For those with little room, there's Maytag Porta-Pair

[redcarpetdrew]

Not really...

There is no room for a fill solenoid nor is there any way of controlling it. It came with a hose with a 'boot' at one end which slipped over the end of the sink faucet. You then turned the sink on to the desired temp and filled the tub much like a wringer washer.

RCD

 

[macboy91si]

OH OH OH OH

Thank you so much! That made my day. I have a little set of these and they are wonderful. I saved these scans and printed and framed them with my little Porta-Pair. Thanks Gansky!

-Tim

 

[launderess]

Great Scans! Thanks for posting!

Twin Tub Rinsing:

Much like wringer washing one simply either must be prepared to use lots of water and have allot of time, or deal with various amounts of residue (detergent, soils, etc).

Unlike wringers however, spin rinsing in a twin tub *can* give good results, but only if the load is small enough to allow good saturation with fresh water. A mixed load of various items can be "spin rinsed", that is items soaked with water, then spun out quite well in my Hoover TT, but large items such as sheets and such really require a deep rinse.

Mind you, since both Hoover's and Maytag's extractors (Hoover's was faster),had such high rpm spins, more soap, water and residue was removed from wash compared to many larger washing machines, however the trade off was one having to deal with all that noise. The Hoover spinner is not exactly quiet.

Having the small Whirlpool portable washer, one can see how fully automatic washing machines killed off twin tubs. One or two loads in my Hoover is *ok*, but more than that and the process gets old quickly. Cannot imagine doing a full week's wash for a family of four using a twin tub.

Filling A Twin Tub:

All depends upon the flow rate out of the faucet.

Before we had new fittings placed in the kichen and bathroom, both pumped out water so fast that in the case of the washing machines and dishwasher, units would finish filling long before the time alloted on the timer gave out. Now things are slower.

Hair Styles in Brouchure:

All were *very* popular in the late 1960's and through the 1970's. Most all female television sitcom characters of the period (Samantha Stevens included), sported one or the other at one point. The exception being Mrs. Mike Brady, who wore that short pixe cut.

 

[launderess]

Should also add, where nature had not provided, hair pieces, wigs and falls were used to make up the difference.

 

[macboy91si]

Maytag A50

A couple of things to add:

1.) Maytag uses an induction motor for the spinner, it is a very quiet spinner, it's quieter than the wash motor on a Hoover.

2.) Spin rinsing is not recommended in an A50. My opinion of this is if you own an A50 and you spin rinse with enough water to do the job, you are shortening the life of your spin motor terribly. These are just not set up for that, the motor takes a lot of load on startup, and it gets very warm if you strain it. I thought, because I was used to a Hoover, that surely one spin rinses in all twin tubs. I discovered how hot the spin motor got in the Maytag when laboring to speed. Spin speed is roughly 2000rpm btw.

Porta-matics are great, but there is something that lures me to the twin tubs. The Hoover is my favorite, but sometimes its nice to roll out the Maytags for a "quiet" wash

-Tim

 

[tomturbomatic]

Which came first: Porta-Pair or Porta-Potty?

 

[74simon]

Love the brochure!

You can almost hear the crackling static on on the man made fibres the models are wearing!

I wish some had been shipped to the UK - the dual impellers look like they give more 'oomph' than the Hoover type, and I guess the reversing leaves the wash less tangled at the end of the cycle.

How does the washtub drain? Does it have a separate pump, or a combined one with valve?

Very surprising that you have to rinse in the washtub though. I only know of one British twin tub where one couldn't rinse in the spinner, and that was because the machine had no pump, and emptied via a spout. Even though spin rinsing can be a bit hit and miss, it's a lot less hassle than having to keep draining and refilling the tub. The models in the brochure look improbably serene! I've always admired the rinsing tube in Easy twin tub spin cans, and I think it's quite odd that Maytag made their machine significantly less convenient than other manufacturer's products, quiet spin or not!

