Constructa CT418

[panthera]

Well, that was a surprise. Out for a walk this week when a neighbor said an apartment in our complex was being cleared out. Lady had died intestate and after waiting the required period, our management was putting everything out for folks to take. What was left would be tossed (well, in Munich that means taken to be recycled).
We missed the non-spinning washer and the clothes spinner. I didn't have space for the 1947 AEG electric heater...but I did pick up this nifty Constructa CT 418.
Only thing wrong with it was the nylon belt to the fan. Got that replaced for 9.59€, cleaned her out...and she just finished her first load of clothes.
Being only half-size (and small for that) she only does about 5-6 pounds at a time. But the 2000W element and the very brisk breeze from the fan dried things very fast.
My parts seller figures 1979 tops, probably mid-seventies. I don't know. Build quality is outstanding and the design really showed some effort at making things work quietly and fast. Constructa is B/S/H of course, tho' there are folks here in Germany to this day who swear by Constructa for their laundry but would never buy that "junk" from Siemens...
The drive belts are set up for the tumble to reverse, but it doesn't.
If anybody here knows something about this series, would love to hear it...and I'll happily post pictures if anyone wants to see.
Oh, and in case you're wondering. No, parts are not kept in stock for forty years, this drive belt is standard in lots of machines. The catalog had it listed for a still in production Zanussi.

 

[jetcone]

Sensible Europeans!

You have to go to Europe to get Bendix boots because they haven't been made here since 1959!

Wow I want to see the guts and the glitter!!

Louis turned me on to Constructa now I am lusting....

jon

 

[panthera]

so ya wanna see the guts and glory, huh, jon?

Well, pardner, I reckon as I can satisfy ya. Just give me a day or so to find the dratted camera...it was just here!
I swain, there is a worm hole in this kitchen and everything which falls into it suffers a temporal displacement.
Some stuff Europeans are really good at, some stuff not so good.
Looking at the power rating reminded me of something I saw in another thread recently. Just 'cause something is "220V" doesn't necessarily mean it is high powered. This dryer, for instance, "only" has 2000W. More than enough for the loads it dries - I was impressed at its speed. Since, however, heater elements are a purely resistance load, it is no problem to market them in the US for American 240V. So you can get a "220" volt machine combi- and still only have one-half the drying power of a standard American machine.

 

[foraloysius]

Keven,

It took me a while to realize you were talking about a dryer. LOL. I would love to see a picture of it. I think I know which one it is, but I'd like to be sure. Is this the one with the small drop down door? Timer only and two toggleswitches (!) for the drying temperature? IIRC there was H1 and H2 on those switches.

 

[panthera]

Hi Louis,

Sorry, silly of me not to be clearer. I sold Constructa stuff for so long, their obscure nomenclature makes sense to me.
Which kinda explains me, I guess.
Nope, this is the one which has the door swing open with the hinges on the right. There is a timer (90 minutes, last few are cool down) on the far right. On the far left, signal light and a rocker switch for I * II, with the middle position being cold air only, up a lower temp. and down the highest. The lower temp. is 70°C, but haven't worked down to the upper temp. limiter yet. The fascia, like all Bosch/Siemens/Constructa of that era is built to be easily swapped out, so I can well imagine the NL version used wording. Remember when the German Constructas were using symbols for everything? The only thing which was intuitive was the green "e". Everything else looked like it was done by the same weirdos who did the universally mis-understandable picto-grams for the Olympics.
Hmm, considering where they were designed, could-a-been.
I found the camera, now have to find its dratted memory card. If push comes to shove, an old-timer friend is in town for the protest rally. Will have him take shots and send them on on Tuesday.
Dimensions, I do have:
60cm deep over all, 57cm wide (!), 62cm high.
The lid is sturdy, but not built to support weight, nor necessary to run the unit. Air slits on the right side with a "Distanzblock" to prevent them being closed off in a cupboard suggest the size of the motor.
Basically, they used standard components throughout, really only the drum is the only non-60cm, 4.5 kilogram component. The lint filter is the old standard wrap around ring which snaps tightly into the door opening. Sure does a good job of picking up lint...and forcing you to clean it off before taking the clothes out, or else. Ordnung muss sein!
Still don't know if it doesn't reverse by design or timer failure. Motor is wired reversible and the condenser in this baby would start a cement mixer jammed solid.

 

[foraloysius]

You're making me curious, I don't think I know what model you mean. I found a picture of the model I was describing. It's the one at the right, the CT400. This picture is from 1973. Looking forward to your pictures.

 

[panthera]

Hey Louis,

I remember the 420. But I have found not reference material on this one - 418 - anywhere.
It does not have the removable lower panel like other "Tisch" dryers of that era, and the knob and fascia are more like the Constructas of the very late 1970's and early 80's.
The wiring schematic makes no specific reference to this model, the general layout is pretty much what all non-moisture sensing automatic dryers looked like in this era...or, really, today, except there is usually a fuseable thermal limiter in the newer stuff as the last line of defense.
The heating element is the enclosed (calrod) design, very large loop relative to the dryer drum, forcing the engineers to foreshorten the drum by a good 3 centimeters. That alone suggests to me that they were keeping the special parts to an absolute minimum, since the loss of volume is considerable.
3Kg is realistic, it certainly did the six pound load last night without wrinkling and very fast. I suspect these were seen more as bad weather and absolute emergency devices than as daily dryers. Certainly, if the old biddies running my area weren't so nasty about it, I would hang my clothes out to dry instead of using my condenser...

 

[panthera]

First Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the sweet little thing. Have now dried several loads in her, definitely well designed and fast.
I apologize for the picture quality, I'm going to have to replace this camera (obviously). My better ones are in the 'States. Maybe my friend from the old timer's club can take some better ones this evening.
Especially interesting, the warning text in English: "Be Careful"
Obviously prior to the standardization of later labels. Oh, if only the EC High Commissioner for Vanilla Pudding knew about this...

 

[foraloysius]

Keven,

Thank you for the pictures, but in order to identify it I think I need a picture of the whole dryer. I'm not really able to see what the whole dryer looks like. Is it perhaps a similar model to this dryer...

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/foraloysius/album/576460762322441753/photo/294928803254027264/1