[i]WORST[/i] pre-1980 agitator design ever made??

[appliguy]

Remembering Austin Wilder......

I agree 100% with Tom, Glenn, and Sean. Austin was a very fascinating person and even though I never got to meet him in person I always enjoyed his posts and Youtube videos, he does indeed deserve to be remembered. PATRICK COFFEY

 

[maytag85]

I never got a chance to meet or interact with Austin since I joined the forum in 2017, but certainly would have been an interesting person to have conversations and interact with.

It is quite disrespectful to make condescending remarks over something not only trying to engage in an interesting conversation, but also to remember and honor a member who is no longer with us. In certain cultures around the world, the only way someone actually dies off is when they are forgotten about.

I’ll admit I’ve may have said things some things over the years here in the forum, but would never stoop down to that level making condescending remarks for someone resurrecting a thread from a member who’s no longer with us.

 

[washerlover]

Austin was amazing! I never met him in person but did reach out to him once when I was having trouble with my mid'70s WP washer. He was extremely kind and helpful and is dearly missed.

 

[bajaespuma]

This Hamilton gets my vote

This pair belongs to a member. The washer looks like an interesting machine; I like the color of the plastic parts. When I examined the agitator, though, I thought it couldn't be a good cleaner. It looks like one of those "Delicate" agitators that lives under the "Regular" agitator, like the ones on TOL Westies and Hotpoints.

 

It looks like it would perform worse than the Straight-6's on some Filter-Flo's

 

[agiflow]

This was owned by another esteemed late member.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE straight vane.

I'd go with a GE ramped activator over any straight van any day of the week.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

powerfin64

I'd rather take a Whirlpool super surgilator any day of the week.

 

[agiflow]

I'd say the Penta Swirl is probably my favorite now of the belt drive agitators along with the Surgilators in all their flavors.

 

[bajaespuma]

The video tells the story

As with the GE Straight-8(early version)and the Straight-6 (the later green versions; the black bakelite versions had a little bit more of the bottom, horizontal fins sticking out over the Activator base), the laundry is being swished back and forth...there isn't a lot of rollover going on.

 

[agiflow]

That load was quite full and still turned it over. I mean it isn't to borrow a phrase "dolphins at SeaWorld" turnover but it is still turning over and that whole load circulated well.

 

[tomturbomatic]

2 Minute Deep Rinse

One problem with the deep rinse in Kenmores was because the fill aerated the load at the back of the tub and large items like sheets took quite a while to be pulled under. The 4 minute deep rinse in the KitchenAid washers, combined with the dual action agitator gave totally satisfactory rinsing.

As far as the least effective agitator from the time period, I would have to nominate the Maytag Gyrator used in the narrow tubs of the automatics.

 

[agiflow]

Reply #26

Sorry Ken if that was presumptuous on my part. Were you talking about the Hamilton ?

 

[agiflow]

Reply #28

Tom that's funny you mention about the Kenmore aerated spray because on one of my videos of the Kenmore it is filling for the rinse and the white T-shirt at the back of the tub started billowing up as the spray was hitting it. You could actually see it like a balloon being blown up.

 

[maytag85]

This may be an outrageous statement, but my vote goes to the Kenmore Roto Swirl, Roto Flex. While the Kenmore Roto Swirl works fine, don’t really care for the look or aesthetics. The Roto Flex looks kind of cheap, looks like it would struggle with larger loads.

 

[agiflow]

No outrageous statement Sean. Everyone has an opinion. I personally think the Roto Swirl is one of the best looking ramp agitators and the Roto Flex can move big loads. There are videos of it out there. Personally though I find the Roto Flex the least appealing of all of the belt drive varieties.

 

[combo52]

The Kenmore Roto flex agitator

Was introduced in 1965 it definitely turned clothing over better and actually got it somewhat cleaner. A lot of research went into that agitator, I put one in my 1964 lady Kenmore that I used for quite a few years. It was very effective.

Hi Sean, you should try the Roto flex in your Mark 12 whirlpool, what’s going on with that washer? What is the hold up with fixing the timer?

John L

 

[maytag85]

Reply #33

Hi John, unfortunately the timer is pretty much done for since I’ve literally tried everything you can think of. Tweaked the little tabs on the contacts, worked somewhat but seems to not have done much. Invested at least 40 to 60 hours into it, still haven’t gotten anywhere close to getting it functional, even on the regular cycle. The cams might possibly be worn down which can be causing it to not work as intended.

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else left at my disposal other than to transplant these consoles on that a friend in Colorado sent (paid for the shipping). It may change the appearance, but the mechanism is going to stay the same, only thing that will be different is the programming since it has a 4 minute drain as opposed to the 2 minute drain, won’t have issues with a water lock or suds lock.

Quite reluctant to do this, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to keep things running even if it requires a complete retrofit.

If you are wondering, going to paint the side panels with some turquoise paint that’s actually quite close to the turquoise on the machine, just a shade or two lighter.

I’ll create a dedicated to resurrecting those machines back to life sometime within the next couple of months.

If you are wondering, the dial faces were removed for shipping and are getting sent with other parts that were pulled off (automatic dispensers, inlet valve, wiring harness for the washer, other miscellaneous odds and ends).