Philco combination washer/dryer.........
Somebody's gotta want this!
Lawrence
Somebody's gotta want this!
Lawrence
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toploader55
Well-known member
Unbelievable
Who would have thought a machine like this would ever be on this planet ????
Who would have thought a machine like this would ever be on this planet ????
JerseyMike
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2004
- Messages
- 540
OMG!
What a beautiful machine! I hope that someone is able to save it.
Mike
What a beautiful machine! I hope that someone is able to save it.
Mike
'67 Model maybe? I wonder if this is one of the last Duomatics ever made.
That was the model we had. The Hi Speed No Vent model had a powerful blower and was the most expensive of the 4 electric combos. Three were no vent and one looked like this one but was a vented model. It was very fast drying. The first 4 buttons are hot/warm,warm/warm, warm/cold and cold/cold. The dryer button for regular dry was typical auto dry and the cycle stopped with the marker in about the 6 o'clock position. If the second dry button was pushed, you got the Perma Press cycle with a cooldown. The cooldown was unique in that it kept a 1000 watt heater going during the cooldown to keep the load from getting moist from the cooling water. A couple of minutes before the cycle ended, the water and the heat shut off and the pump emptied the sump where the lint tray/pump protector was. If you opened the lint tray after a regular dry, you had to put a bowl under the opening because about a cup of water would pour out. The last dryer button was Dryer Off for wash only loads. On one side of the timer was the load size selector dial and on the other was the dryness control dial. Ours was white. I never even knew it was available in green. The dryer was extremely fast with sheets. Heavier fabrics took a while to dry. Like all of the Bendix design combos, it spun well and dried at safe for all fabrics, moderate temperature.
I thought these babies had the "rainbow" lights for the pushbuttons...?
danelto
Well-known member
Who Wants It
I'm in PA and can possibly rescue this for somebody.
I've no interest in it.
I'm in PA and can possibly rescue this for somebody.
I've no interest in it.
Yeah, all those buttons light up different colors. This thing looks like a juke-box all light up.
Somebody is going to get a treasure!
Somebody is going to get a treasure!
norfolksouthern
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2009
- Messages
- 544
So, how do you secure this machine to move it?
NorfolkSouthern
NorfolkSouthern
Looks like someone had some fun with the housepaint!
Look folks, this is a rare beast, don't go Emailing the seller about how rare it is, and how it's potentially worth thousands! Just let the auction run it's course, and if someone here is interested, bid on it. If you're not interested, LET IT GO!
And no, I'm not interested.....
kennyGF
And no, I'm not interested.....
kennyGF
mickeyd
Well-known member
Another "Juke Box Hero ... la lala la...." i was t
And Gyra had the same idea. Heavy indeed, like a jukebox.
Like to ask Tom to finsh the button identification, and say thanks for giving this machine a face.
Would be so wonderful if one of our people got it, so we can see pix & flix of it, all lit up and sloshing snowy suds for the holidays.
And Gyra had the same idea. Heavy indeed, like a jukebox.
Like to ask Tom to finsh the button identification, and say thanks for giving this machine a face.
Would be so wonderful if one of our people got it, so we can see pix & flix of it, all lit up and sloshing snowy suds for the holidays.
A little more info
I have a brochure for the last of these. The models described have a wood-grain finish control panel and different color lenses above the buttons. The Hi Speed Non Vent model offered for sale is not included in this group. I can't remember if ours had the wood-grain finish, but the lenses were all the same color like this one. The gray paint looks like some earlier low end Philco panels, yet it could also be a repaint job, just a little too flat for something as highly styled as this control panel. I would say it was repainted, although who would want avocado without faux wood grain? The machines were 26 3/4" wide & 27 5/8" deep. The spin speed was 560rpm. Underneath the buttons was a full width fluorescent light. No control panel is fully deluxe without a fluorescent light, but that's my 1950s conditioning.
The 4 wash buttons were labeled: Cotton, Bright Colors, Wash'n Wear, Special.
The 4 dryer buttons were labeled: Regular Dry, Wash'n Wear, Air Fluff, Dryer Off.
The timer offered a 3 or 6 minute soak cycle which would fill with either warm or cold water, tumble for the selected time, drain, give the one minute spray or flush rinse, and a short spin. The wash cycle had a 9 minute maximum wash time, the spray rinse, hi spin, and two deep rinses with a spin between them. That was probably a Bendix patent, because Westinghouse could not offer a spin between the two deep rinses until the "Dual Tumble" machine with the reverse tumbling which had a different rinse sequence. After the drain, the machine did this funny interrupted spin. The control mechanism ticked along when the machine was tumbling so when the ticking stopped, I knew that the little mechanism had gone bad in ours. What it does is give two or three brief, interrupted bursts of acceleration, followed by coasting to a tumble. This happens about three times. Then the machine shuts down for one timer increment to allow the clothes to fall from the tub wall. This step mostly prevented the clothes from sticking to the tub when the drying started. The cycle restarts with a one increment tumble and then the final spin. The original Duomatic started spinning with a slow speed spin and then shifted into the high speed spin. Philco ran into trouble with the low speed spin when they downsized the cabinet because the low speed spin allowed less than balanced loads to make the tub swing wildly enough to hit the sides of the cabinet. This was information I got from one of the owners of Annapolis Bendix who had sold Bendix machines since they were marketed. They also told me about the awful bearing problems Bendix had with the first of the Duomatics and how many of them they had to bring into the shop, take apart, pound out the old bearings and pound in the new ones.
