1970s Philips 707 AWB126 Front Loader

[alanlondon]

Heavy reading...

Hi Paul and all, I wrote to Philips asking more about this motor when these machines first came out and to my surprise received this quite detailed report. I'm posting here 'for the record' and for anyone who has a technical mind! Cheers, Alan

 

[a440]

Beautiful washer.

I love the large holes in the wash basket.

It is so clean!

I am sure you will have a lot of fun with this one.

 

[statomatic]

Very nice machine !

 

[thelaundrylab]

Great thread!

Even though I've mentioned this before, I'm really pleased for you James, there has been some great finds for you recently. The Philips is in great condition. Look forward to seeing the machine in action Love the brochure Alan, thanks for sharing it with us all.

 

[jacques405]

Hi everyone, i am a Frenchman in his late forties and i own a 1974 Philips washing machine.
I am not especially into washing machines but i like this particular model a lot...

This machine is my washing machine since i am 3 years old.

My Mum and Dad bought it in 1974, we were 6 kids at home so it worked a lot.
In 1982 a Philips dryer was stacked on top of it.
In 1998 i remember changing the pump with my older brother.
In 1999 we sold the family house and i took the washing machine with me, since then it saw 3 house moving and served me very reliably.

I now have a family myself and i am writing this message with the noise of the machine behind me.

Last year i changed the belt and while searching internet about this machine i was happily surprised to find this forum.

I take good care of the machine, clean the filter on a regular basis and always open the door and remove the drawer when it's not in use. I live in Northern France where the water is very hard so i run it with vinegar every now and again.

The only problems are a little leak from the tank and the input fresh water electrovalve not sealing 100%, it is not a big problem: I only need to turn off the water at the tap, if i forget i find the drum full of water and water on the floor due to the leak...

 

[jacques405]

Very recently i have a new problem : Sometimes the machine stays in LAVAGE (washing) and i have to manually set it to RINCAGE (rince and spin).

I guess it comes from the little rotating cylinder acting as the programming device.
I was tempted to spray it with WD40 but i thought i would ask here before...
Is it a good idea?

As i said i like this machine a lot, it comes from an era when the engineers in Eindhoven were spending time and energy making reliable machines not making them fail after the warranty time and if you have tips on how to maintain it, i am interested...

 

[statomatic]

Bonjour ami français

Never ever use WD40 in a timer or even think about it (or any other mechanical device anyway) unless you want to completely ruin it !
This product isn't intended for lubricating (even does the opposite when the solvent evaporated), the solvent reacts with certain kind plastics and make it brittle (like acetone does).
The only way to fix a stuck timer is a complete disassembly, cleaning (with alcohol), lubrication (with the right oil & grease) and reassembly.
Before incriminating the timer check if it's not an electrical issue (the timer might not move because the thermostat or the pressure switch isn't closed).

 

[foraloysius]

The thermostat on these Philips machines were already electronic, very advanced for that time. But they were problematic too. So a broken thermostat could very well be the source of the problem. The machines without a separate thermostat were more durable because of that than the models with one. My Philips toploader had the same problem with the thermostat. Philips was aware of this problem IIRC.

 

[jacques405]

Thank you for the replies Gentlemen. Interesting facts about the WD40...

Would anyone be kind enough to tell me what the thermostat looks like and where it is on this machine?

 

[foraloysius]

The thermostat is the knob on the front that you set the temperature with and everything behind it.

If the timer isn't advancing, it might also be the heating element, if the water doesn't heat up, the thermostat will never let the timer to advance.

 

[statomatic]

In these machines the motor is wired in series with the heating element, it's used for overcurrent protection.
So when water heating is needed the motor is just shorted by the timer, that's explain the long pause during washing sequence.
And in case of the heating element is open, the drum won't move.
This machine has a timer with two motors (probably a Sibel CM550U or something close), one for the fast cams (for reversing) and another one for the slow cams (for program), if one of these motors goes bad the machine stays in the same position.

 

[foraloysius]

Oh yes, I totally forgot about that overcurrent protection. You could hear the hissing caused by the heater pause when the machine tumbled and then it started all over again. I actually bought my Philips toploader because it was one of the machines that could be connected to a 10 amps powerline.