I found a partner for my Frigidaire Unimatic!

[brianl]

Thanks to MisterEric, I cam across a Craigslist Ad for antique appliances, and behold a Frigidaire Filtermatic Dryer! It was made in 1952 and from what the gentleman told me, it was bought as a pair in 1952 and the woman used it maybe all of 10 times and then stopped cause she did not like it. So apparently she liked the washer. It spent all of another 50 years just basically sitting in the back corner of the 1st floor laundry room used as storage. When I say immaculate, I mean it! It is in absolute pristine condition. Absolutely minimal rust on the bottom, but all the parts look brand new! All it needs is a new power cord (you can see the wires exposed going into the control box. Also the reset button seems to be stuck in. All in all, a very great find, but this is the only pic I have for now. We let the guys there know about the forum, and he will keep an eye out for decent condition older washers, dryers, etc. to let everyone know about.

 

[brianl]

Found a model number for it just now, the gentleman had it posted in another ad. "Frigidaire Dryer – Filtramatic MO# TR—60 $ 50.00" By the way, yes it was only $50 which surprised me greatly. Specially for something in such great condtion as this. Anyone familiar with this model number that may be able to get me a manual of some sort. Also had a question about its use. There is an on/off switch, plus I noticed the ability to push/pull the timer knob for on/off respectively. Any need to have 2 ways to power the unit on/off??

 

[rollermatic]

good ole craig's list

comes thru again! don't you love it when you find these gems that are hardly used! it's like opening a time capsule!

congrats! looks beautiful from the pic. got any more?

 

[combo52]

FRIGIDARE DRYER

Congratulations on your great find Brain. The toggle sw turns the interior light on & off. I am very familiar with this dryer call me some time.

 

[goatfarmer]

Looks good!

 

[christfr]

cool.... you will really love that machine quiet and they smell oh so good

 

[appnut]

Congratulations Brian. Nuttin like matched set, made-for-each-other pair, especially Unimatic pairs.

 

[austinado16]

That's pretty cool. It's amazing that gems like this are still sitting around. Glad it went to a member here, and a good home.

 

[swestoyz]

Nice score! Just dried some shirts in a TR-60 this evening. Beautiful looking set you have now.

Ben

 

[brianl]

Thank you everyone

I can't wait to give it a new power cord and then run me some 220v. Not a single socket in the whole house. I wonder how the belts are after all this time. Can't be all that good I suppose. Amazingly enough the door gasket looks to be in very good condition although it could use a replacing.

 

[toggleswitch2]

.

The toggle sw turns the interior light on & off.

WELL I NEVER!

Let me know if I can run the 220v cable for you. NO CHARGE!

 

[brianl]

You got a deal Toggles!!

Get on over here and hook me up some 220v! And there may be some dinner in it for you too lol! Well I figured of all people, you would know best what them crazy switches are for The dryer is 3-wire I believe and I see 3 and 4-wire cords in Lowes. Whats the difference?

 

[everythingold]

no difference, just a redundant neutral

 

[revvinkevin]

Congrats on your find!!!

That dryer sounds awesome! Matched sets are great aren't they? I would love to see photos of the "new couple" together!

Kevin

 

[brianl]

Working on that

Soon enough, soon enough. Still sitting in the garage. Gotta drag it into the basement ever so carefully to avoid obstacles! But definitely will take more pics as I go.

 

[joelippard]

You can still find the 3 wire cords at Home Depot. I had to put a new one on mine when I got it. They can be a bit difficult to clean all the lint out of if someone let it over accumulate around the inside of the cabinet. I'd take the back off and closely inspect the wiring. Mine was all good on my '55 and I'd say the belts have at least 100 years in them, lol.

 

[brianl]

Thank you Toggles!

Just got off the phone with Steve a little while earlier and he was so kinda to offer his services to run me some 220/240 (whichever it is lol) so that I can hook up and bring my Filtermatic back to life from its approximate 48 year nap. And while we are at it, another 120v so I can split some of my machines between 2 120v-20 amp circuits.

 

[circlew]

4-wire cords and receptacles

Actually the 4th wire (green) is NOT a redundant neutral as mentioned above, it is the equipment grounding conductor. Neutral current must not pass through this wire - it is only to ground the frame of the appliance for safety reasons. The white wire must carry all the neutral current. This is particularly important when the circuit originates from a sub-panel rather than the main service panel. The code has required 4-wire service for many years when circuits originate from a sub-panel, common in larger buildings such as a mansion, apartment building, school, etc. Since at least the 2005 NEC, section 250.142(B) prohibits using the "grounded circuit conductor" (the white neutral wire) to ground the frame of dryers or ranges, regardless of where the circuit originates. Steve will know the details about this I'm sure. Actually the 4-wire cord will look more original as they are round and black like a 50's cord was, rather than flat and gray like newer 3-wire cords.

