Hi, new here. I've never seen a top loading washer like this one. It looks conventional, with the typical corkscrew agitator. But when it washes, it seems to agitate much slower than I'm used to, its like the gentle cycle, but not, its regular. The agitator turns the corkscrew one way as always, but when it goes back, the entire tub loosely turns with it too. Its very dizzying. Its like, corkscrew left, tub right, back and forth. On top of that washing style, the lid actually LOCKS. There's a little lock that goes thru a loop in the lid and I hate it! Is this agitating style and lock new? or has it been around?
Frigidaire washer........
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SactoTeddyBear
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Re: Frigidaire Washer:
Welcome to the Applaince Club. The discribed Agitation and Tub movement and the Locking Lid, has been around for quite a long time now. As far as I can remember, it was instroduced by the original Westinghouse Top-Load Washer, but with a different Agitator. The "One-Way" movement of the Tub and the Back & Forth movement of the Agitator during the Wash/Rinse is called "Indexing" which is supposed to be a better Wash/Rinse Action. The Lid Locking was also as far as I know Westinghouse's idea, for preventing anyone from putting their Hands/Arms in the Spinning Tub, causing an injury.
The original Frigidaire Washer's were manufactured with the Up & Down "Pulsator" movement, just like the Photo on the Opening Page of the Club Site. They were originally made by "GM" {General Motor's} Corp.
I hope that this helps you with some brief history of your Washer's operation of Washing/Rinsing and Lid-Lock Spinning.
Happy Washing and Drying and I hope that you find a lot of helpful info from the Club's Thread Posting's. We are able to help each other out with not only Questions and Answers like this, but if and when you have any kind of Questions about Repair's, "How-To" or "What-Type Of" that you might have, besides sharing about experiences of Repair's and Collection of Washers, Dryers and other Appliances.
As you continue to check out the Thread Postings and checing out the rest of the Club Site, you will find a whole lot of wonderful info and History of Appliances.
Peace and best to you, Steve
Welcome to the Applaince Club. The discribed Agitation and Tub movement and the Locking Lid, has been around for quite a long time now. As far as I can remember, it was instroduced by the original Westinghouse Top-Load Washer, but with a different Agitator. The "One-Way" movement of the Tub and the Back & Forth movement of the Agitator during the Wash/Rinse is called "Indexing" which is supposed to be a better Wash/Rinse Action. The Lid Locking was also as far as I know Westinghouse's idea, for preventing anyone from putting their Hands/Arms in the Spinning Tub, causing an injury.
The original Frigidaire Washer's were manufactured with the Up & Down "Pulsator" movement, just like the Photo on the Opening Page of the Club Site. They were originally made by "GM" {General Motor's} Corp.
I hope that this helps you with some brief history of your Washer's operation of Washing/Rinsing and Lid-Lock Spinning.
Happy Washing and Drying and I hope that you find a lot of helpful info from the Club's Thread Posting's. We are able to help each other out with not only Questions and Answers like this, but if and when you have any kind of Questions about Repair's, "How-To" or "What-Type Of" that you might have, besides sharing about experiences of Repair's and Collection of Washers, Dryers and other Appliances.
As you continue to check out the Thread Postings and checing out the rest of the Club Site, you will find a whole lot of wonderful info and History of Appliances.
Peace and best to you, Steve
pulsator-power
Well-known member
Frigidaire
So, to continue the story, GM sold Frigidaire to White Consolidated Industries around 1980, and that's where the indexing tub and lid lock came into play. White bought out many washer manufacturers and cheapened their quality. Gibson, Kelvinator, Frigidaire, & Westinghouse became WCI made. The indexing tub was because there wasn't a tub brake to hold it in place, so it "invented" a new wash motion. A washer, by law is supposed to stop spinning within 6 or 7 seconds when the lid is lifted to prevent injury, and since there wasn't a tub brake, it would take qute a while to stop spinning on its own, so they installed a lid lock so you coudn't open it till it stopped. In the '90's Electrolux bought out Frigidiare from WCI
Hope this helps....Jerry
So, to continue the story, GM sold Frigidaire to White Consolidated Industries around 1980, and that's where the indexing tub and lid lock came into play. White bought out many washer manufacturers and cheapened their quality. Gibson, Kelvinator, Frigidaire, & Westinghouse became WCI made. The indexing tub was because there wasn't a tub brake to hold it in place, so it "invented" a new wash motion. A washer, by law is supposed to stop spinning within 6 or 7 seconds when the lid is lifted to prevent injury, and since there wasn't a tub brake, it would take qute a while to stop spinning on its own, so they installed a lid lock so you coudn't open it till it stopped. In the '90's Electrolux bought out Frigidiare from WCI
Hope this helps....Jerry
pulsator-power
Well-known member
Frigidaire
