Washing Machines

Twin-tub or automatic washing machine:

in Panama the choice starts with the water at your tap. A twin-tub semi-automatic is filled with a hose or a bucket and needs no water pressure at all, which is why it stays the machine of choice in houses where the supply comes and goes. The spin basket is smaller than the wash tub, so a full load spins in two goes. Check whether it has a drain pump: with one it pushes the water up into a sink or a standpipe, and without one it drains by gravity and needs a floor drain set lower than the machine. An automatic fills itself through an electric valve, so it wants steady pressure. Top-loaders have either a tall agitator post that scrubs hard, handles work clothes and twists shirts into knots, or a low impeller disc that is gentler, holds more and uses less water and leaves less work for the irons and steamers. A front-loader tumbles the clothes in a horizontal drum, gentler still, but it asks for low-suds HE detergent and a solid, level floor. Washer-dryer combos dry far less than they wash; with the room, a front-loader under one of the dryers gets through the laundry faster.

Drum size and the badge on the lid:

a couple gets by with 12 to 16 kg, while a household washing sheets and towels every week is better off at 20 kg or more. Automatics on Panamanian shelves mostly carry LG, Samsung, Whirlpool, Mabe, Frigidaire or Hisense badges, and an inverter direct-drive motor, quieter with no belt to slip, is worth paying for in an apartment. Twin-tubs also come from cheaper brands such as Sankey or Nisato, which wash fine, but on a used one ask where the last spare part came from.

A $100 twin-tub against a $600 top-loader:

new twin-tubs run from about $100 for a small one without a pump to around $300 for the biggest, while a 20 kg-plus inverter top-loader sits closer to $450 to $650. Between a new and a used twin-tub the gap is narrow, since a new one already sits at the bottom of the market, and a used one earns its keep mostly by being down the road. A used automatic is where the saving is real: one a few years old that runs a clean cycle tends to ask $150 to $300, and the discount reflects that the bearings, the transmission and the control board are the repairs still ahead of it.

Bearings, seals and suspension on a used washer:

have the seller run a short cycle while you watch, from fill through drain to spin. One that will not empty needs a drain pump or a filter cleared, a cheap fix and a fair reason to offer less. On a top-loader, press down on the rim of the empty tub. It should bob back gently, and a tub that bangs the cabinet on spin has tired suspension rods. On a front-loader, lift the drum by its top edge: a clunk, or a rumble as it speeds up, means bearings, the repair that can cost more than the machine is worth. Fold back the door seal for tears and black mould, and check that the door locks and releases every time. On a twin-tub, open the spinner lid mid-spin; the basket should brake to a stop within seconds.

The rating plate, the hoses and the transit bolts:

photograph the rating plate first, then the drum, the door seal or lid, and the back. State the capacity in kilos, the type (twin-tub with or without a pump, agitator, impeller or front-loader), whether it is inverter, how old it is and what has been replaced. On a top-loader give the height with the lid open, because that is what hits a shelf. Keep it plumbed in until the buyer arrives, and include the hoses. If it is a front-loader, dig out the transit bolts that came off the back when it was installed: whoever drives in from Penonomé or Tocumen needs them back in before the drum rides home in the back of a pickup.