It's obvious, either a sensor is missing or not sensitive enough to sense the tub banging the walls with in it's enclosure...plain and simple.

The washer manufacturers really need to come to there senses and do something before someone gets hurt or killed. This is a very easy fix.

Wait until one of these machines bumps the gas line loose on the back of a dryer and takes out a city block. Then something will be done about it.

Until then, the manufactures will cry "Operator Error"

MRB

if its got enough energy to blow up then its got enough energy to get clothes really clean.
plus you get a new one if it blows up. win win.

"if its got enough energy to blow up then its got enough energy to get clothes really clean."

How do you figure?

These washers "exploded" during the spin cycle. The ability to spin a load at high RPM has nothing to do with the cleaning ability of the machine.

Except that it is gonna take the dryer out with it. Plus some drywall along the way. Lose-Lose if you ask me.

MRB

ah, knot2fast, I think they were joking!!!

Some folks wouldn't know a joke if they woke up in bed with it.

My first thought was it might simply be a physics problem caused by essentially laying a front load design on its back but several front loaders in the UK and Germany seem to have had similar issues.

Here is a link that might be useful: No Recall For Exploding Machines

This issue was brought up by a German consumer magazine that actually tests washers for durability by letting them run through over 1.000 cycles. In their lab, two of three Candy washers blew up during the final spin after several hundred cycles. The third one was taken off the test for obvious safety reasons. Too bad Consumer Reports doesn't perform such tests.

Alex

And here's more:

LG WaveForce
Kenmore by LG
another LG
LG
what it might look like as it explodes (though it might be staged, it certainly does look scary)

Has anybody noticed that it is ALWAYS a comforter or a mattress pad that is in the machine when it explodes???? Even front loaders don't like them, but at least they deal with them...

Yes, always something bulky in there. Still don't see why there is no off-balance switch. Fisher&Paykel's top loaders have them: if the basket oscillates too much, the spin cycle stops immediately. Doesn't seen to be anything like this on the LG.

I saw on you tube a Cabrio that was starting to get unbalanced. It bumped around a few times, then shut itself off. Maybe some of the T/L HE machines have switches, just not LG. I was thinking LG built the GE Harmony and never heard of any of those "exploding". Maybe they have a switch?

I think the people are washing these large items on Normal, like they would in a conventional T/L washer instead of using the "Bulky" cycle. At least the Bulky would use a lower spin speed and maybe less damage if it did get off balance. They still need a switch to stop it in any cycle/any model JMO.

F&P phase 7 machines (AquaSmart, and GWL15 & later agitator models) no longer have a physical OOB switch. OOB is sensed via motor control software.

I noticed while watching a few of the exploding LG vids, there was one titled " This is why the Samsung Top Load is better", or something like that... So I watched it. The person who posted the video points at the fact that Samsung uses steel suspension mounts and LG's mounts are plastic. In all the exploded washer videos all the offending washers had broken suspension mounts... Could be that LG is cutting corners on these machines... He also mentioned that Samsungs cabinet is structurally stronger than LGs as well. Notice that LG cabinets are twisted and buckled in the videos as well.

haha very funny ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpH-3cxm9O0

Have seen that one as well... :-(

I have to wonder, however, if it was totally the machine's fault. Look at her other videos: what's all that stuff in there? Two pillows and large bed spreads. I'd never stuff all that in one load.

Here is a link that might be useful: Samsung - 5.0 Cu. Ft. 15-Cycle High-Efficiency Top-Loading Washer Spinning

Technically, all these exploded machines are very likely due to user error.

That's not an excuse ... it's an explanation.

Technically, ideally the machines should be able to deal with user error ... but engineers can only go so far in anticipating what a consumer may do regards to unintended or incorrect use.

The off-balance sensing process does not involve a physical "bump" switch. Off-balance is sensed via software algorithms that monitor basket rotational and inertia characteristics during the slow, initial ramp-up of spin speed.

What likely happens in these explosions is the user was washing large, bulky and/or water-resistant items such as comforters, pillows, sleeping bags, ponchos, parkas, etc. on the Normal cycle or some cycle other than the designated Bulky Items cycle.

Bulky Items runs a slower spin speed (such as 400 to 500 RPM) and takes other steps to insure these items are balanced or not spun at an excessively high speed.

Normal/Regular or Heavy Duty cycle runs at the highest possible spin, upwards of 1100 RPM in some cases. There's a huge difference in forces at play when RPM is increased from 400 to 1100.

The item or items were balanced at the start of spin so passed the off-balance check, which occurs during the ramp-up period. The item(s) then shifted at some point when a higher RPM was reached, perhaps due to sudden release of trapped water in an item, which triggered an off-balance situation that the machine couldn't control.

oh please these top load HE washers were a nightmare in the first place. They can't clean good at all. the first issue right there is because of the "washplate", it allows you to place items were ever you want unlike the agitator models were you need to place them around the agitator. So tell me how you would load a comforter in there that was equally loaded on each side? Yes half of it is the loaders fault and half is the washers fault. We have a king size comforter and we washed it we washed it in our inglis direct drive washer and it came out clean and fresh. We have done this for 3 years now and not a single time it has gone off balance or blown up. Its cause the agitator allows you to place items around it and create equal balance on each side unlike the washplate were you just throw it in. So of course it will have trouble balancing it out and in extreme cases it will blow up...

If it's user error. Why would Samsung pay to replace a complete set for my friend, even after warranty is up ???

Ours hasn't exploded and hopefully won't, but I hate that I purchased it. The cotton dark clothes are always full of lint. Perhaps they are assuming that the dryer will get all of that off but I don't put everything in the dryer due to shrinkage and fading. I miss my old washing machine.

I had the first LG Waveforce washer that came out. I never had a off balance issue with washing king size bed linens. Of course I didnt put every single bed set in the washer at the same time, like so many other people do. My washer was only stingy with water on the Normal cycle, the other ones were very generous with water usage. I finally sold it because HE toploaders are not gentle on clothes, and my washer was ripping my expense sheets. I checked for sharp edges every, none found..so it went.

My Frigidaire top loader caught on fire. 3 years after getting a new machine, I see the recall saying they would give money because of the machine's obvious danger. Well a fat lot of good that did me since I had already got rid of the machine and threw away all the paperwork with the model and serial number on it. That was the last time I didn't register an appliance.