BOL Wards!

[swestoyz]

So, instead of finding Lady K's in basements of old ladies homes during estate sales for 15 dollars - bottom barrel bargains can be found behind Menards for 9 dollars!

This machine was in such good shape I just couldn't let it go to the crusher. No congrats is needed for this Wards as it is meant to have fun with for awhile but will hopefully find a new home soon.

From what I've been told the lower end models and commercial Wards washers had back opening lids with the black non-burping agitators. Still has a HUGE tub though and washes clothes really well! Of course comes with the wonderful shot-gun sounding brake when the safety lid is lifted during spin.

A big surprise came when I took the rear panel off. Investigating to see how the water level was metered - it was a pleasant surprise to see that an infinite water level pressure switch had been hiding behind the BOL panel for decades! So to save some water a little flick of the dial can turn the level down as needed.

A video clip and a few pics follow for those who enjoy these machines. Even though they aren't as desirable as other models, they are still a ton of fun.

Utilitarian at its finest!

 

[swestoyz]

A side profile. Machine was in just too good of shape to leave it behind.

 

[swestoyz]

Five Cycle Washer

I love this timer. Any mix of browns and yellows with a red line really makes things happen. Notice that the cold rinse for each cycle is called out differently - it is either a "COLD RINSE", or a "RINSE COLD". Too funny.

I clearly see three cycles - where are they hiding the other 2?

 

[swestoyz]

Cycle chart. Oh, I guess it would have helped to have read this first ;-)

 

[swestoyz]

Washing away

 

[swestoyz]

More washing

 

[swestoyz]

Cycle complete - lid open. I didn't get a shot of it, but the lid has a very large 'bump' in the center. Guessing to make room for the agitator?

 

[swestoyz]

Pressure switch - anything strange in this picture?

Sure - why didn't they just drill the hole and install a knob!

;-)

Hope you enjoy ~

Ben

 

[Brent-Aucoin]

Ben,
Very cool find!
Looks mint!
Very fun washer!
Brent

 

[scott55405]

Ben, that's a cool machine to have fun with! I have not seen one of that vintage though with the lid that goes that way. Usually they go to the side and lay flat. I wonder why this one is different?

 

[mickeyd]

#4 regular wash WARM; #5 perma press COLD ;'D

My God, can those things wash !!!!! Little wonder Norge scored #1 in washing ability so many times. Dirt doesn't stand a chance in agitation that powerful, so fast the camera had trouble keeping up with it, Love how you showed that the Spray rinse IS effective since it hits the fins and flies all over. Is your water pressure a little low there, Ben?? I had the white version, a Norge, a burping one, and I loved it. It was the first REAL washer I ever owned, early 80's. Thanks for bringing back so many grand memories. Wonderful video, Ben, and ah! the sounds of those urgent rhythmic strokes--nothing like the Norge badge in all its incarnations.

 

[scott55405]

That video was awesome! I was wondering why there was no spin brake, apparently has something to do with the lid switch that you had disabled.

 

[tuthill]

Awesome Vid!

Awesome video of a cool machine. You sure know how to make videos, as the unimatic vid is great too.

 

[70series]

Thank you for the video. BOL or not, that is a great washer. Never saw the black angel wing agitator at work, but she does a good job. I may have missed it in the above posts, but what year was that washer. It must have been early since it had the back opening lid.

Have a good one,
James

 

[laundryshark]

Thanks, Ben!

What a unique video to add to my personal collection! Many thanks!--Laundry Shark

 

[swestoyz]

James - I'm really not sure of the year to be honest. I was guessing late 70's through the early 80's but I could be wrong. I do not know a whole heck of a lot about Norge/Signature/Wards washers - but they sure are fun.

_____

The 'brake'. I defeated the lid switch on this machine to make the film and for continuous fun. I filmed this on Saturday evening - on Sunday afternoon I washed a 3/4 full load of t-shirts and button up shirts. The wash action was more relaxed and felt very fluid. With the larger load the machine spun longer during the coasting portion of the cycle after spin. Because of this, the 'brake' engaged earlier in the coast to cause the tub to quit spinning abruptly - very similar to the end of the film. This would have been normal during regular washing.

One of these days I'll figure out how to take the front panel off to show pictures of the solenoid and the brake. In theory it works very similar to the solenoid on an AMP Maytag.

Something I left out - since this machine was set to fill to the highest level from the factory - this strange white ring was installed to let the operator know exactly how full they could fill the machine 'dry' and expect clean clothes.

Ben

 

[washerlover]

Great find! Those babies really now how to slap those clothes around! And all those delightful sounds! Awesome machine, Norge/Wards are my faves! Hope you have lots of fun with this one.

