Lady Kenmore Detroit Craigslist

[akronman]

the ad says:

Lady Kenmore mint condition vintage washer and Gas dryer - $75 (Canton)

These beauties will add class to any home. They don't make them like this anymore, like the lift up panel covered in luxurious faux mahogany, to reveal a light, so the lady of the house can work without disturbing the rest of the family.

When we moved into our home a couple years ago, these were here and looked as if they hadn't been used at all. The little old lady who lived here it seems rarely used them. My wife wanted a larger washer, its a medium size. They both work great, and like I said they don't make them like this anymore, I'm sure these will be kicking long after the ones we just bought.

This is the washer in the picture the dryer is in the same condition.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/app/2094409065.html

 

[peterh770]

Detroit is our friend... <3

 

[mickeyd]

A keyboard treasure

That's my all-time favorite Lady K, and what a great price, esp. if as little used as claimed. What a sweet present these would make.

 

[sudslock1]

Hmmmmm

Does anyone have a pic of what this would look like with the control cover in the up position? What kind of agitator did this model use?

 

[revvinkevin]

How about this.....

The washer is a 1974 and the dryer is a 1970. Sears changed the control panels each year '70 thru '74.
1970 thru 1973 had the standard capacity tub and the Vari-Flex agitator.
In '74 the washer changed to the large capacity tub with a Penta Swirl agitator.

Kevin

 

[sudslock1]

Thanks

Thank you for answering my question Kevin. I'm pretty new to Kenmores and just wanted to know.

Davy

 

[maytagman806s]

The Beautiful Ladies

Mark/Dave,

Went and picked these up last night. They are in very good condition for their age and do not appear to be abused. They are 1971 models and were acquired from the original owner, an eldery lady who had recently passed away. A very nice young couple bought the home she lived in, and these were there. The washer does not have a suds-saver as I had hoped, but that will be changing as part of the restoration. It is a 12-pound capacity machine with Vari-Flex agitator. An interesting part of my machine is that it has the narrow drive belt p/n#96388 and not p/n#95405 that we are used to seeing.

The dryer, aside from needing new front and rear seals, a good cleaning and a belt, idler pulley, and rollers, also appears to be in very good repair.

Both units probably would be fine in their current condition, but me being a perfectionist and knowing how well they can perform in top condition, they will both go through the standard restoration process. I will keep you all posted. They truly are a prized pair as Mike said. As soon as it warms up a bit, I will take a few photos of the units and pass them on.

 

[qsd-dan]

Congrats, Walt!

 

[appnut]

. It is a 12-pound capacity machine with Vari-Flex agitator.

Walt congratulations. Look forard to pics when it warms up.

If they are officially classified as 12 pound, I think it's closer to the equivalent of a 14 pound capacity. When we went from the 64 Norge15 to the 1970 Kenmore 800, the capacity and capability of what could be washed in there was negligible in difference.

 

[mickeyd]

Big Congrats

At 75 bucks, you really hit the jackpot. Think the thinner belts made them so quiet. These Early 70's Lady K's are among the coolest, most amazing, most versatile machines ever made. A triumph of a washer!

 

[mickeyd]

PS

Walt, I think it's awesome that you're going to morph it into a Suds; there is no greater fun than a KM suds! I LOVE them.

 

[mattl]

I'm curious how you are going to convert them to suds saver.  Are you going to replace the timer mechanism?  I know on my '73 LK there was no room on the panel for that option, I'm sure it was available still, but curious how it was implemented.

 

[mickeyd]

Hi Matt

<font color="#000066">You don't really need a button, just a space on the main dial. See if you have one. On mine it's an unmarked black"loop" before the "Cottons" cycles, color-coded in blue. If you turn the dial to that 4 minute segment, the machine lights up and agitates for 2 timer increments, then shuts off.

I hope you find this secret cycle. It's amazing. It will work with any amount of water in the tub, wash for 4 minutes, then soak indefinately. I use it a lot to soak and wash loads of varying sizes, resetting the secret cycle every now and then, depending on how much agitation the load needs, then on to drain, rinse & spin options. You can really play those buttons and that dial to get unexpected versatility. Actually, it's like turning your automatic into a conventional or semi-automatic machine.

How to re-configure the pump, ports, and valves is beyond my pay grade ;->

Remember only the TOL's had switches for drain, save, and return, allowing you to use one one drain hose when desired or necessary. The standard machines just had a place on the timer marked Suds, where the water was returned and then the timer advanced to the regular cycle.
</font>[this post was last edited: 1/4/2011-11:48]

 

[maytagman806s]

The Suds Will Return

Hi Gang,

I see Matt had a question on how I was going to implement making "My Fair Lady" a Suds Saver.

Well Matt, on my machine, it is actually pretty simple. Scrambling a few hoses is the hardest part. One of the benefits of this machine is the fact that "Suds" is active on this machine's timer. If you look on the dial, you will see the short blank spot just prior to the PRE-SOAK cycle. That is a 4-minute increment dedicated for Suds Return. Where this area is on some of the different Kenmore timers, obviously varies. Not all of them have it, and some of them that do, it is not active. I changed a machine just like Kevin's over to a Suds-Saver probably 30 years ago or better. This was a case that the timer had Suds Return on it, but it wasn't shown on the console and it had to be activated on the timer.

The terminal marked LBU on the timer is the control wire for the Suds Valve as a few of us know. That wire and a white wire (neutral), was added from the water valve. That took care of controlling the valve. Now, we had to activate "Suds Return" on the timer. This is the part that is foggy in my memory. There was a jumper wire that had to be added between two terminals marked "Suds". This gave the machine a "Suds Return" position on the timer. Which if memory serves, was masked by a portion of the "OFF" position just prior to "PRE-SOAK" and just after the cycle that would be used for "DELICATES". The one thing I had to warn the customer of, was the absence of the so-called "Suds-Switch". Gordon can tell you that this switch gave two options. Default from the factory only allowed about 16 gallons of the Suds Water to be saved due to the fact that not all homes had laundry tubs large enough to hold 20 gallons of water. If you wanted to save all the Suds Water, you placed a jumper wire across 2 terminals of the switch, the timer would ignore the default setting, and save all of the Suds Water. This switch was only found on 18-pound capacity machines, and I am not sure if all early 18-pound machines used this switch. For that bit of data, ask Gordon.

Now, Bob and Dave wanted to see pics of the consoles. Ok fellas, for your viewing pleasure:

 

[maytagman806s]

Console #2

The Timer Dial. Note the blank 4-minute increment just prior to Pre-Soak.

 

[maytagman806s]

Console #3

The Fabulous Keyboard. She will make beautiful music.

 

[maytagman806s]

OK, Now the Dryer.

Certainly not as exciting as the washer, but still rather dapper.

 

[maytagman806s]

Timer section.

Dial, Start button, and lint alert.

 

[maytagman806s]

And You Mugs Thought I Wouldn't Make My Fair Lady Lift U

Here's one for my pal from St. Louis!!