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jazzspot

Washer leveling question

19 years ago

Is ensuring all 4 legs are equally stable to distribute the washer's weight as important or less important than the washer being exactly level? When I get the washer level, it rocks diagonally ever so slightly, and is more noticeable when it is going through the spin cycle. When I adjust the leg to stop the diagonal imbalance, the bubble on my level is off center just a little, both left-to-right and front-to-rear. So should I be concerned about this leveling imperfection or just be concerned that all four legs are stabilized equally? The washer does vibrate somewhat after I've adjusted the legs for equal weight distribution, but the vibration is not outrageous and the washer doesn't creep or move. I figured the slight off-leveling may affect the performance of the drum somewhat, especially during the spin cycle.

By the way, the washer I have is the Whirlpool WFW9400S.

Any words of wisdom that you all can provide is appreciated.

Comments (9)

  • 19 years ago

    How do you get the washer level if one of the legs isn't touching. For the washer to be level and then rock when in use, one of the legs isn't touching the ground.

    Perhaps your floor is not perfectly level. Maybe you could put something under that leg so the washer does not rock and is level.

    In response to your question, I think both are important. They stress the machine is to be level, but if one leg is not touching...I would think that is a concern.

  • 19 years ago

    All the legs are touching, but one was not planted as firmly on the floor as the others when the washer was very close to being level. When I adjust the leg for good diagonal stability, the level is not as accurate. Still, the amount of vibration is fine, and I'm still tweaking the legs to get less vibration. I know the washer is still settling, so adjustments will need to be continued.

  • 19 years ago

    jazzspot, if adjusting the one leg in question for stability throws it off-level, then you're adjusting the wrong leg. Try the one at the opposite corner, if it's accessible.

    A good way to adjust for stability is run the machine on spin with a single large towel (dry may work, damp is better if it's not too much for the machine to deal with) to purposely throw it a little off-balance. While spin is running, "feel" each leg at the floor to check which have the most vibration (it'll be just a small amount). Adjust the leg(s) just a tiny bit at a time to *minimize* the vibration at each corner.

    Stability is more important than absolute bubble-level, although leveling should be close as possible.

  • 19 years ago

    dadoes, I've stabilized the legs as I said. Leveling is about as close as I can get to center-bubble. That was my concern. Because stability of the washer in my opinion is as important as precise leveling. I now know that the location of my washer in my laundry room, will not allow me to have a center-bubble on the level. I can get close, but due to what must be a very slight slope in the flooring, accurate leveling on all four sides of the washer cannot be done. But all four washer legs are stable and the washer is darn near level, so it will be fine.
    Thanks.

  • 19 years ago

    jazzspot....forget the bubble on your leveler. I would put a small load of clothes in and do a rinse and spin as dadoes stated.
    Once the clothes are wet and spinning adjust (both ways, up and down) what you believe to be the problematic leg, if there is no change do the same to the opposite leg (diagonal)
    FL's usually vibrate from left to right not front to rear although this can happen.
    I had to do this on my fl. Keep in mind though the higher the washer is off floor the greater the chance for vibration, so adjust the feet to be as low as possible, hope this helps.

  • 19 years ago

    luvmylg, adjusting the feet as low as possible is here I started in regards to leveling and stabilizing the washer.
    Here is why I say that my floor must have a slight slope to it.
    - I started by adjusting all the legs to their lowest position.
    - Started leveling and had to rise the rear left leg in order to get the rear of the washer left-to-right level.
    - Rear-to-front leveling, I had to rise both of the front legs.
    Since the rear right is still at it's original/lowest position and didn't require adjusting, I came to the conclusion that my floor has a slope. The right rear of the washer is positioned at a wall where I assume the flooring strength is better and higher than the rest of the floor. Also, getting to the rear right leg is a PITA and required moving the washer quite a bit in order to get it. So, starting the leveling process of the washer by using the right rear leg as the starting point was best. Even though I started leveling the washer with all legs at the lowest position, by the time leveling was complete, only the right rear leg didn't need raising.
    View my "Washer pic" link below to get understanding of what I'm talking about.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • 19 years ago

    "Levelling" is over-rated. Really, anything close is fine. The nut is equal or nearly-equal weighting of the feet. Unless the feet are solidly and nearly-equally weighted, the machine's suspension components can't do what they need to. When they are nearly-equally weighted, those components do a wonderful job.

    I have previous-model 9400. It's more-or-less level but evenly weighted. No problems in 2 1/2 years. No re-adjustments required along the way either.

  • 19 years ago

    Living in a home over 110 years old, you can imagine the leveling problems we had-- all our floors are hardwood, over a basement. To stabilize the floor a bit more and to make it easier to level, my husband cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to fit exactly under the washer and dryer. After we got the wood under the w/d, the washer then hit equally-- if you know what I mean.

    Mine are on pedestals though (It was a rebate promotion that was offered at the time-- I love them but that is my personal preference! Plus I am over 5'10 and my husband is 6'4" so the additional height is wonderful and I still fold clothes on top)

  • 19 years ago

    I just did a couple more medium sized loads and the vibration is as minimal as I think the washer can get.
    As I said, although the delivery guys did an adequate job of leveling the washer, I was not satisfied that the legs had the washer higher than I wanted. But after doing the whole lowering of the washer legs and then re-leveling and adjusting the legs, I see that the front legs and the rear left leg does indeed need to be raised to achieve optimum leveling and stability of the washer. So now I'm satisfied with how the washer is setup.