ABC-O-Matic finally has a new home!

[easyspindry]

Great find!!!!

And the fact that it still works is amazing!!!

I found it interesting that the timer dial is almost exactly like the timer dial for the Maytag AMP that I grew up with. Did anybody else notice the similarity?

Jerry Gay

 

[combo52]

ABC O MATIC

WOW great find, it would be interesting to know why someone put this machine out in the barn so long ago when automatic washers were still expensive and in great demand.

 

My parents first AW washer was a 1955 Kelvinator, and I used to love to stand next to the washer and watch the stream of water shooting through the fill air-gap on the back of the machine as it filled. I remember that my mother used an old green Booton-Ware coffee cup to measure the Co-op Breakwater detergent that we always used. And one day I decided to see what would happen if I pushed the cup in the washer when it was running. So I reached up and opened the lid and pushed it in, when the cycle was finished and my mother when to unload the washer she found the cup which had been broken in several pieces. Powerful agitation for sure as those old Bootonware dishes were about impossible to break.

 

Probably one of the reasons that I like repairing appliances today is that I very well remember at least a half dozen different repairs that our Kelvinator suffered in its short 5 year life. Motor had to be sent out for rebuilding [ new centrifugal switch ], a new inlet valve, timer replacement, hose that went from outer-tub to the pump started leaking and had to be replaced, the boot under the agitator also had to be changed and the drain hose also filled with sand and clogged over time as the pump was fairly weak and couldn't keep itself clear. Finally the main bearings got so stiff that the machine just wouldn't spin well anymore and the machine was replaced with a new Franklin built Co-op washer in 1960 which lasted till 1966 with only a few problems.

 

 

And today people think that new appliances are troublesome, if they only knew. There were probably several times as many repair men back in the 1950s-1960s as there are now, Sears alone had 10s of thousands of repair men that mainly worked on washers and dryers, with the average washer or dryer needing some sort of attention every couple of years. Yet few automatic washers with all the good care people used to give thier expensive new appliances lasted even ten years before they were often deemed not worth repairing.

 

[swestoyz]

Great find! Congrats guys. Hopefully she won't need too much to get up to washing. Love the AMP-like timer dial.

The accordion-like hose could be reproduced with some items from the hardware store, or at least I put some thought into it when restoring the '59. The tough part is the rubber flange inside the tub. A sink strainer is what I was going to attempt to use if needed.

Looks to have a replacement agitator, say from a late 50's to early 60's Kelvinator? How's the upper boot?

Ben

 

[revvinkevin]

WOW!

 

 

Hey Chuck & Rich, what an ABC-O-Matically awesome find!   CONGRATS!   And it still works!  

 

So totally fantastic!  I'm jealous!

 

I look forward to future reports!

 

Kevin

 

[tolivac]

a washer that shatters a Booton cup into peices--aren't these the washers that can wash a paper napkin without tearing it?You do have to figure older machines-when they needed fixing-were DESIGNED to be easily serviced-such as the motor-today you would be forced to replace the motor-the new ones are rivited or welded together.

 

[perc-o-prince]

"This machine might still have the early clutch"...

Robert, Ours looks just like the diagram that you posted. It's sort of a black rubber wheel?

" it would be interesting to know why someone put this machine out in the barn so long ago when automatic washers were still expensive and in great demand."... John, sadly the ladies that we bought it from said that it was there when they purchased the property. They realy had no history for us :-( It must have come up in conversation that the machine had been sitting there for the past 50 years as this is what they told huck and I. You have to remember that this is New Hampshire. They didn't allways embrace new fangled technology with open arms. Our Thor Automagic came from a home in New Hampshire where the daughter of the first owner told us that her father bought the Thor for her mother. The mother used it two or three times and hated it. She never used the Thor again and continued to wash everything BY HAND!! The copper boil tub was still sitting on the Griswald cast iron gas burners when we first went to see the Thor!

"The accordion-like hose could be reproduced with some items from the hardware store"...Hi Ben. The tube seemed to have a few rips in it so what I have done is to coat the entire tube with Ulra-blue silicone calking then wrapped it with very strong gauze then painted over that with more silicone. I'm going to let it dry for a few days before I try it out. I hope that it works I'm not sure which upper boot you are talking about. There is a rubber boot when I take the agitator off. This is still in good shape and pretty soft.

All in all it looks like a pretty simple machine.

We'll keep you all posted

 

[jetcone]

Yes Rich & Chuck

that clutch at the bottom of the machine will need Vaseline before you attempt  a fully loaded tub. 

Can't wait to see it!

 

jon

 

 

[swestoyz]

Nice work on the tub hose. Hopefully your fix works out and you lucked out on the upper agitator boot!

To Jon's quote: "clutch at the bottom of the machine will need Vaseline...". I took the clutch completely apart in my Kelvinator and cleaned the inner drum to a shine and re-lubricated the clutch shaft and have not had any problems with the clutch, sans-Vaseline. It slips just fine without the added motivation of petroleum jelly.

Ben

 

[retro-man]

Yup up hea in cow hampshire we now have color tv, cement ponds and radio stations. Still haven't gotton onto how those dang washing machines work but me thinks its the devil. lol . thats why they got stashed in the barn and covered up. its the devil i tell ya. sorry could not let that comment go by.can't wait to see that new fangled washing machine you got.
Jon

 

[perc-o-prince]

Oh now, Elly May . Don't get your knickers in a twist!!

Chuck and I lived in New Hampster for a few years and I can tell you that Y'all think that push button phones are a communist plot! Hell, when I told some one in NH that Kennedy was dead they replied..."Gosh, I didn't even that know he was sick!"

All kidding aside. I love NH. I would move back in a second Much simpler pace than Mass.

Notice how I slipped "simpler" in there?

Would love to see you soon, Jon!

Rich

 

[Unimatic1140]

In my opinion...

Yes I wouldn't put any Vaseline on that clutch unless you know for sure you need it. I've seen some of the clutches get worn down where the Vaseline impedes spin pick up. There were two clutches produced by ABC/Kelvinator. If the machine trips the breaker during the spin pick up then you will need some lubricant in there, but give it a few tries first. The early clutch is on the spin pulley, the later clutch is on the motor shaft. The rubber wheel you describe is the pump drive which has nothing to do with the clutch, these images should help...

 

[jetcone]

Yes the finer points are needed here

Ben is right and Robert is right and I am right. It depends on the model year. The early ABC"s needed the Vaseline because of the material used on the shoes, the later ABC's and Kelvys used the stuff of brake shoes so needed no lubricant.

So try it with water and see ,you'll know right away.
I'll be over my little pretties! Soon my pretties,, very soon!

 

[perc-o-prince]

Thank you Ben, Robert and Jon

I will take all ideas into consideration Our ABC looks like the later one but I could have sworn that the clutch felt spongy like rubber. I think I must be going senile!!

I should have time this weekend to play with it

Let you all know how we make out.

Rich