Kenmore Lady and TOL Washer Models?

[mrb627]

How many different Kenmore/Whirlpool washer models had the select/turn till stop/pull to start consoles like the piano keyboard on the Lady Kenmore machine? I know of the 'alphabet' machines, but did you select the cycle with an alpha button then turn the timer till it stopped at the beginning of the wash cycle?

Malcolm

 

[alr2903]

Malcolm the Kenmore family was mostly counter intuitive.  ... Turn till dial stops and push in to start.  I think this continued through at least the mid 70's. As far as how many models it had to be a lot of them, I have no idea.  Were the Whirlpools always "pull" to start "push" to stop?  CU always complained the pull to stop on the Kenmore's was not as safe as push to stop machines.  A

 

[mrb627]

Push Start ... Pull Stop

is not really what I am asking about. I am interested in knowing how many models had cycle pushbuttons where turning the timer knob to the right would mechanically stop at the starting position for the selected cycle.

Like this...

 

[combo52]

Push Button Mechanical Cycle Selector Timers

These started to appear on TOL WP washers around 59 or 60 and on high end KMs at about the same time, but did not come out on a LKM till the 63 LKM washer. WP used this system on its Imperial Mark 12 TOL washers through the 1965 machines and then never used it again.

Sears used this system on on every LKM washer from its 63 models through the 1975 LKMs, there were about ten different LKM washers that used this system.

 

These mechanical PBT systems worked very well and gave few problems although they really were not necessary to operate a washer. They were a real boom for people with sight problems as it made it very easy to correctly select the starting point for a desired cycle, for most models WP-KM would supply free braille kits to apply to the buttons.

 

All of these KM-WP washers had a push-to-start timer and pull-to-stop operation, and yes it is generally better and more accepted to have a push to stop design, however other companies like Frigidaire washers also used push-to-start on their machines and they did not even have the mechanical push-button timers systems.

 

[mrb627]

Thanks John

I only recently discovered a few videos on YT that seemed to have the pushbutton cycle selection that were not labeled as LK but 900 or 800 series machines.
Pretty sophisticated for the era, IMO.

Malcolm

 

[DADoES]

 
There were some models next-down from the LK with pushbutton timers, with one or two less less features than the LK ... such as 2 speeds instead of 3.

 

[revvinkevin]

Yes.....

 

 

Like this 1970 KM 800 washer I used to have (it's back in Boston).   Similar to a Lady, but 2 speed, gold agitator instead of white, different dispenser locations, etc.

 

Kevin

 

[mrb627]

KM 800

That machine is a beauty Kevin.

Malcolm

 

[philr]

It must have been a great feature for users with poor or no vision! I never thought about that! I never had a washer with a pushbutton mechanical timer selector but that was certainly a great idea. 

 

As for the push-start and pull-stop timers, I guess Whirlpool got rid of those when they introduced the models with the slanted control panels in 1967, the earliest one I have with the pull-start timer is from 1971 but I guess John L could tell it more precisely. Frigidaire also got rid of that in 1970 with the introduction of the 1971 "S line" perforated tub (1-18) models that replaced the solid tub models. I'm not sure about the very early Agitub Laundry Centers (again, John L could tell as he has one) but my 1973 Frigidaire GMini also has a pull-to-start timer. 

 

1971 Frigidaire 1-18



 

1971 RCA (like Whirlpool)



 

1973 Frigidaire GMini

 

[frigilux]

I never understood the logic behind 'push to start' for washer controls. In an emergency, one's natural inclination is to push, not pull, the timer knob to stop the machine.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

KM & push button mechanical stop timers

I think John got it almost exactly spot on - 9 LK models had this type of timer from what I can figure. These are the 63, the 64, 65, 66, 68, the 70, 71, 72, and the 1974 Lady K. There wasn't a new model for 1967, 1969, 1973 or 1975. There were only tiny differences between the 70 and 71s, and the '74 was a large capacity re-do of the 1972 with one less speed. The 66 LK had a number of derivatives (like six or seven) which were in production as 900 and 800 series models into the early seventies, including Kevin's coppertone 800 machine which was a 1970 or 1971 model.

