washing machine water temperature

[hello]

My washing machine is hooked up to the correct water lines in the laundry room. My question is this. When I select HOT water for the wash the water is HOT like it is supposed to be. When I select COLD the water is COLD like it is supposed to be. When I select WARM...the water is almost as cold as the COLD setting.

Do I have to adjust the HOT and COLD water valve on the wall in order to get the proper mix for warm water or is there an internal valve inside the washing machine that handles that. I have a fairly recent Whirlpool and can get the model number if needed in order to answer this question.

Thanks,

Sam C. Raleigh, N.C.

[Dan O.]

To get warn, both hot and cold water need to fill at about the same rate. If one water flow is stronger then the other, the temperature of warm will be closer to that temperature. Can you notice a different in fill rate between a hot only and cold only setting?

If the fill rates are different between the 2 you could adjust the water taps accordingly but the proper thing to do would be to find out why they are substantially different and correct it. If could just be partially plugged sediment screens in one of the fill hoses, a bad tap or bad (interior caked up with lime and scale, etc.) water supply line to the tap.

On top of the line washer models there may be an electronic control which controls how much of each water supply to allow in to achieve a "warm" temperature. On a model like that, a problem in the control or its sensors could cause the temperature on that setting to be off.

Dan O.

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[SQLit]

Sounds suspiciously like a washer mixture problem. Is this a new washer?

[jeff]

Hi,

A copy...

Use a thermometer to test the temp of the incoming water in your washer. Hot water should be close to 120-140 degrees F. Warm water fill should be 100 degrees F. Cold water is approx 60-80 degrees F. What happens in a cold climate location is the cold water temp drops as the outside temps drops

If you need ( and probably will ) to adjust your warm water fill, turn on the hot water tap fully, turn off the cold water tap. Let the water start to fill. Then slowly turn on the cold tap adding the cold water to the hot water making a warm fill....use a thermometer to set water temp and leave the taps stay when you get about 100 degree F water fill. I adjust my own washer usually twice a year, one on summer time and once in the dead of winter.

Hope this helps,

jeff. Appliance repair Aid

[hello]

Thanks, You are correct. I used a thermometer and adjusted the cold tap and got the warm temp to 100 degrees. Now all settings are correct. I adjusted the cold tap. Also I noticed the cold fill rate and the hot fill rate are identical now where as cold was significantly faster than hot. Thanks for all the help everyone!!

Sam in Raleigh, N.C.

[jeff]

Hello,

Thankx for the update!! :)

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid

[xymergy]

How does one do this with a front-loader washer?

[blue]

I've got a Neptune front-load washer, and when the washer is filling it runs through the soap/bleach/softener dispenser on the top to clear out the soap and keep the dispenser clean. One could easily stick a thermometer in there. I don't know if other front-loaders are similar.

[jeff]

The Neptune is easy as blue mentioned, the Frigidaire style won't fill with the dispensor door open and may be one of the harder ones to check....you would have to place the thermomter probe inside the dispensor drawer, or test the water inside the tubs. Many of the front loads have the ATC ( Automatic Temp Control ) to adjust the water temp on there own.

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid

[xymergy]

I've got the Frigidaire Gallery, and I tend to use the ATC settings when I run it, thanks for reminding me about that.