So, to continue the story, GM sold Frigidaire to White Consolidated Industries around 1980, and that's where the indexing tub and lid lock came into play. White bought out many washer manufacturers and cheapened their quality. Gibson, Kelvinator, Frigidaire, & Westinghouse became WCI made. The indexing tub was because there wasn't a tub brake to hold it in place, so it "invented" a new wash motion. A washer, by law is supposed to stop spinning within 6 or 7 seconds when the lid is lifted to prevent injury, and since there wasn't a tub brake, it would take qute a while to stop spinning on its own, so they installed a lid lock so you coudn't open it till it stopped. In the '90's Electrolux bought out Frigidiare from WCI
Hope this helps....Jerry
So, to continue the story, GM sold Frigidaire to White Consolidated Industries around 1980, and that's where the indexing tub and lid lock came into play. White bought out many washer manufacturers and cheapened their quality. Gibson, Kelvinator, Frigidaire, & Westinghouse became WCI made. The indexing tub was because there wasn't a tub brake to hold it in place, so it "invented" a new wash motion. A washer, by law is supposed to stop spinning within 6 or 7 seconds when the lid is lifted to prevent injury, and since there wasn't a tub brake, it would take qute a while to stop spinning on its own, so they installed a lid lock so you coudn't open it till it stopped. In the '90's Electrolux bought out Frigidiare from WCI
Hope this helps....Jerry
kenmore1978
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WCI/Frigidaire
Electrolux didn't just buy Frigidaire from WCI, they bought WCI!
Electrolux didn't just buy Frigidaire from WCI, they bought WCI!
Frigidaire washer........
It's to bad Electrolux didn't buy Frigidaire from GM directly, it would have made all the difference in the world.
Peter
It's to bad Electrolux didn't buy Frigidaire from GM directly, it would have made all the difference in the world.
Peter
laundromat
Well-known member
Electrolux buying Frigidaire
Maybe not,Pete.Remember,GM needed the North Taylor St buildings in Dayton,Ohio (the old Frigidaire appliance plant) to set up for mid size cars,trucks and SUV's to compete with local as well as foreign companies.They truly "slammed the car door on Frigidaire" forever and wanted nothing to do at all with any home appliances.It was a horrible divorce and caused greaf as well as havuk around the world.GM sold the Frigidaire name ,label,design, and licensinsing to White Consolidated Industries.All WCI did was put the Frigidaire name and label on a few Westinghouse and Kelvinator washers and dryers,Westinghouse dishwashers,Gibson refrigerators,Franklin freezers,Kelvinator electric ranges,Vista gas ranges and had a contract with Raytheon to make their microwave ovens.For a few years,WCI kept some of the washer features the same i.e.Jet Circle Spray System,See thru lid.They also introduced the Gemini front loading stackables( a poor copy of the Westinghouse Laundromat Space Savers)that lasted about two years as well as a new version of the Touch 'n'Cook range that was a real flop.Today now that WCI is owned by or better known as Electrolux of Sweeden and a few new factories here and abroad have cropped up,some things have improved but not by much unfortunately.The sad part of this is None of the competetors have gotten any better either.In fact,Their falls in quality have brought Frigidaire's low ratings up quite a few notches in CR as far as frequency of repair goes.Chuck
Maybe not,Pete.Remember,GM needed the North Taylor St buildings in Dayton,Ohio (the old Frigidaire appliance plant) to set up for mid size cars,trucks and SUV's to compete with local as well as foreign companies.They truly "slammed the car door on Frigidaire" forever and wanted nothing to do at all with any home appliances.It was a horrible divorce and caused greaf as well as havuk around the world.GM sold the Frigidaire name ,label,design, and licensinsing to White Consolidated Industries.All WCI did was put the Frigidaire name and label on a few Westinghouse and Kelvinator washers and dryers,Westinghouse dishwashers,Gibson refrigerators,Franklin freezers,Kelvinator electric ranges,Vista gas ranges and had a contract with Raytheon to make their microwave ovens.For a few years,WCI kept some of the washer features the same i.e.Jet Circle Spray System,See thru lid.They also introduced the Gemini front loading stackables( a poor copy of the Westinghouse Laundromat Space Savers)that lasted about two years as well as a new version of the Touch 'n'Cook range that was a real flop.Today now that WCI is owned by or better known as Electrolux of Sweeden and a few new factories here and abroad have cropped up,some things have improved but not by much unfortunately.The sad part of this is None of the competetors have gotten any better either.In fact,Their falls in quality have brought Frigidaire's low ratings up quite a few notches in CR as far as frequency of repair goes.Chuck
westytoploader
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Frigidaire Gemini
Wow Chuck, I didn't know they even had a name; I just referred to them as "Frigidaire SpaceMates". I saw a set of these on eBay about 3 years ago; both machines were in OK shape, but needed TLC. Thought it was neat that Frigidaire actually made a front-loader before the Frigemore era; one of those "machines that very few know about," so to speak. When exactly were Frigidaire Geminis produced (early 80's?), and how rare are they? Seems like they would be more collectible than their Westinghouse counterparts if they were only made for a short time.
