Apex Wash-a-Matic re-Restoration and Full Cycle Video

[Unimatic1140]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments!

how does it cope with tough stains I wonder?
In 1953 probably not very well on tough stains, what makes a big difference well into the 21st century is the detergents we have now are made for low water use machines and they perform much better. The Apex certainly falls under the category of low water use machines and you can even cut the wash fill by half (down to 3.5 gallons) for a more effective use of modern detergents. Everything comes out clean now but I bet that wasn't the case in 1953 when low sudsing detergents didn't perform well compared to the high sudsers. Apex recommended All detergent (Dash wasn't on the market as of yet in '53) as it's bouncing action worked better with a low suds detergent.

Why are these machines so rare?
Apex simply didn't have the market penetration of the big guys in the appliance industry such as GM Frigidaire, Maytag, GE and Whirlpool/Kenmore. The mechanics of the machine is much more simple as it has no transmission.

What motion during washing is done? Is it shaking?
It is nutation like when you spin a coin on its side and it starts to slow down it wobbles.

 

[golittlesport]

beautiful work, Robert!

Interesting, ingenious design. Thanks for sharing your amazing, painstaking, detailed restoration work.

This design really successfully mimics front-loading wash action in a top-load format (the low water use and gentle scrubbing action.) And it doesn't knot the fabrics into ropes as modern impeller top loaders tend to do. As you mentioned, with today's detergents it must give excellent results. It's quiet as a mouse with the sealed lid closed. Really ahead of its time.

 

[foraloysius]

I've always found that one of the greatest machines in your collection Robert, so it's great that you restored it. I was watching the video on my TV, the sounds are so soothing I fell asleep while playing it. lol. So for the second time watching it, I made sure I stayed awake. Fascinating how it works and so ingenious how it works, including pumping the water back to get it balanced for the spin. What modern machine would do that?

Thanks for sharing the story, the pictures and the video.

 

[rapidry1000]

Wonderful restoration. Enjoyed watching the entire cycle of the washer. Ranks up there for unique wash action including my favorites the Frigidaire pulsator and Philco AutoMagic. I've never seen or heard of Apex in the San Francisco area.

 

[joelippard]

Thanks for sharing this with us.  What a great restoration, and a real treat to see!

 

[washerlover]

As always, in awe! Thanks for sharing pics and best of all the video!

Cheers,

Todd

 

[gelaundry4ever]

wash action

That wash action was very powerful.

 

[combo52]

Another incredible restoration of a very rare machine

Incredible Robert you just keep turning them out I’m glad you still find the energy to do this.

This was certainly one of the very interesting machines of
Of early automatic washers that unfortunately didn’t make it I also love the Kelvinator design and it really didn’t sell in great numbers either.

It would be interesting to see if they could’ve made this Apex in a bigger machine that could be a modern contender today, I’m sure they would’ve had to made the tub out of something other than fiberglass cause that wouldn’t work today but they have great plastics today that would have worked.

What’s going to be your next restoration?

John

 

[eurekastar]

This is an wonderful example of why I find vintage washing machines so fascinating!  Thank you!

 

[qsd-dan]

Looks like the appliance gods came through with some easy fixes, along with needing parts easily obtained and already on hand. I purchased 160/900/902/906 parts before I had any of machines just in case they happened to fall in my lap. Maytag gods work in mysterious ways

Time to purchase a steering wheel for a 1959 Cadillac....

 

[launderess]

How Does He Do It!

Another fine job well done!

Congrats and enjoy your new machine in good health!

 

[frigilux]

Absolutely amazing, Robert! Thanks for sharing the restoration process and taking one for the team to make the video. We need to come up with an Apex rain poncho for you.

 

[swestoyz]

Robert, thank you for taking the time to document the recent adventure of tuning up your Apex! While it is quick for us to read it does take some time to put down your thoughts and catalog them in series with photos, etc.

After all these years it is great that we all are still learning new things about the machines that fascinate us. Bravo!

Ben

 

[Unimatic1140]

What’s going to be your next restoration?

Hey John, nothing on the restore list now as most everything is working ***knocks wood*** at the moment. The only other issue in my collection at the moment is my 1958 Filtrator dryer is leaking so I have to go in and fix that but I wont bother with that until at least September as I don't use the Filtrators in the summertime.

I do too wonder about the Apex if it would have turned over clothes as well as it does with a much bigger modern sized wash tub? There is no way to really answer that question I guess without building one.

While it is quick for us to read it does take some time to put down your thoughts and catalog them in series with photos, etc.
Hi Ben, yes it sure does take a lot of time but the nice thing is sometime in the future I'm sure I'll reference this thread again just like I did recently with my 2009 Apex threads to see exactly what I did.

 

[jamiel]

yes, I imagine that is a question of fluid dynamics (i.e. a big engineering question) about the optimal size of that type of toroid shape...would anticipate that the nutation profile might have an impact too.

 

[lotsosudz]

Congrats Robert

As always, a phenomenal job accomplished! If you don't mind me asking, what is the speed of the spin?
Hugs,
David

 

[Unimatic1140]

Thank you David, the spin speed is 610rpm. Interestingly enough in Feb of 1954 Consumer Reports stated "The best washers in terms of water extraction were the Frigidaire that left .57 lbs of water and the Apex which left .72 lbs of water per pound of clothes". I suspect the big swirling ramps in the Apex tub helps greatly with water extraction.

 

[qsd-dan]

I guess this is a good time to request a video of the GE AW6 washer. The "See It Wash" videos haven't worked for many years and there's currently no YouTube video of one in operation.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

It's always such a treat to see one of these machines being repaired/restored. Thank you for sharing your stellar work Robert.

 

[ea56]

Wow Robert!

what a thoroughly impressive washing machine and restoration! I’m amazed at the amount of laundry that small tub held AND cleaned so well. The coup d’ grace is how after the final spin the machine vibrates to fluff up the finished load, making it ready to either toss in the dryer or easily hang on the line. Perfecto!

Thanks for sharing this restoration with us.

Eddie