Hotpoint POD dated today 11/18/2009

[seeitrun2006]

Can someone give information on the Hotpoint washer in the AD. I mostly was wondering what the lettering and wording on the dials were. Mainly the two "blue and white knobs" in the middle of the control panel.

My Mom had a basic Hotpoint washer in 1959 with two wash temps and 1 cycle. That thing lasted from 1959 to 1971 with two clutches, one pump and one agitator replacements in between. Not to bad for a washer use to wash clothes for a family of six (three boys and one girl).

The higher end Hotpoint washers has always been a mystery to me.

When my Mom and Grandmother took us kids and went shopping I would always bolt to the appliance section with my mother right behind me to snatch me back.

Thanks,
David

 

[combo52]

POD HOTPOINT WASHER

The two dails in middle were the wash and spin speed control . This machine had a variable speed AC motor made by GE almost the same washer was also sold under the Easy name. The same type GE motor was also used in one KM washer and a Norge and Wards model. All these variable speed machines including Frigadare & GE were made in the late 60s. They sold very poorly due to the high cost and the fact that they offered no useful advantage over the 3sp motors already on many top of line washers. IT was a good example of the men who engeered the machines thinking they had solved Mrs housewives biggest problem doing laundry when in fact they didn't go any faster or slower than the 3SP models.

 

[seeitrun2006]

Thanks!

I kind of figured that what they were!

I really appreciate the information!

Peace,
David

 

[bajaespuma]

Allow me to elaborate,

it is, after all, one of my coveted Hotpoints:

 

[bajaespuma]

If I'm not mistaken, there was one of these at the Aberdeen Farm:

 

[bajaespuma]

I went right by it until I recognized the two "radio dials" for speed control in the center of the panel. The two color agitator caught my eye:

 

[bajaespuma]

another ad for it:

 

[seeitrun2006]

WOW!

babaspuma,

Thanks for uploading the ad on the LW795. I have wondered for years what those dials were for. Looks like Hotpoint wasted a lot of money on these type of machines.

I always remembered an advertisment from my past for Hotpoint washers and dryers with the catch phrase "Deluxe look without the deluxe features".

 

[bajaespuma]

Not necessarily a waste of money

GE was said to have used the Hotpoint brand to test-engineer and test market a lot of bells and whistles. Hotpoint may have only marketed this gimmick for a couple of years, but GE assimilated it and used it for their Versatronic machines for a couple more years. Hotpoint had ovens with built-in meat thermometers and windows before GE. And this model was introduced only a few years before GE gutted Hotpoint and left us with only the brand.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I still wonder about the cabal at Hotpoint that came up with the combo. It could not have been kept a secret from GE. Did GE think they were big enough to bluff AVCO and let it go ahead only to find that they were up against a defense contractor as mean, nasty and greedy as they themselves were?

Frigidaire used a magnetic clutch in their variable speed machines, but they had issues and were discontinued. It was sort of a pointless feature anyway because neither the 3 Ring Pump Agitator nor that blue thing that looked like the early space capsules gave more than the gentlest action on slow speed with a full tub of water.

Does anyone know if the GE motors that ran at such slow speed had trouble keeping the motor cool with the fan operating at such slow speed? How did GE keep the FilterFlo working with the slower speed motor? They used that clutch in their regular machines that allowed slow speeds for agitation and spin while keeping the pump under full power.

 

[bajaespuma]

Tom,

OK, I only understood four words in that whole second sentence. Please explicate, sounds good. Start with, who's AVCO?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Ken, you said that GE used Hotpoint to test out bells and whistles before offering them on GE appliances. I was referring the the very ill-fated Hotpoint combination washer dryer that was only on the market for one year before NOT ONLY being discontinued, BUT ALSO being ACTIVELY CONFISCATED from those who owned one under the guise of it being an unsafe machine. It has been discussed here earlier that the machine had a spin speed of around 300 rpm and might have violated Patents held by Aviation Corporation, owner of Bendix at the time the Duomatic was developed.

The speculation in my second sentence was was IF GE used Hotpoint to test innovations, how did they knowingly let the Hotpoint combo be designed and built if they knew it violated patents held by Aviation Corporation (AVCO)? Did GE think they were powerful enough to make AVCO back down on a patent infringement lawsuit only to discover it was not worth the cost and effort?

None of this can be documented, at least so far, but years ago someone discussed with John Lefever the similarities between the Hotpoint combo and the much later-marketed Speed Queen combo. It was smaller than the Hotpoint, but shared many design elements according to the person who talked with John.