BASED on POD 10/13/2019

[maytagbear]

I am more interested in this "Variflex" agitator than in the rest of the LK...sorry, but true.

Anyway, was this a real improvrement or just a gimmick? To me, it seems like more of a gimmick than a real advance in agitator design.

Also, was this shade of green a real thing? Limited edition??

Thank you in advance!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[repairguy]

With the 3 speed motor on the LKs, there truly were 12 different levels of agitation with the vari-flex agitator. The color was just that way in the magazine ad.

 

[appnut]

Lawrence, some 40 years ago when I was newly professionally employed, there was a secretary that sat next to mine.  She had a LK set like the POD.  I course of conversation, she told me she pretty much used the normal cycle and adjusted the agitator to suit the washing intensity or gentleness.  She thought it was a terrific feature.  She loved her washer and dryer.  

 

[frigilux]

Got to play with one when taking care of a neighbor's pets. With the fins fully extended on fast agitation that baby really moved some water!

 

[DADoES]

 
One of granny's friends years ago had a Kenmore 900 (not an LK so may have been 2-speed, I now don't recall) with VariFlex.  They left town to Singapore for an extended period (job-related) and she asked that granny use their washer once in a while to "keep it from getting stuck" so I had opportunity to play with the VariFlex.  It worked as intended.

 

[maytagbear]

Well.................

If the Variflex was all that, how long was it available, and was there ever a Whirlpool version?

This has puzzled me for many years.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[repairguy]

The vari-flex agitator debuted around 1969 and was only installed in standard tub high end Kenmores. Production ran through 1973. In 1974 and 1975 the pentaswirl was used in the large capacity LKs as they started to shift to large capacity only in LKs. To my knowledge WP did not have a version of the vari-flex agitator. When the LKs went to large capacity only in 1976 the dual action agitator was the only one used in the LK. You could still get a pentaswirl or pentavane in the mid to lower line KMs through 1981 until a new line was introduced in 1982. From then on it was dual action and the standard capacity was dropped for the KM line but WP kept the standard capacity close to the end of belt drive production in 1986.

 

[DADoES]

 
Whirlpool vintage belt-drive washers had (early) straight-vane, Surgilator, Super Surgilator (which had the three larger lower fins extended a little beyond the base), and the Double-Duty Super Surgilator (exclusive to 18# models from the LFA series to the end) which had the curved "wings" added to the base.  They never had auger dual-action on vintage belt-drives (or on direct-drives until the exclusivity of Dual-Action to Kenmore expired).

Kenmore classic belt-drives had straight vane, Roto Swirl, Super Roto Swirl, Roto Flex, Vari Flex, Penta Vane and Penta Swirl (both exclusive to 18#), then Dual-Action.

 

[mattl]

We had the '73 LK with the vari-flex and it did exactly what it claimed to do.  The wash action could be very easily changed in all three speeds.  I used it often, but mostly used the vigorous and one step down setting on a full loads.

 

I do miss that machine, wish I still had it, but did get a good 20 years out of it.

 

[jeb]

When I was a slip of a boy, family friends had this model with the variable agitator. They asked me to look at it because it wasn't pumping out correctly. When I talked to her and asked if she liked it she was unaware that the agitator fins moved! She had never adjusted them. When I tried they would not budge. I took the agitator apart and the fins had rubbed deep grooves into the base agitator so they wouldn't slid in or out. They had been in the out position over 10 years.

 

[strongenough78]

Maytagbear

Here are a couple of videos demonstrating the Vari Flex on a Kenmore. You can see the difference it makes. Very flexible machine.

 

[strongenough78]