Launderess: hoover twinnie pump

[gizmo]

Hi Launderess

I was at the bearing suppliers a couple of days ago and took the Hoover twinnie pump along - they had a 12x19x3mm oil seal that fits the top of the pump. It is a different type of seal to the original but it fits. It is so thin, only 3mm, that I can fit two in there.

So I now have a fully functioning, non-leaking pump ready for you. Can you please email me direct with your postal address so I can send it to you.

I will take photos of it and post them here so everyone can see before and after shots.

Best Wishes

Chris.

 

[gansky1]

yay! Good work on the pump seal Chris, another classic appliance saved! I love going to the bearing supply company here, lots of interesting things to see. I've bought lots of bearings from my local shop and when I took the broken Maytag motor coupler in from the combo, they had a solution quick as a flash! I'll bet with some hunting and experimenting, we can find lots of replacement parts, seals, etc. for our beloved classic machines!

Congrats Laundress - you'll twin-ing again in no time!

http://www.precisionind.com/home/index1024.cfm

 

[launderess]

Oh Sure!

Now that I have a case of 2000 "Wee-Wee" pads (snagged off fleaBay for $10), you've got a pump! *LOL*

Must say did some loads over the past few days and those "wee-wee" pads hold water like the Hoover dam (see how nicely I worked that in?), put down four in layers under the TT, and when I was done only the first 1 was soaked, the second was only 1/3 wet and the others were bone dry.

These pads can also be used for persons having bladder problems so probaly will donate some to the local senior center and anyone we know with anyone in their household with "bladder problems". As it is am stopping friends and neighbors with puppies and dogs and handing out freebies. They must think I am a very strange sort of person.

Gizmo you are my new hero! But my strict upbringing taught me some stern lessons on taking gifts. Is there something you'd like as a "swap"? Copy of a Hoover manual? A bar of vintage Fels soap? You extended so much effort on our behalf and would like for you not to be out of pocket.

Do you use/like vaccum coffee? Have spare parts for various and sundry models.

Launderess

 

[gizmo]

Hi Greg and Launderess

Greg: Yes, I find the bearing supplier a great place to keep obsolete washing machines "on the road". I even got bearings and seal for my first Keymatic there, and they use unusual thin bearings - about half an inch thick from memory. Maybe we should suggest to Robert starting a new section of this website, a database for solutions for non-original parts that fit and work, for example which size bearings and seals fit which washer, which easily available parts are a good substitute for obsolete parts and so on.

Launderess: Thanks for the offer but I don't really need or want anything in return, at this stage at least. I like do favours for good people, and I have a sort of "karma" way of thinking about it - to aspire to help people without the expectation of reward, just to sew a bit of good in the world.
If I do you a favour and you do me one in return, the loop is closed already. If I do you a favour, you do someone else a favour, they do a favour for someone new again, and so on, the favour ricochets around the world. One day it might come back to me from somewhere completely unexpected, who knows?
Anyway that's getting a bit deep. Don't feel you owe me anything, I have only done this at times when it was completely convenient(which is why it's taken a while), and I have enjoyed it.
I will post a pic or two here in the next few days, then send the pump to you. A couple of my friends have had their washing machines die in the last couple days so I will be busy the next few days. One guy, I leant him my little Philips top loading tumble washer which has sat unused in my shed for a couple of years, as his Asko won't spin and we just can't find out why. The Philips lasted three days, now it won't go at all. (!!!) Third time lucky???

Best Wishes

Chris

 

[gizmo]

Here is a photo of the original pump seal, installed on the pump. You can see it fits around the shaft and around the pump housing....

 

[gizmo]

here is a photo of the new seal installed. You can see it fits inside the housing instead of around it.

 

[gizmo]

here is the pump separated into its three main parts - the base, lower housing and valve housing.

Launderess can you please email me with your postal address as I haven't recieved it from you yet.

Thanks

Chris.

 

[Designgeek]

Interesting! Launderess, I saw those pics of the Hoover when you first posted them; amazingly simple mechanism, it's a wonder anything on those ever breaks down. There were at least two versions of that machine in the US, one with a stainless steel tub, one with a plastic tub.

Question I have is: It's often reported that the Hoovermatics had trouble with clothes getting tangled in the wash cycle. Have you had that happen, and/or have you found a way for it to not happen?

I once used a compact Hoover at a friend's house, a single-tub version with the side-mounted impeller. Got my blue jeans all tangled, and I figured that I must have done something wrong i.e. too many pairs of pants in one load or something like that. I have to believe there's a way to use these machines that doesn't end up with the tangles.

 

[hoovermatic]

Tangling

As someone who used a Hoovermatic for years and my Mum also had one for years too, tangling is a major problem. I never found a way to prevent it and despite following other people's tips to prevent it, I always failed. The worst thing is to wash a load of formal shirts, it takes about 5 in a load. Any reduction is wash time is negated by the ten or so mins taken to disentangle the arms!! It likes mixed loads with items of different sizes but bed sheets/duvet covers corkscrew and can become very twisted. It is good with bath towels too, come to think of it.