 

[macboy91si]

A50

I have attached a crude diagram of the drain system. The drain setup is nearly identical to the Hoovers that you are familiar with. The machine's 1 pump is belt driven from the spinner motor and is attached to a spring loaded arm that acts as a belt tensioner much like a Maytag automatic. There is a diverter valve with front panel control used to select which one to drain.

I assume that the motor that is used is simply not powerful until it gets up to speed, it doesn't handle strain at startup very well and takes a bit to get up to speed. This is my guess for the slip-belt and spring-arm pump housing.

The dual impellers WOULD be better if the tub were larger, but as it stands the tub is just too small. The wash tub is deep but small diameter, if you overload the machine which isn't hard, you get similar tangles as a Hoover. The reversing I think mainly allows for more movement of the clothes in that small space. If the clothes stop moving in one direction, which they sometimes do, it reverses and sucks them back down the other direction. The machine is only 24" wide as the Hoover is 29" and the Servis based units are 32" wide so it's tiny. It doesn't handle large items well like plus size khakis and only one pair of jeans per wash cycle.

This machine is just a different breed in many respects than most European units, I'd say the motors used being the biggest difference, but size and characteristics as well. The lack of spin rinse also deals it a blow on that market. If it were introduced on the market there it would have failed horribly I believe. For the US market, in which this was a much more out of the way niche market it survived on the Maytag name and the size. That's not saying it was a hot seller, but sold enough for Maytag to make them from 1970 to 1982.

I enjoy the A50, even for it's short comings. If you use the matching DE50 like I do, the wash and dry times (roughly 60 minutes per basket) sync up with each other nicely. The pump drains the wash water out in about a minute flat and so it's not that bad for me, I also use conditioner in the rinse so with a deep rinse, spotting is less likely. I think portable was the key and Maytag won that one, it's to my knowledge the smallest domestic twintub made. It's a solid built machine that's long lasting. The size to me makes the slight compromises more reasonable.

-Tim

 

[vacbear58]

Simon!

"the dual impellers look like they give more 'oomph' than the Hoover type" - I think you need to wash your mouth out with a large spoonful of new improved Drive young man!

As you well know (cos you posted the vids on YouTube) there is no wishy-washy action with Hoover!

The Pulsator Boiling Action Correction Squad is probably heading south from the Midlands as I type .....

Al

PS In spite of her loading the washing into a HM5054 the close up indicates agitator action

 

[74simon]

Shame on me!

Can we go for non bio powder though, Al? Allergies and all that ;-)

The only washing machines I've used in the last three years have been my two Hoovers, surely that counts as a penance, hehehe! In fact, after the last running repair carried out on my HMDL (pulsator, housing, spin mount and resilient bearing), I couldn't resist telling my other half that it would probably be good for another 37 years, although he didn't quite share my joy in that knowledge!

I've slightly modified the HMDL to improve turnover, it copes much better with heavy fabrics now. Please don't tell anyone, but I think Hotpoints are actually the best type of twin tub...
:-0

Si

 

[74simon]

Almost forgot...

Thanks for explaining the Maytag, Tim! Hadn't realised it was so small, I just assumed the ladies in the brochure were Amazon women!

As far as tub rinsing goes, I suppose it depends on one's water pressure - my water pressure is low, and can take 10-15 minutes to fill the Hoover tub - saw your youtube videos and was astounded at how fast you could fill your 519!

Simon

 

[vacbear58]

Well to be honest ...

Hoovermatics are not my favourites either (gasps and sharp intakes of breath everywhere!). I like the Supermatic too, but it has a disadvantage for me in that it is a bit low - something that wont bother you LOLOLOLOLOL!

Nope for me its the Supertwin that wins the prize, for a combination of wash performance & styling. Took loads of footage of Supertwins at Mike's last wash in, just need to get it up on YouTube.

Al

 

[74simon]

Funnily enough, I found the Supertwin to be too big, but then I would! I lived in a studio flat when I owned a 110, it lived at the end of the bed... Built like a tank, hated the lack of thermostat though!

The Hotpoint wins for me though, the filter-flo is the deciding factor! But I'm happy to accept Hoover's idiosyncrasies!

Look forward to seeing the videos once you get a chance to upload them!

Si