I've also seen rebadged SpaceMates under the Tappan name, and I thought Kelvinator had their own version at one time as well...
--Austin
Wow Chuck, I didn't know they even had a name; I just referred to them as "Frigidaire SpaceMates". I saw a set of these on eBay about 3 years ago; both machines were in OK shape, but needed TLC. Thought it was neat that Frigidaire actually made a front-loader before the Frigemore era; one of those "machines that very few know about," so to speak. When exactly were Frigidaire Geminis produced (early 80's?), and how rare are they? Seems like they would be more collectible than their Westinghouse counterparts if they were only made for a short time.
I've also seen rebadged SpaceMates under the Tappan name, and I thought Kelvinator had their own version at one time as well...
--Austin
westytoploader
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As a follow-up, early WCI-made machines were quite interesting (we had an '86 Westinghouse for a long time), IMHO. I think the biggest mistakes WCI made in their washers were eliminating the recirculating filter and the speckled porcelain tub, and of course the GM features of the Frigidaire machines. I see a lot of early WCI-made washers on Craigslist that look and work great.
When the plastic tub was introduced, however, they took a big step backwards...YUK!
When the plastic tub was introduced, however, they took a big step backwards...YUK!
Dayton Plant
Laundromat has some of the story. I spoke with one of the Engineers there in Dayton in early 1980. He was kept on and now worked for WCI but had worked at the Frigidaire assembly plant. He told me GM was faced with a big decision back in 1978. All the machines in the plant that made the appliances had worn out, they were produced in the late 1940's. GM was faced "he said" with a product line that was always losing money and retooling an entire plant for that line so GM decided to sell the whole kit "n Kaboodle rather than reinvest in new machines to make the laundry machines. He told me that plant now made (1980) the Chevy Luv Trucks.
He said if I was looking for the cleaning power of the old Jet Cone machines that the key to cleaning was the "turbidity" of the water in the tub and that the "new" Frigidaire's with the Indexing tubs came close to the old Jet cones! OFCOURSE I didn't buy that!, nor the machines made in 1980.! ALmost nothing cleans like a Jetcone.
Ah History.................so many twists and turns.
jet
Laundromat has some of the story. I spoke with one of the Engineers there in Dayton in early 1980. He was kept on and now worked for WCI but had worked at the Frigidaire assembly plant. He told me GM was faced with a big decision back in 1978. All the machines in the plant that made the appliances had worn out, they were produced in the late 1940's. GM was faced "he said" with a product line that was always losing money and retooling an entire plant for that line so GM decided to sell the whole kit "n Kaboodle rather than reinvest in new machines to make the laundry machines. He told me that plant now made (1980) the Chevy Luv Trucks.
He said if I was looking for the cleaning power of the old Jet Cone machines that the key to cleaning was the "turbidity" of the water in the tub and that the "new" Frigidaire's with the Indexing tubs came close to the old Jet cones! OFCOURSE I didn't buy that!, nor the machines made in 1980.! ALmost nothing cleans like a Jetcone.
Ah History.................so many twists and turns.
jet
I can understand the dilemma GM faced, and what they felt they had to do in order to keep up with the competition. Unfortunately, it spelled the end of some great appliances. I miss those Frigidaires almost daily as the ads from Best buy, Lowes,sears, etc. come out in the local paper. Its good to know that so many Frigies have been rescued by the applianceville family and I am proud of everyone here for that. Some people may think I'm nuts to begin with for liking appliances, but hey, there are worse things to like. I am sorry we never owned a Frigidaire washer when we were growing up. I had planned on one as my first washer and dryer, but then WCI took over. I knew they had changed. Business does what business must, but somehow the consumer allways winds up getting screwed. Lower or low prices is what people seem to want. I guess they are getting it (?)
Electrolux buying Frigidaire
Actually when GM sold Frigidaire to WCI in 1979 WCI - GM still made the appliances until the end of 1980. WCI had paid GM to make tha appliances for awhile. But the relationship was poor. The origional plan was WCI was supposed to move the factories but had decided to drop all the products and keep the Frigidaire name to spare the expense. It failed big time. If they would have at least kept the washers and refrigation / air cond part of the business it would have probably worked a lot better. Goes to show the people that make the decisions realy don't know whats going on.
Peter
Actually when GM sold Frigidaire to WCI in 1979 WCI - GM still made the appliances until the end of 1980. WCI had paid GM to make tha appliances for awhile. But the relationship was poor. The origional plan was WCI was supposed to move the factories but had decided to drop all the products and keep the Frigidaire name to spare the expense. It failed big time. If they would have at least kept the washers and refrigation / air cond part of the business it would have probably worked a lot better. Goes to show the people that make the decisions realy don't know whats going on.
