bendix diving bell washer

[dryclean1]

Hello fellow washer friends, its the drycleaner. can anyone tell me about the bendix diving bell washer? also does anyone have one they would part with of course I have to ask that,lol. any info would be helpful. thanks Bill

 

[cfz2882]

~1939-46

not completely sure I have that year spread right,but around that era.if you look behind and see a solid black steel drum pulley,it is an early model-later ones have a die-cast spoked pulley.seems to be quite a few of these still around.IIRC,spin speed is only about 225 RPM.

 

[gansky1]

The first Bendix Home Laundry washers were introduced in 1937 and displayed at county and state fairs around the country. By 1948, they had made 1,000,000 washers. I believe the bolt-down washers were produced until 1950'ish but were then sold as either commercial-coin op models or lower priced home units after they introduced the Gyromatic model that didn't require bolting down.

I have the 1948 1,000,000th special model with gold plated door and silver/gold paint on the cabinet. Never used, it was in the corner of a kitchen on display in Kansas City, MO. He'd pulled it from his grandfather's store when he'd passed away and the business was dissolved. There is a small cloth bag with the installation parts, and the original hoses with shiny brass connectors.

The lighted sign next to it was also a dealer display (found on ebay) and likely pre-WWII.

There is bunch of information in the Ephemera library on Bendix, including what is likely the first brochure for the introduction of the washer from 1937.

https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~667~Bendix~

 

[gyrafoam]

Primative, small, lame extraction, easy to sudz lock. Those are all the positive things I can think of.
Makes an interesting mail-box, too heavy to steal and will win any battle with car or truck.
I can't recall anyone using one as a daily driver since the late fifties.
Ive seen some minty survivors.

 

[bendixmark]

Bendix

I have had one for some time and recently got a mint one.I used it regularly at one p[oint when it worked and it was loads of fun literally.It washed extremely well and did not oversuds with the right detergent.

the spin speed is 300 rpm but that is not any big deal.A very fun machine to have if you like washing machines.

 

[launderess]

"spin speed is 300 rpm"

Best (power) wringers equal about 210rpm in terms of extraction, so the Bendix wasn't a huge improvement. Saving grace was one didn't have to feed pieces individually into the mangle. That and buttons along with other fasteners weren't likely to be damaged.

Again with such pitiful final extraction either by machine or wringer, you don't wonder why tumble dryers of the time ran hot enough to bake biscuits. *LOL*

 

[easyspindry]

I had a diving . . .

. . . bell for years, a 1944 model. I used it often and always enjoyed it. I have since given it to another washing machine guru here in Winston-Salem. Fun machine to use. Cleaned well, but as previously said, extraction was poor.

MANY of these machines were sold.

A large chunk of history.

Jerry Gay

 

[rolls_rapide]

'Tis a beautiful machine, and basically set the format of the frontloader.

I daresay that some housewives would probably keep using the machine for many years, and buy a separate spin dryer to improve the spin efficiency. Probably the fact it span at such a low speed, allowed the machine to last forever.

Did Bendix make any attempt to address the poor spin (eg. via service-call modification)?

Or did they just introduce 'newer, better' models?

 

[combo52]

Bendix bolt-Down FL Washers

Millions and millions of these were sold and most homemakers loved them, Yes when better preforming WPs and KMs hit the market some of these early Bendix machines were replaced early or just left to sit bolted in place in basements while newer larger machines took over.

But look at how many Frigidaire Unimatics early GEs and many others were sidelined by newer better performing machines.We are always finding these early machines in basements that were not worn out, but simply did not work as well as the newer machines that came out a little later.

John L.

 

[48bencix]

My Mom

My mom kept using hers at least until 1964. From 1944 to 1964 pretty good service. My dad replaced the bearings at least once. Served a family of 6. Most loads were hung out to dry so poor extraction was not that important. Still it seemed the clothes were fairly dry to the touch. I spent many hours watching the cycle and listening to the solenoids. Mostly this was before we had a TV set (1956). I was not allowed to touch the controls of this machine. She probably thought I would wreck it by turning the timer knob. Seems like it washed very well, but of course, she would add bleach to the whites, maybe a little bluing too. This was not the diving bell model, but mechanically the same I believe.

 

[ea56]

We Had a Babysitter

who owned a Bendix, probably one of the first models that didn’t need to be bolted down. It was on her backporch. The train tracks ran right behind her backyard fence, and I once recall the door flying open due to the rumble of the train shaking to wooden back porch so violently.

My parents went to Canada on a two week vacation in 1958 and my brother, sister and I spent the two weeks at her house. So I had occasion to watch that Bendix in action during that time. She used Cheer detergent, and used to just pour what she thought was the right amount into the hole on the top, and there was a generous crust of blue Cheer around the hole.

Mrs.Krenzer hung the laundry in the backyard, and to me it didn’t seem like it was dripping and about as damp dry as my Mom’s GE FF left the finished loads. I loved watching the wash go round and round and I really got jacked when it went into a spin. As I’ve said before, TV wasn’t too hot then, and she watched soaps during the day anyway, which at age 7 I had no interest in.

When I was 19 the laundromat I went to here in town had Bendix’s too, and I don’t recall the finished loads being excessively wet either. Perhaps they got around the slower spin speeds by using a longer spin time. At anyrate, they are a fascinating chapter in automatic washer history. I’d love to use one again now that I have a better perspective.

Eddie

 

[launderess]

Separate spin drier

Could be wrong, but IIRC US market didn't have separate spin driers that early on. You could get one as part of GE, Easy and other semi-automatic twin-tub washers, and later of course came Hoover's TT, but other than that it was deal with whatever method of extraction came with machine, or use a mangle.

Truth to tell final extraction speed didn't become a huge issue in USA until rather recently with the EPA and others pushing energy efficacy.

Yes, going back you had some washers like those from Frigidaire with good to fast final spin speeds that left laundry "nearly dry". But most housewives and others weren't that bothered in that area. Thanks to an abundance of (then) cheap natural resources all those clothes dryers with high temperatures made short work of even the most sopping wet laundry.

Now laundromats were another matter. There you could find extractors by Bock and some other makers.