I went to my favorite thrift store last week to see if Ed had anything new and as I turned the corner in his major appliance room, I saw this on a hand truck that had just come in from a house he had emptied:
I guess it's all about timing
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I have a pink A700, but you can't have too many Maytags with bleach dispensers, "Cups of Kindness", tub and panel lights, and I just love the multi-colored cycle dial on the A-702, so I bought it. Problem is, I just had surgery not 2 months ago and I'm not allowed to do anything close to wrangling vintage appliances so I had to wait a week to borrow my buddy Rick and his truck to drive back up to Middletown and pick the thing up. While I was there, I spied, with my little eye, something interesting poking out from under a moving blanket on the loading dock while I was waiting for Ed's helpers to find and load the Maytag...
At first, Ed's helper, Charlie said that it was a dryer, and I ignored it, but then upon closer inspection...
Just like my color-keyed 1970 model but obviously a little older. So, of course, I had to get a money "looksie":
As George Takei would say,
"OH MY!".
Charlie, who earns his pay, let me know that they had just brought this out of some elderly lady's home and that "she took real good care of it". What you're not seeing here is all the literature that came with the machine in a plastic bag (you'll see it sometime later), and the bittersweet measuring cap for the agitator. Darryl posted pictures of a machine like this some time ago. Anyway, I guess I got lucky, and any information on this sweet little Lady Kenmore will be appreciated. I guess it's the grandma of the color-keyed machine but a little too early for the Vari-Flex agitator, bittersweet or white. I'm looking forward to hooking this up and watching it do it's thing. I like the old metal handle on the lid and the metal, not plastic detergent dispenser lid. I wish it had one of those lint filters with the brush, but you can't have everything. The stops on the dial seem to work in coordination with the cycle keys and apparently it has an extra-slow speed for the Woolens cycle.
Now all I have to do is wait for my other buddy Max to show up, either this afternoon or tomorrow, to unload these two machines from Rick's truck and wheel them into the basement.
"OH MY!".
Charlie, who earns his pay, let me know that they had just brought this out of some elderly lady's home and that "she took real good care of it". What you're not seeing here is all the literature that came with the machine in a plastic bag (you'll see it sometime later), and the bittersweet measuring cap for the agitator. Darryl posted pictures of a machine like this some time ago. Anyway, I guess I got lucky, and any information on this sweet little Lady Kenmore will be appreciated. I guess it's the grandma of the color-keyed machine but a little too early for the Vari-Flex agitator, bittersweet or white. I'm looking forward to hooking this up and watching it do it's thing. I like the old metal handle on the lid and the metal, not plastic detergent dispenser lid. I wish it had one of those lint filters with the brush, but you can't have everything. The stops on the dial seem to work in coordination with the cycle keys and apparently it has an extra-slow speed for the Woolens cycle.
Now all I have to do is wait for my other buddy Max to show up, either this afternoon or tomorrow, to unload these two machines from Rick's truck and wheel them into the basement.
Man, some of you guys are really living right! Nice score!
some of you guys are really living right
x2. That is just phenomenal. Congratulations on exquisite finds!!
x2. That is just phenomenal. Congratulations on exquisite finds!!
toploader55
Well-known member
Congrats Ken.
WOW !!! A Roto Flex. And a Tag.
Beautiful and good luck.
WOW !!! A Roto Flex. And a Tag.
Beautiful and good luck.
Wow Ken
A 1966 Lady Kenmore Washer, that the best condition I have seen one of these great washers in in at two decades.
The self-cleaning filter in these washers was not only far more effective than the clean-it-your-self brush filter but a lot nicer to use. The idea of having a washer that can automatically wash your really dirty clothing twice, add bleach at the correct time and even rinse twice and add the softener in the last rinse is just way too great a washer to make you clean a damp lint lint filter.
Great find indeed, oh did you get some other washer as well, LOL.
A 1966 Lady Kenmore Washer, that the best condition I have seen one of these great washers in in at two decades.
The self-cleaning filter in these washers was not only far more effective than the clean-it-your-self brush filter but a lot nicer to use. The idea of having a washer that can automatically wash your really dirty clothing twice, add bleach at the correct time and even rinse twice and add the softener in the last rinse is just way too great a washer to make you clean a damp lint lint filter.
Great find indeed, oh did you get some other washer as well, LOL.
oldskool
Well-known member
Fantastic
Phenominal acquisition. Not one, but two great machines.
