No- I've had a SQ for close to 3 years and never had that problem. Are you looking inside during the wash cycle to make sure the water level is high enough?

Just to say .... knobs on the control panel does not always mean there's no electronics inside. Which specific model do you have? TR3? TR5? TC5?

Is your water level adjuster working alright? I've never heard, read or experienced this.

I have the TC5. I have looked inside during the cycle and the water seems high enough to me. Sometimes the clothing floats to the top of the water and bobs around on top and I have to submerge it.

Sounds like it is time to call repair.

That being the case, while looking inside while the cycle is running, it does appear that the agitator is moving around/back and forth? I have the AWN, so it's a little different than yours, but I have to assume the agitation is vigorous on yours. Yes? I'm stumped. Any chance you are an enthusiastic liquid fabric softener user, as in clothes are now water repellant?

TC5 is the recently-introduced "Classic" model that goes back to an old-style transmission and separately-moving agitator. It has an electronic board inside the panel. The knobs are to program the board.

It has no water level selector. All the cycles are preset to fill to either a "normal" level, or 3 to 4.5 gals more (depending on the cycle) if the Deep Wash option is selected. Sounds like your loads are too small, floating instead of engaging with the agitator. Repair can't do anything about that.

These are the fill levels per a cycle chart I have. The details could change if SQ does any programming changes on the computer board as production of the machines goes along.

Normal Eco -- 9" (13 gals) or 11" (16 gals)
Heavy Duty, Perm Press, Delicate -- 10" (14.5 gals) or 13" (19 gals)
Bulky/Sheets -- 11" (16 gals) or 13" (19 gals)

Wow, what excellent info thanks. A few notes on my end:

1. I have had this happen with large loads too, I'm just trying now not to over stuff it.

2. I have seen loads too where things are not bobbing around on top but all submerged and things on the bottom are coming out half wet and half dry.

3. I don't use any fabric softener. I put a half cap of Whole Foods organic liquid detergent in the washer before I fill it with clothes.

4. I can never see the agitator moving. I can hear something that sounds like it moving but the moment I open the lid it seems like it shuts off - a good safety function but hard to witness what is or isn't happening.

Per your point #4 - you cannot say that the machine is malfunctioning if you cannot full-see it operating. Previous models, the lid switch could be bypassed by placing a clothes pin in a specific location accessible via a gap at the rear of the machine. It's a non-permanent modification, removing the clothes pin returns "normal" operation. Here's a YouTube video (not mine) that shows where to place it. Clip it on the lower metal piece such that it lifts and holds up the piece above. Best not to attempt it if your machine is different or you're not clear on where to place it.

Point #2 - it's possible for some items to have dry spots at end of the cycle if the final spin is particularly long, and accentuated by air currents.

Are the affected items or any others coming out notably dirty / not clean?

Call for service if you feel that's necessary but there may be a charge if nothing is wrong and particularly if "instructional" calls aren't covered by warranty.

I think your machine is operating normally. Many folks see "dry" spots on their laundry when the cycle is finished and it's because they were spun pretty dry. It's physically impossible to have something submerged under water yet it is dry (unless it's waterproof). The TC5 has the old-school wash action that is aggressive. Even if something is floating, it's only momentary before it gets sucked back down under the water towards the agitator.

I have an older SQ, bought new, about 8 years old. Basic AWN412 model. I believe that my older SQ has the same agitation (210 degree) as the TC5.

I agree with Greeny. When a load finishes, there can be 'dry' (looking) spots on some of the items--because of the spin dry. (It seems to be more apparent on bulky synthetics, like a fiberfill comforter.)

I have tried to run much smaller loads, drape the clothes instead of packing them

Yes, do not 'pack' clothes in the washer. You want the clothes to be able to move thru the water and 'turn over' at a good rate. If the last items that you put into the washer are still at the top of the load when the rinse cycle action starts, you know that you overloaded the machine.

I don't 'drape' the clothes into the washer. Just scoop up a load of dirties and dump them in. Also, with items like sheets--don't drape & wind around the agitator. With queen sheets, I(lightly) scrunch up a sheet and put it kinda to the side of the agitator. Scrunch up the other sheet & put it on the other side of the agitator. You don't want to drape & wind around the agitator or the sheets will come out twisted into ropes.

