I found a Jacobs Launderall!

[launderall]

Eisenhauer Manufacturing

Although the plant was shut down on December 1, 1945, a close relationship was maintained with F.L. Jacobs. To meet the post war demand for appliances, the tank wheels were replaced with parts for Laundrall washing machines. On June 1, 1946, an article in the Van Wert Times Bulletin reported, “Completely renovated, modernized and reequipped, the plant will now manufacture the interior aluminum tub assembly for a new washing machine, the Laundrall, developed by the F.L. Jacobs Company.” The plant retooling took four months and 24 -30 employees to complete. Harry Hendricks sold his portion of the business to the Eisenhauer brothers, who now owned 90 percent of the company. Initial tub deliveries occurred in July, with plans calling for five, dedicated, trucks to deliver a total of 900 tubs each day to Jacobs’ Indianapolis assembly plant. Leigh Sr. and family moved to Lousiville, KY to open a plant dedicated to supplying other metal components for the Laundrall Washer.

Unfortunately, the washing machine developed a reputation for poor quality that was made all the worse by the F.L. Jacobs Company ‘s failure to establish an adequate sales and service network. A flimsy transmission, designed by one of the Jacobs brothers, and the lack of product support brought production to an abrupt halt after only a few years. (Wheels of Time. The Eisenhauer Story by Pete Costisick, Sept/Oct 2003)

 

[gansky1]

Thanks for the history lesson on Launderall.  Very interesting.  I knew our local Launderall dealer here in Omaha and he said his first entry into the business nearly failed because of those washers,  he had to practically give away many new washers to replace the Jacobs machines after they went under.   He said the machines were "junk" and parts were hard to get.  He took on ABC/Kelvinator and stayed afloat until he got KitchenAid sometime in the later 50's.  By then, he was doing OK and lasted over 60 years.

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Some further tinkering on the Launderall...

I had some pent-up desires to work on vintage washers over the long Labour Day weekend (three weeks of visitors then the big Wash-In in Beltsville took its toll...  LOL) and I'm now 'on notice' that I'd better start making some room in the garage for cars to be stored there - what better motivation than to do some more exploratory work on the Jacobs Launderall!

 

I wanted to get the cabinet sides off to check belts, hoses, wiring, etc.  Now you'd think that wouldn't be a big deal and for the left side panel (left as you look at the front of the washer, that is) it wasn't.  But that right panel.. GGGRRRR!  I will admit that an 8-year-old child can probably undo screws that I can't in most cases, but the ones on the right side of the cabinet were truly impossible.  I let them marinate in PB Blaster.  No luck. I managed to drill out one of them; I then went through 2 titanium drill bits trying to drill out the others. I tried heating the screws (note the scorch mark...). Nothing.  I managed to cut a gap in the screw heads and shear them off with a chisel.  When I finally got the panel off and exposed the screw threads, the came out simply by turning by hand...  My only guess is that the screw heads got rusted solidly onto that metal track that holds the chrome trim into place.  

 

Well, now the cabinet is off and it may well be repainted at some point!

 

The washer still seems to run fine but I have one component that is not working.  In the fifth photo, I am trying to show the cam that fits on the rear of the transmission shaft - this should control the wash water temperature selection by moving back and forth to move the spring contact fingers to the water inlet solenoids.   But like the cabinet screws, this cam seems to be solidly rusted onto the transmission shaft.  I've been soaking it with PB Blaster and I even tried tilting the machine to allow the PB Blaster to run down the transmission shaft.  That led to fluid dripping out of the transmission onto the motor.  I caught that in time - old motor windings and transmission oil can't be a good mix...  

 

I do have the manual (which I found right here in the Ephemera Library) but no suggestions as to how to free this up - it should move back and forth as the cable actuated by the Hot-Warm wash selector is moved.   Is this something I should try heating?  I don't have a good close-up, but there appears to be some kind of a plastic sleeve at the rear of the cam and I would really hate to melt that by mistake.  

 

I'm keeping my thinking cap on this week but anyone who may have tackled a Launderall has any suggestions, do please chime in!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

jacobs launderall

Nice videos of this machine! How do you use this washer? Does it have dispensers? If so, where are they positioned? Does it have a hatch you have to close, or does it close automatically? Is it top loading or front loading? I'd love to know. Please inform and post more videos.

 

[turquoisedude]

Jerome, this has to be the most basic automatic washer that I have ever seen.  There are no dispensers for detergent, bleach, or fabric softener; geez back in the 1940s they didn't even have fabric softener!  All products had to be added manually during the wash or rinse periods.

The machine has a horizontal-axis tub mounted in the cabinet - there is a manually-operated access hatch to get to the tub.  The tub itself has an access door where clothes are loaded and unloaded. 

Technically, you'd have to call it a top-loader. 

I never seem to get around to working on it...but it still leaks badly.  It's a somewhat annoying machine -  once you start it, you have to let it run through the entire wash-rinse-spin cycle; wash time is a default of 10 minutes.

No wonder these weren't million-seller washers!!