Very happy for you. I love my Kenmore with a roto flex and every Maytag that lights up!
Congratulations,
John
Phenominal acquisition. Not one, but two great machines.
Very happy for you. I love my Kenmore with a roto flex and every Maytag that lights up!
Congratulations,
John
Do I hear and echo in here......
Because I'm going to echo what others have said. WOW Ken, what awesome and phenomenal finds, CONGRATS!!! You couldn't have scooped up two better or more beautiful machines!
I look forwarding to hearing how your "first tests" go!
Kevin
Because I'm going to echo what others have said. WOW Ken, what awesome and phenomenal finds, CONGRATS!!! You couldn't have scooped up two better or more beautiful machines!
I look forwarding to hearing how your "first tests" go!
Kevin
Ken
Congratulations on both machines! What a way to recover from surgery.
lawrence
Congratulations on both machines! What a way to recover from surgery.
lawrence
Glad you're doing well enough for thrift stores
We were going to send flowers, but thought you'd like these better ;-)
Good vibes from all of us here for finding more of these gems- congrats on the great finds.
We were going to send flowers, but thought you'd like these better ;-)
Good vibes from all of us here for finding more of these gems- congrats on the great finds.
philr
Well-known member
Congrats on your new finds Ken! They seem to be in great condition. The white porcelain in the LK's tub still looks shiny (I haven't been so lucky with white porcelain tubs).
hippiedoll
Well-known member
CONGRATULATIONS!!
On the terrific-twosome!
WOWZERS! Those are some really cool treasures you picked up on! I can't wait to read your posts on them & see more pictures!
Again CONGRATULATIONS!
WOOOOHOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
;oD
On the terrific-twosome!
WOWZERS! Those are some really cool treasures you picked up on! I can't wait to read your posts on them & see more pictures!
Again CONGRATULATIONS!
WOOOOHOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
;oD
I'd still like the flowers...
Yeah, thank you everybody. I'm well enough to go thrifting (actually, shopping in Big Box and Grocery stores where I could lean on a shopping cart whilst strolling and find a seat somewhere was a prescribed form of physical therapy before I could do little else), but these beauties are still outside in the truck waiting for a couple of hunky guys (!) to come and wrassle them onto a hand-truck and into the basement.
John, if it weren't for your brilliant primer on the virtues of the Kenmore I wouldn't have given these machines a second look, but I have to report that even the back of this machine has very sophisticated, sturdy connections for drain hoses and the other necessary utilities. I still wonder, however, why those damn Whirlpool people needed to enclose a standard capacity washing machine in a 29" wide cabinet( LOL; ducks and ambles away carefully).
They are both in fact remarkably clean and I'm going to work VERY HARD to restrain myself from disassembling them for examination and cleaning and rendering them inoperable. As it is, I'm fighting the temptation to remove the Agitator from the Maytag; the last time I pried one of these out of the tub, it's rubber spline slipped out of its hole in the bottom of the agitator and no force seems to be able to re-insert it.
Oh, and while I'm on this subject, can you Sears/Whirlpool people tell me if there's a way to stop the agitator from spinning around freely so I can unscrew the agitator cap? There are two or three alternate agitators in the collection that I want to try out on this machine!
Yeah, thank you everybody. I'm well enough to go thrifting (actually, shopping in Big Box and Grocery stores where I could lean on a shopping cart whilst strolling and find a seat somewhere was a prescribed form of physical therapy before I could do little else), but these beauties are still outside in the truck waiting for a couple of hunky guys (!) to come and wrassle them onto a hand-truck and into the basement.
John, if it weren't for your brilliant primer on the virtues of the Kenmore I wouldn't have given these machines a second look, but I have to report that even the back of this machine has very sophisticated, sturdy connections for drain hoses and the other necessary utilities. I still wonder, however, why those damn Whirlpool people needed to enclose a standard capacity washing machine in a 29" wide cabinet( LOL; ducks and ambles away carefully).
They are both in fact remarkably clean and I'm going to work VERY HARD to restrain myself from disassembling them for examination and cleaning and rendering them inoperable. As it is, I'm fighting the temptation to remove the Agitator from the Maytag; the last time I pried one of these out of the tub, it's rubber spline slipped out of its hole in the bottom of the agitator and no force seems to be able to re-insert it.
