1970s Philips 707 AWB126 Front Loader

[alanlondon]

Philip's brochure

Hello everyone, I love Philip's stuff from the 70s and here's the full brochure of the time incorporating the 707.

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you Alan, that's a wonderful brochure, heart attack material!!

 

[chestermikeuk]

Philips

Hi James, glad you got it all sorted, what a find, it looks in great shape, looking forward to seeing the blue dial "Spin Drain"...

Alan, many thanks for a great brochure as usual, Philips had a superb range of laundry appliances and we see that the 707 had one of the first PM , Permag
or Permanent Magnet Motors ha ha..

Louis, indeed, will test you in the morning on the Philips washer porn.

Kevin, many of our washers had the same simplistic user instructions, they conformed to the 7 HLCC (Home Laundry Consultative Council) programmes, all machine washable clothing had an identified number, ie programme 2 was a cotton intensive wash, low water level, 60d temp, 4 rinses and a fast spin. If it wasnt numbered it was like the Philips Alpha coded hence programme C....all the user needed to do was collect the same numbers and select the identified programm, simples!!

 

[supermaticjames]

@Louis - Hi Louis, thanks for the lovely comment!

Yes, I'm really growing fond of the sound the PM motor emits. For its size it's certainly up to the job and I did notice on the ratings sticker that it has a moderate power draw during tumbling. The timer switches the heater off during the short tumbles otherwise the power draw of the machine would exceed the rating of the socket (3100 watts).

I will do a video soon, at the moment there is no storage left on my phone but I should be in a position to upgrade at the end of this month. Then I will do some videos of this and my Hoover Keymatic.

@paul - You have a fantastically vivid memory! The blue accents really do give the machine sort of an air of self-importance dare I say? Considering it has a lot of chrome and brushed aluminium I am surprised needless to say that it's survived amazingly well.

I hope I stumble across that matching dryer but I'm guessing they are a rarity? Also, there is no sticker on the door hinge and it appears that there never was (no sticky residue).

I wouldn't consider myself to be an expert as far as taking things apart is concerned but thank you! In fact this machine didn't really need to be taken apart since it was so clean to begin with but Philips made everything so easily accessible that I couldn't refuse giving it a once over haha. The service manual certainly came in handy when taking apart and putting back together as quite a few parts of it are relevant and it has been good bedtime reading for me so thank you!

You are more than welcome to use my pictures in your upcoming thread!

@Alan - Thank you so much for posting that lovely brochure! I love how manufacturers actually put some effort into their brochures back then. Now I don't think they even put out brochures.

Kind regards,

James

 

[supermaticjames]

Hi Mike,

Thanks, I'm really glad I took the plunge and went for it. It's good to try something new!

I see your machine has the very same blanked off compartment in the dispenser, was this meant to be a bleach compartment for countries that bleached as part of their laundry regime?

James

 

[chestermikeuk]

Philips VarioSpin

Hi James, yes I believe so, rather ahead of its time I think, they really are great machines, I love the simplistic detail and even the plastic moulded concrete filled weights rather add an up market dimension to them instead of blocks of ballast concrete dont we think...

Does it explain the 4th compartment in the Service Literature?

 

[supermaticjames]

Hi Mike,

I was quite surprised to see that type of weight when I removed the lid, next best thing to a cast iron weight I reckon.

The parts list in the service manual says the blanking insert is a "bleach compartment cover".

James

 

[matchboxpaul]

Hi James.

Perhaps the door hinge label was a later thing with Philips.

Assuming that there are no other identifying labels anywhere on the machine, then I would say that the numbers '529' on the ratings sticker are the machines production date.
Using the 1980s Philips dating code, then I would say that your machine was built in the 29th week of 1975, which would make it a very early 707, as they were flogging the 202 in the period 1974-75.

If accurate then, for her age, your new old machine is mint!

Paul

 

[matchboxpaul]

Hi Alan.

Thanks for posting another of your wonderful brochures.

Was a delight to metaphorically leaf through and exudes a pride in the product that is seldom seen today.

Will keep an eye out for a Match 'n' Stack dryer!

Paul

 

[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.