On Monday, July 8, 2002 at 5:49:55 PM UTC-7, PT wrote:problem. But a month later the motor started making noises, and they no longer have the parts for this 30 year old unit. Disappointing, but I have to say that the 30 years of experience with it was remarkably good. Till now. Most washers fail well before
We have had our Staber washing machine for the last two years and have
had horrible results, especially for the premium price ($1300). The
very first time we used it, we put in an expensive quilt (new Amish quilt), used much less detergent than normal (as per the directions),
and it oversuds, would not spin up or drain, and caused the fabric to bleed. We tried running it back through the rinse cycles time after
time to no avail. We knew it was expensive, but if it lasted a very
long time due to its supposedly rugged design and was frugal on water
and electricity, it should have been a good choice.
If you think you are buying a rugged, care-free machine that will last forever, be frugal on water, and be a good long-term investment, think again.
Problems with Staber washing machines they won't tell you BEFORE you
buy:
1. If it is still under warranty, and it fails to work, YOU have to fix
it yourself (though they may be "gracious" enough to send you the
parts), despite the very high price you pay for it. You probably will
have to buy a wet/dry vac if you don't have one, so you can suck up the water when you replace your own water pump (observe how the pump design allows hair and other debris to get caught up under a lip of the
impeller and wrapped around and is next to impossible to remove
totally).
2. It is extremely sensitive to being perfectly balanced and it still
is prone to going out of balance when it attemps to spin up. Want to
wash a single rug due to a pet accident? Forget it. It will attempt to spin up infinitely until you stop it. Two rugs? Better chance, but
often a failure as well.
3. Unless your machine is on a concrete slab (as I guess is common in
Ohio where they are made, but not out here in the West), your floor will vibrate heavily vertically when the machine spins up, such that when you stand near the machine when it spins up, your body will shake up and
down. Nowhere in their literature did it say you needed to either have concrete or triple reinforce your floor to take the beating this machine puts out and prevent extra vibration. Our machine is in a laundry nook
in our hallway, which you have to walk through to get to the bedrooms.
The house is 20 years old, so it isn't an old, rickety floor.
4. It very often will not properly go through the rinse and spin cycles because it oversuds (too many suds) and is super sensitive this way. It will just sit there rumbling through, trying in vain to drain and spin
up until you stop it. Eventually, I suspect it will cause your pump to burn out. You have to reset it back to go through 1 or more rinse
cycles again, negating the supposedly miserly water use. In the worst cases, we had to go through as many as 6 or even more rinse cycles to
get it to properly rinse, drain, and spin up. Even being extremely sparingly with detergent (tried three kinds), it often requires an extra
1 or 2 rinses to be able to spin up.
5. When you call and complain that even though you are using only 1/4
or 1/5 of the normal amount of detergent you use in a top loader and it
is still oversudsing, they will claim you need to buy a case of their RECOMMENDED detergent, which is a 20 year supply for us, as this machine is miserly in detergent use. I am sorry, but no where on their website, their literature, or the sales floor at one of their retailers does it
say anything about being restricted to a single brand of detergent. We have tried 3 detergents that all say it is good for top and front
loaders and use just a very small amount, just a small fraction of
normal, and it still oversuds. They "helpfully" suggest you can also dumping in vinegar to cut the suds when it oversuds. One rug required a third of a gallon of vinegar.
6. The main knob that you use to set the washer in motion feels flimsy, has a plastic stem supporting it, and if you accidentally pull it when
it is already pulled out, it pulls right off the machine. In contrast,
my 4 year old standard Kenmore washing machine has a very solid feeling knob that you can't just rip right off.
7. If you have to stop the machine to check after it won't rinse and
spin due to suds and to add vinegar, etc, or if it spins out of balance, you not only have to wait a couple minutes for it to unlock the door,
but you then have to push against the tub (it is like a hexagon) to
rotate it to the position where you open the "trap door" to get to the clothes. This is difficult for my wife and the holes in the side of the tub are in such a way as also to be uncomfortable on the hands. The
"trap door" you open has a left door and a right door that interlock and is difficult or nearly impossible if you only have the use of one hand. Other front or top loaders I have seen can easily be used with one hand.
