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Frigidaire Gallery FWT445GES1

by Roger
(Assaria, KS)

We purchased our Frigidaire Gallery Front Load Washer on 09/04/1997. This was a replacement for our previous model a 1988 Gibson Front Load Washer, which had the old style (bendix) drive system with belts and pulleys in it. Our mover dropped our Gibson washer and sprung the insides and it never quite worked as well again; therefore we replaced it.


The Frigidaire Gallery model FWT445GES1 has a belt driven motor but none of the gears and pulleys of the old style. The result was a much quieter machine. We've been using the Gallery set for 11 years now and the only problem we've ever had is the door lock solenoid gets a little buzzy sometimes; even after having been replaced.

We replaced the start knob once too as the gear inside broke. I did have to clean out the drain pump one time, it had a tooth pick in it and it was causing a loud sound during the spin cycle. Once the toothpick was removed, everything was back to the normal quiet operation.


Our original owner manual on our Gibson set stated that you should condition your clothes when changing from a top loader to front loader because of a possible sudsing problem.

Gibson said you should first wash your clothes with no soap as top loaders were notorious for leaving soap residue in the clothing. Gibson also recommended to condition the machine by running it empty with the hottest water available and 1/3 cup (non sudsing) ammonia and then letting the machine follow the entire cycle to rinse out any remaining ammonia. We have
done that religiously since our very first purchase with our Gibson model and followed the same with our Frigidaire Gallery set.

It is a shame that they don't put that same information in with the new machines, but we've looked at the owner manuals and it is no longer there; it was not even in our 1997 Frigidaire Gallery Front Load owner manual.
I've read all kinds of complaints on the Frigidaire/GE/Kenmore models made by Frgidaire with knocking, bumping and thumping during the spin cycles. I have to wonder if many of the people have over suds their machines.

The HE detergent that these washers use has an amount guide for Front Loaders but they do vary in size (capacity) it would not make sense to use the largest amount of detergent for one of the smaller size machines.

I have to wonder if the potential of over sudsing is what might be causing damage to bearings and such causing lube to leak into the tub on some of these machines. We have not experienced any of those problems so far, and we've washed everything imaginable in our machine, rugs, quilts, and even the dog's bed.


I hope this information may be of some help to other Frigidaire/GE/Kenmore owners before they need major service on their sets.
Also we have used both powdered and liquid detergents since our purchase of this machine with good results from both.

We actually preferred a powdered detergent called FRESH START for High Efficiency machines but it is no longer available in our area. So we currently are liquid HE detergent users.

Comments for Frigidaire Gallery FWT445GES1

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Jul 28, 2012
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Door leaking
by: MKR

Geez I still love this unit but lately the door is leaking, I can't figure if it is the seal itself or the door latch. Any ideas out there? Also what is the cubic capacity....?

Mar 26, 2011
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NEED A PART
by: Anonymous

need latch part to keep door shut, just cracked on me, any ideas?
Michael

Oct 10, 2010
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repair
by: Anonymous

I would like to know how to open it up to find what the bullet soundind noise is on the spin cycle

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