The only thing that works is opening to top up towards the beginning of the cycle, sticking my arm in and swishing everything around by hand.

This sounds very much like you are overloading the machine.

One tip--you probably already know this--is that I often let the machine fill and agitate a bit to distribute the detergent and then stop the machine & allow the load to soak. (I never use the designated 'soak cycle'.) I've read that the enzymes in detergents are active for around 6 hours so, for really dirty stuff, I like to get all the goodie out of the enzymes that I can. Length of soak time varies...from no soak to an hour or so to an overnight soak. I've noticed that an overnight soak can be pretty smelly the next morning when I start the machine to finish the cycle. Clothes smell clean at the end of the cycle though. (Maybe the odor is dead enzyme stink??)

Just a follow up note: A service guy came to my house yesterday from the mom and pop appliance store where I purchased my Speed Queen. He has been servicing SQ's for 30 years. He said that the spin cycle is so fast that it can extract enough water to leave dry spots on clothes when they come out of the machine.

I'm a skeptic at heart, and still have a dose of it around his answer. However, he ran the machine through a bunch of different cycles and showed me the spin cycle with the lid open. Holy Moses, that thing spins so incredibly fast it is insane.

ci lantro - thanks for your reply. Drape might have been the wrong word to use - I don't shove the clothes in but rather let them fall in, and as you described I work clumps of laundry in sections on one side of the agitator and then the other, especially with sheets, so they don't wrap or wind around it. I have been making my loads much smaller than I used to and am sure I am not overloading it. So far the SQ seems like not the most environmentally sound choice in the short term.

Kendrah,

See my reply above on Oct 30, 2019 at 9:46AM to your Point #2. :-)

Your TC5 SQ spin speed specification is 710 RPM, which is good but not as fast as it seems to you. SQ transmission-type machine have spun at that speed for some years. The other SQ models TR3, TR5, and TR7 are a different design and get to 820 RPM. Whirlpool direct-drive toploaders from the early 1980s to approx 2010 were 640 RPM (70 RPM less than your SQ). Current Whirlpool & Maytags reach 700, maybe a little more.

There are other toploader designs that go faster. Frigidaire and GE had machines wayyyyyy back in the late 1940s and early 1950s that reached 1,140 RPM. Fisher & Paykel toploaders from the late 1990s reach 1,010 RPM (I have three) and a redesign a few years ago now have them at 1,100 RPM. Whirlpool & Kenmore Calypso models of the early/mid 2000s reached 800 RPM. Some of the impeller HE toploaders nowadays get into that range of 800 to 1,000 RPM.

Many frontloaders can hit 1,200 to 1,400, and possibly 1,600 RPM.

Waaaay back when I worked in Product Testing where we tested different brands of laundry equipment and detergents, bleaches etc, what we considered a
standard load of "whites" was 2 sheets, twin size, 2 shirts, men's white long sleeved, 4 tea towels and 9 diapers. Most people waaay over load their washer and that contributes to poor washability and excessive wear as the fabric rubs on the perforated tub.

A standard load for testing is typically 8-ish lbs ... even in machines that are rated for 18 lbs ... so those test loads are less than such machines can handle. I can *easily* get 8 pairs of men's 36x34 denim jeans, or 2 full sets of queen-size sheets, including 8 queen-pillow cases (4 allergy covers and 4 regular covers) in my agitator toploader that's rated for a 17.6 lbs. (8kg).

I have the same problem with my front load speed queen washer with pretty small loads. It sure does look like some of the clothes never got wet at all.

Your front load Speed Queen has a window in the door, yes? Have you watched a cycle all the way through to confirm some of the clothes don't get tumbled and wet?

i just purchased top load sq classic wirh agitator and mine does thr SAME!!! I open lid and i DONT overfill!!! i notice the same clothes stay in thr same area ans dont move around! the agitator doesnt move the clothes around at all lole my samsung ans my maytag did!! i use max fill too!!! when it rinses i also have to swish vlothes around wirh hand or it wont submerge. It makes sound like something is trying to move but each time i open lid thr same clothes are in thr samw area!!! nevrr had this issue woth cheaper washers!