Kenmore Belt-Drive Question

[mrb627]

It occurred to me late last night that I cannot recall ever seeing a belt-drive Kenmore machine with a four position speed selector switch or a low-speed agitate with high-speed spin cycle.

Did one ever exist? I seem to recall a Whirlpool Imperial with a push button speed selector, but not a Kenmore.

Malcolm

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Malcolm,

There were very few belt-drives of either brand with selectable speed switches, other than the basic Lady K machines of 1964-1974. Those machines were not what you have in mind (at least I don't think) as to a "real" speed switch like we saw in so many bazillion direct drives. The only thing that comes to mind in the Kenmore barn is an alternate Lady Kenmore model from 1966 which had a rotary speed select knob instead of the piano keys. This knob allowed the user to select speeds independent of the cycle selected. This machine was incredibly expensive as compared Lady, which we all know was already pricey. I think this model carried a $50 premium over the standard Lady.

I believe there has been one or two discussions of that model on the site, but it is little known and seldom seen. I think John/Combo mentioned the electronic speed control was expensive to service and repair. If I can find anything about this model in the searcholator, I'll post a link to it in this thread.

Other than that model though, I can't think of any rotary or push button speed controlled models for Kenmore.

Gordon

UPDATE -

I forgot the 1965, 1966, and 1968-ish Kenmore 800s. Here's a link to an interesting thread with some good photos.

[this post was last edited: 2/11/2014-14:08]

Anyone know the year on this pair ?

I am thinking early 60's ? But, would like to know an exact year.

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[DADoES]

 
My aunt had a late 1960s Kenmore, probably an 800 but I don't recall it was designated as such on the console.  There have been finds/pics floating around of similiar, if not an identical unit.  It had an alphabet timer but wasn't pushbutton/lock.  Fluorescent light.  Timed bleach/softener but no detergent dispenser.  Rotoswirl with scrubber cap.  Levers at base of the console for temp options (Auto / Cold Wash-Rinse / Cold Rinse) and variable water level.  Rotary knob at right side of the console (right of the timer) for speed (Auto / Slo-Slo / ExSlo-Slo).

There was the rare solid-state, variable speed Kenmore that had separate rotary controls for spin and agitate speed.  I have a pic but can't find it at the moment.

Several Whirlpool models (TOP and near-TOL) from 1959 to 1976 had separate spin & agitate speed selectors.

 

[appnut]

Had neighbors who bought the house next to ours (the one with the previous to LK Combos). I saw this washer they had one or two times. It was a coppertone set. Probably bought in 1967 or 1968. Had black pushbuttons for the 5 water temps. Variable water level. And it also had a knob to the right of the timer dial. Straight up it had the word "auto" on it. There were 4 other positions that selected the 4 wash/spin speed combos derived from a 2 speed motor. I did a double take the first time I saw it. I wanted to steal that pair numerous times. To me it was the perfect Kenmore.

 

[terryT]

We had one until recently.

Check out the right side. I used that control all the time.

Unfortunately, this was one of the last times that machine would run, unbeknownst to me at the time I took that pic. Nearly everything failed on that machine simultaneously it seems. It had been in our household since new, fully rebuilt mechanically in 1986. In 2012 the bearings were going bad, the tub was leaking and found to be totally rusted through (silver aluminum peel tape and water seal were not holding up very well), the bearings were going bad, and finally the timer failed, apparently trying to run normal and slo agitate simultaneously thus taking out the motor during a permanent press cycle. I don't have much room and had to try to move it to a new home (to no avail) to take delivery of the "new" Maytag A806 ('79) and matching dryer that came my direction most unexpectedly.

The bad news is that I couldn't find a home for it. I felt nauseous disposing of it.

The good news is that I still have the entire top section for a nightlight including the elusive speed selector switch. Oh, and the rotoswirl agitator. I kept that too. I've held out the perhaps naive possibility of folding those into another machine at some indeterminate time in the future. The consolation is that the A806 is in excellent condition and is in almond color but with the illuminated front panel. Too bad the rotoswirl doesn't fit it

The other good news is that the 1958 Whirlpool Supreme that was its mate for decades is still around, but was supplanted from regular use by the new Maytag matching dryer. It's enjoying semi retirement, taking a well deserved breather from regular laundry service since new. If anyone is wondering, I converted the glow coil ignition to a Honeywell electronic boiler spark ignition control, with a transformer running off the coil LV supply. I didn't fully integrate it since I wanted to keep the option of going back to the glow coil, which I've subsequently found.

