And Now For Something Totally Different - Panasonic W&D

[launderess]

How interesting is this set?

http://cgi.ebay.com/APARTMENT-SIZE-...593716864QQcategoryZ71257QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[westytoploader]

Yes...I'm watching these machines! Just sent the seller a question for a pic of the interiors. It's only an hour or so from me as well; if it's an unusual design and not just a rebadged DD Kenmore then I'm on it!

 

[appnut]

Wow, their weekend townhouse is exactly where our lake house was. We did the bring laundry back thing for 5 years for each weekend---unless mom & dad spent a week there, then it was to the laundromat. Isn't this pair located where Maytagmom lives or is she in Baytown?

 

[launderess]

Well wouldn't wait too long, the BIN price is very inexpensive.

What is going on in Texas these days? Within the past several days it seems interesting items are coming out of the woodwork.

L.

 

[gansky1]

But the washer is dented...

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: These are:

WP/Kenmore Badged as Panasonic, I used to have a Kenmore Set a long time ago, that looked just like these Cabinets and Controls, except mine were Harvest Gold Color. The Washer had to be Filled Manually, much like the Maytag and Hoover Twin-Tubs, but the rest of the Cycling was Automatic. When you were filling the Washer for the Wash/Rinse, you never left it alone, or you would come back to a Puddle of Water on the Floor. It didn't have a Water Valve, just a Slip-Fitted Hose that went onto the Kitchen or Bath Room Faucet and into the Tub.

Good Luck Austin or whomever gets these. They should still have many years of great operating left in them.

Peace and Fun Times of Panasonic Laundrying, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[Cybrvanr]

interesting little pair. I wonder if Matushita electric acually builds them themselves or just puts their Panasonic nameplate on them. I know from past exeriences that Panasonic stuff is usually built amazingly well. I've got some Panasonic appliances that are suprisingly old. I bet these little machines have some really good engineering in them if they are "native" Panasonics

 

[jamiel]

In the late '80s Panasonic brought out a full line of full-sized appliances generally sourced from Canada, if I remember correctly. I remember seeing Panasonic stoves which had cast iron elements, and rather strange dishwashers which were made by CAMCO. DK about laundry but this might indicate some WP influence.

 

[gansky1]

This washer definitely looks like WP clone, I've seen the stoves with solid elements before as well, they reminded me of the WCI products at the time. This little dryer with the front vent looks to be an import, maybe a true Matsushita.

I always have had good luck with Panasonic brand electronics, clock-radios, cordless phones, boom boxes, etc.

 

[Designgeek]

As far as I know, Panasonic builds everything native.

Some years ago they had a phone system called DBS which looked to me remarkably similar to NTK (Nitsuko) in terms of how the PBX cabinet and cards were constructed. I asked if this was a re-badge and they said no, they build everything native, it was just a different factory than their KXT line of PBXs (the ones I install & program). The DBS system has since been discontinued, and KXTD has morphed into KXTDA (even 15-year-old KXTD phone sets are forward-compatible to the KXTDA PBX; we're taking advantage of this factor in an installation next week...).

So if that washer is similar to a WP, my guess is that they evolved independently and the "innards" would clearly demonstrate that. Panasonic doesn't "copycat" either, since that would be playing fast-and-loose with other companies' patents, and Panasonic tends to follow oldschool conservative business practices in general which includes avoiding scandals.

Someone got that set via buy it now. Was that someone here? (And if so, can you post pictures? The seller said the washer wouldn't handle sheets; I suspect it was because they were trying to overload it with too many at once.

Meanwhile, Panasonic and other Japanese companies still make wall-mounted dryers. Very clever idea especially for a market such as Japan where apartments are small and wall mounting solves a space issue. For a while, there was in the USA a wall mounted Maytag or Hoover (I don't recall which) dryer that went along with a corresponding compact TT washer.

And in the last year or so Panasonic has brought out an inclined-axis FL product line including a washer, dryer, and washer/dryer; they have a couple of really clever engineering design points I can't recall off the top of my head but were related to energy efficiency. (I should go look up the press release, which I saved...) This stuff is available in Japan but not in the USA (yet!).