Filtrating in Minneapolis

kenmore71 · Sep 6, 2013

One of my pipedreams since I have discovered the joys of AW was to have in my very own possession an early Frigidaire Filtrator dryer. Well, thanks to an alignment of the stars, hard work and persistence, my dream has come true! Now i can enjoy the pleasure of Filtrator soft towels in the middle of a MN winter! Here are some pics of the 1952 TR-60:

kenmore71 · Sep 6, 2013

Inside the drum looking at the RadianTubes:

kenmore71 · Sep 6, 2013

The other side looking at the drum light and ozone lamp:

kenmore71 · Sep 6, 2013

The timer, along with the roaster thermometer that I Installed next to the thermostat capillary tube:

kenmore71 · Sep 6, 2013

More to come as I check out the unique features of this unique dryer!!!

revvinkevin · Sep 6, 2013

YAY MARK!!!

CONGRATS on getting a dream machine!

I look forward to reading and seeing more about it!

Kevin

whirlcool · Sep 6, 2013

What do the towels smell like when they come out of this dryer?

launderess · Sep 6, 2013

Welcome To The World Of Condensor Dryers

Must admit those vintage Frigidaire Filtrator dryers have always peaked my interest. Would have one if space and knowledge of vintage appliance repair/maintenance could be trusted. We look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Congrats!

tomturbomatic · Sep 6, 2013

Congratulations on achieving a dream

Now you will enjoy the Fitrator perfume in your basement. Not even the Hamilton can make that fragrance because it depends on the concentration of the ozone and the boiled cotton smell in the steam.

Something else at which the Filtrator excells is dewrinkling things like suit coats. Throw in a very damp towel to build up some steam and after a few minutes throw in the wool suit coat. In 5 minutes or less, it is wrinkle free.

Never ever let it stop for long with the heater red hot as it can damage the porcelain drum.

Have fun.

danemodsandy · Sep 6, 2013

Allen:

There is no smell in the world quite like the smell of Filtrator-dried clothing. It's something of an ozone smell, and it smells like the quintessence of clean. It's also a very comforting smell, for some reason. I've only been around a Filtrator (one just like Mark's) in a member's home, but I can easily imagine that people who grew up with one in their house have very fond memories of it.

turquoisedude · Sep 6, 2013

Very nice, indeed, Mark!! The cabinet looks mint - hope I look that go when I'm in my 60s...

Love the photo of the glowing Radiantubes!

mickeyd · Sep 6, 2013

Right Away,

I was going to ask you what's up with that cute little Geiger Counter on the console, but you explained in Reply #3.

The futuristic pics of the glowing drum are a real surprise--had no idea!

Beautiful. I can only imagine the fragrance, the joy, and the warmth. How nice you've found your dream, and started our day with a nice uplift. Thanks.

christfr · Sep 6, 2013

oh your gonna love this dryer they sound so neat and even smell good

swestoyz · Sep 6, 2013

Great idea to use a roaster thermometer. Amazing to see how far the thermostat has drifted over the years. I'll be curious to hear about the results after you make adjustments.

Ben

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philr · Sep 6, 2013

I like the idea of the thermometer too! Congrats on your new acquisition!

kenmore71 · Sep 9, 2013

More Filtramatic (r) goodness!

I have continued to play with the filtrator over the last few days. I'm not entirely sure why I have chosen 90+ degree days to work on the hottest operating dryer ever created!

Here is inside the back after careful vacuuming:

kenmore71 · Sep 9, 2013

Then, since I had stock on hand, I decided to add a 25 amp relay to control the 240 volt current to the Radiantubes. This should nearly eliminate any chance of contact failure in the timer, thermostat and centrifugal switch. The control circuit now draws 5 watts at 120 volts instead of 4400 watts at 240 volts!

kenmore71 · Sep 9, 2013

So, since it's only 92 degrees with a 70 degree dew point, I thought I'd dry a load of sheets. Here we are at the thermostat cut-out temperature:

kenmore71 · Sep 9, 2013

The steamy drama that only Filtration can provide!

combo52 · Sep 9, 2013

Filtrator Fun

Great progress Mark, you will enjoy this dryer even more during a cold Minnesota winter.