There were also some earlier models, including the elusive 1962 800, which though not an LK, was essentially featured just like the '63 but with 1962 console styling. There was also a 1961 Kenmore 70 with push-button timer stops, which I think is the lowest this went downline.

There were also some 24-inch machine variations too that had push-button timer stops. That line was always for niche markets and not nearly as commonly made, thus I am not sure any of us here have seen all the variants that KM had, but there were at least a couple. They usually used warmed-over styling from 29-inch KMs from one or two years before.

Interesting question Malcolm!

Gordon

 

[mrb627]

Cool.

That is more models than I expected.
Very Interesting...

Malcolm

 

[philr]

How about Whirlpools? Some Mark 12 had that feature too?

I thought that the 3 speed Lady Kenmore would have been discontinued a bit later. Here in Canada, Inglis discontinued the 3 speed motor for a few years in the early 1970s on the TOL models but reintroduced them in 1974 for a short period.

And when did Kenmore get the push-stop timers? I suppose they did on the some of the woodgrain door models? Did that require an extensive redesign the timer stop mechanism on the push button models or did they keep the push-start timers on the LK until the end of the push button models?

Anyone has pictures of how these timers work? The push buttons are mechanically linked to the timer. I have set the timer on Paul's 1965 LK once but I never looked at the back of the panel.

 

[DADoES]

 
The last Whirlpool 3-speed (belt-drive) model was LAA9800 (far as I know), which was 1974/75 model year.  No pushbutton-timer involved, Whirlpool had discontinued it years prior (after 1965 as Combo52 says above).

I believe this model pictured (1974?) was the last year of pushbutton-timers for Lady Kenmore. They were still push start / pull stop and 3-speed (Custom Care button).

The pushbutton timer mechanism involved an array of pins, one for each fabric cycle button.  Option buttons (Cold Wash, Cold Rinse, 2nd Rinse and Custom Care) that were selected with another cycle did not have a pin.  When a cycle button was pressed and the timer was in the out/stop position, the pin pressed against a rotating plate with perforations in it.  Each pin was aligned to its respective perforation for start of that cycle.  The pin dropped into the hole when the start point was reached, locking the timer from turning further. Of course, the pin was released when the timer was pushed to start, otherwise it wouldn't be able to advance through the cycle functions.[this post was last edited: 7/29/2015-16:58]

 

[DADoES]

 
This is the Whirlpool LDA9800 2-speed that followed the LAA9800 3-speed.

LAA9800 had a 3rd agitate speed button (where LDA9800 has a blank space).  The three agitate speeds were labeled High, Medium, and Low.

 

[revvinkevin]

A few more photos....

... of the set directly above.

1976 WP Imperial Mark 12 set.... just because.

And being these are "76 models, 11 years after WP stopped using the timer-lock controls (or what ever you call it), this one doesn't have it either.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Push start / Push stop on Kenmores

To answer Phil's question above:

As best I can tell, the first pull to start or push to stop timers debuted on a couple new 1974 models. This was not an across the board swap, but a gradual one as new models replaced older 1972 and 1973 models. Oddly, some other new for 1974 models that used existing timers remained in the old pull stop format, as did some 1975 models. These two years were a hodgepodge of both configurations.

With the introduction of the entire new line for 1976 which had the new 'wet look' black panel consoles, all models had switched to the pull start format.

Incidentally, three of the timers that were designed between 1974 and 1977 lived through 1986 to become some of the most widely used domestic washer timers in history, in fact at least two remain available from WP to this day for machines made more than 30 years ago.

Gordon

 

[philr]

Thanks for the information! I had a 1976 Whirlpool LDA9800 just like the one above. The control panel was corroded and the outer tub was shot so I parted it out to and used the motor in my 1972 Inglis Royal 100 (picture 2). If it had been a 3 speed, I would have tried to save it as I have no 3 speed machines in my small washer collection.

 

[toploadloyalist]

Custom Care selection / Extra Slow agitation

What did the 'Custom Care' selection do on those "piano keyboard" KM's, and which of the two Delicate-related selections had the extra slow agitation?