Addition to my collection: LG Turbodrum

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foraloysius

foraloysius

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May 21, 2001
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Location
Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands
Yesterday I picked up an LG Turbodrum, a machine that was never sold in the Netherlands. V-axis machines are very rare here. I bought it from an employee of the Dutch embassy in Chile. She moved to the Netherlands and took the washer with her. Then she got a new assignment in Chile and a house with appliances included. So no need to schlepp the washer back to Chile again. Great opportunity to add such a machine to my collection.

Here's a picture of the machine filling. From left to right you can see I selected hot, an extra rinse, the maximum water level, wash, rinse and spin, and the programme called Fuzzy, which is for every day laundry. My towels were the victims for the maiden load.

foraloysius++5-25-2010-13-55-23.jpg
 
Nice Washer

I can remember seeing an animated graphic detailing the different wash motions in this machine.

Good Score, man!

Malcolm
 
Louis,

I was under the impression that the "air dry" cycle was to be run when the drum was empty to dry the inside if the machine and stop the machine smelling. I remember our local independant retailer having the 10kg turbodrum machine with the rear control panel in stock, was an interesting machine!
 
Hey Louis that is a fun machine i would like to have one for my small kitchen .
They are great for a nice small wash don't ya think ?
I wished the air dry cycle worked was there a difference in the dryer maybe...

Darren k.
 
Hi Louis

So, did you have to change the plug? How do you find this washer? Will you now use this as your daily driver? Does it have castors to wheel it about?

Those bathtowels look pretty thick and your washer certainly is full. My SQ, which is also rated 7.5 kgs, takes more bathseets than yours though. Maybe the capacity for the LG is 7.5 kg wet load?

Love your Braun Waterpic - it dfinitely looks vintage.

Take care and have fun with your new acquisition.

Olav
 
Questions

Darryl,

I have no idea what the spin speed is. It doesn't say so on the machine and it's nowhere in the manual (or the part I have). The spin speed is not spectacular, I gave the towels an extra spin in the Miele and they came out much dryer.

Paul,

You are probably right. The "Air dry" cycle is probably meant for dry the inside of the machine. BTW, there is also a special cycle to clean the drum. I have to find out how that works. I've noticed it works with only the maximum water level and cold water only. You probably need to add bleach for the max. cleaning effect.

Steve,

This machine has indeed a recirculation filtration system. You can see the little bag in the third photo. After the towels were done there was some lint in it.

Darren,

I think it is rather a big machine, more or less the same size as a European frontloader. I don't know what size a machine would have to be for your kitchen. I would buy something smaller for a small loads machine, like those small Danby's or Haier's. As Paul said the "Air dry" cycle is probably for drying the drum after use.

Olav,

I thought of you when I bought this washer. The name Turbodrum sounded familiar! I didn't change the plug yet, the owner had cut off the third pin on the plug which is the ground one. Because I connect it to an outlet with a GFI there is no problem with that. This machine will not be my daily driver, it uses too much water to European standards, that would be too expensive. But I love playing with it and I sure will be using it now and then. I was thinking of connecting the cold to my thermostatic valve so I can control the cold water temperature. Very convenient for washing sweaters on the wool cycle since that cycle can only be used with the cold setting.

I bet the capacity is smaller than 7.5kg. It holds more than my Miele frontloader (5kg) so I guess it's closer to 6kg than to 7.5kg.

The Braun is definitely vintage. I don't use it very often, I just didn't know where to put it so I use it for putting stuff in. LOL

Louis
 
I am pretty sure that I remember seeing an LG Turbodrum in Gardiner Haskins, Bristol in the early noughties. It looked bigger than this machine and when I opened the bi-fold lid the inside was like the GE Harmony - all stainless steel. It wasn't very expensive and I was very tempted. By the time I made it back to the store it had gone and they told me it was no longer available :-((
 
Jon,

I guess there is a connection between the Harmony and the turbodrum, but the Turbodrum has a water level selector, IIRC the Harmony didn't have that. Only a cycle for bulky items or so. I've taken a picture of the inside of the machine so you can see that the wash plate is different.

