Front load washer balance/knocking problem

This may not be exactly tractor related, but I am having a problem with the washing machine we use to clean my clothes after working on my tractors. We have a 10 year old Kenmore HE3t front load washer. If the drum is empty or well balanced it spins just fine. If the clothes are out of balance it makes a horrible banging noise. I have been all through it and replaced the shock absorbers (actually steel and plastic dampenning tubes).
The best I can remember, when it was new, it seemed like if it felt itself out of balance it would stop itself and roll back and forth a few times to fluff up the clothes before trying the spin cycle again. Now it does not do that. If you stop the spin and fluff up the clothes yourself, and if you fluffed the clothes just right it spins without any noise. I think I read on an appliance forum that the motor is very sophisticated and can sense the out of balance. I have looked all through the parts list and cannot find anything that looks like a vibration sensor.
I thought maybe some of you guys had worked on a few washing machines and had solved that problem. Any help will be appreciated.

Do what this guy did......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hnBv12-uk

Make a million-hit video!

Our front loader works as you said yours used to, but it's a Maytag. I can only guess that there is some sensor that has gone out. The sensor could literally be mounted anywhere on the unit, as when it gets out of balance, it affects the whole machine. However, I would expect most likely it would be attached somehow to the drum.

First, do a web search for repair or service files for your make/model machine and try to locate where this sensor might be. Might also be able to do a web search for your machine and the words "balance sensor"; maybe someone else has posted elsewhere about where it is located. You might also try taking the outer skin off of the machine and looking to see if any wires have come loose.

Our machine has a brick wired to the inside that somehow helps control the balance of the machine. Caught me totally by surprise when I put the 2 (parts machines together into one) several years ago. But never really figured out exactly how it all works in these newer models.

We replaced our washer and dryer last summer. We bought a top loading washer that doesn't have an agitator in the drum. While shopping, a salesman told us the average life of the main drum bearing on a front loader was about six years. He sold front loaders as well as others, so we took his word for it.

Thinking on it, that bearing does have a lot of pressure on it.

Front loaders and probably top loaders are supposed to slow down then try again to go into extract if the load is out of balance. I agree that there must be a sensor that is bad. Light loads are hard on washer seals and bearings because it is hard for them to balance a small load. We are on our second front loader in twenty-eight years. we like it because it uses 1/3 the water of a top loader and has five times the agitation. Top loaders are too costly to operate. That is why there is no such thing as a top loading commercial or industrial washer.

Speed Queen builds what I would call a commercial duty top loader( I own one) and I see what appears to be the same model in many laundromats. I
believe that Maytag does as well.

You're right on the 6 year life. That's about what our front load lasted. The drum got to banging around real bad. I had a repairman come out and he quoted me the price for replacing the drum bearing. I told him for that price I could buy a new top load and we did. No more front load washers for us.

(quoted from post at 16:56:35 04/22/17)
Front loaders and probably top loaders are supposed to slow down then try again to go into extract if the load is out of balance. I agree that there must be a sensor that is bad. Light loads are hard on washer seals and bearings because it is hard for them to balance a small load. We are on our second front loader in twenty-eight years. we like it because it uses 1/3 the water of a top loader and has five times the agitation. Top loaders are too costly to operate. That is why there is no such thing as a top loading commercial or industrial washer.

Click to expand...

Yes there is. Speed Queen makes top loading commercial washers. We have one. Same machine as what is found in many laundromats, minus the coin slot.

(quoted from post at 06:48:36 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 16:56:35 04/22/17)
Front loaders and probably top loaders are supposed to slow down then try again to go into extract if the load is out of balance. I agree that there must be a sensor that is bad. Light loads are hard on washer seals and bearings because it is hard for them to balance a small load. We are on our second front loader in twenty-eight years. we like it because it uses 1/3 the water of a top loader and has five times the agitation. Top loaders are too costly to operate. That is why there is no such thing as a top loading commercial or industrial washer.

Click to expand...

Yes there is. Speed Queen makes top loading commercial washers. We have one. Same machine as what is found in many laundromats, minus the coin slot.

Click to expand...

To those in the business a "commercial" machine would be at least 35 lbs. capacity. A commercial label on a domestic appliance the same as anything else, does not make it commercial grade. Far from it.

(quoted from post at 07:13:46 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 06:48:36 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 16:56:35 04/22/17)
Front loaders and probably top loaders are supposed to slow down then try again to go into extract if the load is out of balance. I agree that there must be a sensor that is bad. Light loads are hard on washer seals and bearings because it is hard for them to balance a small load. We are on our second front loader in twenty-eight years. we like it because it uses 1/3 the water of a top loader and has five times the agitation. Top loaders are too costly to operate. That is why there is no such thing as a top loading commercial or industrial washer.

Click to expand...

Yes there is. Speed Queen makes top loading commercial washers. We have one. Same machine as what is found in many laundromats, minus the coin slot.

Click to expand...

To those in the business a "commercial" machine would be at least 35 lbs. capacity. A commercial label on a domestic appliance the same as anything else, does not make it commercial grade. Far from it.

Click to expand...

I consider 4 pair of bib overalls with as many shirts to be a full load, and our SpeedQueen handles it just fine. The machines at the laundromat don't have any more capacity.

(quoted from post at 07:59:30 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 07:13:46 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 06:48:36 04/23/17)

(quoted from post at 16:56:35 04/22/17)
Front loaders and probably top loaders are supposed to slow down then try again to go into extract if the load is out of balance. I agree that there must be a sensor that is bad. Light loads are hard on washer seals and bearings because it is hard for them to balance a small load. We are on our second front loader in twenty-eight years. we like it because it uses 1/3 the water of a top loader and has five times the agitation. Top loaders are too costly to operate. That is why there is no such thing as a top loading commercial or industrial washer.

Click to expand...

Yes there is. Speed Queen makes top loading commercial washers. We have one. Same machine as what is found in many laundromats, minus the coin slot.

Click to expand...

To those in the business a "commercial" machine would be at least 35 lbs. capacity. A commercial label on a domestic appliance the same as anything else, does not make it commercial grade. Far from it.

Click to expand...

I consider 4 pair of bib overalls with as many shirts to be a full load, and our SpeedQueen handles it just fine. The machines at the laundromat don't have any more capacity.

Click to expand...

Very true, but that is way short of the thirty five lbs that commercial machines start at. I had a county jail customer that had three 125 lb and one 65 lb washer-extractors. They were constantly under-loading them. I kept warning them of the consequences and even wrote to the county commissioners. Well, the seals and bearings went out at about ten years when they should have lasted thirty. They replaced them with 50 lb washer-extractors. It is like the difference between an Ex-mark ZTR and a big box store JD. How many landscapers do you see with the homeowner mower?