Kenmore dryer

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phamq

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Aug 14, 2008
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This is an interesting Kenmore. I'm going ask the seller a bigger picture. It doesn't look like a Kenmore though

phamq++12-7-2009-22-25-1.jpg
 
Whoa.... That IS an interesting Kenmore dryer... It has a Kenmore control panel, a Kenmore lint filter, and a Kenmore door handle... But that is soooooo not a Kenmore door that I've seen before!!! Maybe it's a prototype that never made it to market?
 
Yep that is a super capacity version. I don't believe it matched with any one particular washer, although it does have the same console as the 1969-71 Kenmore 700 standard capacity washer. Capacity wise it matches the 1968 Model 518 washer which had a 1963 styled console. It is very unique with the large side swing door and extra cabinet width at 31(?) inches. More interesting is that if you look closely, you will see the console is only 29 inches wide leaving roughly an inch of surface space on either side. I wonder if the interior has the fixed rear bulkhead like it's standard capacity brethren.

Have a good one,
James
 
I have seen one of these in person....

It was at John Lefever's warehouse in Greenbelt MD in at the 2002 appliance convention......from what I remember John saying it is a very rare machine (am correct John?)...PAT COFFEY
 
The Kenmore Dryer In Question.....

To All:

The dryer that you see listed above is a Super Capacity Kenmore Dryer that was available from 1969 (I think) up until 1971-72. This Dryer has an ALMOST 8.0 Cu./Ft. Drum. At the time, this was the BIGGEST Dryer they have produced.

It is as big, if not bigger than the Super Capacity Dryers Whirlpool/Kenmore seem to produce today. But back then, a Dryer THAT big was almost unheard of..

The control panel matches the #4 Kenmore Washer (which is a Model 700), but because of what type of door the Dryer has, you could almost say that it is a TRUE "All American" Dryer.

This is a VERY rare Dryer indeed.

Now..... my next question is directed to Gordon.

Gordon..... Do you know whether or not Whirlpool has produced a version of THIS Dryer themselves at that time???

In terms of capacity though, just like James has stated, it matched the Large Capacity Washer that Kenmore has first started selling back in 1968 (and that would be the one that has the 1963 Model 70 Control Panel).

So inside and out, although this Dryer looks unusual, it's DEFINITELY a Kenmore.

--Charles--
 
Charles -

I don't know for sure if Whirlpool had their own version of this dryer or not. I have not seen or heard of any, though I have only seen this dryer in pictures and in Sears print ads.

It was indeed introduced as a stablemate for the 1968-ish 518 - why Sears choose that control panel I'd love to know - the machines weren't much of a 'matched' set to look at and they were sold as a set almost side by side in several print ads.

I believe I have heard that the design was a Sears spec. that Whirlpool manufactured accordingly. This would elude us to the possibility that there were no Whirlpool clones. I am pretty sure the dryer remained available until 1973 or so, when Sears was about to introduce the 6.9 cu ft. drum 1974 model 29-inch dryers - a design which remains essentially intact today. Oddly, the door of this dryer is very reminiscent of the door used on some current 5.9 and 6.5 cu ft. dryer models from Whirlpool/Kenmore and others today.

I don't know why this dryer wasn't more heavily touted by Sears or why the design didn't proliferate. One interesting thought though - Whirlpool's current 27-inch large cap. dryer was mostly a Kenmore offering for a number of the early years of the design...do I have that right? Perhaps that is what Whirlpool was doing then as well? Playing a 'wait and see' as to consumer acceptance?

NEAT dryer though - I'd like to have one of those in a long-term collection.

Gordon
 
31" KM dryer

WP did build this dryer for sears it used most of the same parts as the 29" machines. It came out a little later than the 518 Ex Lg washer. It may have been partly in response to Mont Wards laundry products as they were always bragging about having the biggest one. I do indeed have one of these dryers i have seen a half dozen or so in my career.
 
My In-laws' old dryer in Phoenix AZ

My wife claims that her family's old Kenmore dryer had a side-swing door, and it was an early 60's model, turquoise colour. Oddly, it had a large lint screen mounted in the bottom, instead of the traditional type on top. I think this was the one discussed before, as Volvoguy mentioned in this thread.
 

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