Kenmore Single Cycle Dryer

[Chetlaham]

Has Kenmore, Whirlpool, or associated names ever offered a single cycle dryer? The only ones I know of are absolute BOL Kenmores from the late 90s/early 2000s. I don't know of anything besides those ever existing.

 

 

I am searching for a dryer similar to this:

 

 

 

 

[maytag85]

I believe they may have a long, long time ago. Definitely had a single cycle on the High-Speed Kenmore models in the late 50’s that only went up to 55 to 60 minutes.

 

[cam2s]

Here is a Galaxy branded set I posted about a long time ago. Very BOL one cycle each and no modifiers.

About as BOL as it gets.

This came accross on my local craigslist and I thought I'd share here. I know some people enjoy BOL machines and these certainly fit the bill. The washer doesn't even have selectable water temps in the timer, it's a warm wash cold rinse. The agitator is a lovely shade of grey too.

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[turquoisedude]

It's not a good picture, but my 1956 Whirlpool Imperial dryer is technically a single-cycle model with only timed drying but with temperature control options.

 

[Chetlaham]

Paul, this is exactly what I have in mind. I'm envying you lol. How does the machine dry? Would you make this a daily driver if given a chance?

 

 

@Cameron: I remember those! The dryer basically has a timed dry cycle timer except that the timer motor is wound for 240 volts and one lead of said timer motor was connected to the thermostatic side of the heating element instead of the incoming neutral. Very elegant way of  going from timed dry to auto dry without added complexity. I'm surprised this was not done more often.

 

 

As mentioned in the linked thread those were "bait and switch" models. We tried to buy a pair in the early 2000s and they basically refused to sell us said pair. The idea was to get customers to come to the store via an ultra low priced set or a set on an extreme sale, then up-sell to a MOL or TOL model. I think sales schemes like that are what helped do Sears in. Customers know what they want, not to be met with resistance.  

 

 

Anyway I'd love to see a Galaxy control system on a super capacity machine with drum light.

 

[maytag85]

From what I’ve seen in the archives from Tomturbomatic, Consumer Reports (Not Consumer’s Union) weren’t fond of these since the maximum dry time went up to 60 minutes which required models that only had a 5600 watt element to be ran through another cycle with 10 minutes more drying time to ensure things were dried to completion. More than likely was because there was a stationary bulkhead behind the perforations in the drum which let some of the incoming heated air bypass the drum and there certainly was some truth to that, but more than likely was with how heavily loaded the machine was, and or the duct length.

Maytags of this era up until 1965 went all the way to 100 minutes with 3 temperature settings (regular, wash n wear, air), but really didn’t need to to dry things for 100 minutes especially in the HOH models since the airflow was a bit more efficient since items were constantly in the air stream compared to the ‘65 and up Whirlpool dryers which were persnickety with how heavily they were loaded and the duct length, any dryer is when you have excessively long duct run.

 

[Chetlaham]

In my experience heavy loads take 70 minutes to dry in my Maytag and very heavy loads take a bit more than that. So it sounds right when adjusted for temperature and air flow. Maytag I thank had duct length worked out where even though while I can't confirm it GE would use a two heater system and switch one of the heaters off if the drum inlet became to hot.

 

[qsd-dan]

In my experience heavy loads take 70 minutes to dry in my Ma

What's the drying time for an average large load in the Speed Queen washer? I imagine it's in the 40-50 minute range using the autodry sensor.

 

[Chetlaham]

Around 60 minutes, but thats me using medium heat and the dryer switching to soft heat before the cool down. The Speed Queen can hold more when packed reasonably and the water level turned up.

 

[qsd-dan]

Around 60 minutes, but thats me using medium heat

Okay, that makes sense. That's definitely too long using high heat unless your duct run is massive with twists and turns. I can get a full load dry (and I mean accurately dried!) in one of my HOH dryers in the same time (maybe a bit quicker) it takes your 29" at medium heat.

 

[maytag85]

Here’s one observation I’ve made, whenever I have a load of laundry drying in my HOH, the air coming out of the vent outside feels quite damp. Awhile back, I went outside to where the vent is, felt the exhaust air coming out, was quite damp. Reason for that is items are constantly in the air stream and since it’s surrounded by a full 360 degree circle of heat, evaporated moisture fairly quickly despite a 4500 to 4800 watt heating element.

