Hotpoint 18580 working again + Pics

[robm]

Hello all

As you may or may not be aware I bought Nick's wonderful Hotpoint Super Electronic De Luxe 18580, 1000rpm circa 1979. He has some great vids on youtube of it working.

Unfortunately the motor had stopped working and I discovered it was the armature. Well, after weeks of being out of action she is back on her feet again. The new armature arrived today and I have been busy getting the Hottie set up again.

It now makes all the right sounds and grrrr's like an old traditional Hotpoint should!

Below is a pic of the brushes and the new and old armatures. You can see the difference for yourselves.

Rob

 

[robm]

Here is a pic of the fascia. I tested a load on Programme 2 (60 cottons) on my cats' bedding. I only have cold water in my wash house so had to start the washing on Programme 5 (40 cottons) and then start again on 2, which only fill from hot water. It did actually give a nice long wash as the water took some time to heat up.

I also set the full max spin. Wow seeing that brought back some memories!

 

[robm]

Here is the machine washing. I used Persil Bio. The door is plastic (as opposed to glass) and has discoloured slightly, hence why the suds look slightly yellow.

This machine gives a good old fashioned wash, no faffing at all. There are 4 rinses each with a short fast spin. My only gripe is that the intermediate spins could be longer and the pumping at the end of the spin could have gone on for longer as draining hadn't quite finished before filling of the next rinse commenced.

 

[robm]

Finally here is the classic Hotpoint drum and the plastic door. I myself prefer glass. Although, classic and of their time the old purple doors I imagine were very hard to see through. I'm glad this one is clear.

Rob

 

[newwave1]

Fantastic news rob,
You must be over the moon that it runs again!

Darren

 

[nickuk]

Oh, that's great news Rob. I'm so glad that you sorted the fault and am very impressed that you made a correct diagnosis!

I can't tell you how pleased I am that this classic British machine lives on, indeed the beauty of these machines is their serviceability and I do wonder whether one could keep these going for as long as one wanted to.....with so many spares still available, I feel many were probably scrapped well before their time.

I have no regrets at all about passing this machine on, as it turns out I have no space at all for any vintage machines in the house I move into a week on Wednesday.

Congratulations once again!

Nick

 

[nickuk]

By the way, Rob, you can purchase a `Y' piece (I could have sent you one if I'd knew) which enables both the Hot and Cold feed pipes to be connected to a cold outlet. That way you could run all the programs without having to reset.

Also, my knowledge of motors isn't up to much, although I can see in the picture that the old one is clearly used and has heavy carbon deposits on it, I can't actually see why it would fail to run properly, do you have any idea about what, specifically, was wrong with the armature?

Cheers

Nick

 

[robm]

Hi Nick and Darren, thanks for your comments, I'm chuffed it's working again. Or course had not been the armature I would have been at a loss.

Nick - Not sure what was wrong but I wondered if there was a short in the old armature. Hopefully things will stay OK. I won't use the machine often, mostly for cat bedding or dusters that I don't want in my clothes washing machines.

Running the machine today I realised how noisy it was washing but was surprised that it wasn't too loud spinning. Not that I'm complaining about either. I did notice it is a little noisier on reverse tumble.

Rob

 

[hotpoint9534]

Hi Rob,
I'm so glad that the new armature did the trick! I'm not sure myself why the old one has stopped working although sometimes the section of the armature that contacts the carbon brushes can be damaged with segments becoming raised or cracked.

It's certainly cheaper than buying a new 'Indesit' FHP motor which would probably make a horrible whiny noise anyway in comparison with the 'grrrring' of the true Hotpoing GEC motors!

Many parts are still available and some are interchangable with the later 95 series machines. Unfortunately it looks as though my 9537 is getting ready for some new bearings, not a job i'm looking forward to!

Tom

 

[matchboxpaul]

Hi Rob.

Great to see that you have got the 18580 up and running again. really pleased.

As someone whose family was littered with Liberators I can confirm that it was nigh on impossible to see what was going on. With the 1851 (the first liberator automatic with no laundry guide on the facia), which has (sorry had!) an enamel drum all you could really see was the water level in the door. The follow on 1828 (stainless steel drum and a full laundry guide) was no better.
The dryers were slightly easier due to their very light grey plastic (I think?) drums. Certainly the drum in my 1701, which I inherited as a play thing/big toy from my grandma felt like toughened plastic.

Despite this flaw, if you can call it that, I still love the purple liberators - its a shame that no one has an 1828 or 1848 (the 18580 being based on the 1848).

Once again congrats on getting it up and running again and well done Nick for preserving it initially.

Cheers
Paul
P.S if you shone a torch through the purple haze you could see what was going on.

Attached is the 17460 Super Dryer de Luxe - you'll have to keep your eye out for one Rob, to keep your 18580 company (oh and a good old 1828).

