If one had to transport a very old Bendix washer....

[gansky1]

Your hands never touch water!

Very fun machines. They are a bit back-heavy and tipsy that direction so laying it on it's back is safest.

I had a Standard (round diving bell) Bendix, my very first restore. It was one I wanted since staring at old magazine ads as a kid. The reality of the performance is a bit of a let down, but it's still really cool. I have one now, a commemorative 1947 dealer model, never used. Can't bring myself to use it now.

 

[jetcone]

Oh Greg

thats an adorable shot! Its "goldt" all real "goldt"!!

 

I wonder what the brown arrow was gonna have written into it? Any traces left on the sign??

 

 

[gansky1]

The signs are all clear - the yellow/brown one was "Rinses - no lifting"

 

Very 1930's, a clock motor runs a sweep-arm switch to light each arrow in turn.

 

[mickeyd]

 

 

The Do Wop Wop 300 speed leaves the Combo in the dust.

 

The gold and brass Bendi is gorgeous, but I would NOT, not be able to use it. How do you manage such temptation? Herculean.

 

[e2l-arry]

300 RPM's?

No wonder Bendix thought the Economat squeeze tub extracted sufficient water!

 

[norgeway]

BUT!

They really wash well, and the clothes are not dripping wet, I would have one hooked up and running if I could find a good one.

 

[e2l-arry]

Me too!

Our neighbors had on back in the 60's. I was fascinated by it. More than most washers even! I remember sometimes the clothes feeling damp dry when finished. Other times after the clothes were on the lines they'd actually be dripping. I suppose it had to do with how good a seal they got when they sealed the lid. I remember the neighbor lady always sticking her hand in the wash water and wiping that center thing on the lid to get it good and wet before closing. I think that was supposed to give it a better seal.

 

[northwesty]

I'd put a towel down under it. It seems like I remember that some transmission fluid leaked out though a tube on top of the assembly when I transported one on it's side.

 

[turquoisedude]

Got it!

As part of a trip to southern Vermont to pick a very rare Walker dishwasher for Mike (dishwashercrazy) there was still room for the Bendix!

This is the only photo I have of it so far, but I promise more later on this week when I get back to my top-secret off-site storage location. It's kinda fitting that all you see here is the back of the Bendix 'cause I threw mine out quite nicely hauling the bugger out of the basement of the house where it had spent its former life.

We had an unwelcome surprise though when we first tried to move the washer... It was still bolted to the concrete floor of the basement! I wanted to kick myself; I had asked the seller if the machine was still bolted down and I guess they had no idea of what that meant! I tried sawing the bolt at first but that was a waste of time and effort. A trip to the local hardware store was in order... a selection of wrenches were purchased - fortunately one fit and the bolts came out.
The stairway out of the basement was wide, but steep. I lost my footing as I stepped from the doorway into the snow-covered yard and zing went the muscles of my lower back! Fortunately the heavy-duty arthritis pain meds were waiting for me in Ogden...

Overall, the washer is in really good shape. The wash tub is clean and rust-free. The timer still turns and I was able to manually turn the tub so I have high hopes that the drive mechanism is still good. Can't wait to retrieve this from storage and play with it!!

 

[philr]

Paul talked to me about getting my grinder with a cutting disc and my Sawsall two days before we went there but then he told me it wouldn't be necessary as the washer was supposed to have already been uninstalled!

 

When I saw that Paul was disconnecting the hoses that were still connected to the huge laundry sink, I began to seriously doubt that it had been unbolted from the concrete floor and moved recently as Paul was told!  Didn't take long after that to see it was still bolted and that we had nothing to remove the bolts! (and I doubt I could have plugged a non-battery operated power tool anywhere in that basement as the two outlets (on the ceiling and not accessible without a stool!) dated from around 1910 and didn't look like modern ones at all! There was still a rotary switch on a porcelain fixture on the wall and a socket hanging from a similar fixture on the ceiling but no light bulb in it! The washer's power cord was disconnected but I guess it used to be connected somewhere on the ceiling with an extension cord.

 

We went with the seller to the local hardware store to buy a saw and wrenches but the wrenches were too small (I didn't notice that the bolts had large square-shaped heads before we went there), then we tried to manually saw the bolts with the new saw as there was enough space left under the machine to do that but it didn't work at all. I went a second time with the seller to the hardware store to get some larger wrenches while I think Paul removed the ground cable and continued to try to saw the first bolt but I think the saw got more wear than the bolt itself!  Then, with the larger wrenches we removed both bolts, 1/8th of a turn at a time as the access on the side of the Bendix didn't allow to turn the bolt a full 1/4 turn with the wrench. So we had to reverse the wrench each time...

 

Too bad we didn't take pictures at this moment!