lawsuit going on in this case. Sears better replaces this unit with a more reliable model. Now I am glad that it has not been paid off yet and I do not intend to until I get a satisfactory replacement.

I grew up with front loaders in Germany - this is total substandard performance. The machines my mom had in later years never had any of those problems.

[t00nz]

All front loaders will vibrate. But these vibrations can also be dampened by very simple DIY fixes. Here's one example on YouTube (copy and paste the url into your browser):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y91onCb7nSc

[t00nz]

OK, have started a simple blog page to illustrate the simple DIY fix talked about above. Don't be fooled by its simplicity, it is very effective:

http://washervibrationfix.blogspot.com/

[BF]

Using swimming noodles as recommended in the post above isn't going to do a thing. The comparative utube are not a a serious proof since the person is not inserting the noodles on the same load. Also peopel on gardenweb's forums as well as automatic washing machine forums (the two big forums on washing machines tired it and found zero effect).

here is what you want if you are concerned with vibration:

1) buy your machine from a vendor which will allow you to return for a full refund it after a few uses. A number of vendors including some large discount box chain stores will do this.

2) if you not on concrete slab, in order to even have a prayer that you wont get ba vibration, make sure you are on joists where they go into the outer wall beams. Your floor surfacing, ceramic tile, vinyl or wood is meaningless, as are rubber dampaning schemes, you need to be right up against or over a load bearing wall.

3) avoid the machines known to vibrate (as per CR)

The vibration is a serious problem. it causes two type so damage.
a) it will age your washing machine faster, make breakdowns more likely.
b) it will slowly crack your walls and will slowly loosen structural elements (which in turn will make vibration and more damaging!

I work with a residential real estate management company and have seen a HUGE amount of costly problems from frontloaders that are not on concrete slabs

[Tom Hersey]

I've tried both the VibeAway and Good Vibrations Pads but both were rather ugly and didn't really seem to make a big difference once installed. The product I finally found that worked the best was Silent Feet from a company called The Vibration Solution. Their pads were small enough that they hid under my LG washer. Despite their small size they are are very good at absorbing the vibration from the washing machine. They are built pretty well with a hard cupped top so I'm not worried about the washer falling off of them. If anyone is like me and has their washer on a joist floor, you need pads like these. The sales man at Home Depot showed me the fine print in the LG manual that says you MUST install pads under your front loading washer if you install it on anything other than a concrete floor. FYI, hope this helps.