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Tip Making your Whirlpool Washer WORK in your RV

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Neal

Staff member
RVF Administrator
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
11,477
Location
Midlothian, VA
RV Year
2017
RV Make
Newmar
RV Model
Ventana 4037
RV Length
40' 10"
Chassis
Freightliner XCR
Engine
Cummins 400 HP
TOW/TOAD
2017 Chevy Colorado
Fulltimer
No
I have the stackable whirlpool washer/dryer in my 2017 Newmar Ventana. These are known to be extremely finicky. Many including myself have had the door locks replaced (you can do this yourself) and they even replaced the top controller board when they did my door lock as I had problems with cycles ever starting. From time to time it stops behaving and I can't get laundry started. A few times I've had error codes most of which is to clean the filter (I have a shedding dog) and one other I did a breaker reset and that cleared that up. I've learned a few tricks over the 3 years now in making this work where 90% of the time it works fine. Knowing these tricks can help save you thousands as there really is no need to replace this unit. In my research for a replacement all of the small units seem to have reliability issues (not much known on the Splendide) but LG, Samsung, Whirlpool 2.3's all have bad reviews.

The first thing is of course the door being closed properly. It's plastic parts so don't go slamming it, that will buy you a new washer in the end. Just open and close the door firmly.

The next one that works for me is to actually open the door and spin the drum. There must be sensors on the drum for whatever reason, spinning it can shift the weight with the clothes inside and make it work again.

Today I couldn't not get anything to work to get the cycle to start. This time I actually grabbed the drum and pulled/pushed it and also spun it. That worked!

There are times, too often, the washer won't go into high speed spin. I think this is again a sensor that is detecting the load out of balance and if it's too far out of balance it won't go into high speed spin. I've had to completely re-run the wash cycle to get it to work, sometimes (usually) I can just run the rinse cycle option and it will work. Try opening the door and adjusting the clothes to avoid a lopsided load that may have some sensor prevent high speed spin.

My hunch is many people are ditching a perfectly good washer, at least for what is expected of this small capacity machine not overly used in the market compared to other residential units. Learn the workarounds and it will work fine for you.
 
Thanks, Neal. Almost sounds like more trouble than it is worth. I will save these tips.
 
I have the stackable whirlpool washer/dryer in my 2017 Newmar Ventana. These are known to be extremely finicky. Many including myself have had the door locks replaced (you can do this yourself) and they even replaced the top controller board when they did my door lock as I had problems with cycles ever starting. From time to time it stops behaving and I can't get laundry started. A few times I've had error codes most of which is to clean the filter (I have a shedding dog) and one other I did a breaker reset and that cleared that up. I've learned a few tricks over the 3 years now in making this work where 90% of the time it works fine. Knowing these tricks can help save you thousands as there really is no need to replace this unit. In my research for a replacement all of the small units seem to have reliability issues (not much known on the Splendide) but LG, Samsung, Whirlpool 2.3's all have bad reviews.

The first thing is of course the door being closed properly. It's plastic parts so don't go slamming it, that will buy you a new washer in the end. Just open and close the door firmly.

The next one that works for me is to actually open the door and spin the drum. There must be sensors on the drum for whatever reason, spinning it can shift the weight with the clothes inside and make it work again.

Today I couldn't not get anything to work to get the cycle to start. This time I actually grabbed the drum and pulled/pushed it and also spun it. That worked!

There are times, too often, the washer won't go into high speed spin. I think this is again a sensor that is detecting the load out of balance and if it's too far out of balance it won't go into high speed spin. I've had to completely re-run the wash cycle to get it to work, sometimes (usually) I can just run the rinse cycle option and it will work. Try opening the door and adjusting the clothes to avoid a lopsided load that may have some sensor prevent high speed spin.

My hunch is many people are ditching a perfectly good washer, at least for what is expected of this small capacity machine not overly used in the market compared to other residential units. Learn the workarounds and it will work fine for you.
DW says the keys for her are:
close door firmly but easily
never overload, never underload
change settings slowly, don’t just spin dial
In other words, treat the beast like a newborn and all is good!
 
The only real issue we had was it failed to do the final hard spin. This started about 3 months after we got the coach. First factory tech that came out said we just didn't know how to load it or use it (duuuh). A few months later while at the mother ship they had another factory tech work on it. He shimmed the door and said that was the key. Still, about 1 out of every 5 loads would not final spin.

Then on one of the forums I read about someone switch from the recommended pods to using Splendide powder detergent. That was all it took. Washer has worked perfectly for over a year since making that change.
 
Fascinating. I was trying to decide between powder, which I use at home and liquid. Arrrgh!! I just ordered liquid. Go figure. :cool:
 
I used to use pods. No more. I use liquid. I wouldn’t use powder for the same reason I don’t use pods. Not enough water in water efficient washers. I’ve had melted pods be stuck on things.
 
Ever since posting this my Washer has been extremely temperamental. What I have to do now is press and hold START and then open/close the door firmly. This tells me the door switch is on its way out again, already replaced once. I think this is something I can replace per YouTube a few months ago. I found a good supply source for the WFC7500VW2 washer. eBay seems like its good for parts too but I wanted to share this link:

 
DW says the keys for her are:
close door firmly but easily
never overload, never underload
change settings slowly, don’t just spin dial
In other words, treat the beast like a newborn and all is good!


My DW says the same thing!
We had a Splendide "combo" washer/dryer in the '04 Mountain Aire. It was the original unit. Worked like a champ. Just can't overload it.

The 2020 has the stacked Splendide washer & dryer. Both work well with no issues, granted, they're only 6 months old.

As Jerry & Judy said above......follow that advice!
 
I’ve read so many negative things about the whirlpool units. My 15 yr old Splendide unit is still chugging along. We’ve never had a problem with it. Knock on wood.
 

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