Looking for a 1970’’s NORGE electric dryer

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There’s a late 60’s Norge gas dryer at the appliance junkyard in Glendale Arizona, it will however need a complete restoration since it’s been sitting outside for awhile but otherwise is rust free.
 
Norge clothes dryers after 1968 or so

We’re total POS dryers. They were hard to keep working. They had so many problems it’s not funny.

 

They did dry pretty well however they spewed, lint everywhere, moisture etc..

 

You may still find one however, a lot of people don’t use dryers much, and even the worst of dryers do show up from time to time.

 

Major problem areas for these post 1968 Norge dryers were bad blower bearings, broken drum belts, bad front slides that would wear out and actually cut through the metal drum. The motor chronically got clogged with lint and would overheat they had wiring problems on the electric dryers and they tended to be noisy.

 

In the 70s Frigidaire 1 to 18 washers and dryers and Norge washers and dryer’s, In both cases the washers usually outlasted the dryer if they’re used equally.

 

John
 
Frigidaire dryers

Strangely John I've collected 3 Frigidaire 1-18 dryers all from the 70s, all in working order, all in KC in that last 10 years. I guess a few of them made it through the long haul.

Greg
 
Main reason why these dryers needed quite a bit of service done to them was they were positive airflow dryers which means they forced air through the drum as opposed to pulling it through like most negative air flow dryers. I’ve heard they dry fairly quickly at lower temperature but can’t confirm since I’ve neither owned, used or seen one in operation. Positive air flow dryers work well in compact or portable 120 volt dryers but full sized models? Not so much. Only real way to make a positive airflow dryer that doesn’t spew out lint is to have a stationary outer drum and a perforated drum like the earlier Hamilton dryers and even Maytag dryers that used that setup but would end up with a heavy dryer and probably would have to be a low air output dryer as well.
 
Clothes, dryer longevity

Of course, any clothes dryer has the potential to outlast a clothes, washer, anything that deals with water has a more finite life span.

Because of the age you’re not going to find very many 50 year old washing machines that still work, and as I mentioned before, there are a lot of people who don’t dry 10 loads a week in a dryer so you’re going to find a lot of dryer‘s that have made it.

From a performance standpoint or a longevity standpoint it wouldn’t make any difference whether it’s a negative or positive airflow dryer one doesn’t drive faster or cooler or hotter or better than the other. You can make either one work. Technically of course, a negative air flow dryer would dry faster because it’s reducing the air pressure and water will evaporate faster in a vacuum. but the effect is so slight as to make any difference but a number of manufacturers did claim this to be an advantage.

Norge dryers being positive airflow dryers, had nothing to do with the amount of repairs they needed.

The original Norge dryers from 1954 through 1967 were easily, the most rugged heavily built dryers ever sold in the United States during that time.

The completely re-designed positive airflow dryer from Norge that came out around 1968 quickly became one of the worst dryers made in United States. They broke belts every other month until he beefed it up. They had so many problems. It was not funny, there were some other poor dryers as well Westinghouse didn’t do too well. WCI dryers were junk and Frigidaire 1 to18 was the other one that didn’t last nearly as long as it should even though it was top rated in consumer reports.

John.
 
Thanks John for the info on post-1967 Norge dryers.  I guess my parents got the last good Snorge gas dryer in 1967.  That dryer lasted close to 20 years IIRC.  It was replaced by another gas Snorge (Signature 2000 By Norge or something like that), and that dryer was still working perfectly when it was taken away in 2008 after Dave and I moved in and got an Affinity set.  I'm guessing that dryer was a NINO by the mid-'80s, so maybe that's why it lasted as long as it did.
 
actual video's of this machine???

Would you happen to have any videos of this washer posted so we can see it in action?

This machine is one of my favorites. A friend of mine had one of these (no button selectors but all dials). Was always amazed on how powerful the washer sounded when it was running.
 
Looking for a NORGE dryer

Thank you all so much for the information 😀 if I remember correctly my best friend mom had a Norge washer and dryer and they both have her problem after about 7 years… I know she especially had trouble with the dryer being repaired quite a bit so now I’m hesitant even if I find one. And yes I can try to post a video of this machine washing.
 
Looking for a NORGE dryer

Thank you all so much for the information 😀 if I remember correctly my best friend his mom had a Norge washer and dryer and they both have her problems after about 7 years… I know she especially had trouble with the dryer being repaired quite a bit so now I’m hesitant even if I find one. And yes I can try to post a video of this machine washing.
 
Looking for a 1970’s NORGE electric dryer.

Yes Repairguy we thought it was the transmission Rickr sent me one via mail UPS. That was not the problem it was the tension piece and it needed some oil on the agitator shaft. So far so good it works like a CHAMP. I think the fill solenoid is going because there is a loud buzzing. I just learned late that Rick is no longer living I was devastated. But yes this washer was at an estate sale pushed under a set of stairs for YEARS I got it fur $5.00 and cleaned it up. I’ve using it at least twice a week. It’s a good daily driver.

paulwash-2022122013032801608_1.png

paulwash-2022122013032801608_2.png

paulwash-2022122013032801608_3.png
 
Looking for a 1970’s NORGE electric dryer.

Yes Repairguy we thought it was the transmission Rickr sent me one via mail UPS. That was not the problem it was the tension piece and it needed some oil on the agitator shaft. So far so good it works like a CHAMP. I think the fill solenoid is going because there is a loud buzzing. I just learned late that Rick is no longer living I was devastated. But yes this washer was at an estate sale pushed under a set of stairs for YEARS I got it fur $5.00 and cleaned it up. I’ve using it at least twice a week. It’s a good daily driver.

paulwash-2022122013032801608_1.png

paulwash-2022122013032801608_2.png

paulwash-2022122013032801608_3.png
 
Yes mid eighties and the design that replaced the positive airflow machines. This one is still a Norge/Herrin design just revamped to negative pressure and not as wide as their predecessor.
 
Norge dryer and reply number 14

These were absolutely awful dryers, it was built in the 80s it was Norges redesign. It’s much smaller and substantially cheaper to make.

It was the slowest full sized American dryer built for the past 40 years. Only the Maytag halo of heat dryers were as slow as these.

Because of the way they had to cram the heating element in. It was 1000 W less power than any other dryer. The gas ones were also quite slow.

John.
 

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