Oh, and while I'm on this subject, can you Sears/Whirlpool people tell me if there's a way to stop the agitator from spinning around freely so I can unscrew the agitator cap? There are two or three alternate agitators in the collection that I want to try out on this machine!
Wow Ken, both are in amazing condition. Congrats on the great finds!
If you let the Kenmore agitate then shut off the machine, the transmission is engaged and you can un-thread the cap. Be careful though, sometimes those Roto Flex agitators can be a real PITA to pull off.
Ben
If you let the Kenmore agitate then shut off the machine, the transmission is engaged and you can un-thread the cap. Be careful though, sometimes those Roto Flex agitators can be a real PITA to pull off.
Ben
hooverwheelaway
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2005
- Messages
- 1,490
Congrats!
They're so much better when animated:
**Two snaps up**
They're so much better when animated:
**Two snaps up**
Well deserved
Congrats! All thats left is to enjoy those wonderful beauties!
Congrats! All thats left is to enjoy those wonderful beauties!
beyond excellent finds Ken......
warmsecondrinse
Well-known member
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
THAT was my grandmother's LK. detergent dispenser door was different, though. Hinged at the top, it flipped up and was made of white plastic to match the body.
Jim
THAT was my grandmother's LK. detergent dispenser door was different, though. Hinged at the top, it flipped up and was made of white plastic to match the body.
Jim
delaneymeegan
Well-known member
they are beautiful. What a way to recover.
Appliance therapy.
Appliance therapy.
lordkenmore
Well-known member
What great finds!
It was especially fun seeing the Lady Kenmore. My mother had one of those, and it's fun seeing one again in such good condition! Ours went 20 some years, and only had a couple of breakdowns. It was still running when we left the house I grew up in.
The one problem: the machine did seem to go off balance easily. Not sure if there was some problem with it, the way it was installed (perhaps not quite as level as it should be?), or the nature of our loads.
I've also wondered if it didn't have better washing ability than some washers I've dealt with since. I know my mother did a lot of cold water washes. Not sure how that got started--perhaps 1970s energy crisis. Perhaps a way of shaving a bit off the electric bill. Who knows for sure? But we seemed to get by OK, and I've wondered if the washer's quality helped compensate for cold water. It seemed like the clothes got cleaner, even with cold water, than they did later with cold water on other machines. Of course, that might just be misty eyed sentiment for the childhood home washer, too...
It was especially fun seeing the Lady Kenmore. My mother had one of those, and it's fun seeing one again in such good condition! Ours went 20 some years, and only had a couple of breakdowns. It was still running when we left the house I grew up in.
The one problem: the machine did seem to go off balance easily. Not sure if there was some problem with it, the way it was installed (perhaps not quite as level as it should be?), or the nature of our loads.
I've also wondered if it didn't have better washing ability than some washers I've dealt with since. I know my mother did a lot of cold water washes. Not sure how that got started--perhaps 1970s energy crisis. Perhaps a way of shaving a bit off the electric bill. Who knows for sure? But we seemed to get by OK, and I've wondered if the washer's quality helped compensate for cold water. It seemed like the clothes got cleaner, even with cold water, than they did later with cold water on other machines. Of course, that might just be misty eyed sentiment for the childhood home washer, too...
lordkenmore
Well-known member
One memory of my mother's washer is that detergent door. I don't remember her ever using that as intended--detergent went in the tub. BUT when I was young, I enjoyed opening that door and watching the water water as it sloshed through.
Great Finds
Hi Ken, Why the 29" wide cabinet on all standard size WP built non bolt down washers, I guess so it matched the 29" wide dryers which needed the extra width for a decent size drum, it took MT until about 1997 with the introduction of the Neptune's to have a washer and dryer in the same size cabinet.
Yes a 27" wide cabinet would have probably worked in WP built BD washers, although I always felt that MTs DC washers would have been better in a wider cabinet and a wider tub so the clothing could turn over better with less fabric damage.
To remove the agitator cap in the KM I just put my left foot on the agitator while standing in front of the washer to hold it while unscrewing the agitator cap. These Roto-Swrirl agitators tended to get stuck to the agitator shaft due to rusting of the shaft. You may need a few gallons of boiling water slowly pored over the top of the agitator to get it off, and you may need some even more aggressive measures to get it off in one piece. Just don't pull by the fins.
John L.
