Bendix commercial laundry continued as Dexter.
From the West Coast to the Midwest - a Bendix restoration
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blackstone
Well-known member
Amazing job; an inspiration to all of us!
If it wasn't for determined employees at the time Dexter laundry would likely not have survived.
https://www.thegazette.com/business...rs-dexter-laundry-keeps-building-on-advances/
https://www.thegazette.com/business...rs-dexter-laundry-keeps-building-on-advances/
slowspin66
Well-known member
Fantastic job
Ben it’s a really good job and love the colour of the dials and the door boot …The work is fabulous .. I remember seeing the machine in its unrestored state ….
It’s unusual to have a water heater in an American washer .. water heaters in the Uk Bendix are on most of the Semi automatics but only in the combo machines . If the water isn’t hot enough for the programme selected then the washer will pause at the heat section of the programme until the water is at the right temperature . It’s only then the wash will advance for the selected time .. once the water temperature drops during the wash then the water heater comes on again to boost the temperature to where it should be . The heater turns off in the last minute of the wash .
How does the water heater work on your machine ??
Have loved the thread been great … best wishes Darren
Ben it’s a really good job and love the colour of the dials and the door boot …The work is fabulous .. I remember seeing the machine in its unrestored state ….
It’s unusual to have a water heater in an American washer .. water heaters in the Uk Bendix are on most of the Semi automatics but only in the combo machines . If the water isn’t hot enough for the programme selected then the washer will pause at the heat section of the programme until the water is at the right temperature . It’s only then the wash will advance for the selected time .. once the water temperature drops during the wash then the water heater comes on again to boost the temperature to where it should be . The heater turns off in the last minute of the wash .
How does the water heater work on your machine ??
Have loved the thread been great … best wishes Darren
Bendix introduced the water heater in the washer at the time of introducing the water heater in the Duomatic. Of course, the Duomatic had 240 volts to power the Magic Heater while the washer's Magic Heater operated on 120 volts. Bendix partnered with Walt Disney's 1952 release of the animated feature Snow White for the introduction of the "Snow White Washer" based on the idea that the hotter the wash water the whiter the wash. Unfortunately, Bendix advertised that it would make the water hotter, but at best it kept the water from cooling as much as it would with the heater switched off in testing done on the machine by Consumers' Union.
https://filmic-light.blogspot.com/2017/09/1952-bendix-snow-white-campaign.html
https://filmic-light.blogspot.com/2017/09/1952-bendix-snow-white-campaign.html
At least with the 33" wide Lady Kenmore & Whirlpool Combos, when hot water was selected, the timer stopped moving until temperature of 140 degrees is reached. Similarly, Medium water temp was selected, the washer filled with warm and then water was heated to 120 degrees.
slowspin66
Well-known member
Brilliant
John that “ Snow White Bendix “ looks very similar to the bolt down Triomatic in the UK .. Obviously the units in the UK run on 240 v but interestingly the element is always in the bottom of the tubs and not on the tub back like Bens Gyromatic … The Triomatic pauses until the water temperature is reached then restarts the programme . Many thanks for the information . Really super . Best wishes Darren
John that “ Snow White Bendix “ looks very similar to the bolt down Triomatic in the UK .. Obviously the units in the UK run on 240 v but interestingly the element is always in the bottom of the tubs and not on the tub back like Bens Gyromatic … The Triomatic pauses until the water temperature is reached then restarts the programme . Many thanks for the information . Really super . Best wishes Darren
From my stash..
Beautiful restoration-------
When you said this was your next serious project I knew you were focused in on it!
These machines used to be quite popular back in the day, and like throwing a light-switch, began to disappear quickly in the 1960's. I haven't seen one in operation in probably five decades until watching your vid.
Interesting how much trouble Bendix went to, to try to educate Harriette Homemaker on the proper dosing of detergent/soap. All for naught. Most of them just dumped some down the chute and got used to seeing the machine choke on suds throughout the whole process. I can't tell you how many times they would just automatically send everything through a "rinse cycle" because "this machine just can't rinse very well".
The mere suggestion that Tide or Cheer, or Ivory Snow might not be the best choice for use in the machine fell on deaf ears. Besides you could get drinking glasses from DUZ, and towels from Breeze. The manual washer mentality of "plenty of suds" wasn't an easy habit to break.