I can't tell how you wired the added relay, but you should let the full heater current continue to go through the heater safety thermostat, otherwise if you relay contacts stick you will have a real disaster on your hands and the world may lose another of these rare dryers. Also if you have the new 4 wire dryer cord plugged into a properly wired outlet you should connect the green wire from the cord to the cabinet of the dryer.

Keep us posted about further testing, Tom and I rebuilt and used several of these orignal Frigidaire Filtrator Dryers many years ago and we both still have one or more that we still use occasionally. In fact at one time we had one from every year that FD made these, all 7 different styles, we have since thinned the heard a little. All that is left is the TR-61 [ a factory 120 model that has just one 1800 watt element ] that I have connected in my basement, I also have a 1957 and a 1960 version and Tom has the 1956 and 1958 versions, all of ours are white.

kenmore71 · Sep 9, 2013

John thanks for your comments about this. Good point about the safety Thermostat.

I included that in the control circuit and NOT in the actual heater circuit. I get your point about that, though. That will be a revision that I make the next time I need to remove the back.

The reason the white and green are together has to do with the wiring in the building which is a long and not terribly interesting story. I know it's not kosher according to code but it really is safe for the way I am using it.

mickeyd · Sep 9, 2013

Gentlemen, I was really wondering

Do other condenser dryers give the same effect, or do you need the ozone lamp?

Or, in the end, will only a Frigidaire do, regardless?

swestoyz · Sep 9, 2013

I have bypassed the ozone bulb in a few Filtrators and the same 'smell' still emits. When I've used other Filtrators with the ozone bulb wired in I could not differentiate between the two.

Ben

frigilux · Sep 10, 2013

Wow, that is a real steamy photo! Have no experience with a Filtrator. Was surprised to see a "push to start/pull to stop" cycle dial on a dryer. What does the on/off toggleswitch do?

A beautiful dryer, inside and out. Congrats!

launderess · Sep 10, 2013

Have Always Wanted To Find A 120v Version

But alas it was not to be. *LOL*

Wonder how these GM dryers compare to modern condenser dryer offerings.

tomturbomatic · Sep 10, 2013

While the ozone contributes to the perfume, a great deal of the fragrance is due to the steaming of the cotton. If you will remember the scene of Christmas dinner from Dickens' Christmas Carol, when they go to get the pudding that has been steaming in the wash boiler there is this description, "Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry-cook's next door to each other with a laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding!"

Sometimes the fragrance of boiling hot cotton is achieved by ironing damp cotton with a hot iron.

The toggle switch is for the lights because there is no door switch in this model. The pull to stop timer dial is also because there is no door switch. If the door needs to be opened during the cycle, the machine can be stopped by pulling out on the timer dial instead of turning it to "OFF" which is less convenient.

retromania · Sep 10, 2013

Way to go Mark. Congratulations! I know the joy of finally getting an appliance that you have wanted for a long time. I am cooking on an O'Keefe that that I got from an AW member that got it from another AW member. Again, congratulations!!

washerman · Sep 10, 2013

How does this work?

Hi there,

I understand the steaming part, but how does this actually cool the stuff down so you can touch it? Does it vent out all of that steam or is there a condenser of some kind?

I would think that this would burn up any lightweight fabric...so how well does it work on things like shirts and anything less than heavyweight denim?

Drew

kenmore71 · Sep 10, 2013

I figured this would come up at some point. There are several excellent threads in the archives about Filtrator dryers but I don't have the time to find them right now. To begin with, study this diagram:

kenmore71 · Sep 10, 2013

This is a technical explanation taken from an early service manual:

Filtrating in Minneapolis

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