Interesting Philco Sales Training Video Combo Comparison

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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verizonbear

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Stumbled upon this interesting sales training video from Philco, looks like it was produced in the late 50s maybe? They compare the filco to other major brands of combos such as Westinghouse, whirlpool, Maytag, GE, and it looks like a Norge and Speed Queen too. Speaks to the suspension quality of the Philco and the higher extraction speed of the spin. Very interesting to watch thought I would share.

 
Combo Comparison

Thanks for sharing the video. It's amazing how the technology was so much farther ahead back then. I guess this was from about 1959. It would be nice if more companies
built combos today! Its to bad Philco didnt stay in the business.
Peter
 
The competition is name-less, as in I don't recognize the too-tall or too-wide, and am curious about what brand those are...

 

A shame that combo's never really took off, as it would have gotten more mileage out of the Philco (Ford) brand in the laundry room, as I see a lot of good features and uniqueness of...

 

And the assured testimony that this is the top-brand, available in many models, to buy...

 

Suspension: Are those pneumoatic shocks under there?

 

 

 

-- Dave
 
Wonderful comparison of combination washer dryers

Of course this was before the greatly improved 1961 whirlpool Kenmore design came out.

And certainly the Philco was the best performing combo in many ways.

The only thing they Leave out is the fact that the machine was much smaller than any of the competitors and produced a much more wrinkled final result and much smaller loads.

Consumer reports did a detailed comparison of combination washer dryers in 1960 and the Kenmore and whirlpool 33 inch wide combinations were the top rated machines for overall performance speed, etc.

John
 
Another thing that should be noted is that this model was not the high speed Duomatic with the blower. If it were, the door on top would be larger to grant access to the dryer lint screen. Without the blower, the drying was much slower and used a lot more water because like the Speed Queen and others, the cold water was sprayed on a condensing plate behind the drum but the drying air was not forced against the plate.

The AVCO corporation invented the combination washer-dryer, but it also killed it by tying up patent rights for the suspended mechanism (the shock absorbers and springs) for the combination appliance. They also tied up what might be called the intellectual property rights for the combination so anyone making one had to pay like a royalty to AVCO for each machine produced. So that's why no other combo could have the water extraction of the Bendix or later the Philco until the Whirlpool engineers devised the ballast tanks for balancing the load before allowing it to go into the high speed spin. Of course, this resulted in a machine with 1600 parts or as many parts as a VW Beetle according to John's oldest brother Jerry.

When AVCO sold Bendix, Whirlpool should have bought Bendix to get the only perfected combination with patent-protected design. With the sales of Whirlpool laundry products to Sears, we could still be having combinations that were a practical size and efficient to operate. Philco appliances never had huge national distribution. Their advertising campaigns touting the high speed extraction appeared in women's magazines where the concept was as well absorbed as pouring water on a rock. It was sad and then Ford, which bought the Philco appliance line spent a lot of money downsizing the Duomatic. They could still work, but the real performers were the Duomatics with the blower so that meant either the High Speed No-vent electric or the vented gas or electric machines. We had one of the High Speed no-vent machines and it dried fast unless the load was heavy and then it took some time to condense the steam. I have never seen a vented Duomatic. My 36" Duomatic dried pretty fast because it had a huge condensation tower with cold water running down the sides like those cooling towers for electrical power generating plants and a fan to circulate the air.
 
The UK contribution

In the UK the combo was quite a rarity . Bendix made a bolt down combo
With a 350 RPM ish spin speed . The washer has to be set to dry after the wash programme has completed but it has a 3 KW dryer . A reverse airflow draws air in over the heater and into the cylinder . The machine has good wash results partly down to the fact it also has a 3kW water heater for the wash cycle.
Warm rinsing also keeps the tub and the clothes warm in readiness for the tumble dry …
It’s a vented sensor dryer so quite unusual for its time …I think about 1960-62

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Then we had the BEAUTY

Following on from the Bendix Triomatic We had the Bendix LT . Produced after the Bolt down but a 550 ish spin speed . A huge improvement also it can be set to wash and dry in one continuous programme . This is suspended tub . Timed drying and again reversed airflow over a 3KW tumble dryer heater … . These in my opinion are the Rolls Royce of combination machines . The only downside is the fan runs throughout the wash period so it is a little noisy . That aside a FABULOUS combo .. Excellent wash results as a 3kw water heater as well …

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The end of an era

The Bendix LTA combo was the last in the series of the larger combos made in the UK built in about 1968 . Totally different programmer but much the same as the LT . One big improvement was that the dryer fan was controlled through a solenoid so essentially the machine was as quiet as a mouse in the wash cycle
.. A lovely machine to use and fabulous wash and dry results. The Duomatic badge isn’t original to the machine but a lovely reminder of my fab friend who gave me it !!

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Wow, Darren great combination washer dryers

You probably have the nicest collection of combinations at least outside of the United States. I really love the last one with the added Duomatic trim piece it looks really good on there although I think if it had come from the factory, they would’ve used to subtle blue or maybe gray color for the background

I guess John E and I have the largest collections of combos in the United States. Hopefully you and Steve can make it over here and see all the interesting ones we have in the Beltsville museum.

I love the early one in your reply number eight that’s got to be a very, very rare machine. And as usual, you’ve done an immaculate job restoring it. It probably looks better than it did when it came out of the box.

John
 
Today's POD (12/23/2024) is a Philco Combo in 1959 advertised at $369.95 ($3926.67 in today's dollars)...

I suppose it's similar to the one in the demonstration though no comparison to the other combos built by the competitors, only at least the similar features unto itself...

-- Dave
 

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