# Speed Queen Family...Who's a member?



## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

After two washers failing in the past seven years, we joined the Speed Queen family. :thumbup:

Not really excited to spend money on the third washer/dryer set in seven years. However, the gear case assembly part on the previous washer is on backorder for at least four weeks!

The wife chose the TC5 model which is the "classic clean" top-loader model introduced in 2019. The only TC5 model within a 100 miles was in Pawhuska, OK (population of 3,345). Luckily for me, the appliance store is on the same street as the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile. So, parking is non-existent. It was raining and we had to rent a cargo trailer from U-haul. Lastly, we had to pick it up Friday due to the appliance store shutting down for a few weeks for a film shoot. The location is going to be used as a film set for Martin Scorsese's, Killers of the Flower Moon, in the next few weeks.

A strange series of events to buy a washer and dryer at the last minute. Hopefully, the washer works as expected and I never need to update this post! :lol:


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

@TulsaFan is the TC5 the one that is most similar to the one they had to quit making at the end of 2017 that everyone loved?

We're buying a new set of something when we move, but haven't decided what it will be. I would be all in on Speed Queen, but my wife quilts, so capacity is a concern.

Can you summarize why she chose the TC5 over the TR5 or TR7?


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Here is a good video on Speed Queen's usable capacity - it's supposedly better than it looks on paper.

https://youtu.be/lrpbbYwwUY4


----------



## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

Ware said:


> @TulsaFan is the TC5 the one that is most similar to the one they had to quit making at the end of 2017 that everyone loved?
> 
> We're buying a new set of something when we move, but haven't decided what it will be. I would be all in on Speed Queen, but my wife quilts, so capacity is a concern.
> 
> Can you summarize why she chose the TC5 over the TR5 or TR7?


The "TR" series was Speed Queen's response to the high-efficiency standards. However, the fan base hated the new units with the new agitation system. So, they came out with the TC5 in 2019 as the classic washer with their traditional agitator. The TC5 has an Eco mode to get around the newer standards, but it is basically an old school washer. It can clean your clothes in 28 minutes while the TR will take 50 minutes.

We went to Hahn Appliance and Metro Builders Supply. Neither had the TC5, but both had all the TR models. The salesmen at Metro told us that the government placed a really big order for the TC5 and it has been really hard to get them (the irony). We bought the TC5000WN which comes with a 3 year warranty. The latest version of the TC5, the TC5003WN, will come with a five year warranty, but it's supposedly exactly the same. The slick salesman from Hahn said they might have the TC5003WN in two days. Metro said it could be two months...they really had no idea. The wife wasn't willing to wait...So, we looked for any TC5 we could find and Pawhuska had one.

The Metro salesmen stated that the TR 3, 5, & 7 was purely marketing with them all having the same motors, 'internal components, etc. If a customer wanted the security of having a seven year warranty...they were going to pay more for it.

Here is a good article for summarizing the difference of the TC5 and TR5.

How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine 
_
"It might not have been the most stylish, but for decades the top-loading laundry machine was the most affordable and dependable. Now it's ruined-and Americans have politics to thank.

In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair" or "poor." This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as "often mediocre or worse."

How's that for progress?

The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency. Efficiency standards for washing machines aren't as well-known as those for light bulbs, which will effectively prohibit 100-watt incandescent bulbs next year. Nor are they the butt of jokes as low-flow toilets are. But in their quiet destruction of a highly affordable, perfectly satisfactory appliance, washer standards demonstrate the harmfulness of the ever-growing body of efficiency mandates.

The federal government first issued energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. When the Department of Energy ratcheted them up a decade later, it was the beginning of the end for top-loaders. Their costlier and harder-to-use rivals-front-loading washing machines-were poised to dominate.

Front-loaders meet federal standards more easily than top-loaders. Because they don't fully immerse their laundry loads, they use less hot water and therefore less energy. But, as Americans are increasingly learning, front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started.

When the Department of Energy began raising the standard, it promised that "consumers will have the same range of clothes washers as they have today," and cleaning ability wouldn't be changed. That's not how it turned out.

In 2007, after the more stringent rules had kicked in, Consumer Reports noted that some top-loaders were leaving its test swatches "nearly as dirty as they were before washing." "For the first time in years," CR said, "we can't call any washer a Best Buy." Contrast that with the magazine's 1996 report that, "given warm enough water and a good detergent, any washing machine will get clothes clean." Those were the good old days.
Getty Images

In 2007, only one conventional top-loader was rated "very good." Front-loaders did better, as did a new type of high-efficiency top-loader that lacks a central agitator. But even though these newer types of washers cost about twice as much as conventional top-loaders, overall they didn't clean as well as the 1996 models.