 

[mrb627]

Amazing

I always thought that Kenmore never had anything with a RAW speed selector switch. ( Not until the black faced machine from the early 80's )Sorry to hear about you machine failure. But you did hang on to the most important parts. It will live on again through another base unit.

Malcolm

 

[terryT]

Perspective.

Funny. Growing up with that machine, I assumed it was a common feature! Only now do I realize what a rarity it was.

Indeed, even though the vintage Maytags are great, I get misty-eyed looking at the picture I posted. In retrospect, I should have tried to move the surplus Servel fridge to make room for the Kenmore. And kept the lower wiring harness. Time was short and I lost my head. But yes, the top can be retrofit to a somewhat newer belt drive with the bland control panel.

 

[DADoES]

 
Would like to see a close-up of the speed selector on that 1966 machine to note how the 5 choices are labeled compared to the 3-position switch on my aunt's model.

 

[appnut]

to note how the 5 choices are labeled compared to the 3-pos

Glenn, did you read my post above? In the position the knob is in in the photo, it says Automatic. then the other four notches (two on either side of Automatic) would be Slow Wash/Normal Spin, N/N, Automatic, Normal Wash/Slow Spin and Slow/Slow. Friends of my parents (that lived on the all-Frigidaire kitchen street), had the above washer and matching dryer in coppertone. It too had the above 5 position speed knob. But I also know what I described above. the next door neighbors had what essentially looked like a 1965 Kenmore 800 with a speed switch/knob. I blew up the above photo. It looks like the white letters on the knob are for agitation. On the left side it looks like Slo Slo and to the right of the "automatic" word it look like Norm and Norm. Those must be the agitation designators.

 

[DADoES]

 
Ohhhh, missed that.  Nice, fully flexible for a 2-speeder.  I was expecting it to be 3-speeds so was trying to figure how 5 positions would come into play.

 

[terryT]

Linked thread on the Kenmores

Kenmoreguy64, I forgot to mention that is a very cool thread that you posted above. I never knew what the matching dryers looked like. And great fridges in the background!

My fav, though is that stainless KA Imperial with the pink accents. Our household still uses the Superba version of that machine (KDS 55 VariCycle) to this day. No stainless on ours though.
As a matter of fact it's doing a load right now, blasting away in the background as we speak. My 86 year old mother wouldn't have anything else!

Thanks!

 

[appnut]

3-speeds

Glenn, I've also seen (since being here) a version that did indeed offer the capability of the ex-slo 3rd speed. to me that was the "surprise" given the above mentioned models by me were the only one(s) I'd ever seen. In fact, what you are describing Glenn is what has been shown/found here before. This is the first time I've seen the model above--which when seeing the 3-speed version, made me question my at-the-time 13 year old sanity given I had other distractions at the time which involved hormones.

 

[DADoES]

 
Found the pic.

 

[combo52]

1967 Kenmore 800 pair

Terry T I have the exact set of these machines in as good as new mechanical condition, they are both white the washer is the non-suds model and the dryer is electric, they are for sale, I could even deliver them to the Cleveland area sometime in the next month or so, contact me if you have any interest.

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for posting the photo, Glenn. I've never seen that Lady Kenmore before.

It never ceases to amaze me that although I've been treading the boards here for many years, there are still washers out there I've never seen.

 

[terryT]

combo52 Re: 1967 Kenmore 800 pair

With God as my witness, I have no idea what to do.

[visualize the apple macintosh spinning beachball over my head]

Thank you for posting their availability. I never considered that an exact replacement would have been possible!

Let me reboot my brain and think about this. Wish me luck!

 

[combo52]

Variable Speed LKM Washer

I have never seen one of these in the flesh either, these must be one of the rarest KM BD washers ever. This KM used a GE built variable speed induction motor, this same GE motor design was also used in a HP solid tub washer and a HP built Easy along with a Norge and a Norge built MW version of the Norge.

GE made a FF machine that had a variable speed clutch and Frigidaire also made rollermatic solid tub washer that also had a mechanical clutch that could slip constantly to allow lower agitation and spin speeds.

This was a feature that male engineers dreamed up that didn't improve the washers performance one bit over already available three speed washers. all these VS washers designs disappeared within just a few years and were basically a sales flop. I would love to find one of these KM machines.