Blue Bell washin'

[kenmore71]

This past Sunday, Ben (Swestoyz) and I went up to the St. Cloud area to visit Geoff. One of the items on the agenda was to do a little washing in his recently aquired and spiffed up Maytag NX "Blue Bell". Here are a few pics of the fun.

Tub shot with the low-post agitator installed

 

[kenmore71]

Just for fun and drama we decided to wash a big load of sheets that had been used as drop cloths. What a mess! Turnover was negligable and it created quite a twisted knot of heets on top of the agitator.

 

[kenmore71]

One final pic after we had finished everything up.

 

[kenmore71]

A bit of video!

 

[gansky1]

"Well, it's kind of rolling over..."

Just thinking the exact same thing!

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun - pretty washer too!

 

[tolivac]

Interesting-you put an IMPELLER in that washer!had some action-it would seem an impeller agitator would work better at low water level and small load?Pretty cool Maytag round drum wringer!

 

[tomturbomatic]

How much money did Maytag save by eliminating the narrow post on the Gyrator? In mass production, those special Lorenna Bobbitized Gyrators must have actually cost more.

 

[wetguymd]

Interesting

Those machines are the ugliest I have ever seen. The color is depressing...lol... it is interesting to see it in action. I would love to see it with about a half tub of water. Is the impeller interchangeable with other wringer models?

Thanks for sharing the pics and the video!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Lyle, Yes, they could substitute a Gyrator that had the full height post in this tub, for a price, of course.

 

[mr-maytag]

Looks like a fun time! Thanks for posting the video and pics, Mark. I've never seen an NX in action - the turnover definitely isn't very good!

 

[combo52]

MT WRINGER WASHER WITH IMPELLER AGITATOR

Pretty neat demonstration, but it sure makes a good argument for a dual action agitator. I guess if wringer washer were still being produced in this country they would have been updated by now.

 

[wringer]

This is

the first time I have seen this type of impeller. Actually, it is my only view of an NX period in action. I did keep the pic you posted when you first got it. I see that both wringer rolls are black. I would take her off of your hands in an Ohio minute should you ever want to abandon her . Thanks for pics and video. I am green with envy and want one for myself . Do you have full sized agitator for it? I see there is a black one on ebay now but of course not sure of the condition of the spline/gear inside of it. It may be chewed to death. Happy Maytaging !!

 

[wetguymd]

Thanks

Tom for the info....thats pretty neat. Now I would love to find an impeller to play witn in my square tub....

John... thats an interesting thought...a dual action in a wringer...

 

[geoffdelp]

Well ... we sure had fun with that little NX! Mark was the "driver" and Ben and I just watched him do the work.

Discovered that loading it up with sheets was futile; but gave a good argument for an agitator with a post. Actually, the water action when the tub is empty is quite dramatic. We knew we were overloading it ... that's what made it interesting. By dividing the load up and adding smaller articles, it would have been far more efficient.

Did you all know that when the agitator was invented by Maytag in the early 1920's, this "impeller" style was what was used? So ... additional cost to manufacture probably would not have been too much; they already had the molds! Also, did you notice the porcelain finish on the tub is the same as the what was used on wash baskets and dryer drums and doors? The gray paint was a primer coat that must have had some lacquer finish on it for the gloss/shine/protection.

They must have had some machine that put the spline on the end of the lower wringer roll because these were the top rolls for the Model N and the bottom roll is spline driven; just like all the other models.

These machines were definitely used to sell Mrs. Homemaker up to one of the models we all know and love ... the E, J, or N. Just the agitator in action would have been enough to sell me up!!

Thanks Mark for the great photos/video and to both you and Ben for the fun!!