Cons: maintenance issues require extended warranty, door stays locked, pump and chimes are annoying
The Bottom Line: This compact machine has features unavailable from any other manufacturer in the U.S. market, but durability and maintenance issues require an extended warranty.
share_info's Full Review: LG WM3431 Front Load All-in-One Washer / Dryer
Based on five years experience with two LG washer/dryer models, I hope to write a very informative review. (I bought the original model WD3243 when it was new, and when it stopped drying I upgraded to the new WM3431.) This is a good machine especially for a small apartment, but it has some issues and there are some caveats to know in advance.
EXTENDED WARRANTY. Ordinarily, I never buy extended warranties, but this machine really needs one because lint accumulates in the drying duct and you cannot remove it without taking the machine apart and cleaning out the duct with a special tool (like a giant pipe cleaner). After around 200 cycles, i.e. around a year of typical use, the duct will probably accumulate enough lint that the drying sensor will no longer work properly. That happened to me on both of my LG models, and others have reported the same experience. Fortunately this time the repair person from Best Buy knew how to fix it. (Previously, two repairmen failed to fix the original model, because neither they nor anyone at LG could figure out the problem. An epinions reviewer also discovered the solution and reported it in an epinion on this model, http://www.epinions.com/content_240366358148.) You can do it yourself but the machine can develop other problems later. If you ask the store to throw in an extended warranty at time of purchase, they might say yes, or you can get one separately (e.g. eBay) for less than $100 for five years. (That includes the original 1-year warranty.) Remember to activate the extended warranty on time, usually while the original warranty still has at least 90 days remaining.
COMPACT SIZE. The 3431 is the compact model that fits in the space of a dishwasher. (LG also offers a larger model 3677 if you have more space and want more capacity.) Also, if you want the machine to wash and dry, you should only fill it halfway because tumble drying requires airflow. The machine can wash and dry a king-size duvet cover (just the cover by itself), or a king-size sheet and pillow cases, but not more. The capacity is plenty for one or two people, maybe more, provided you are willing to do small loads frequently instead of letting everything pile up. Smaller loads of similar items (color, thickness, lint level) are the most efficient and produce the best results. Some reviewers on other sites have complained the machine is too small compared to typical machines, but that’s like comparing a Prius to an SUV: you might have to make more than one trip in a Prius, but it will still use less fuel than the SUV. Also, the machine has a timer, so you can start it in the morning and set it to be ready when you come home in the evening, and then run another load in the evening if you like. The only time the capacity might be too small is if you really need to do a lot of laundry in one day, for example closing a vacation house for the season, in which case a trip to a commercial laundry might make sense. Ordinarily, if you are willing to match your habits to the machine’s capacity, it is fine for at least two people.
SLOW DRYING. Condensation drying is more gentle on clothes than vented drying, but it is slower and the water has to be on during the dry cycle. (Even with that, the wash saves so much water that it still uses less than a typical top-loading washer.) Drying typically takes around two hours, although the higher spin speed in this new model enables it to dry thin items (e.g., sheet & pillow cases) in one hour. LG is the only combo manufacturer to offer sensor drying in the U.S., but the sensors are thermistors (temperature) not humidity so they are imperfect and, as noted in EXTENDED WARRANTY above, they will stop working when lint builds up in the dryer ducts.
NOISE. Ironically, this model is advertised as a “LoDecibel” machine, but the pump is actually louder (70dB) than the original model and the new electronic chimes at the end of the cycle cannot be switched off. The pump is similar to a conventional washing machine’s, but it runs every few seconds throughout the 2-hour drying cycle. In an apartment, both you and possibly a neighbor will hear it, which may restrict the hours when you can use the machine. Also, although some people like the electronic chimes, I find them gimmicky and annoying. The wash and rinse cycles are very quiet, in fact sometimes I have to look at the machine to see if it is operating, but the drying and the chimes are clearly audible.
