Front Loading Washers and insane spin speed

[Hoober]

We moved to a new house this past weekend and got a brand new washer and dryer. The washer is of the front-loading variety and its spin cycle vibrates half of the first level of the house when it runs because of the speed.

Is there some kind of mat or pad that I can put under the washer to help with the vibrations?

Edit -- Both appliances are perfectly level. I checked when I installed them and I've checked twice now since we've used the washer.

 

[SoulAssassin]

did you try to level it better?

 

[jhayx7]

Have the wife sit on it and kill two birds with one stone

 

[paulxcook]

Maybe try those interlocking rubber floor things they use in weight rooms.

 

[Demo24]

or a rubber welcome mat

 

[Kadarin]

Sounds like the load is out of balance?

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
Sounds like the load is out of balance?

its a front load, it shouldn't be out of balance....should it?

 

[jhayx7]

Found this on Yahoo Answers:

I recently purchased front load machines and had the same issue. Leveling the machine helped but they still move around when they are in the spin cycle. Here's what I ended
up doing. I took two peices of 3/4" plywood and screwed them together and installed them under the machines. Before
I set the machines on them you must level & screw the plywood to the floor. The key was to add a peice of 1x2x3/4
oak to the edge of the 2 peices of plywood. raise it up 1/4"
so the machines can't wiggle off. After the machines are installed on top of the plywood & level screw them to the plywood. This may seem extreme but it made a huge difference. Good luck

 

[djheater]

Maybe overloaded.
Try leveling it.

Reorient it so that the drum is not paralell to the floor joists. <-- just a thought.

 

[Hoober]

Machines are level.

What's interesting is that the washer doesn't physically move around when it's in the spin cycle. It just twitches like a crack fiend. I should add that both machines have been screwed into pedestals that are sold with the appliances.

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: jhayx7
Have the wife sit on it and kill two birds with one stone

I'm not sure I could keep up with the pace as often as we do laundry. Plus I think I'd be a bit outclassed by the 10,000 RPMs or whatever the machine's doing.

 

[markgm]

Best bet is the wood trick mentioned above. I have mine in a structurally sound area of the house so this isn't an issue.

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: markgm
Best bet is the wood trick mentioned above. I have mine in a structurally sound area of the house so this isn't an issue.

So basically the floor they're on just needs to be reinforced.

 

[Googer]

Seriously, I do not have that problem. Check to make sure it is level and that you are not overloading it. Also if it is sitting on a wooden floor (or similar) make sure that the floor boards/joists do not move. Try placing it on a concrete basement/garage floor and that may also alleviate the problem.

 

[Hoober]

Originally posted by: Googer
Seriously, I do not have that problem. Check to make sure it is level and that you are not overloading it. Also if it is sitting on a wooden floor (or similar) make sure that the floor boards/joists do not move. Try placing it on a concrete basement/garage floor and that may also alleviate the problem.

The floorboards and joists aren't physically moving, they just vibrate directly under where the washer and pedestal are. And that vibration transfers to the joists and sub-floor immediately around the laundry room.

The best bet would be to move them to an area that's not immediately above the basement, but that'd have to be the cement pad in the garage and I'd have to run hookups, etc. out there.

 

[Linflas]

Makes me glad I made them put the laundry stuff in the basement when our house was built. Overall the front loader seems to operate much more quietly than the top loader it replaced.

 

[RayH]

The machine may be level but the floor may not. You want to adjust all four feet so that there is equal pressure is on all of them. Try adjusting the feet in or out while the machine is vibrating.

 

[kgokal]

Same situation here, I doubt that a viable solutions exists...
aside from suspending the washer with some home made rig

 

[flexy]

call the place you got it from. I am not an expert...but this should not be the case with NEW machines !

 

[Analog]

Vibrations mean that it is out of balance. If it was balanced, it wouldn't vibrate, regardless of the speed. With that said, our LG front loader spins quite fast, but it actually detects an unbalanced load, and it backs the speed off based on that. Cool huh?