25 years musing on washer restoration: The front loader vs the top loader.

[jetcone]

Tools of the trade

Well when I hit the wall Monday nite and posted this thread it forced me to look in a totally new direction and I found some very helpful new tools I had not known about before.
Thats why you always support your LOCAL Hardware Store , after years (25+) of doing business you get help you would never get at HomoDepot.

Buna N Rubber joins hard under Krazy Glue,and springs are great tube bending tools so that you don't kink your tube!!

 

[jetcone]

Close up of the Grove

You need to have the water hit and ride this grove and the inside must be clean so that the water "sheets" down the inside surface. This machine was so scaled up and linted up the water would never have sheeted so I got to scrubbing with CLR another great tool in the arsenal!!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Deep breaths Jon, although I have to admit I've been there many times myself. I think part of the problem here is not so much that it's a front loader, but that it’s a Combo to boot. These machines are so very complicated with double the amount of parts of a regular washer. Front loaders definitely have more places to leak and Top Loaders generally have more complicated transmissions which can make for some difficult restorations.

My Whirlpool combo return hose problem has been solved once and for all by combining a part I found in Phoenix and a trip the auto parts store.

 

[jetcone]

Thanks Robert

The second water test this morining went alot better! We're almost there,now its exciting again!

Greg that door just gleams NEW! Nice money shot!

 

[gansky1]

It was my first front-loader ever! This is Don and Michael who help move the beast into the basement. Just look at the basement and the machines I had then.

 

[gansky1]

It was so minty-fresh and still smelled new! Did I mention the shipping braces were still bolted to the tub? One of my favorite parts was getting the manual out to "unpack" the machine, just like it had come from the factory.

 

[gansky1]

MINT!

 

[bpetersxx]

is this the offending washer

 

[westytoploader]

'53 Duo

Greg, how on earth did you come across that beautiful machine? Was it never used and new-in-crate? How much work did it need before it was running?

Now I'm quite curious!!!

 

[westytoploader]

bpetersxx: That looks like the '58 Jon has that he adapted an English door boot to, if I remember correctly.

 

[jetcone]

Bpeters

Yes Austin is right , that 58 is a HONEY of a machine it just goes and goes. I love my 58 what a sweet machine!

The duo I am referring to is one I captured in the wilds of R.I.
last feb and it is NOT cooperating.

Oh Greg that tub is to DIE FOR!

 

[neptunebob]

After reading all this: How are the front loaders today? Seems to me with more plastic there would not be as many seals, but after reading another thread about the He3t, I wonder if there has really been any improvement.

 

[toggleswitch]

BoHunk? Bojack Hunk?

Well thank you very much for the condenser info. Amazingly simple! And apparently effective!

I would have guessed the condensing water was somehow OUTSIDE the tube, and not directly in the same circuit as the warm air!

Looks like this machine in theory could be converted to vented without much work. I'm just sayin.........

Perhaps curent mannies could add an air diverter in new machines to allow for a quick and effective cool-down at the end of the dry cycle. This would eliminate that dewy end-of- cycle feel to the clothes as well.