1965 Ward's Signature Automatic Washer - Full Cycle Video

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Thank you for this! :) I love the control panel and programmed cycles.

Question- does the motor drop back onto its start winding when the tub initially engages into spin? What appears to pulse the tub during the spray rinse so it does not come to a complete stop?

Excellent video, I feel this washer was ahead of its time.
 
Question- does the motor drop back onto its start winding when the tub initially engages into spin? What appears to pulse the tub during the spray rinse so it does not come to a complete stop?

Yes it sure does drop back into the start winding, just like a Unimatic does. There is no clutch in the first two years of production of the Plus-Capacity designs that is why there is such a careful Extract cycle sequence to prevent any chance of suds-locking.

Those aren't pulses, it's just caused by sympathetic momentum from the motor turning the drive pulley.
 
Yes it sure does drop back into the start winding, just like a Unimatic does. There is no clutch in the first two years of production of the Plus-Capacity designs that is why there is such a careful Extract cycle sequence to prevent any chance of suds-locking.

Those aren't pulses, it's just caused by sympathetic momentum from the motor turning the drive pulley.


Neat. Does the motor protector tripping out just turn off the motor or does it also in addition to the motor break the circuit to the timer motor and water valves?

My Speed Queen has a slipping belt and the motor has never tripped out on overload however if it did it would remove power from all the internal components until the Klixon reset. I sometimes wonder by a chance if this might have been a hold over from the old days.


I remember one of the first modern full size non inverter top load washers to not have a spin clutch were the General Electric model T washers from ~2003 onward. This was when they changed over to a permanent split capacitor drive motor and would manage suds lock (and of course a slow/no drain) by not letting the machine go into spin unless the pressure switch had reset to empty. This did not work out perfectly as there were still instances of a mild to moderate suds lock causing the tub to drag without the pressure switch engaging back to full causing the motor to trip out on overload. There is even a thread on AW.org where this happened.

It sounds like Wards developed an even better strategy by not letting the suds lock happen in the first place instead of trying to detect it as it was happening.

Fascinating washer and I can't thank you enough for making a video of it.
 
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Neat. Does the motor protector tripping out just turn off the motor or does it also in addition to the motor break the circuit to the timer motor and water valves?

I have no idea because it's never once suds-locked, even with suds completely covering the entire agitator. Glad you enjoyed the video!
 
1965 Norge built, top-of-the-line Montgomery Ward automatic washer

Another great video Robert. This was such a fun machine and you’re so fortunate to have one that actually works.

This was a great performing machine. That’s for sure. I love the original models where they loaded right up and went into spin with no fooling around the later models had much more trouble getting up to spin speed.

The power for the entire machine went through the Motors overload protector, so if it does trip everything stops until it resets, which was not a bad way of doing it most Norge washers did that.

I imagine the reason Wards didn’t sell more machines as they had a terrible reputation for reliability, even though it was a great performer, however, the matching dryer was probably the most rugged dryer on the market, exceeding the reliability of any other dryer sold in the US at the time. I don’t think we ever saw a Norge belt washer in this time frame In a family of four or more that ever lasted even 10 years without major, mechanical failures, they did be up the quality by the later 60s they were a little better when they started advertising the VHQ very high-quality machines.

John L
 
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