Recently our team sat down with representatives of WASH Laundry Systems, who operate the laundry room on 1P.

The contract with WASH expires this year, and we have started the process of negotiating a renewal proposal with them. We will be opening the operation up to their competition so the PT Board will have multiple bids and service providers to consider. As the incumbent, we are hoping to come to a reasonable proposal for renewal, including improvements to the equipment and service.

As a result of the meeting, we discussed several maintenance and administrative issues. This includes one question which has come up several times recently from users – that is, “Why when I use two washers side by side, do they have different cycle times – for example, one washer takes 25 minutes, and for the same type of load the one right next to it takes 32 minutes?”

The rep told us there are multiple issues that can cause different run times on washers:

On the customer side:

1. Cycle selection – Normal to Delicates or Heavy soil level could be around a 5 minute difference.
2. Water selection – Hot or Cold selected by themselves will take longer to fill than selecting warm which lets both hot and cold enter machines at the same time.
3. The amount of clothes loaded into the machine. With a very small load more water will be put into tub, so longer fill time versus a large load.
4. Unbalanced load – Machine will stop spinning and restart to try and balance, and if severe enough machine it will not spin clothes dry.
5. Stopping cycle by lifting lid while it’s running – Whether adding softener or additional clothes, or the lid gets stuck open, time will be added, and it could add more time than the lid was opened for.

Machine or building issues:

1. Excess debris in fill hose screens can significantly slow down fill time.
2. Bad or deteriorating water valve on the machine
3. Building low water pressure at certain times.
4. Debris built up in the branchlines, particularly hot water lines.

Recently we asked for each machine to be inspected. The WASH service techs ran and timed all the machines with our engineer, and they all filled and ran within no more than a one minute difference. So at least at that point, we were good.

Whenever there is ever a maintenance problem (including if you notice significant differences in fill times or washer cycles), you can put in a service request with WASH at 1-800-342-5932. ALSO, they accept service requests online:

WASH Laundry Systems Service Requests

Also, don’t forget, you can see just how busy the laundry room is online:

Park Tower Wash Alert