8. It is very noisy when it spins up. There is no insulation to cut
the noise level. It sounds like a jet plane. It will also vibrate your floor (unless you have concrete slab), adding additional noise as well. Yes, they have those shock absorber-like things holding the tub (which Staber actually touts as a feature), but it still vibrates the floor heavily. One can only imagine what it would be like if it DIDN'T have
that feature.
9. When you call for help because of some of the problems stated above (not draining, oversuds, pump not working, etc), their attitude always seems to be that there is something YOU are not doing right, not because of design flaws of THEIR product.
Yes, you can take off the front panel and have "easy access", but how
many times should someone have to take off the front panel in the course or fixing or diagnosing the machine in the first year or two of
ownership, especially when it costs so much? I would rather have harder access, and only have to do it every 10 years or so.
Buyer Beware. Preserve your marriage or relationship, DO NOT BUY a
Staber washing machine.
-Piner
Post a reply to this message in the newsgroups if any of you unhappy Staber users out there wish to add anything or confirm you are experiencing some of the same things I am.We bought a Staber way back in 1990s to save power and water in our off grud mountain home. By jolly it did work well for almost 30 yers no problems. However this year the water pump went weak and we easily replaced it with a new improved one. No
We have had our Staber washing machine for the last two years and have
had horrible results, especially for the premium price ($1300). The
very first time we used it, we put in an expensive quilt (new Amish
quilt), used much less detergent than normal (as per the directions),
and it oversuds, would not spin up or drain, and caused the fabric to
bleed. We tried running it back through the rinse cycles time after
time to no avail. We knew it was expensive, but if it lasted a very
long time due to its supposedly rugged design and was frugal on water
and electricity, it should have been a good choice.
If you think you are buying a rugged, care-free machine that will last forever, be frugal on water, and be a good long-term investment, think
again.
Problems with Staber washing machines they won't tell you BEFORE you
buy:
1. If it is still under warranty, and it fails to work, YOU have to fix
it yourself (though they may be "gracious" enough to send you the
parts), despite the very high price you pay for it. You probably will
have to buy a wet/dry vac if you don't have one, so you can suck up the
water when you replace your own water pump (observe how the pump design allows hair and other debris to get caught up under a lip of the
impeller and wrapped around and is next to impossible to remove
totally).
2. It is extremely sensitive to being perfectly balanced and it still
is prone to going out of balance when it attemps to spin up. Want to
wash a single rug due to a pet accident? Forget it. It will attempt to
spin up infinitely until you stop it. Two rugs? Better chance, but
often a failure as well.
3. Unless your machine is on a concrete slab (as I guess is common in
Ohio where they are made, but not out here in the West), your floor will vibrate heavily vertically when the machine spins up, such that when you stand near the machine when it spins up, your body will shake up and
down. Nowhere in their literature did it say you needed to either have concrete or triple reinforce your floor to take the beating this machine
puts out and prevent extra vibration. Our machine is in a laundry nook
in our hallway, which you have to walk through to get to the bedrooms.
The house is 20 years old, so it isn't an old, rickety floor.
4. It very often will not properly go through the rinse and spin cycles because it oversuds (too many suds) and is super sensitive this way. It
will just sit there rumbling through, trying in vain to drain and spin
up until you stop it. Eventually, I suspect it will cause your pump to
burn out. You have to reset it back to go through 1 or more rinse
cycles again, negating the supposedly miserly water use. In the worst
cases, we had to go through as many as 6 or even more rinse cycles to
get it to properly rinse, drain, and spin up. Even being extremely
sparingly with detergent (tried three kinds), it often requires an extra
1 or 2 rinses to be able to spin up.
5. When you call and complain that even though you are using only 1/4
or 1/5 of the normal amount of detergent you use in a top loader and it
is still oversudsing, they will claim you need to buy a case of their RECOMMENDED detergent, which is a 20 year supply for us, as this machine
is miserly in detergent use. I am sorry, but no where on their website,
their literature, or the sales floor at one of their retailers does it
say anything about being restricted to a single brand of detergent. We
have tried 3 detergents that all say it is good for top and front
loaders and use just a very small amount, just a small fraction of
normal, and it still oversuds. They "helpfully" suggest you can also
dumping in vinegar to cut the suds when it oversuds. One rug required a
third of a gallon of vinegar.
