COLSTON

[foraloysius]

The Frigidaire twintub has two dials, do you know what they were for? I can imagine one of them is to engage and disengage the pump, like my Velo washer has. That one has a setting for washing and one for pumping. I wondered if it wouldn't be the same for the Frigidaire.

 

[sudsreturn]

Simlar machine to the Colston.

This is a French machine, but very similar to the Colston Coronet/Concorde.

 

[keymatic]

Hi Al,
Yep it was as they quoted in the brochure a New improved "Twin-lobe" or Impel-action..basically like the wash tub of the Rolls that Mike posted, but square tub instead of round.

The spinner was great to, spinning @ 2850rpm !! and they call it the new "High-G" spin drier..Oooo

There was two dials, one for timing and another for just Spin/heat..very simple, no dial/lever for the pump as it was constantly running..so you would never be able to wash & spin at the same time as the washtub would start to empty as soon as you took the "ball-valve" off the hose to empty the spinner.

Cheers
Keith

 

[markt5004]

That's very odd that you could not wash and spin at the same time. I thought that was meant to be one of the advantages of a twin tub!

Mark

 

[paulc]

Vacbear

Thanks for posting the mastertwin pic's. My Aunty had one when I was 7 or 8. I remember the pump broke so she had to wash at the back door with the drain hose on the back step draining into the grid. She replaced it with a Frigidare Auto but only had that for a year or so, she was burgled and the took EVERYTHING including appliances (Complete with the food in the fridge/freezer) and all the kids clothes. She then got an Indesit L8.

 

[anthony]

frigidair mastertwin

hi everyone im new here have to say though its a great site ,I worked for a company [as an aprentice ]called HC TROLDHAL in middlesbrough in the 70s the company was owned by GM so i got to work on most of the Frigidaire machines that were on offer at the time the earlier mastertwin had a pulsator in the bottom of the tub while the later machine had a black agitator rather like an old hotpoint countess with the vanes low down the controls on the front were a timer for the washer up to 30 mins i think and the other was a thermostat the wash pump ran constantly hence the rubber ball i have lost count of the spin bearings i had to replace on both models usualy under guarantee another common fault was broken knobs constantly breaking due to being forced the older model with the square lids was an odd machine there were two vwrsions of it one had a large motor directly driving the pulsator which rarely went wrong the other model had a spin motor [exactly the same as the spin dryer] conected to the pulsator by a belt they were always burning out for obvious reasons the same motor was used on the frigidair spindryers they were good machines very fast spin and quiet .Also got to work on a fiew Jetamatics [the auto with the agitator that went up and down ]fab machine usualy found in the posher home but getting back to the twintubs my worst memory of which i have a constant reminder [a three inch scar on one of my fingers ]was having my mits inside an upturned tt when a workmate accidentaly swiched it on happy days cheers Anthony

 

[anthony]

frigidair mastertwin

forgot to mention on the later Frigidair mastertwin you could wash and spin at the same time if i remember corectly the spindryer had its own pump and drain hose . I also remember another twintub [i only ever saw one of these ]it only had one motor there was a large lever on the front with a bakelite knob on the end inside the lever had a motor on the end with a large rubber wheel on the shaft simply moving the lever would disconect the washer and engage the spindryer the motor ran constantly no switch just pull the plug to stop it the dryer had a pump but to empty the wash tub you simply let the hose down onto the floor or into a drain this machine was rather like a rolls to look at i cant remember the brand regards Anthony

 

[chestermikeuk]

Frigidaire Mastertwin

Morning Anthoney and welcome to the club, really glad you found this place as it looks like you could fill in the missing info...

The Frigidaire twinnys always looked "Square & Smart" in my eyes, interesting they used both agi and pulsator, that valve stopper did seem a bit primitive although I had seen one on a Siemens Single Tub with drum from the 70`s...

So HC TROLDHAL where a manufacturing agent then?? Did they make the twinnys there or where you on the service side??

What where the problems with the Jetamatics?? can you confirm if it had a heater in it as well??

Oh questions questions....

 

[vacbear58]

Welcome Anthony

And thank you for sharing your memories of the Mastertwin. You had better dust off the memory banks as you must have a fund of memories working on machines where are now VERY rare, the very mention of Jetmatics be sparking peoples interest. If there are any more stories please share them no matter how trivial you might think they are.

As to the other twin tub you mention, I suspect it might be an Easiclean (from memory) although there are a couple of other brands like Acme & Ada which could also be contenders - a check back through teh archives might throw mor information up.

