Demise of the Pulsator was __________?

[machinehead]

Hey folks--

Quiz for you Frigidaire freaks like me: what was it and what year was it that led to the downfall of the famous Pulsator agitator? Is this the "shreditator" i hear mentioned from time to time?

 

[scott55405]

They ended in about 1979. General Motors sold the Frigidaire division to White Consolidated Industries, who unfortunately started making the Frigidaire washers with their design rather than retaining the Rollermatic design.

 

[peteski50]

Demise of the Pulsator was

The actual date of the end was December 26th, 1980 is when General Moters shut down Frigidaire because White Consolidated pulled out. So anything made after 1980 was a dreadful WCI design. It is the worst thing that ever occured in the world of appliances.
Peter

 

[Washinsheen]

My mom had to replace her 1972 Frigidaire washer after Frigidaire "went through the change" (ha!) This was after she'd had a 1958 and the 1972 models. And then the inferior Frigidaire was just a total disappointment.

 

[jetcone]

1980 I spoke to an engineer

at GM about the change. I was trying to get my Mom a JetAction machine.
He told me all the machines that made the washers had worn out ,they were from the 40's. So instead of redoing the whole plant they sold the business to WCI. And they retrofitted the plant to making Chevy Luv trucks!

So next time ya'll see a Chevy Luv truck you will know where it came from.

 

[retroguy]

I always thought.......

That that truck looked a lot like a washing machine. =)

 

[bajaespuma]

Oh, now you got me going...

GM divested the Frigidaire appliance division in 1979 because the workers at the appliance factories had the unmitigated gaul to want the same pay scales and the same benefit plans as the auto workers(better union). They argued that if they were doing what was essentially the same work they deserved essentially the same compensation.
Meanwhile, back in the corporate offices, GM's wonderful pride of corporate lawyer's figured out that if they simply eliminated Frigidaire they could cut them all loose (i.e. fire their asses), they wouldn't have to deal with the problem at all. God Bless GM! What's good for GM is good for America.

 

[peteski50]

GM Frigidaire!

The biggest mistake WCI made was not obtaining the factories with the purchase of Frigidaire. They ended up paying general motors for awhile to continue production. They made even a bigger mistake when they pulled out to not continue production on their own. They should have at least kept the washing machines, refrigation and air conditioner business part of it.
If they did at least that they would have at least maintained the Frigidaire name.
Peter

 

[jetcone]

And now we come full circle 30 years later

with a whole new opportunity of a clear market to sell our own quality washers and dryers made here in the usa with no GM or FORD to say BOO!

When a door is closed the appliance god opens a window!!

 

[goatfarmer]

It's nice to talk about the old days, and how great the washers were, etc. But there were a LOT of warranty problems with the 1-18 washers. We used to have at least 4-5 a week in the shop for transmission changes. The weak link, the bellows seals, would leak, and take out the bearings, and the rest of the mechanism would usually follow shortly.

If you'll notice on the later ones, there's a little plastic diverter tray, so when (not if) the washer leaked, the water would be diverted away from the motor, at least saving the motor..

 

[machinehead]

Thanks!

Hey everyone THANK YOU for ending the mystery for me... Now, next question is, did Frigidaire use the same type of Pulsator as in the 70's up to the bitter end? Does anyone have a picture of one of these end-of-the-line babies? Would love to see one!

Oh, and by the way, i worked as a "mech-nician" or "techannic" on GM's for about 10 years and can testify that the same stupid logic members mentioned about Corporate Lawyers and so on was still true in 2005 when i bailed... nothings changed.

 

[saltysam]

fact finding mission

The 1-18's that i just acquired ( and i might add they are just awesome and are so much fun!) has in the last rinse section of the regular wash cycle a space labeled "sanitize". What exactly does this do? Also did the 1-18's ever come with a fabric softener dispenser that attached to the top of the agitator so the softner would would dispense after the first spin?

I have no more dirty clothes anywhere......It's a long time till the next wash day. :-( But, damn i've been having fun this past week.....

 

[DADoES]

Sanitize is for running a rinse with bleach to clean the machine, IIRC. Not for washing clothes.

 

[saltysam]

clean the machine

Thanks DADoES.......would never have thought of that....

what does IIRC mean?

 

[DADoES]

IIRC = if I recall correctly ....

 

[bundtboy]

iirc

well do you or don't you?

 

[rinso]

My 1-18 had a fabric softener dispenser disk that fit over the top of the jet cone.

 

[saltysam]

My 1-18 had a fabric softener dispenser

thanks rinso! I thought they might have something but wasn't for sure.....i keep a lookout for one to go on my machine.

 

[bundtboy]

dispenser

They're much more flying saucer shaped than any other I've seen and you have to be careful because there's one for the jetcone and one for the later agitator, and while they look similar, they are not interchangeable. They're about 7 or 8 inches across the diameter but only about 2 inches thick.

b