Kitchen Aid Washer and Dryer set in Pittsburgh

[xraytech]

Found this Kitchen Aid set. Is it a bit pricy for a used set or am I just cheap.
Does anyone have a set or experience with these. At the restaurant I worked at while in school they had this same set they used for aprons and towels as well as their personal use(the owners are a 80 yr old couple who live upstairs of the restaurant)The set I had used was very beaten up but did a great job.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/hsh/1041062211.html

 

[tuthill]

Purdy!!

 

[pulsator]

I gotta get myself a KitchenAid washer!!! They are the ONLY direct drive Whirlpool/Kenmore/Maytag/Everything-Else machines that I like! All the other DD machines with their crappy fast laundry shredding action can go in the TRASH! Whirlpool really should have made the Maytags three speed just like the old KitchenAids with their huge agitators! Then a Maytag would actually be worth buying!

 

[DADoES]

Ummm, I thought 3-speed models are available in all three brands, Whirlpool, Kenmore, and Maytag. No?

 

[pulsator]

Not anymore! They never were available on the Maytags, Kenmore had them for a while on their TOL machines but with the smaller agitator, not sure about Whirlpool. KitchenAids were the only machines to have that gigantic agitator though! I know that Kenmore made a somewhat larger than normal agitator for a while but it still wasn't as big as the one in the KitchenAid machines!

 

[tuthill]

Nah, Maytag never had three speeds... GE and Frigidaire did

 

[DADoES]

I have a KAWE760 pair. Replaced the motor coupler once, agitator dogs once.

 

[DADoES]

The parents have a KAWE670 pair (bought in 1994). Bit more repairs on it. Motor coupler twice, and did the pump for insurance on the 2nd coupler. Agitator dogs once. Lid switch. It also went to rusting around/under the top, a few rust bits occasionally falling in the clothes. Dad and I treated it with POR-15 sometime last year.

670 interior.

 

[DADoES]

670 controls.

 

[DADoES]

670 timer.

 

[pulsator]

By "they" I meant the three speed motors! lol

Here is a comparison between the KitchenAid agitator (left) and the standard sized Kenmore agitator (right)

 

[DADoES]

I have a service manual for the Whirltag "Centennial" models that indicates three motor speeds on the wiring diagram and on the cycle sequence chart.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Nice set but I think the price is a little high. Did Whirlpool make these for KitchenAid? When I was checking out the used appliance store down the road from me I saw a really nice KA set there for only $250.00, and thought they looked a little Whirlpoolish.

 

[DADoES]

All topload KA laundry was sourced from Whirlpool, of the direct-drive design. The early models were 2-speed and had straight-vane agitators, predating the release of dual-action "auger" agitators from Sears control. Initially only two models were offered. One pair fully electronic-control. The other fully pushbutton, several collectors have these and they've been seen on eBay and Craigslist sales. IIRC, the final KA line may have included the Catalyst feature, and for sure the triple-dispenser. Whirlpool dropped laundry from the KA brand when Maytag came into play. The local Whites Auto had a nice model pair on the floor for some while after the line was discontinued, which I'm wishing now I had bought the set as collectibles.

KA washers with dual-action agitators had a larger base, and the three-speed machines typically ran at the medium motor speed for high agitation and the low motor speed for low agitation, thus making for a gentler action. Some later models *may* have run high motor speed for agitation on Heavy Duty, can't say, haven't experienced one.

KA also touted their "stepped spin" feature, which started spin at low speed, then "stepped-up" to high speed, said to reduce wrinkling. The Perm Press cycle on my 760 and the parents' 670 runs at all three motor speeds in the final spin .. 2 mins each of low, medium, and high speed. Normal cycle final spin starts at medium for 2 mins, then shifts to high for 4 mins. IIRC on my 760, the after-wash spin also starts at medium for 2 mins, then high for 2 mins. It's possible stepped-spin was incorporated at some point into the Kenmore and Whirlpool line, not sure about that.

 

[gansky1]

The KitchenAid laundry line from Whirlpool was really a nice pair with components that really set them apart from the standard direct-drive washers. The cabinets were a bit heavier, the tops of washers AND dryers were porcelain coated, the motors had the Gold Seal (heavier duty with bronze bearings) the dryer had bronze bushings in the rollers (commercial duty) and a six-ribbed belt that would last forever. Some later models had windowed doors in the dryers as well as the nicer agitation and step-spin features. KA usually had a much stronger warranty than the WP & KM lines as well.