6. The main knob that you use to set the washer in motion feels flimsy,
has a plastic stem supporting it, and if you accidentally pull it when
it is already pulled out, it pulls right off the machine. In contrast,
my 4 year old standard Kenmore washing machine has a very solid feeling
knob that you can't just rip right off.
7. If you have to stop the machine to check after it won't rinse and
spin due to suds and to add vinegar, etc, or if it spins out of balance,
you not only have to wait a couple minutes for it to unlock the door,
but you then have to push against the tub (it is like a hexagon) to
rotate it to the position where you open the "trap door" to get to the clothes. This is difficult for my wife and the holes in the side of the
tub are in such a way as also to be uncomfortable on the hands. The
"trap door" you open has a left door and a right door that interlock and
is difficult or nearly impossible if you only have the use of one hand.
Other front or top loaders I have seen can easily be used with one hand.
8. It is very noisy when it spins up. There is no insulation to cut
the noise level. It sounds like a jet plane. It will also vibrate your
floor (unless you have concrete slab), adding additional noise as well.
Yes, they have those shock absorber-like things holding the tub (which
Staber actually touts as a feature), but it still vibrates the floor
heavily. One can only imagine what it would be like if it DIDN'T have
that feature.
9. When you call for help because of some of the problems stated above
(not draining, oversuds, pump not working, etc), their attitude always
seems to be that there is something YOU are not doing right, not because
of design flaws of THEIR product.
Yes, you can take off the front panel and have "easy access", but how
many times should someone have to take off the front panel in the course
or fixing or diagnosing the machine in the first year or two of
ownership, especially when it costs so much? I would rather have harder access, and only have to do it every 10 years or so.
Buyer Beware. Preserve your marriage or relationship, DO NOT BUY a
Staber washing machine.
-Piner
Post a reply to this message in the newsgroups if any of you unhappy
Staber users out there wish to add anything or confirm you are
experiencing some of the same things I am.
Since we are needing to replace a dryer right now, I was thinking about the nightmare we had with our Staber washer and thought to update my posts on the internet where I reported our significant problems. I wanted people to know that our LGreplacement is still working after 11 years and hadn't had ANY of the problems Staber expected us to have related to power glitches. I cannot find my reviews anywhere, so I was looking for a place to submit them to warn people. I know this has been many
My husband and I purchased a Staber washer, model no. HXW2304, series no. W03, serial number B07010907, in February of 2007. We put much time into researching what washer to purchase for our family of 8. We also liked that it could be serviced moreeasily by the user, uses less soap, that it was top loading, large capacity and USA made.
After using if for a few months, there were some drawbacks in how it would get out of balance easily with bedding and less typical loads. It also couldn't seem to spin just a few things. We still made the best of it, but then encountered problems,which we contacted the company about in October of 2009. We noticed that the problem usually occurred during the first rinse cycle or late in the last wash cycle. Here is one typical example of what would happen: The drum would start to spin at a high
We sent our control board in and received the repaired board on October 26th. It began the same pattern only 3 days later on October 29th and then again on the 31st and again on Nov. 4. I had called on Nov. 2 and we were told we would be sent a newboard and that this problem can occur when people are off the power grid and get surges. That does not apply to us and we have never noticed any power issues before. We installed the new circuit board on November 7, 2009. We also made all necessary
Something just isn't right with this machine and yet Staber handled this like we could be having power surges, instead of considering the possibility that something is wrong with this machine and that this isn't acceptable. That isn't the attitude wereceived. Since we spent $1200 on this machine, it would be a huge loss to give up at this point, so we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now the cost is adding up with shipping costs and the laundromat, not to mention the huge inconvenience.
