Finally found a Rollermatic!

[lebron]

Woo-hoo I am so excited. As some of you may know, I've wanted one of these machines for a while now. Joe atually found this machine for me, and I can not thank him enough! It is a 1967 Custom Deluxe model w/ Rapidry. The craziest thing about this machine is that it was still being used as a daily driver along with the matching dryer. The mechanism works perfectly and it is sooooo quiet. Now for the bad part. It needs a new water bellows, which I can get. Unfortunately the previous owner attempted to take the agitator nut off and broke the top part of the pulsator and also something inside. The agitator now rotates freely...What broke inside the mechanism that allows the pulsator to rotate and is it fixable? Now I have to attempt to hold the pulsator and try to remove the stubborn agitator nut. Does anybody have an extra deep action agitator that they would be willing to part with? I'd appreciate it.

 

[lebron]

These machines may not be the most glamorous of the rollermatics but I absolutely love the commanding simple look

 

[lebron]

[No message]

 

[lebron]

Badge of honor

 

[lebron]

[No message]

 

[lebron]

The Ugly

OK so who has an extra one of these?

Any tips for getting the agitator nut off?

 

[christfr]

hang in there and keep asking im sure there is a spare around. will be a cool machine when its all done

 

[rollermatic]

i've never had any trouble getting

an agitator nut off any of my rollermatics, yet. and i have done four so far, two to go.

i always put a good vice grips at the bottom most part of the agitator shadft, right above the ball coupler. i then put a hollow steel tube over the vice grip handle to keep that vice grip from moving back and forth as i loosen the nut. they have all come right off.

i did not like the idea of simply holding the tub with my foot etc. that i have read from old frigidaire repairmen. because that keyway can break off with all that stress on it from trying to turn that nut while using the tub to hold the agitator shaft from turning. a vice grips works well. i did buy a new pair just for that use, the biggest, heaviest i could find.

one of my rollermatics is the exact model as yours. at this point i do not have an agitator i can part with but i may in the future. the tub on this one is extremely disintigrated to the point of being unusable. if i find another tub i would like to restore it and hence would keep the agitator. if i decide to simply use it as a parts machine then i could let the agitator go. it all boils down to if i can find a tub and i won't really be working on it till next year, have 3 others ahead of it.

i know this doesn't help you now but i do know someone that has frigidaire parts. i just bought parts from mark michaels who found a source himself. he says this guy has tons of stuff left. i bought 5 water seals, a tub support, 3 oil bellows and one water bellows. and an agitate arm ball kit.

mark has one more water bellows left, he is planning on selling it on e bay. i don't need any more. i have plenty now. i also think dave on the web under dave's repair.com
might have water bellows left, he too might have an agitator. i have bought from him before.

and then is always train guy if you can get ahold of him, he's a tough one to communicate with but seems nice.

i would start with mark michaels. his e mail is [email protected] and i spoke with him last nite via phone.

once you get that nut off you might be able to fix that agitator. i did buy a cone from mark, but it is the second cone, the middle cone. i know he has more of those, he wanted me to buy them. if you need that i do have it. i was gonna make a decoration out of it.

good luck, i would get that nut off and then see what the damage to the agitator is, you may luck out!

 

[frigilux]

Nice find, Lebron! Too bad about the big gap in the agitator. I hope you'll be able to find one soon. Other than that, it looks like it's in great condition. I like the consoles from these late-1960s Frigidaires. Congrats!

