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trainguy

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Sep 10, 2001
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Key West, FL
[COLOR=#ff0000; font-size: 14pt]1979 TOL Dryer [/COLOR]

I remember that Gansky knew of a set of these, but does anyone have one for sale or trade?

Greg, did you ever acquire this set from the owner?

Rich

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DEEG - GM Frigidaire at its Finest!

 

 

Paul,

 

This was the last GM Frigidaire TOL set made.  It was truly unique with a rapid advance timer and all push button console.  The light was only around the round timer/indicator part.  I'd really like to find one.

 

Here is the washer...

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ohhhhh. I see now. Wow, that really fooled me. :-)

But I look at that typeset and say to myself "is that the first of the WCIs?" I am a doubting Thomas that it really is completely GM.
 
Cool Frigidaire TOL Dryer

Hi Rich, did this CI dryer have an electronic sensor like the first 1-18 CI dryers had?

 

I have never seen this set in person, both the 1-18 washers and dryers had been improved quite a bit as the 70s went on, this dryer you are looking for would have the improved 4 roller drum support instead of the always noisy 5 roller system used on the earlier models.
 
This timer on both the washer and dryer was strange. I remember playing with a set at the MEMCO store in Annandale, VA. The buttons to the left side of the timer, when pushed, advanced the timer to one of a few start positions. The options buttons made modifications to the cycle then you used the start and stop buttons at the right to turn the machine on and off. The soak, prewash and spin only buttons moved the timer pointer to the start of those portions of the cycle as did the wash time buttons. If you pushed cancel wash, I believe it went to the end of the wash period. The buttons seemed to work mechanically to move the timer without the unit being connected to electricity. I say that because nothing was connected in the area where the store sold appliances. These were only there a short time and then the cursed WCI Frigidaires appeared and the Frigidaire ranges suddenly had the thin tube surface units. I wonder if GM told the factory employees that the end was coming or just that it had arrived.

 

These machines made me think of the 1954 Westinghouse dishwasher which had a latch/unlatch  about a third of the way down the door which also moved the timer dial down at the bottom of the door through the various portions of the cycle when turned in the start direction.
 
Was watching an old episode of Lets Make A Deal the other night and a set of these were given as the prize. Suggested retail price was $799.00 for the pair. Pretty high for back then I thought.

Jon
 
I Have No Literature On These

Hi John,

 

I have never seen any literature or wiring diagram to know if it has an electronic sensor or not.  Like retro-man shared, $799/pair was quite expensive in 1979, so that plus the intricate timer dial with switches, I'd suspect not many were made nor did those survive like regular 1-18's did. 
 
Since the pictures of these were my machines, I guess I should address the questions. I had this set and was using them as daily drivers when the pictures were taken. That was around 10 years ago. Since then, I quit using them because of various problems with both the washer and dryer. The lid with the glass insert went to another member who wanted it. I still have the control panels along with an extra control panel that is parted out. The actual machines are gone now, but they would fit any two speed washer and auto control dryer. The washer had a problem with the drive shaft and needed the spin shaft replaced. The dryer was always a pain to keep running because of the drum rollers and the lint build up due to poor design by GM. The dryer was NOT an automatic dryness dryer and the automatic dryness timer was just that, a timed dry that worked in conjuction with a thermostat to dry the clothes. The Frigidaire DCIL dryer I had from about 1968 had an electronic dryness sensor that dried the clothes to perfection. This dryer did not and was mediocre at best. They were a fun set to have and use, but all good things must come to an end sometimes. I still have some of the 1-18 washers and dryers stored away along with a couple of solid tub machines and a couple of solid tub speed queen washers and some old maytag washers, in case anyone is interested.
 
TOL 1-18 FD Dryer

The 1-18 FD dryer that I though was really cool was the first CI model that did not have a temperature control, it used an electronic sensor system along with a timer for automatic drying and also had a timed dry cycle.

 

But the other neat thing was the two-level heating element or gas burner assembly this model used. On the control FD used the Heat-Minder name to let you know that it was an automatic temperature controlled dryer. I have only ever seen one of these early CI FD dryers.
 
combo52

Not sure what TOL 1-18 dryer you are talking about, but I have NEVER seen a 1-18 Frigidaire dryer with an electronic dryness control. Every single one including the one in the pictures was a timer/thermostat controlled dry. If Frigidaire made a 1-18 dryer with an electronic sensor, I have never seen one. But that doesn't mean they never made one, until a year ago I had no idea that they had charcoal colored appliances in the 50's! If you have any pictures of a 1-18 dryer with automatic moisture sensor drying, I would very much like to see them. I was kind of amazed they did away with the automatic sensor in the last run of dryers in the 70's after having such an accurate moisture sensor dryer from the late 60's. I actually thought the 1-18 dryers to be real pieces of crap. A Whirlpool made dryer put them to shame along with many other brands. The 1-18 dryers were problematic at best.
 
This is a control panel from a 1971 "Electronic Dryer" that John has shown me when I had the chance to visit his museum.

 

That would be my Holy Grail 1-18 dryer!

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Like I said, just because I have never seen one doesn't mean there wasn't one. I would like to know what sort of electronic sensor was inside the dryer drum. I have never seen one of those. The timer looks to be like all the other ones that were not electronic control. I actually liked the older 1-18 dryers better as far as the rollers go. They seemed to last a little longer than the later models.
 
Well, that would make sense. Unfortunately, the lint filter housing on the earlier models had a bad tendency to warp and bow, letting small items fall into the lint filter housing and possibly get sucked up in the blower wheel. The relatively late model dryers had a chrome strip that prevented that from happening. They also changed the rubber seal from being on the actual front of the dryer to the inside of the dryer door too. Always trying to rectify the poor design of these dryers, but alas too late....After White Westinghouse got them, the biggest pieces of crap ever put out as dryers were made for several years until they started making them like the old style Westinghouse dryers. The washers were simply rebadged White Westinghouse top loaders. Still yet, the pictures of my GM made Frigidaire washer and dryer in the beginning of this post are very nice looking units and while they worked properly, they were good machines too. Just trouble prone and required a lot of attention. I do think it is a shame and kind of puzzling that this machine did not have the electronic drying feature. I think by the time these machines were made they had totally stopped making electronic dryness dryers and were on their way out of the appliance business. In my opinion, while they had many good ideas and designs in part, they had too many flaws.
 
As you say, I guess they were quite late at fixing things and they certainly didn't fix the most important! I wish they had metal blowers or at least stronger plastic ones, and the rollers, 4 or 5 could have been made a lot more durable... The drums could also have been made to rotate more smoothly and the cabinets should have been made stronger! The good things about them is that they were easy to load, the light colored drums allowed to see what's inside, at least on the very few models that still had a drum light. They also dried adequately, at least the electric version I'm familiar with. 

 

 

My 1977 DECI dryer still doesn't have the chrome strip on the lint filter housing (it's not warped badly enough to allow things to fall in the housing but it's not exactly like new either!). The door seal is still at the front of the dryer. It's still fine but often requires cleaning as lint deposits on the bottom part. I'm wondering if the relocation to the door was a big improvement or if just made it less likely to tear while loading or unloading items? It certainly allowed to unload items without touching the dirty area in the bottom part which I have to say is an improvement!. 
 
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