1961 RCA Whirlpool Imperial Dryer - New Daily Driver

[combo52]

Hi Richard, That appears to be the correct element, this one is a Gem-Line copy of the WP element, but should work fine.

 

Did you remove the old element to see if it actually is what failed ?, in my experience this element seldom failed, I have a lot of these elements brand new in boxes that I will never need.

 

John L.

 

[speedqueen]

Element Failure

Thanks for the confirmation, John, I was getting concerned for a second that I may have ordered the wrong one.

My first indication that something was wrong was an insulator and some loops of wire at the bottom when cleaning it out. [first image]

When I took it out as you just suggested I was greeted with a rusty mess. It looks as though it sat at the bottom of Lake St. Clair. This is surprising to me as there is little rust on this machine otherwise and the element still has a part number sticker indicating it was likely already a replacement. I know heat can damage metal but this seems excessive. Also a safety hazard because the live coils were touching the cage.

 

[speedqueen]

Wiring diagram

For those interested here is the wiring diagram.

 

[maytag85]

I would try to find a identical wiring diagram, and I would put it in a sheet protector to preserve the wiring diagram. I put the wiring diagram of my Maytag DG810 dryer in a sheet protector, and I did the same thing with my Lady Kenmore portable dryer.

 

[speedqueen]

Diagram

If it has stayed glued on there for the last 53 years, I don't presume it is going anywhere fast.

 

[washerlover]

Beautiful dryer! I had a ‘65 two-speed in turquoise with matching washer. (Lost in wildfire two years ago)

My memory isn’t that great, however, that dryer did indeed have two drum rotation speeds. Maybe that changed in the later models compared to the earlier ones? I remember it was tricky to find a replacement belt for it because when you switched from “Super” to “Gentle,” the belt shifted on the pulley to change speeds.

 

[combo52]

2 Speed Whirlpool Dryers

There were three different styles of 2sp dryers, The first type [ 1964-1966 ] is the dryer being discussed in this thread where the blower and heat input changed, drum speed did not change.

 

The 2nd style [ 1967-1971 ] with a solid drum back had a flapper in the exhaust lint filter duct that restricted the air flow on gentile and reduced the heat input, again no change in drum speed.

 

The 3rd type [ 1972-1975 ] the drum speed could be varied, first year they gave you 3 tumble speeds and in the LAI and LAE models they only gave you two tumble speeds. On these models that had a variable temperature thromostat settings the heat input was reduced when you set the temperature below medium heat setting.

 

John L.

 

[philr]

I have a similar 1964 Canadian single speed RCA Whirlpool dryer (I don't think we ever had Inglis/Whirlpool 2 speed dryers here).

Mine does have the auto dry cycle and the older style drum and blower driven by V belt and pulleys at the back.

A new pair of machines!

I just got something else today! They're currently in my friend's truck so I don't have pictures but here's the tag from the washer. Maybe some Whirlpool experts will help me identify and date them!

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[maytag85]

PhilR

Does your RCA Whirlpool dryer have a belt and pulley system on it? I know that the blower on some of the early 60's Whirlpool/Kenmore dryers have a belt and and pulley for the blower, but does yours also have a belt and pulley for the drum?

 

[philr]

Yes it does.

 

[maytag85]

PhilR

Belt and pulley dryers are a lot quieter than dryers that have a belt that goes around the drum. I wish they still made dryers like these.

 

[speedqueen]

It was installed today!

The element came today and I installed it. After making a comparison video of it vs a modern 29" WP dryer, I ran the same load I did testing the modern dryer last week, spun out of the same Maytag A207, and despite preconceptions that it might not do so well I was blown away when it finished the load 5 minutes FASTER than the modern gas WP coming in at 40 minutes.

Here is a picture of the machine followed by one of the test load that was washed in the Maytag.

Later I will post a video of the general repair process and a comparison of this machine vs the modern one, as well as a video of it running after that.

 

[speedqueen]

Operation

Here is a video of the machine in operation.

 

[DADoES]

 
There should be a cool-down on the "regular" cycle but it's 5 mins, vs. W-n-W probably being 10 mins.

You can perhaps check the four thermostats for the target temperatures, they may be labeled accordingly.

 

[speedqueen]

Thanks DADoES,

I might do that eventually, I took it apart from the top this evening to grease the main sleeve bearing and oil the idler pulley as well as the fan shaft in hopes of quieting it down a little.

I noticed that the front felt and glides could use replacing, henceforth the scraping noises. Since no parts lookup site happens to list this model anymore, does anyone know what WP felt and glides part I should order, this being a small door model? It probably will be fine for service for a little while longer, but I figure that I might as well fix that, too.