1955 Hotpoint Washers!

[northwesty]

Semi Automatic

Well, as I remember it, you had to turn off the water manually with the dial, and then advance the dial to the wash cycle and yes it was automatic after that. This was sort-of a value-added feature since one might not need all that water for a small load.

I guess I was spoiled since both the Kenmore & the Bendix, which were older machines I had were fully automatic. The capacity of these older machines is such that I just fill them to the top anyway. I usually run the Kenmores with one less piece of clothing rather than one too many. It does sound a little different with a load of towels loading it down.

If for some reason you were called away as the Hotpoing machine was filling, it would just fill and fill with the water draining out. Not that that would ever happen.

One note: The hotpoint was the washer my Mom had when she was a newlywed back in the mid 50s so she got a kick out of seeing it when I had it. She remember well the time it broke and just kept filling but not draining and it flooded out the house. Don't know what cycle that was on though.

The above machine originated in Portland Oregon and now resides with another member up in Canada.

 

[akronman]

Semi-automatic

Cool, thanks, but how did it know the water level for RINSE?

 

[cornutt]

I wonder how long it's been since it was possible to buy that Wonderinse concoction...

 

[bajaespuma]

The Wonderinse was just an early design for a fully automatic rinse agent dispensing system. I know that by 1961 Hotpoint replaced it with what was to be a conventional rinse cycle dispenser that was filled in a small reservoir under a little flap built into the lid of the machine (with a matching bleach dispenser right next door) both controlled by solenoids just like the ones on KMs and WPs of the same era. From what I understand, they worked very well and that dispenser design lasted until the late 60's.

 

[tomturbomatic]

There was no need for a water level for rinse. It was a continuous overflow while the fill valve was energized. The pump could handle the flow rate from the inlet valve.

 

[hydralique]

Pardon my ignorance of pre-rimflow Hotpoints, but was this design completely different from GE washers of the era? After GE introduced the Filter-Flo in the late '50s, how long was it before Hotpoint washers shared most of their internal design?

 

Wonderful photos and scans in this thread BTW!

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint!

Yes the Hotpoint designs were completly different before the GE design rimflow. For one Hotpoint was a division of GE but a lot of the appliances were different. Also before Hotpoint went to the rimflow GE design they were all solid tubs!