I believe production ceased in 1968 or 1969. I remember going into a Firestone Tire store in June of 1969 and walking over to the one model on the floor and having the salesman tell me they had stopped making them. That left only Sears and GE offering combos. Sears followed up on this action by discontinuing their middle of the line combo in the early 70s.
I have a brochure for the last of these. The models described have a wood-grain finish control panel and different color lenses above the buttons. The Hi Speed Non Vent model offered for sale is not included in this group. I can't remember if ours had the wood-grain finish, but the lenses were all the same color like this one. The gray paint looks like some earlier low end Philco panels, yet it could also be a repaint job, just a little too flat for something as highly styled as this control panel. I would say it was repainted, although who would want avocado without faux wood grain? The machines were 26 3/4" wide & 27 5/8" deep. The spin speed was 560rpm. Underneath the buttons was a full width fluorescent light. No control panel is fully deluxe without a fluorescent light, but that's my 1950s conditioning.
The 4 wash buttons were labeled: Cotton, Bright Colors, Wash'n Wear, Special.
The 4 dryer buttons were labeled: Regular Dry, Wash'n Wear, Air Fluff, Dryer Off.
The timer offered a 3 or 6 minute soak cycle which would fill with either warm or cold water, tumble for the selected time, drain, give the one minute spray or flush rinse, and a short spin. The wash cycle had a 9 minute maximum wash time, the spray rinse, hi spin, and two deep rinses with a spin between them. That was probably a Bendix patent, because Westinghouse could not offer a spin between the two deep rinses until the "Dual Tumble" machine with the reverse tumbling which had a different rinse sequence. After the drain, the machine did this funny interrupted spin. The control mechanism ticked along when the machine was tumbling so when the ticking stopped, I knew that the little mechanism had gone bad in ours. What it does is give two or three brief, interrupted bursts of acceleration, followed by coasting to a tumble. This happens about three times. Then the machine shuts down for one timer increment to allow the clothes to fall from the tub wall. This step mostly prevented the clothes from sticking to the tub when the drying started. The cycle restarts with a one increment tumble and then the final spin. The original Duomatic started spinning with a slow speed spin and then shifted into the high speed spin. Philco ran into trouble with the low speed spin when they downsized the cabinet because the low speed spin allowed less than balanced loads to make the tub swing wildly enough to hit the sides of the cabinet. This was information I got from one of the owners of Annapolis Bendix who had sold Bendix machines since they were marketed. They also told me about the awful bearing problems Bendix had with the first of the Duomatics and how many of them they had to bring into the shop, take apart, pound out the old bearings and pound in the new ones.
I believe production ceased in 1968 or 1969. I remember going into a Firestone Tire store in June of 1969 and walking over to the one model on the floor and having the salesman tell me they had stopped making them. That left only Sears and GE offering combos. Sears followed up on this action by discontinuing their middle of the line combo in the early 70s.
mickeyd
Well-known member
read this earlier, Tom
and forgot to say thanks for a wealth of satisfying information. So many cool things going on: the spin bursts, and earlier, the pump emptying the sump. I can imagine being a little boy and watching, wide-eyed and transfixed: What's is doing now, what's it doing now, what what what yay yay yay ? Wonderful!
Thank you ;->
and forgot to say thanks for a wealth of satisfying information. So many cool things going on: the spin bursts, and earlier, the pump emptying the sump. I can imagine being a little boy and watching, wide-eyed and transfixed: What's is doing now, what's it doing now, what what what yay yay yay ? Wonderful!
Thank you ;->
What a great find!
I hope I win.....
Actually I won't be bidding but it was fun to say this.
This is a beauty!
Tom thanks for your insight on the past! So much fun. It is like we are there!
This combo looks to be in great shape. The drum is mint actually!
Great Post!
Brent
I hope I win.....
Actually I won't be bidding but it was fun to say this.
This is a beauty!
Tom thanks for your insight on the past! So much fun. It is like we are there!
This combo looks to be in great shape. The drum is mint actually!
Great Post!
Brent
mickeyd
Well-known member
I hope I win..... Actually I won't be bidding but it was
Great morning chuckle, Brent. Thanks!
Mike
Great morning chuckle, Brent. Thanks!
Mike
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