Peter
entertaining
I always thought the indexing tub washers were the most entertaining modern machines to watch-part of the problem with them is that they appear to hold more clothes than they can actually handle.Lightly loaded,they clean well and are a hoot to watch-compared to the sameness of most modern machines.
Tom
I always thought the indexing tub washers were the most entertaining modern machines to watch-part of the problem with them is that they appear to hold more clothes than they can actually handle.Lightly loaded,they clean well and are a hoot to watch-compared to the sameness of most modern machines.
Tom
westytoploader
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If you accidentally overload an indexing tub washer, chances are you won't break anything...however, the load won't get clean.
Near the end of its life (1995), my mom complained about the '86 Westy's useful capacity, as my sister came into the world that year and of course with a new baby the laundry doubled. When the Wards dryer (the Westy had timer problems and bleach dispenser rust but still worked flawlessly) died, we bought our "plastic GE" set in Spring 1996 I remember the washer's tub being a lot bigger and holding MUCH more, but didn't clean as well...I wonder why? I also thought it just plain sucked that it didn't agitate with the lid open--the Westy did, and of course this new GE didn't have that cool recirculating filter.
I used a 2003 Frigidaire TL daily at a beach house last summer, and despite many changes, let me tell you did THAT bring back some memories, especially the sounds!!! I hadn't seen a Franklin-style washer in action since I was 7!!!
Near the end of its life (1995), my mom complained about the '86 Westy's useful capacity, as my sister came into the world that year and of course with a new baby the laundry doubled. When the Wards dryer (the Westy had timer problems and bleach dispenser rust but still worked flawlessly) died, we bought our "plastic GE" set in Spring 1996 I remember the washer's tub being a lot bigger and holding MUCH more, but didn't clean as well...I wonder why? I also thought it just plain sucked that it didn't agitate with the lid open--the Westy did, and of course this new GE didn't have that cool recirculating filter.
I used a 2003 Frigidaire TL daily at a beach house last summer, and despite many changes, let me tell you did THAT bring back some memories, especially the sounds!!! I hadn't seen a Franklin-style washer in action since I was 7!!!
pulsator-power
Well-known member
Frigidaire top loader
Yeah the WCI Frigidaire didn't turn over real well. I would get frustrated especially coming from a 1-18 being the previous washer in the house, but I do remember the sound it made while washing- unlike any other
Yeah the WCI Frigidaire didn't turn over real well. I would get frustrated especially coming from a 1-18 being the previous washer in the house, but I do remember the sound it made while washing- unlike any other
I have only had passing experience with the newer, plastic tub WCI incarnations but with my late 60's Westinghouse washer, I find that the larger the load - the better the cleaning. Perhaps it's the large, spiral-ramp agitator compared with the straight vaned ones of today...
laundromat
Well-known member
Westinghouse indexing
The Westinghouse indexing tubs were in no way as severe as the Frigidaires are.Their rotation was slower and not as far.I could wash a much larger load in my Westinghouse top loading washer than I could in a Frigiscare.
The Westinghouse indexing tubs were in no way as severe as the Frigidaires are.Their rotation was slower and not as far.I could wash a much larger load in my Westinghouse top loading washer than I could in a Frigiscare.
westytoploader
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Frigiscare--probably a term coined for the post-WCI machines. I sort of agree on this...
When I used a FrigiLux TL, the tub seemed to fly around when washing! I don't remember the Westinghouse indexing this violently. I tried out a little WCI-made Wards portable at an appliance store and it didn't index at all on the low water level and even on high it didn't index by much. There weren't any problems because the tub spun freely; it just didn't index that much. What makes a washer index more violently than another if the transmission design is basically the same?? Strange...
On a different topic, WCI-made machines sound the same as well, IMHO. They're somewhat quiet machines; the humming of the motor was the loudest thing I heard during wash/spin.
Agitation (prior to fill cutting off): "Bwahh-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah"
Spin Startup (on electric pump-equipped models): "WUHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh"
When I used a FrigiLux TL, the tub seemed to fly around when washing! I don't remember the Westinghouse indexing this violently. I tried out a little WCI-made Wards portable at an appliance store and it didn't index at all on the low water level and even on high it didn't index by much. There weren't any problems because the tub spun freely; it just didn't index that much. What makes a washer index more violently than another if the transmission design is basically the same?? Strange...
On a different topic, WCI-made machines sound the same as well, IMHO. They're somewhat quiet machines; the humming of the motor was the loudest thing I heard during wash/spin.
Agitation (prior to fill cutting off): "Bwahh-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah"
Spin Startup (on electric pump-equipped models): "WUHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh"