 

[brianl]

Front Of Manual

 

[brianl]

Sorry, wrong thread!!

 

[toggleswitch2]

.
ok kids the 220v line is in.
Went with the 4-wire,4-prong "modern" socket and plug flex-cord.
Thanks for the great day and the great lunch and dinner boys!
I'm a bit perplexed at the air-circuits and drying process of this condenser dryer that uses cool room-air to condense moisture.
Someone had kindly posted a picture of an air-flow and pictorial that explaied it. Any chance of a repost pretty-please?
The look on Brian's face was priceless as the dryer came to life. Glad you allowed me to make it happen!
Thanks to all in the house for their friendship and hospitality!

So tell us about her maiden load..........

 

[joelippard]

Sure,

here is what you are looking for. This came from Robert and I saved it to my computer.

 

[joelippard]

 

[toggleswitch2]

TYVM!

VERY kind of you!

 

[brianl]

Thank you!

It's great to read how this dryer actually works. I tried the dryer out today and it worked very well. Collected a fairly good amount of water in the tray and lots of lint. I still have to give it a good cleaning out underneath as I saw some lint buildup.

Unfortunately the timer does not work, so I am manually timing out the load. The on/off switch on the console only seems to trip the orange pilot light on the console on or off. I don't physically see anything happening otherwise. Is there supposed to be a cool-down period like I see with my 70's Lady Kenmore and my modern front-loader? Since it is completely manual, what time point would I have to point to on the dryer so it will begin its cool-down. The clothes come out mighty hot otherwise.

I can't thank Steve enough for his excellent work on setting me up with some 240v. Thank you!!

 

[joelippard]

There is no cool down on this dryer. Pull them a bit early while they're still lightly damp and a bit steamy, any wrinkles left will fall right out if you hang them promptly.

I'd run it on low temperature, the med and high settings are very, very hot and has been known, to yellow whites due to the high heat (so I've heard)

Sounds like the drum light and the ozone bulb need replacing if the switch is not turning them on, unless the switch is faulty.

 

[brianl]

High is quite hot!

Hey Joe, I must agree, I have never felt my clothes so hot! I will look for the presence of a light bulb to replace on the dryer. I hear different thoughts on ozone bulbs and there health-iness. Should I even bother with an ozone bulb anymore. It will take a bit of getting used to pulling them out at the right time, as I am so spoiled by sensor dryers that tell you when the clothes are dryer to your liking. Either they are steamy and damp or they are bone dry and very hot. I am going to dry on medium on some of my thinner clothes and save the high for towels and such.

Does anyone have an electronic or paper form of the TR-60 dryer manual or know where I could find it?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[swestoyz]

There is no cool down on this dryer.

IIRC the last 10 minutes of the cycle is tumble only. When I time a cycle I calculate an extra 10 minutes of a dry tumble.

They take some getting used to - but once you've got them down they aren't so bad to use.

 

[launderess]

Remember there were few man made fibers back then, and most clothing was made from heavier (and some may say better quality) cotton, linen and wool, which when coupled with the differences in extraction from washers of that period versus today, meant laundry was quite wet. You needed that dryer really hot to get the laundry dried in a reasonable amount of time, so Madame didn't have a back up of laundry waiting coming out of the washing machine.

Much like some laundromat washing machines today, which IMHO leave items quite wet. Things spun in my Miele and dried in laundromat dryers, finish faster than the same amount of laundry washed there, then bunged in the dryer.

My favourite cartoon featuring a "hot" dryer of the period, shows Lucy from "Peanuts" fetching her brother's (Linus)blanket from the dryer with a long stick, then chucking it at him, Linus jumps in the air, from nearly being "burnt" from how hot the blanket was! *LOL*

 

[appnut]

Brian, the beet match for this dryer is your Unimatic. Golittlesport's mom had a slat-front westy Laundromat and a 1955 Filtrator. With the amount of wateer left in the clothes from the wety, tghe dry tray was always overflowing on the basement floor each load. Towels washed in a Unimatic will dry in 30 to 40 minutes. Shirts and such should be dried on low temp as it is such a hot dryer. If you will turn the timer to about 30 minutes and then begin slowly turning the timer back toward off, there SHOULD be a "click" in the timer between 3-10 minute mark. That's the point at which the heating elements were shut off for a brief cool down.