Hi Ken, Why the 29" wide cabinet on all standard size WP built non bolt down washers, I guess so it matched the 29" wide dryers which needed the extra width for a decent size drum, it took MT until about 1997 with the introduction of the Neptune's to have a washer and dryer in the same size cabinet.
Yes a 27" wide cabinet would have probably worked in WP built BD washers, although I always felt that MTs DC washers would have been better in a wider cabinet and a wider tub so the clothing could turn over better with less fabric damage.
To remove the agitator cap in the KM I just put my left foot on the agitator while standing in front of the washer to hold it while unscrewing the agitator cap. These Roto-Swrirl agitators tended to get stuck to the agitator shaft due to rusting of the shaft. You may need a few gallons of boiling water slowly pored over the top of the agitator to get it off, and you may need some even more aggressive measures to get it off in one piece. Just don't pull by the fins.
John L.
lordkenmore
Well-known member
>The self-cleaning filter in these washers was not only far more effective than the clean-it-your-self brush filter but a lot nicer to use. The idea of having a washer that can automatically wash your really dirty clothing twice, add bleach at the correct time and even rinse twice and add the softener in the last rinse is just way too great a washer to make you clean a damp lint lint filter.
Self cleaning filters are probably more convenient and nicer, although when I still had a manual clean lint filter, it didn't seem that onerous to maintain it. Although, frankly, part of that might just be value of just HAVING a lint filter. (I line dry during warmer periods of the year, and so the "well, lint gets removed in the dryer" argument isn't valid a good percentage of the time for me.)
Of course, I'm not sure how good a match a LK or that TOL Maytag with full programming would be for me. I tend to be somewhat a control freak in the laundry room. So I like to make the decisions of cycle times, temperatures, and I don't mind manually adding fabric softener (which I don't use now, anyway), since I tend to check the rinse cycle to make sure all is going well.
Self cleaning filters are probably more convenient and nicer, although when I still had a manual clean lint filter, it didn't seem that onerous to maintain it. Although, frankly, part of that might just be value of just HAVING a lint filter. (I line dry during warmer periods of the year, and so the "well, lint gets removed in the dryer" argument isn't valid a good percentage of the time for me.)
Of course, I'm not sure how good a match a LK or that TOL Maytag with full programming would be for me. I tend to be somewhat a control freak in the laundry room. So I like to make the decisions of cycle times, temperatures, and I don't mind manually adding fabric softener (which I don't use now, anyway), since I tend to check the rinse cycle to make sure all is going well.
Amalgamated lint
I don't have anything against self-cleaning lint filters, per se, but I live in a town without sewers where all of us have difficult septic systems built on ledge that the town actually pumps out once every couple of years. When I moved in, I consulted a septic systems engineer for advice and two of the things he said that were relevant to appliances was to not install a garbage disposer in the kitchen sink (I think they're great to have), and to avoid washers that flushed lint down into the system. In both cases particles from both float from the septic tank directly into the leaching fields where they clog them up. I suppose I can put one of those little screens over the drain hose opening.
Plus, lint filters are one more fun thing to futz with.
I don't have anything against self-cleaning lint filters, per se, but I live in a town without sewers where all of us have difficult septic systems built on ledge that the town actually pumps out once every couple of years. When I moved in, I consulted a septic systems engineer for advice and two of the things he said that were relevant to appliances was to not install a garbage disposer in the kitchen sink (I think they're great to have), and to avoid washers that flushed lint down into the system. In both cases particles from both float from the septic tank directly into the leaching fields where they clog them up. I suppose I can put one of those little screens over the drain hose opening.
Plus, lint filters are one more fun thing to futz with.
tinkr
Well-known member
floating lint catcher
I have 2 of these for my wringer washers and they work great, They catch all the dog hair from their
beds and blankets. An I have no lint on the navy hosp. scrubs.
Another picture snafoo, sorry about the giant picture of gunk in the picture.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Floating-Wa...erSubTotalOffer&_soffid=5012589906&rmvSB=true
I have 2 of these for my wringer washers and they work great, They catch all the dog hair from their
beds and blankets. An I have no lint on the navy hosp. scrubs.
Another picture snafoo, sorry about the giant picture of gunk in the picture.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Floating-Wa...erSubTotalOffer&_soffid=5012589906&rmvSB=true
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
tinkr
Well-known member
Ok I'm baffeld
Had a large pic in the body It disappeared.
Had a large pic in the body It disappeared.
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