 

[rolls_rapide]

Running from cold-fill...

If you do opt for feeding mains-pressure cold water to both the hot and cold valves, you may require a 'pressure-reducing washer' to place in the hot valve. This is because manufacturers of machines of such a vintage, Hoover models included, were of the opinion that cold water would be at mains pressure, but hot water would be supplied by a gravity-feed storage cylinder.

Modern hot and cold fill machines (if you can find them!) usually have the washer fitted in the hot valve too...probably to do with combi-boiler feeds...

 

[robm]

Hi all, thanks for your comments and for Mark's Pics.

Re the y piece. Thanks for that Nick but I'm just going to stick with the cold inlet. I will only use the machine when I am watching it so will just fill it up on prog 5.

I'm so pleased I got it working again. It's a real work horse and brings back so many memories of the way washers used to be.

Rob

 

[hoover3060]

Hey Rob

So pleased you have got the 18580 working again. They are such classics and like you say no fuss and messing about. And of course the famous and fab GEC motor sounds! Such power in the motor. I love to hear my washers work rather than just a faint hum. Its a shame that we don't have a machine in our kitchen. I thought I would be fine with them all in the garage but I really miss hearing a washer at work in the house.

Mark

 

[ricky5050]

Just a thought!

Hi Rob glad to see your machine up and running, but i have had a thought , and please please do not think i am trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs in regards to you or Nick the previous owner , but something you said about it not finishing draining before next rinse made me think, My Mam has the 1989 9544 hotpoint and a lot of the inards are very similar, when i replaced the last set of carbon bushes , a notice on the packet said i should check the pump filter and draining system as a slow emptying machine may go in to spin when still 1/2 full of water , causing too much strain on the motor resulting in burn out of the bushes or armature!! , Have you dismantled the filter , there is one on this machine i think , just under the sump from the wash tub, it is probably easier to remove sump hose from tub and pump and work on it on a work bench as the filter should drop out of the sump hose but can stick if not moved for a long time, you should see a small oblong box with holes in, it normally self clears but i know fluff can clog it , it did with a set of pink fluffy bath mats on my mams, ( the mats were hers too i have to say!), i bet you find a coin or two too, i would also feel around the sump outlet from the drum as socks can get trapped around the heater between inner and outer drums , and i seem to remember this machine having a larger than normal tub to drum edge gap. Also check in the pump or run a small marble down the outlet hose as buttons can get stuck and act like open or shut valves.

As i say you may know all of this and more but i thought it would be worth a punt!

Let me know

Richard

 

[hoover3060]

Hi Richard.

Its not a problem with the pump etc.When the 18580 goes into spin it only spins for a short time. Because of this not all the water is drained away before the machines stops spinning.Now the timer quite quickly clicks into the next phase and turns the pump off and of course by doing this it leaves water in the drum from the spin.I hope that makes sense! I only know this because I had a 18580 myself and experienced the excact same thing.

Best Regards

Mark

 

[seamusuk]

Another 18 series Hottie.....

Hey Guys

A customer came in today wanting to replace her 18371 from 1981 According to Merloni Partfinder its a facelift of the 18580!.

If I have my way it wont be going to landfill

Seamus.

Ps She has get her worktop altered before a new machine will fit- as a lot of people will be aware the 1800 series are 82cm high rather than the standard 85cm.

 

[seamusuk]

A problem

Whilst phoning her to make arangements to have her worktop altered I casually asked her why it had been comdemned...

Apparently the backplate has cracked .

Do I still save it in the hope of finding an early 95 series to rob a backplate off?

Seamus

 

[hotpoint9534]

Hi Seamus,
It's definately worth saving the 18371 if you can. I think i'm right in thinking that the official Hotpoint backplate is obsolete, although I've looked on Espares and a pattern part is available for the earlier 95 series machines if these are interchangable. There are still some early 95 series machines around if you look hard enough though.

Tom

 

[chestermikeuk]

Hotpoint Colours

Hi Rob

Glad to hear you got the motor sorted, this machine will keep purring along with simple fixes etc...Does the final spin whoosh up to the max in one go or does it do it in stages??

Seamus, grab that machines asap, I always wondered what the above machines would have been like with a solid backplate, would they have been quieter and more stable,

The lady I just got the quartz off put me in touch with a local repairman who shes knows, turns out he was an ex Servis engineer and covered the north west, and remembers my mums machines being on contract...I asked him to keep an eye open for 60`s / 70`s machines, Brown Servis/ Purple Hotpoints etc.., he said sorry to tell you but a customer of his had ditched a matching pair because the outer tub had rusted through, he had looked after them for years and she "Wanted New"...I`m fed up of hearing stuff like that lately...best of luck

Happy hunting, Mike