Another thing to avoid is overloading it and it is advisable to slightly underload it in my experience.

I love these machines despite the tangling. I used to use a GE top loader with an impeller in the bottom and that used to tangle my shirts almost as badly.

 

[launderess]

Tangling,

Have found it it is best to use the Hoover more as a soak/wash than actual washing, unless one wishes to do rather small loads. It does seem to help if one has short periods of tumbling, then a pause. Again if one gets into the groove and is doing several small loads in quick succession, then tangling can be less of an issue.

Shirts seem to tangle in most every washing machine if too many are loaded. It is the arms wandering about during the cycles. Have always laundered shirts in small numbers to keep tangling and wrinkling to a minimum

Chris,

Sent my information twice, mayhaps am doing something wrong?

Such a wonderful pump, thank you for your efforts on our behalf. Cannot wait to have it installed, but to be on the safe side of someone's sharp tounge, am trying to use up the job lot of "wee-wee" pads! *LOL* Have been handing the darn things out to anyone I see with a dog or puppy. May start with those whom have elders in the house, but it was strongly hinted some may take offense! *LOL*

Have used my Hoover TT on and off for the past few weeks, and even with the wee-wee pads taking care of the leaking, it is quite a chore. One or two loads is perhaps all one can take stamina wise, but this could also be the constant hot and humid weather. It just is not fun standing over a hot wash tub during when it is 90F with 70% to 80% humidity.

Mainly use the spin basket as it really removes excess water. Also the method of "spin rinsing" (ok, hosing down a load of water in the spin basket then letting her rip) is quite remarkable for removing soap/soil residue. Two or three cycles removes so much soap in fact, when rinsed again in the automatic washer (just the once as a check), the water was clear.

One thing I do not like is that lint collecting over the drain cover severely slows down water being pumped out. One has to reach down and wipe the stuff away, otherwise draining can take ages. Also the spin basket is a bit small. Tried to put a queen sized "cashmere cotton" blanket inside and only got about half inside. Pushing down only managed to get a fraction more in, and erring on the side of caution, abandoned the project.

All in all these are a fun, splashy, wet way of doing laundry. Again, wouldn't want to have to do my weekly laundry this way all the time, but for a change of pace it is interesting.

 

[gizmo]

Hi Launderess

I haven't received anything yet, I did get some emails with weird script (not regular alphabet) so maybe one of these was yours, distorted somehow??

Anyway I will email you direct, see if we can communicate that way.

I agree that lint strainer is a real pain, earlier models with a heater, and plastic tub models have a much larger grate wihich doesn't block up as much.

The spin basket is the right size for the wash tub - if it won't fit in the spin tub, it was too big a load for the wash tub. They like the wash load to be really small, then tangling isn't too bad. I used to have a Hoover twinnie as my only machine for a while, and had to wash my cooks aprons from work. The tie tapes got tangled in everything, managed to tie up a whole load. (they can still be a problem in my FL's too, though.)

Chris.

 

[Designgeek]

Agreed, the spin tub is a useful measuring container for a wash load.

In fact you can get more into the wash tub on most of these than fits in the spinner, but it's an odd numerical relationship that leads to slightly overloaded wash cycle and inefficient partial spin loads. Keeping a 1:1 relationship means you can zip through a bunch of loads pretty quickly. A four-minute wash cycle is certainly tempting.

Hey Gizmo, your instructions for spin/rinse in another topic were right on target, and I managed to get that to work quite well on an Asian machine (Danby) that's designed for overflow rinse. Normally it takes 6 - 9 minutes of overflow rinse to get to where the water's clear, but after three cycles of spin/rinse it only took 3 minutes of overflow rinse, which proved that the spin/rinse was working for everything in the load.

Next comes the fine-tuning of the procedure, perhaps four cycles of spin/rinse are sufficient, and they only need to be one minute of highspeed spin each; and then no need for overflow rinse at all. And then compare water usage both ways.

I can see how a linked feedback mechanism like y'all say the Hoover has, would be useful in that regard, automating the fill/spin/stop/refill procedure.

If I understand correctly, the Hoovermatic will work w/o much tangling if a) the wash load is of a size that fits comfortably in the spinner, *and* b) the load consists of varying sizes of items, e.g. some large, some small, some in between, *and* c) there aren't any items with long stringy bits like apron strings. Is that about right?

Re. wee-wee pads: we got something like that for training our new puppy when I was a kid, they were big blue rectangles of absorbent paper backed with a thin layer of plastic. But he'd just shred the pads with his teeth & paws, and then wee-wee right in the middle of the pile of shreds. That was funny the first and second times it happened...

 

[gizmo]

Hi designgeek

the load should not consist of too many large/long items. It doesn't matter if they are all small or a mixture. A load of all small things gets a real thrashing but doesn't tangle much.

I used to do three auto-rinses, I used real soap powder (not detergent) it seems to rinse out much easier. Some components of modern detergents are designed to "cling" to the clothes and resist rinsing (brighteners, perfumes) but plain old soap washes well in the Hoover and rinses out easily.

Chris.