DOOR LOCK. After drying, the machine chimes to say that it is ready, but the door remains locked for several hours. You can get the door to unlock sooner by pressing any button and waiting around 80 seconds. The original model had a mechanical “emergency” latch to open the door, but this model opens only electronically. I find this unwanted “feature” very annoying, especially since the machine has already chimed to say it’s ready. The delay is totally independent of temperature. It seems like a safety feature that got confused somehow, perhaps due to different departments of a big company not communicating very well.
BEST PRACTICES. Washing and drying are different, and doing both in one machine requires planning.
For best results, group items according to color, thickness, and whether they shed or catch lint. Similar colors and lint levels won’t noticeably contaminate each other, and similar thicknesses will dry in about the same time. (As a cautionary example, avoid washing a thick red towel with a thin white shirt, because the shirt will turn pink and get covered in lint, and it will dry and wrinkle while the towel remains damp.) Also, the sorting process yields small loads that fit easily into the machine’s compact capacity.
Because condensation dryers use water to dry, even the More Dry and Timed Dry settings tend to be a bit humid - not damp, but humid. (You can test this by placing a dry item in the drum and setting it to dry for a half hour; it will come out humid.) If you are folding things away and putting them in a drawer, Normal Dry or More Dry is fine but leave the drawer ajar for a few hours to allow the humidity to dissipate and prevent musty smells. The Less Dry setting is best for anything that you plan to hang up, like shirts or trousers, because they will dry flat on the hanger without ironing. (The original model offered a half hour of “No Heat” tumbling, which was better, but this model does not offer that option.) Normal Dry is fine for anything you plan to wear right away.
After each full cycle, doing a ‘rinse only’ cycle can clean out the drum and prevent lint transfer from one load to the next. Unfortunately, the new model no longer offers a ‘rinse only’ feature directly, but you can still do it: press the on/off button until the display shows ---, then press Spin once, then Option three times, then Spin twice. The display should show RINSE 19. Press the start button, and the machine will rinse the drum twice in 19 minutes so it’s clean and ready.
Compared to the original model 3243, the new model 3431 looks more gimmicky and expensive, but it offers some real advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are: (1) higher spin speed (1400 rpm vs. 1200), which results in faster drying; (2) heated (160 degrees F) “Extra Hot” wash option (also called Sanitary, which is a bit misleading because it does not reach the 200 degree temperatures that 220volt machines call sanitary); (3) 5% larger capacity (2 cu.ft.). The disadvantages are: (1) locking door that you can’t open manually; (2) more noise including a louder pump and chimes you can’t switch off; (3) ‘no heat’ drying has been eliminated; (4) ‘rinse only’ is harder to find.
In conclusion, I would recommend this machine to anyone who wants to wash and dry in a small space, provided you get an extended warranty. It is the only combo in the U.S. to offer sensor drying, it has the fastest spin speed, and it is easy to install because it uses 110volts and no dryer vent. If anyone from LG reads this, I hope the next model will address this model’s disadvantages compared to the original. Meanwhile, I am keeping this one, at least until the extended warranty runs out.
P.S. In reply to comment requesting further detail, the selector knob and buttons provide many cycle options as described in Epinions' Details page (link above) and the manufacturer's product page:
http://us.lge.com/products/model/detail/home%20appliances_laundry_washer|dryer%20combos_WM3431.jhtml
The manufacturer's page also has a link to the instruction manual, which provides a table of cycle options on page 12:
http://us.lge.com/download/product/file/1000000481/WM3431owners.pdf
The manual does not explain how to do 'rinse only', so I wrote that into the section on BEST PRACTICES above. Happy reading :)
P.P.S. One other small disadvantage of the new model 3431 compared to the original 3243 is the timer. With the original model, you entered the number of hours after which the machine should be ready, e.g. if you were leaving for the day and wanted the machine to be finished 10 hours later, you would enter 10 hours. With the new model, you enter the number of hours the machine should wait before starting. That is easy enough, but you have to guess how long the cycle will take - or test that - and then subtract that time from the total time in order to calculate the delay. The old model figured all that out for you. It seems odd that LG would step backwards in technology, but it still works well enough. With both machines, after the cycle completes, the machine goes into a "Cd" ("cool down") mode of tumbling occasionally to prevent wrinkling; that continues for three hours or more.
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