The situation got so bad that the Competitive Enterprise Institute started a YouTube protest campaign, "Send Your Underwear to the Undersecretary." With the click of a mouse, you could email your choice of virtual bloomers, boxers or Underoos to the Department of Energy. Several hundred Americans did so, but it wasn't enough to stop Congress from mandating even stronger standards a few months later.

Now Congress is at it once again. On March 10, the Senate Energy Committee held hearings on a bill to make efficiency standards even more stringent. The bill claims to implement "national consensus appliance agreements," but those in this consensus are the usual suspects: politicians pushing feel-good generalities, bureaucrats seeking expanded powers, environmentalists with little regard for American pocketbooks, and industries that stand to profit from a de facto ban on low-priced appliances. And there are green tax goodies for manufacturing high-efficiency models-the kind that already give so many tax credits to Whirlpool, for example, that the company will avoid paying taxes on its $619 million profit in 2010.

Amazingly, the consensus also includes so-called consumer groups such as the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union. At last week's hearing, the federation touted a survey supposedly showing overwhelming public support for higher efficiency standards. But not a single question in that survey suggested that these standards might compromise performance. Consumers Union, meanwhile, which publishes Consumer Reports, claims that new washers can't be compared to old ones-but that's belied by the very language in its articles.

We know that politics can be dirty. Who'd have guessed how literal a truth this is?

Mr. Kazman is general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute._"


----------



## MrMeaner (Feb 21, 2017)

I have the frontload washer(FFR) and dryer on pedestals in Stainless Steel finish. Love em!!


----------



## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

I have the top loader from before the regulations. I bought it about 5 years ago. It is loud, very loud. It is not a good choice for a 2nd floor laundry room.


----------



## Jacks_Designs (May 4, 2020)

I have the DR7 dryer. Wouldn't trade it for anything else.


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

New Speed Queen owner checking in.

Lead times on appliances are pretty crazy right now, but I was able to track down a TC5003WN Classic CleanTM washer and the matching DC5003WG gas dryer at a small town furniture and appliance store (that also happened to be a decent size Stihl dealer :lol: ) about 60 miles from where I live.

All of the other dealers I spoke to were quoting an estimated lead time of 12-14 weeks :shock: for any of the SQ's they didn't have in stock. The TC5's seem to be harder to find, and gas dryers are not as common as electric around here, so I was really excited to get my hands on this pair.

I'll have to store it until we move, but thankful we won't have to worry about moving the 12yo GE front loaders we have now.


----------



## MrMeaner (Feb 21, 2017)

Awesome...welcome to the club!! &#129304;&#127996;&#129304;&#127996;


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Finally went back and picked up my Speed Queen set on Friday. We're still a month or two from needing them, but excited nonetheless. :thumbup:


----------



## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I wish I had known about this a year or two ago when my Samsung front loader took a crap on me and I needed to replace it. I just ended up going with a similar model without all the bells and whistle that I never use. I'm currently in the mindset of trying to fix what I have as parts are usually pretty easy to find and it's pretty easy to fix them too but I will definitely be looking to go this route the next time I need to replace one.

It's amazing how the government can screw anything up that they get their hands on


----------



## massgrass (Aug 17, 2017)

I have a Speed Queen dryer from 1997 that I have been keeping running with parts from ebay and amazon. We almost replaced our GE frontloader with a Speed Queen washer last year, but ended up going with an LG toploader instead. If that gives us any problems I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with another Speed Queen.


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Speed Queen deep fill is legit. It's like the good ole days when you could wash your clothes in water.


----------



## TulsaFan (May 1, 2017)

Ware said:


> Speed Queen deep fill is legit. It's like the good ole days when you could wash your clothes in water.


Is your wife happy with it? Has she washed anything oversized yet?


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

TulsaFan said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> > Speed Queen deep fill is legit. It's like the good ole days when you could wash your clothes in water.
> ...


Not yet. We haven't moved in yet. I just got it hooked up and ran a test cycle per the manual.


----------



## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

One issue is that my speedqueen is not smart enough. You have to manually reset the cycle once the tub is filled up. It can take 4 or 5 minutes to fill the entire tub, and that time comes off the wash time. Since wash time is fairly short with these machines, this 4 or 5 minutes is very important. This is in the manual as well.


----------



## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

Me soon, anyone knows where to find them? I havent looked for dealers yet. Costco HD lowes ? Have them ?


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Thick n Dense said:


> Me soon, anyone knows where to find them? I havent looked for dealers yet. Costco HD lowes ? Have them ?


I have never seen them in a box store.

https://speedqueen.com/where-to-buy/


----------