Older, taller women did not like to have to bend and reach inside the machines to feel for a sock or some other garment stuck against the back of the cylinder.
Anyway, the people who sold top-loaders threw plenty of shade on the front-loaders, and with the exception of Westinghouse, and the other brands (Combinations) the last popular front-loaders I recall were some of the gazillions of GE Combo's installed during the new "condo craze" of the 1970's.
Ben, like all of your restorations, your gift to tackle issues of mechanical or electrical complexity is amazing. The attention to detail, the cleaning and cosmetics very thorough.
You really did a great job with this one. I hope you get some fun out of it for years to come, and thanks for sharing, in detail, the steps of the process.
When you said this was your next serious project I knew you were focused in on it!
These machines used to be quite popular back in the day, and like throwing a light-switch, began to disappear quickly in the 1960's. I haven't seen one in operation in probably five decades until watching your vid.
Interesting how much trouble Bendix went to, to try to educate Harriette Homemaker on the proper dosing of detergent/soap. All for naught. Most of them just dumped some down the chute and got used to seeing the machine choke on suds throughout the whole process. I can't tell you how many times they would just automatically send everything through a "rinse cycle" because "this machine just can't rinse very well".
The mere suggestion that Tide or Cheer, or Ivory Snow might not be the best choice for use in the machine fell on deaf ears. Besides you could get drinking glasses from DUZ, and towels from Breeze. The manual washer mentality of "plenty of suds" wasn't an easy habit to break.
Older, taller women did not like to have to bend and reach inside the machines to feel for a sock or some other garment stuck against the back of the cylinder.
Anyway, the people who sold top-loaders threw plenty of shade on the front-loaders, and with the exception of Westinghouse, and the other brands (Combinations) the last popular front-loaders I recall were some of the gazillions of GE Combo's installed during the new "condo craze" of the 1970's.
Ben, like all of your restorations, your gift to tackle issues of mechanical or electrical complexity is amazing. The attention to detail, the cleaning and cosmetics very thorough.
You really did a great job with this one. I hope you get some fun out of it for years to come, and thanks for sharing, in detail, the steps of the process.
Darren - great question on how the Magic Heater operates of which I can add additional detail to Tom's comments.
The single loop heater along the tub back runs on the same 120v line that the rest of the washer operates on. When the wash cycle is activated AND the temp selector is set for HOT, the circuit for the heater remains open until the pressure switch is satisfied and the machine stops filling. From there the heater remains on for the duration of the wash cycle. No cycling thermostats, no check points within the timer/cycle program. Considering the purpose is to maintain the HOT wash and not boost the water, it doesn't need any additional complexity with the circuit, helped by the low wattage due to the 120v supply. The heater is then shut off one increment before the drain is activated at the end of the wash cycle.
Of the half dozen hot washes I've run through the machine it does just that - maintains the hot wash. What I've observed is if the wash temp is below 120 degrees the heater will eventually boost the temp up to around 120 degrees by the time the wash cycle is complete. If I can get the incoming temp at or above 130 it will hold that for the full wash cycle. I've also used the heater to maintain the temp for WARM wash as well, observing that it will boost the temp around 10 degrees by the time the wash cycle is complete.
As I mentioned earlier in the post, the 1952 G314 was the first with the heater, and is what many here call the Snow White Bendix. This would have been a full model design before the 1953 Duomatic CCR and '53 Gyromatic WCG, which share similar styling traits. The 1949 G311 -1952 G314 share the same look and several design components to many of the early UK machines from the late 50's and early 60's.
Steve - thank you for your kind comments! The idea of women converting over from what they new with their wringers to a Bendix echo what many households went through when transitioning from a top loader to a Neptune in the late 90's. No one listened and filled those things full of detergent (well, maybe it was just my mother, LOL).
Ben
[this post was last edited: 11/26/2022-09:59]
The single loop heater along the tub back runs on the same 120v line that the rest of the washer operates on. When the wash cycle is activated AND the temp selector is set for HOT, the circuit for the heater remains open until the pressure switch is satisfied and the machine stops filling. From there the heater remains on for the duration of the wash cycle. No cycling thermostats, no check points within the timer/cycle program. Considering the purpose is to maintain the HOT wash and not boost the water, it doesn't need any additional complexity with the circuit, helped by the low wattage due to the 120v supply. The heater is then shut off one increment before the drain is activated at the end of the wash cycle.