Greg,

Actually I think this machine isn't very rough, at least not like the Oasis etc. appears to me.

Paul, I don't know what machine you saw, this machine is about 86x54x54. Next to my frontloaders it looks like more or less the same in size.

foraloysius++5-27-2010-10-38-7.jpg
 
GE Harmony

The only similarity I notice from the picture is the bubbles in the tub. That is just about it.

Malcolm
 
Bigger

The machine I saw was bigger than a standard EU frontloader; from memory more the size of a US top loader (not that size is important to me or anything ;-)
 
Louis,

Our Local independant retailer had a 10kg LG T/L a few years ago but it did not have the impellar in the bottom of the tub, instead the whole drum was stainless steel with an impellar shape at the bottom but it did not move independently.....I think it was marketed ad 3D washing but am not sure. Anyway the machine was huge, bigger than an American T/L. It had the same filtration system as on yours though.
 
Pauls...

There were indeed machines much bigger than this Turbodrum. I've seen pictures of it on the internet, but never saw one in real life. These machines were never sold here.

There should be a separate wash plate in these machines, especially in the 3D machines. Mine is a 3D machine too, it's about those three little pulsators in the big pulsator I think. On my machine the Fuzzy cycle (regular cycle) and the jeans cycle. The 3D action is not used in the short and the wool cycle.

The Harmony has a full stainless steel and impeller too. Are you sure the one you saw didn't have that as well?
 
Thanks for the link. Mine is a WF-T7500. Judging by the model number perhaps it is indeed a 7.5kg but only in theory IMHO.

I found an English manual online. The Air dry cycle appears to be for both drying the drum and for drying laundry. Mainly for polyester. Odd, polyester blends are mainly non-iron items. They advise to use the air dry cycle for over an hour for polyester items. I bet spinning them for an hour will wrinkle them severely.

I also found out about the Fuzzy cycle that it has an auto water level feature. If you don't select a water level the machine will detect it itself by do a bit of turning in the first eight seconds.

I find it an interesting machine. Lovely toy! LOL
 
turbodrum

the original LG Turbodrum washer did not have a separate impeller - it had the floor of the drum moulded into an impeller shape, and the whole drum rotated back and forth. It would also do a short spin during the wash every now and then.

I saw one working on display when they were new - it looked like a pathetic wash action. They now all seem to have an impeller, so I guess the original Turbodrum was a flop. The original model also used a direct drive flat motor which was like a copy of Fisher and Paykel's Smart Drive - I read somewhere that F&P sued LG over it.
 
Lid Switch

Hi Louis

I am working on a very similar machine to yours for a neighbour. It is badged as a Hitachi but it is made in Korea and I believe it is an LG.

The lid switch is behind the left hand lid hinge. It is a conventional switch, not magnetic. It would be hard to reach to bypass the lid switch. (unless you open up the control panel - the switch is clearly visible inside.) The switch is NOT sealed, you can see the live contacts inside so don't go poking around in there, especially with wet hands...The easiest way to see "action" when washing is to remove the front half of the clamshell lid - you can then close the back half and the machine performs, you can see through the gap from the front half.
To remove the front half of the lid - the two halves are held together by several hinge joints moulded into the plastic. The one furthest to the left has a tiny retainer moulded in the plastic. If you try to slide the front half of the lid to your RIGHT, you should see it being blocked by a small plastic lip by the furthest left hinge. You use a small flat screwdriver to bend the lid away from the hinge pin and simultaneously slide the front half of the lid to your right. It should now slide over and disconnect from the back half. Now lower the back half of the lid and the machine will work.

The machine I am fixing needs new hinge pins for the rear half of the lid - the right hand one is missing, the lid spring (to hold the lid open) is missing too. The machine still works but the lid is loose and it falls closed when open. I am chasing up new lid hinge pins - I believe Hitachi no longer sells washing machines in AU so I may have to chase LG parts for it.

chris.
 

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