I haven’t actually timed how long mine takes to dry on the auto dry with the dryness set all the way up, but probably in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 minutes, 50 to 60 minutes with a fairly large load of towels. Mind you, this is with a thermostatic auto dry with low heat, not a moisture sensor.

Another possible reason for the reasonable and quick drying times for certain loads is it’s able to hold a more steady temperature with a lower temperature vs the 140F to 150F which is close to the high limit thermostat rating.

Someone really should put a 120F cycling thermostat in an electronically controlled HOH with the adjustable thermostat set to 95F, willing to bet it’d make it a bit quicker.

 

[Chetlaham]

I think the Speed Queen washer holds more than a Maytag. So that could also play a role. I dislike high heat, always have. Medium is ideal for towels and cottons, low for everything else. Soft heat I find unnecessary, and with the 10 minute cool down the load is almost room temp at the end of the cycle. 

 

 

Sean, ignore the diagram I posted in the other thread. I wrongly assumed the heater was on the other side of the high limit. Embarrassingly obvious, but now I finally see why you're auto dry setup was not working. I can't fathom not advancing the timer for a tripped high limit but I guess that is what Maytag was doing all those years. Anyway, moving on from this beaten subject.

 

 

I like the idea of trying a 120*F cycling stat. Gentle temps I think are worth experimenting with especially in a dryer with excellent air flow and moisture extraction. Do you have a 120*F cycling stat and if so do you have a part number for it?

 

[qsd-dan]

"I think the Speed Queen washer holds more than a Maytag."

It's the same 3.2 cubic feet 19 gallon fill as a large capacity Maytag. Speed Queens 710 RPM spin is faster than Maytags 618 though.

 

[Chetlaham]

In that sense, however IMO I think the Queen can tolerate more (over) loading before clean-ability suffers. Maytag relies on water movement for turn-over whereas Speed Queen physically pulls the clothes through the water. 

 

[maytag85]

Reply #11

I just use the Supco thermostats since they are readily available on Amazon.

 

[Chetlaham]

Found it, thanks!

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Supco-AT021-Thermostat/dp/B000EI5HLU/ref=sr_1_20?crid=W8EOCIFZ5DKA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6SlcPif0P1Tz1ktuqJdo-k9xU3JNZJ6QQ3soZB-pjlD2Af3yVjygsNQktRp-1rgoaBzPkwpj6PpsmY1ofx3behF7YLWEHBuV5_3cw__6CIdmq48jre6wrTgADabMEGEm--82cKgvTYVgZa5c4TXb

 

[turquoisedude]

Reply #4

That 56 Whirlpool is the 2nd fastest dryer in the collection - I always found it dried evenly, too. It has been a daily driver in the past and when I get back from Australia in April, I'm planning on bringing it (and the matching washer) back into daily service after my 57 GE dryer crapped out on me. Again... LOL

 

[qsd-dan]

"IMO I think the Queen can tolerate more (over) loading before clean-ability suffers"

The problem with Speed Queen is that they're very sensitive to indexing on larger loads which causes performance to suffer. They generally index like crazy for at least 1 year on average.

Speed Queen has 30 degrees more agitation arc and their OPM's are slightly higher (I counted 66 OPM's a few years back on a YouTube video) so I guess that makes up for it.

No filter, spray rinse is very brief, and I don't think the spray rinse was ever available in warm, even on the pre '18 models. Hot side of the water valve passage is narrowed for a cooler warm temp and longer filling hot temp. Everything is give and take though.

 

[Chetlaham]

The indexing stops after about two years of use. After that the tub bangs to a halt each time the transmission reverses the agitator. Speed Queen handles overloads better than a Maytag. In fact a profound overload in a Maytag can burn up the drive belt in that the agitator can seize to turn freely. 

 

 

The rest you are right about, the spray is brief and often premature. No warm rinse. The only way to get rinsing like on a Maytag is to set the timer back to wash at the start of the rinse.