 

[stainfighter]

neat BOL action! burp-a-lator still possible?

kewl - would it be possible to make it into a burp-a-lator with a different agitator? Seems like a pretty decent spin speed for a TL tho not as fast as a Unimatic

 

[gyrafoam]

Ben-----

Thats a great toy!
In commercial service the Norge machines had that "Maximum Load" "ring" on machines at their coin laundries. I remember them on their first perf-tub machines way back into the early sixties. The ones I recall did not cover the top of the agitator----rather they fit down over it and were stopped by the top part of the upper vanes. I think they were turquoise in color.

 

[toggleswitch]

Thanks Ben!

My mother's house came with a Norge badged version of this when she bought the house in 1973. I nearly got an @$$ whoopin' when the tub brake kicked in and released with the first time she ran it! (I was watcing it, of course!) They did wash really well. In hers, the fill-flume shown (in the rear of the tub) was a recirculation-flume for the rectangular filter mounted below it.

Like many others of that engineering, hers sprung an oil leak INSIDE the tub!

Will you be customizing by moving the water-level switch to be operable? Will you be adding a switch to shut of the hot water solenoid to get cold water?

Thanks for posting this.

 

[bobbyderegis]

Hi Ben!
Fun, fun, fun. You have inspired me to get the Norge that Greg M. gave me into use. It has the burpalator agitator. It looks very similar to yours, minus the rear opening lid and black agitator. I'll share some pics of that one.
Bobby in Boston

 

[gansky1]

That is very cool, Ben. I always liked the BOL machines from Wards, Sears, Penneys - so utilitarian looking, "no nonsense and not as much to go wrong" as my grandmother & grandfather would say.

I remember the later commercial machines with the load-level cap on the agitator - I can't imagine the scuz that probably lived under those caps!

 

[goatfarmer]

Nice save, Ben, Menards does come up with a keeper now and then.

To remove the front panel, find the two clips underneath the top, between the top, and front. Push in on the clips, and the top will release, and lift up. Then you should see two screws, that you remove,and then pull up on the front panel, and it's free.

kennyGF

 

[bobbyderegis]

Was that really the BOL with two speeds?
Bobby in Boston

 

[peteski50]

Wards

Real cool machine. Was their a water level switch? I didn't see a water level control and it filled only 1/2. I also like the back open lid. I would like to see what the TOL looked like from this series.
Best Of Luck with this gem
Peter

 

[toggleswitch]

Becuse it's not visible or reachable from the front.

The adjustable water-level switch is shown in panel #273398,

However the horizontal adjustment shaft is shown (i.e. it exists), but was not accessible to the typical user by way of the control-panel (back-splash panel).

Hopes this helps clarify it.

 

[hoover1060]

very cool

Looks like it agitates quite aggressively too!! Does the tub index as well?

Thanks for sharing the video Ben!

 

[mickeyd]

Actually, Pete, Ben explained it in the initial post.

"A big surprise came when I took the rear panel off. Investigating to see how the water level was metered - it was a pleasant surprise to see that an infinite water level pressure switch had been hiding behind the BOL panel for decades! So to save some water a little flick of the dial can turn the level down as needed. "

It was installed on the assembly line but only available to use on higher end models. No match for savvy Ben's skills who tweaked that baby in seconds to get a low water level. And now I have two stories for my fellow Aworgers about that machine.

Home for good after college in the late seventies, a friend lived in one of those huge dwellings where sets of four units share a common basement, meaning there were four washers per basement. All main entries were open then, so I could romp from basement to basement ogling all the awesome now-vintage machines. And the first time I saw that Norge/Wards, etc. OH MY GOD. Nervously, I opened the lid, terrified that the owner might catch me with my head inside of her machine--like Robert's gym video. The white version of the identical agitator in Ben's machine was in full operation, at the lowest water level I had ever seen. It was a small load of socks. And they were flying. Of course this was an adrenalized experience, but I had never seen a machine agitate with such force and speed, and was blown away by a washer with a genuine extra-low water level, very rare then. In that moment, I knew I had to have a Norge. A few months later; I had never been more automatic washer happy: lowest water levels available, insane agiatation, long spray rinse flying off the blades and column--my God, what a washer! It was the first automatic I bought. Up until then I had my blessed Easy--25 bucks in an antique store in 1978, and still spirilating away today. How many loads had that Easy washed?

Second story later,

 

[swestoyz]

Hey Jeff -

This machine does not have an indexing tub during agitation - but does something very crafty when agitation starts proceeding a spin. I noticed that after the first spin/rinse combo, when the tub goes into agitation it will spin and lock into place with a nice clunk. I'll hopefully take some shots of the mechanism tomorrow to help explain.

Enjoying learning more about these crafty machines!

Thanks Toggles and Mike for the update on the MIA pressure switch. I would drill a hole and install a knob, that would take the fun out of it!

Ben

 

[mickeyd]

Ben, how did they ever engineer that brake?

Another one of a kind. The clang was probably too loud for you camcorder, but no one who knows it ever forgets it. How many rpms--7 or 8 hundred and BANG in one second, the tub stops. Almost like the Iron-man reached out and grabbed it. Can't wait for your always humorous take on the infamous Norge Brake.