 

[rollermatic]

mark's phone no is

724-506-0344

i am talking to him now. there is a kit this other guy has, it's 90 bucks and mark just bought one and sold it. he says the guy has another. i would give him a call. he says this kit is the complete agitator kit and has a water bellows with it.

good luck

 

[saltysam]

It needs a new water bellows

Hey Lebron,
Excellent find you have there!!!!
Like rollermatic said in one of his posts the keyway at the bottom of the agitator/spin shaft has sheared off due to someone trying to get the agitator nut off and not supporting the shaft. The agitator nut can be a pain in the butt to get off sometimes that's why it is essential that you keep the shaft from turning when removing the nut. Like rollermatic said using vise grips is the best way to go.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that spin shaft will have to be replaced. Reason being, is the keyway for the agitator shaft keeps the agitator from turning during agitation and also keeps it in line when the machine goes into spin. If you put everything back together without replacing the spin shaft that new water bellows will be destroyed in no time.
Now for another problem you will encounter when you finally get the agitator off. Along with the water bellows, the oil bellows will more than likely have spun around also and ripped in the process. Check the bellows closely when you get everything apart.
The water bellows and oil bellows are still out there you just have to hunt for them. As far as the spin shaft for a Rapid Dry those are very hard to come by, just ask Christfr. He's been looking for one for his machine for some time now.
Rollermatic gave some excellent sources for parts.
Good luck with the machine and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.
Mark

 

[joelippard]

Jed

I'm so glad you got it. I had been wondering about it. It's going to be hell to get that agitator nut off if it's anything like mine was. Remember this as I learned it from others. Your best work on this machine will come not by brute force, but by impact, as it pertains to removing nuts, bolts, etc. As for the turning of the agitator, as others have said that means the keyway is broken on the agitator shaft. Those keyways are easily had at any local ACE Hardware. They refer to them as Steel Key,
3/16 x 1 1/4, Item number 2160-5

I feel sure a replacement cone will turn up soon enough. In the mean time I'd focus on cosmetic items and in getting it ready for the new cone. I'm not sure what those broken parts were under the bottom of it that the original owner sent me the picture of but I'd post that picture on here for others to see if they can figure out what was broken. It's going to need a good going thru.

Be sure you seal that tub plug with Hi temp gasket sealer so you don't get into the mess I did with a bad tub. Putting the new bellows on mine was hell, I hope you have better luck. If you have any questions at all put them up on here so those of us who have been there before can help you.

When you get this machine fixed, you're going to fall in love!

 

[qsd-dan]

mark's phone no is 724-506-0344

Does he have parts for other vintage makes and models, or is it Frigidaire only? Thanks!

 

[mrcleanjeans]

One of my favorite washers indeed! Lucky you!

 

[swestoyz]

Mark mostly has Frigidaire items, with a few heres and theres for Maytag and Philco wringers (sorry, no Duo parts). His father had been a Frigidaire dealer for quite sometime. He doesn't have any Unimatic parts left and very very few Multimatic items, but he does have some Rollermatic and 1-18 items left. He also has some range and refrigerator stuff too (relays, cold controls, etc).

If you are looking for something it helps him out if you already know what the part number is, along with the model number.

Ben

 

[swestoyz]

BTW - Jed, congrats man on your first Rollermatic! Bummer about the spin shaft key - hopefully you'll get the parts you need to get it running again.

So, did you finally pick up that timer at Robert's? ;-)

Ben

 

[lebron]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments and advice. I now understand how and why this machine is broken, how to prevent that, and how to get it apart now.

But my question is Joe refers to this part: Steel Key,
3/16 x 1 1/4, Item number 2160-5

could all I have to do is replace a broken key and everything would be locked up again?? or is the entire spin shaft shot.

BTW Ben no I haven't. I'm gonna have to get down to Robert's soon though!

 

[rickr]

Yay!! Another classic saved! Congratulations, and best of luck with that. The Rollermatics can be frustrating to work on, but once they are fixed right, they seem to run trouble free.

 

[rollermatic]

i always thought if

the keyway broke off due to excessive force on that agitator shaft you could simply replace it with another one as joe said above.

i would not think the entire spin shaft would have to be replaced.

i do recall mark telling me that this other guy he buys from had either a spin or agitator shaft available. can't remember which. but lets hope you don't need one.

keep the posts coming on it please, and the pics! and use those vice grips on that shaft!