An old Frontloader classic from 70s Colston W/D

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robm

robm

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Look at this on Ebay being sold in Newark. I have seen this machine in my 1970's catalogue and that dates from 1974. Reminds me of the old Indesit L series.

Rob


2-12-2007-03-58-36--RobM.jpg
 
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Wow, that brings back some memories. Thanks for posting Rob.

Newark's in Scotland, right ? (Unashamedly shows blatant geographical ignorance)

If so, yet another vintage machine in Scotland! They must really take care of things up there ;-)

I hope someone rescues this......

Nick
 
This was the same WD my late grandmother had, except hers was just badged Ariston; by the time she bought it the Colston name had been dropped. Am guessing it was around 20 years old by the time it was replaced (still working) by a Hoover that only lasted five years...

Newark is in Nottinghamshire, about 25 minutes away from where I live in Lincoln. Sadly I can't step in to save this one, as I have nowhere to put it and am currently trying to get rid of stuff rather than accumulate it. That said, there are quite a few members in the Lincs/Notts region, so perhaps it may catch someone's eye.

Nick, I believe there is a Newick in Scotland, but my geography is shocking too and I wouldn't know where exactly. If it's somewhere I've never been, it may as well be in Timbucktoo for all I know!

Kirk
 
Thanks for the correction, Kirk!

I've heard of a Newick in East Sussex (tries to reclaim some degree of dignity) because I used to know a man called Derek in Newick. His wife was French and they had an Arthur Martin lop loading washing machine in the bathroom and one of the great original Philips dishwashers with just a dial on the fascia (1,2,3 pull to start push to stop!)

Yes, hopefully one of the many local members will be interested. It does look rather Indesitty from the era, makes one wonder if Ariston and Indesit have always been `linked', certainly they have in terms of pricing. My friends in Sheffield had a model similar to this. It was dumped in the late 80s whne they couldn't find a replacement pump. They said it was a really good machine but was let down by spin performance. I think these were induction machines so the spin was probably one or a choice of 400 /600 or 800?

Now remember, Nick, (speaks to self) NO MORE OLD WASHING MACHINES! I DO NOT WANT THIS MACHINE!! I HAVE KICKED THE HABIT!!

Nick
 
same machine

I had this almost same machine about 10 years back now givento me by a friends mum. The one thing i never like about it was the dryer had an actuall vent on the back of the machine with a small lint filter and it was awkward to get to plus the kitchem steamed up something bad when you used the dryer. The metal levers on the lower part/front of the machine lowered the wheels so you could pull it out.

The machine was on its last legs when i got it and only lasted a few more months
 
This machine was also sold in Australia, badged both as an Indesit and as a Lemair. The ones I've seen had four push buttons. I used to own a South African Indesit, a slightly different version which was identical inside but the conrols were different,(the buttons had different functions) and were dual labelled in English and Afrikaans. Was = Wash and Droog = Dry. It was a fantastic machine, the induction motor had an expanding pulley to give 800 rpm max spin. It also had a slower spin achieved in a weird way - when the spin started, the pulley would expand which lifted up the whole motor. Sandwiched between the motor and the drum was a microswitch, when the motor moved up it would trip the micro switch and turn off the spin. The motor would drop as it slowed down, which released the switch which turned the spin back on again...It would cycle on and off like that for the slower and intermediate spin, only the final spin for normal cycles the microswitch was bypassed so the motor runs flat out for a blisteringly fast 800 rpm. Such crude engineering looked like it should never work but it soldiered on for years, though the expanding pulley started to eat belts after a while.

Chris.
 
Wash n Dry

Hi Rob

Thanks for posting, looks like it has had minimal use, very simple but effective machine, like Kirk said, a traditional vent system, out through the back, and very quiet in operation, This was one of the first combo units that had a Forced Air" drying system within the cabinet and not bolted on to the door...The three buttons are Rinse Hold, Bio Prewash & Start/Stop..

Now that will go very nicely with my Colston dishwasher, looks like a visit to Lincs may well be in order!!!!

Cheers, Mike ..p.s. does anyone remember the Trident own brand washer dryer from the early 80`s, drop down door, 27inch wide, made by Hirundo??
 
Hi Mike-

I think it was Robbie who mentioned the direct venting, that's actually something I'd forgotten all about until this thread popped up. Perhaps I'm just imagining this, but didn't Ariston continue to use this system well into the 80s? Don't think that would go over too well these days, and if the machine was slotted into a typical fitted kitchen, all that moisture wouldn't exactly do the adjacent cabinetry much good.

Have heard of Hirundo, and am under the impression they were related to Indesit/Ariston, but never once saw an appliance carrying this name. Anybody know what the story is with this brand?

Cheers,

Kirk
 
Lady next door replaced an Indesit with a Hirundo (washer only)in late seventies / early eighties. It had brown fascia, two dials and three silver rocker switches. Can't remember a neon. The door looked like Indesit from the era. I remember thinking (even at age of 3 or 4) `this is a copy of Indesit!'. IIRC it used to spin drain, I don't know if this means it used the old `motor and pump in one' thing Indesits used to do. I used to wait by the drain pipe (drained to side of house, easily accessed by side passage!) and smell the `hot green Ariel water' as it was flung out. Remember eighties Ariel? What a classic scent.

It lasted ages, indeed, AFAIK she still has it. Should make clear this is lady next door to my parents house.

Nick
 
Wow!!! We had the same model as a second hand replacement for our A3060. Great induction motor with a 'drop on drop off spin rhythm' Ours was still working when it got dumped. Never knew how old it actually was. Piddly little 9lb wash load. nice high water levels sometimes going 2/3rds up the door even in a 50c synthetics wash. 5 full high level rinses on cottons even if the programmes were a bit lengthy.
 
I notice

The writing on the soap drawer reads 'Colston Ariston' so I'm wondering if it's later. After a quick googling, it seems that Ariston acquired Colston in either 1977 or 79.

I think my mum replaced her Hoover twinnie with a Colston Ariston around this period - and I also remember her owning a Creda Debonair spinner at the same time, presumably because of the poor spin on the Colston.
 
Wow!

My mom had the exact same model, she got it off one of my nannas bingo friends. Ironically, my mom's Colston Concorde just packed up and was after an automatic....... Colston come to bite my mam in the arse! I remember it had an A&B button, cant remember what the third one was, but if you pressed `B' during the final spin it would do that `laundrette washer' slow down noise and just keep going round slowly. The spin was odd, it used to drain while in `wash speed' then stop, then click into full spin (i think it was about 600-700 RPM). My mum never got the instruction booklet (as she was used to a twin tub) and she had to go through all the programmes one by one to test the heat on the glass, i remember No3 being 60c...
 
Thor 850XD

That washer dryer design was also sold in Northern Ireland as the Thor 850XD. It had a single 850RPM spin speed; on gentle spin cycles the timer cycled the motor on and off to provide a type of slow spin. It used an Induction motor with a centrifugal clutch (variable pulley) which increased the pulley diameter when the motor changed to the spin windings, the motor was installed on a spring loaded mount and moved up by a couple of inches during spin. They were quiet and fairly reliable but they had a tendency to chew belts because of the variable pulley.
If you look at the picture you will see two silver bars on the lower front cabinet; these bars when turned 90 degrees lifted the machine up off its rubber feet by lowering four castors. Quite a neat idea don’t you think?

David
 
80's Ariel

I wish they would bring that fragrance back, as I cannot stand the current floral smell.

80's Ariel was always so clean and fresh - not like the rubbish they flog these days!
 
We had one of those branded as Thor 850XD. They were made by a company called Ribber, with an anchor logo on the back of thed
 

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