So we sent the motor and control board on November 16, 2011. On Dec. 2, we were called and told that there was a burnt resistor but the motor was fine. We went over other matters with Sylvia to make sure all was well with the pump hose and hanger, andnothing was wrong there. We received a repaired control board and our motor back on December 7, 2011. It still didn't spin, but there was a broken wire. Fixed that on the 8th and the machine appeared to work. The UPS device was installed before we began
Let me recap this pattern: Purchased in February 2007; Original control board went bad in October 2009. We sent in our board to be repaired; Repaired board went bad 30 days later. New control board was sent in November of 2009; Control board went badin November of 2011. We sent in our motor and control board to be repaired. Control board was repaired. Motor fine; Repaired board went bad February 24, 2012, just 2 ½ months later.
I see an interesting pattern here, in that a new board lasted us no longer than 2 ½ years and the repaired boards lasted 30 days to 2 ½ months. Unacceptable. Since this last occurrence happened late on a Friday and they have no evening or weekendhours, we were faced with what? Going through this again? More Laundromat, more expense and then what will we get? No one has offered something that works. We finally had to go out and purchase another washing machine after 5 years of trouble from a $
Another important detail is that the last new control board we were able to receive was in November of 2009. Once we started having problems with that control board, we learned that Staber no longer was making new control boards for this model sincethey had a newer model. So already we were reduced to having only repaired boards after having the machine for only 2 years, and then look at the outcome of these repaired boards 30 days and 2 ½ months! No solutions. No working machine.
Due to our continuous problems and needing to take the front of the machine off (we found that when the machine went into its screeching spin, splashing water everywhere, that having the front off helped it to dry out faster so that it could work againsooner), we left it off for a 9-month period when the last control board began acting up. This presents many dangers, especially to young children, which we do have. This is unacceptable that we should have to leave it this way to make our machine dry
Also, we found the limited hours for Staber a problem, which left us hanging often on the weekends, besides late afternoon and evenings. Also, the hours kept changing from what they were in the manual and we wrote down the new hours in the manual. Thenext time we had troubles, we called and we found out we were after hours even though we were calling within the time frame that we wrote down. Then the next time we called, and I was put on hold, the recording gave hours that were different than what we
So the long and short of it is that Staber got our money, the postal service got our money, the laundromat got our money, and even Radio Shack got some of our money (the UPS device), and that machine took much of our time, but we have nothing to showfor it but this metal box sitting in our garage that can't do what it was designed to do no matter how hard we have tried to make it work. We sent the above correspondence to Staber, hoping they would take responsibility, but here is what happened:
I called Staber March 16th, 2012 since I hadn't heard from them after sending two emails and waiting two weeks for a response. Rachel connected me with Brad **, the director for Staber. He said he hadn't received the emails and gave me an email to sendthem directly to him. He gave me a cell phone number and told me to call him directly by the end of the day if he hadn't contacted me. He didn't call, so I did and had to leave a message. He never called back. He emailed on Monday, the 19th, and said he
On March 28th, I sent an email indicating I felt stuck since he wasn't responding. I asked for a reply that day or the following day. One week of silence. I called Staber on April 4th and talked to Rachel. I asked to talk to Mr. **. After some time onhold, I was told she was still searching for him. Then some man named John gets on the phone to tell me that Brad was on the phone and that he would call me back. That never happened. I called on April 5th and told Rachel I needed to talk to Brad to
Staber has no way to prove that we have power issues and we have relayed to them our history of a lack of power issues and that we built the UPS device to protect the washer. It didn't matter to them. We have been in this house for 14 years and havenever had problems with appliances, computers, etc. shutting down or being damaged. We never had any problems with our old washers, nor had a problem with our electronic dryer, which we bought the same time as the Staber washer, but it is not a Staber
Also, our new washer, which is an LG, has had no problems working properly on the same circuit. Claiming that we have an odd energy delivery problem is a scapegoat, and Staber needs to face up to what the real problem is with their machine and takeresponsibility for it.
We gave Staber every opportunity to resolve our continuous washer problems, but now this is their bottom line. We have filed a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General. This has been many years ago, but we see many others with similar troublesespecially with customer support. People should be aware.
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