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Jon you do know that the lid is reversable...lift out the bumpers and unscrew the lid to the top and reverse to what ever side you want as long as its left or right...just make sure to put the bumpers back in...Coppertone eh?! Nice!
 
Wonderful restoration Jon, you are going to love this machine. I love my Philco, so very rare and unique. A very gentle machine actually, just like a 3-Ring Frigidaire or Apex.

I'll be interested to see the turnover with a large load, the early models had amazing turnover without any tangling, even sheets!
 
Yay Another Philco Ford Appliance Saved

Hi Jon, I am really excited to see this washer we had for years being restored, I always loved the design of this washer.

This newer larger capacity version of this machine largely solved the tangling problems of the earlier solid versions of this washer, but unfortunately the great turn-over of the earlier machine disappeared as well, Oh Well. I had a washer like this one for a year or so in my home laundry room and it could not begin to turn over big loads of larger items, even 3 or 4 pairs of jeans proved almost imposable for the agitation to turn over at all.

Remember since these machines were financed by the Ford credit department be sure to make timely payments to avoid collection costs.

John L.
 
Actually John, there is absolutely no tangling in my Philco and I have the very first version of this design and have used it for nearly 15 years now. Not even sheets! There is a bit of the a tangling issue in their Power Surge models due to the lack of center post on the agitator, but by '59 that was solved.
 
Look at the flapillator in the early machines compared to the later ones... The earlier ones, the flap was much more straight, with 3 'mild' waves in it... I think this allowed more 'push' to the water and gave much better turnover...

These later machines, the flap is 'severely' waved, so that 3 large parts of the flap point down, and the 3 smaller parts nub straight... I think the engineers thought that this would direct a stronger push out of the 3 straight nubs...

They were wrong... When I did a few loads in the machine at Mark's in Wytheville, I found that the load sunk to the bottom and got kneaded into a fabric donut... Seeing all the "free" water circulating around, you think, "Wow, this machine is huge!" when in reality, the more clothing you added, the thicker the donut got at the bottom... Once it got to the rinse, I saw this clearly through the water...

I look forward to your review! What options do you have on the control panel? And how does the printed text of how many cycles it has compare to reality?
 
The Tub Indexing is

solved.

 

The Virgin Load Video is up from East Coast Washer Labs.

 

Several my-sized beach towels were used and not hurt in this test.

 

I used standard quality upload because of size  and speed. Enjoy!

 

Hula-Washing®  is the best !!

 

 

 

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB5b4oji_SA
 
Great video Jon! I remember the waves on top of the load as it washed in my aunt's Philco. I wonder how it would do with a regular load of laundry...also how much lint did the filter catch with the towel load?
 
Ill keep that in mind

Phil LOL !!

 

Glenn there is a suds kill in wash spin and again in rinse spin. Two sprays on DolphinDrain© and two during the FlutterSpin© when the hulatator flaps the clothes dry.

 

I love that dolphin drain, it starts spinning and draining and then all of  a sudden the splashing dolphin appears !!

 

#Mike, I forgot to check the lint filter, will do that.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Here's another video of an earlier design, taken by Robert/Unimatic1140 in 2001 during repair of his 1959 machine.

 
I kinda expected that you would get that much lint n the filter like that. That system draws the water thru the barrel and down thru the filter. The pumping ring and nutation moves a great amount of water. Wait til you wash something with a lot of dog fur and such....it will surprise you.
 
Wonderful Videos!

I’ve always been fascinated by these machines, what a shame nobody else used this design. I wonder if it would be possible to mount a small hula girl on the chrome plated top of that beautiful blue hulatator to make sure everything is indeed “hula clean”?
 
Water so energized you can see it escaping on top!

What a cool machine, Jon, you did a great job getting this one up and running.

Now go get that stack of jeans!

(I did film that at Jimmy FilterFlo's back in '08 - I'm not sure why it seems so loud, probably that there were a couple of other machines running in the room at the same time.)
 
Philco!

Jon,
Very nice washer. I did think the turnover would be better. It was wierd not seeing the agitator post move. Was this the bigger version of the Philco design machine?
Thanks
Peter
 
So cool!  Great job as usual Jon!  I love the colors of this machine put together!

Was this action a new version of the Bendix Power Surge Actions from 1957?  

I have seen videos of this wash action without the post.   I just don't understand why they thought

a center post was so important when you see the turnover results with the early 1957 Power Surge without 

the center post.  

Gansky1 videos are the only example I have seen so far.

So much wonder as why they felt they needed the center post. 

I love all of the washers...just curious.  You will have so much fun with this machine Jon.  A great tester for your low suds detergent.  

Fun!

Brent

 
 
Yay Another Philco Ford Appliance Saved

Great job Jon, now on to the dryer, maybe you could convert the dryer into a Heat-Pump dryer while you are rebuilding it.

Why did they use a center-post ?, Probably for several reasons, 1 its looks more conventional so it would be less likely to scare buyers away, 2 it makes it less likely to tangle items, 3 it provided a great way to have a lint filter and dispenser.

I had one of these washers years ago in my laundry room for over a year and tried to use it a good bit, but for anything but small low water loads it was not very effective, it was kinda fun however.
 
Peter

Like you I was turnover turnover turnover coming from FrigidaireVille. But

 

As Gansky pointed out to me turnover isn't everything and isn't the only action that cleans clothes in a machine, there is temperature, immersion and the detergents. 

So I have given Philco a handicap on turnover and it is early but I'm seeing very clean lint free clothes coming out of it.

 

I think this is the bigger version as its 1966 but I'm really green on Philco right now I need to learn more. The tub is rated at 14 pounds in Doctrine.  I think it spins really well at 595 for the tub diameter clothes seem damp dry. I don't feel the need to respin them before dryerville.

 

See the results below -pure as the driven snow skivvies - Philco Flex-A-Wash clean !!

 

[this post was last edited: 10/8/2014-08:08]

jetcone-2014100807105502752_1.jpg
 
Yay Another Philco Ford Appliance Saved

Great job Jon, now on to the dryer, maybe you could convert the dryer into a Heat-Pump dryer while you are rebuilding it.

Why did they use a center-post ?, Probably for several reasons, 1 its looks more conventional so it would be less likely to scare buyers away, 2 it makes it less likely to tangle items, 3 it provided a great way to have a lint filter and dispenser.

I had one of these washers years ago in my laundry room for over a year and tried to use it a good bit, but for anything but small low water loads it was not very effective and often in full water level loads the laundry would actually fall asleep during the wash cycle, LOL, but overall it was kinda a fun washer.
 
A little leg action, too!

The videos are the proof. All washers have strengths and weaknesses for different types of loads. I suspect you may not be as impressed with the wash action when doing large items like blankets, sheets, etc. but, who knows? It may prove itself there too and become one of the least appreciated washers in vintage applianceville!
 

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