Of the half dozen hot washes I've run through the machine it does just that - maintains the hot wash. What I've observed is if the wash temp is below 120 degrees the heater will eventually boost the temp up to around 120 degrees by the time the wash cycle is complete. If I can get the incoming temp at or above 130 it will hold that for the full wash cycle. I've also used the heater to maintain the temp for WARM wash as well, observing that it will boost the temp around 10 degrees by the time the wash cycle is complete.
As I mentioned earlier in the post, the 1952 G314 was the first with the heater, and is what many here call the Snow White Bendix. This would have been a full model design before the 1953 Duomatic CCR and '53 Gyromatic WCG, which share similar styling traits. The 1949 G311 -1952 G314 share the same look and several design components to many of the early UK machines from the late 50's and early 60's.
Steve - thank you for your kind comments! The idea of women converting over from what they new with their wringers to a Bendix echo what many households went through when transitioning from a top loader to a Neptune in the late 90's. No one listened and filled those things full of detergent (well, maybe it was just my mother, LOL).
Ben
[this post was last edited: 11/26/2022-09:59]
slowspin66
Well-known member
Heaters
I do love the heaters in the machines and the reasons behind the popularity of them in the UK semi automatics is down to inadequate domestic hot water systems and also the washing powders on the market at the time . We were a little obsessed with boiling things up to get things white where as in the US I think the detergent market was possibly more advanced ..?? Who knows
However the Bendix Triomatic has a hot water boost like the US gyromatic . Anything above a boost on the hot wash stops the machine to a stationary heat then resumes the wash once the temperature is reached .. That continued into the next series of our LT AND LA machines that were suspended tub models . Many thanks everyone for the info and chat . Regards Darren
I do love the heaters in the machines and the reasons behind the popularity of them in the UK semi automatics is down to inadequate domestic hot water systems and also the washing powders on the market at the time . We were a little obsessed with boiling things up to get things white where as in the US I think the detergent market was possibly more advanced ..?? Who knows
However the Bendix Triomatic has a hot water boost like the US gyromatic . Anything above a boost on the hot wash stops the machine to a stationary heat then resumes the wash once the temperature is reached .. That continued into the next series of our LT AND LA machines that were suspended tub models . Many thanks everyone for the info and chat . Regards Darren
Ever since Henkel invented the first self activating laundry "detergent" in 1907 hot or boiling water washing for whites and colourfast became standard.
As a soap based product Persil and others that followed worked best in warm, hot or boiling water. But it was also because these products contained sodium perborate (oxygen bleach) moderate to high wash temps were required.
This went on until energy crisis of 1970's hit everyone on both sides of pond. Governments gave consumers and detergent makers their marching orders; "turn down the dial" was the new mantra.
Chemists responded by inventing bleach activators (TAED, NOBS), that gave boil wash performance at temps of 40 degrees C to 140 degrees C.
Of course boil washing had long been part of laundry day going back years. Be it a copper in scullery, boiling pot in back yard, or washers in "steam laundries". Again when all you've got working for you on wash day is soap high temperatures have several advantages.
As a soap based product Persil and others that followed worked best in warm, hot or boiling water. But it was also because these products contained sodium perborate (oxygen bleach) moderate to high wash temps were required.
This went on until energy crisis of 1970's hit everyone on both sides of pond. Governments gave consumers and detergent makers their marching orders; "turn down the dial" was the new mantra.
Chemists responded by inventing bleach activators (TAED, NOBS), that gave boil wash performance at temps of 40 degrees C to 140 degrees C.
Of course boil washing had long been part of laundry day going back years. Be it a copper in scullery, boiling pot in back yard, or washers in "steam laundries". Again when all you've got working for you on wash day is soap high temperatures have several advantages.
GOBLIN!
I remember that brand from Teasmade! That water was sure steaming hot even if it was not boiling.
I remember that brand from Teasmade! That water was sure steaming hot even if it was not boiling.
Bendix!
That Bendix could really throw water around.
That Bendix could really throw water around.