Al

 

[anthony]

the Frigidair machines

hi everyone thanks for the warm welcome. first of all i love the jetamatic advert its fab what it says is true they really were ahead of its time however it had two main problems the pump prone to leaking and the cluch plates replacing them was a big job the mecanism that makes the agitator go up and down had to be removed to get at them if i remember right they were held in with a spring that had to be held in place while the cover was refitted . I would usually go to a customers house with an engineer [this is all during my apprentiship]he would decide weather the machine could be repaired on site or in the workshop Jetamatics were usually brought in by the way it did have a heater will[great i got to play ]after being repaired the machine would be put on test with its cabinet off and a suitable instrument stuffed in the lid switch so that you could see everything i would be told to keep an eye on it [no need to be told twice needless to say the machine would of had a full service and a good clean inside befor being put back together then it would be tested again befor being returned to its owner . I may still have some spares in the shed somewhere that used to be part of my van stock . HC Troldhal were part of the GM empire i think we did repair machines for other companys as well COLston Ariston mainly guarantee stuff some times i would be sent to the CO OP i would spend all day repairing returned faulty machines taking parts from one to repair another the repaired machines were then put back on the shop floor . at this time there was a lot of part exchange going on there would be literally hundreds of Hotpoint Empresses Countesses Parnall ADA wringer washers out back most were scrapped i was allowed to take anything i wanted home i got my gran one of the later Empresses it had been on the shop floor but never sold because there was a dent in the side of it it had never seen water i gave the manager a fiver for it Grans gone now but the empress is still here in the shed there were also no end of vacuum cleaners but back to the Frigidair the twintub above with the lady bending over it [wish i could remember the model ]was verymuch like a rolls same pulsator same wash tub i also remember an English Electric version exactly the same just a diffrent name very basic machine . The version i mention above with two spin motors was quite noisy but there main fault was the spin bearing i was always having to fit new ones i can even remember what it cost to buy and fit a new bearing cost 35quid and afiew pence a lot of money in 1974 will have a look in the shed at the weekend i may still have some service manualsand other literature if so i will post it by for now Anthony

 

[anthony]

the Frigidair machines

hi everyone thanks for the warm welcome. first of all i love the jetamatic advert its fab what it says is true they really were ahead of its time however it had two main problems the pump prone to leaking and the cluch plates replacing them was a big job the mecanism that makes the agitator go up and down had to be removed to get at them if i remember right they were held in with a spring that had to be held in place while the cover was refitted . I would usually go to a customers house with an engineer [this is all during my apprentiship]he would decide weather the machine could be repaired on site or in the workshop Jetamatics were usually brought in by the way it did have a heater will[great i got to play ]after being repaired the machine would be put on test with its cabinet off and a suitable instrument stuffed in the lid switch so that you could see everything i would be told to keep an eye on it [no need to be told twice needless to say the machine would of had a full service and a good clean inside befor being put back together then it would be tested again befor being returned to its owner . I may still have some spares in the shed somewhere that used to be part of my van stock . HC Troldhal were part of the GM empire i think we did repair machines for other companys as well COLston Ariston mainly guarantee stuff some times i would be sent to the CO OP i would spend all day repairing returned faulty machines taking parts from one to repair another the repaired machines were then put back on the shop floor . at this time there was a lot of part exchange going on there would be literally hundreds of Hotpoint Empresses Countesses Parnall ADA wringer washers out back most were scrapped i was allowed to take anything i wanted home i got my gran one of the later Empresses it had been on the shop floor but never sold because there was a dent in the side of it it had never seen water i gave the manager a fiver for it Grans gone now but the empress is still here in the shed there were also no end of vacuum cleaners but back to the Frigidair the twintub above with the lady bending over it [wish i could remember the model ]was verymuch like a rolls same pulsator same wash tub i also remember an English Electric version exactly the same just a diffrent name very basic machine . The version i mention above with two spin motors was quite noisy but there main fault was the spin bearing i was always having to fit new ones i can even remember what it cost to buy and fit a new bearing cost 35quid and afiew pence a lot of money in 1974 will have a look in the shed at the weekend i may still have some service manualsand other literature if so i will post it by for now Anthony

 

[keymatic]

Hi Anthony,
A quick welcome to the club, and great to hear of your experience, and hopefully more to come. It is always welcoming to hear of such stories especially from UK guys, as sometimes information can be scarce.
Cheers
Keith

 

[rfitzhen]

Colston Consort Automatic

Is it possible for a picture of the Colston Consort Automatic machine please from the vintage Kays Catalogue? Thank you.