My 1970's Kelvinator 184 has arrived.

[mayfan69]

Hi Guys,
Here are some more pics of the 1970's Kelvinator 184 that i bought in Melbourne Victoria AUS, which arrived on Sunday afternoon. It's currently sitting on my balcony.

There are 2 more machines to arrive within the next 4 weeks.

Cheers
Leon

 

[mayfan69]

Another pic

pic 2

 

[mayfan69]

Another pic

Pic 3: Control Panel close up

 

[mayfan69]

Another pic

Pic 4

 

[mayfan69]

Another pic

Pic 5

 

[mayfan69]

Last pic

Interior shot.

 

[vcontreras]

The agitator looks similar to a maytag

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow Leon, from all the pictures of the outside of the machine the last thing I expected to see when you opened the lid was a Maytag!

 

[fa_f3_20]

Wonder what that "special wool cycle" does different as far as speeds...

 

[swestoyz]

Congrats - what a beautiful machine! Pretty cool a Kelvinator has the same guts as a Maytag - easy for parts ~

Ben

 

[frigilux]

Wow, the Maytag-like tub and agitator suprised me, too! Cool machine. Won't need my glasses to read the print on the dial, that's for sure.

 

[rp2813]

I was so sure this was going to be a Norge underneath!

 

[gansky1]

That is a very cool machine - no heater?

Keep us posted on how it works - looks like it's ready to wash!

 

[trainguy]

Hey Leon,

Nice find. I'll get you some shots of the avocado Maytag 806 set soon.

Rich

 

[mayfan69]

Guts of a Maytag

Hey Guys,

Here in Australia,as far as I can tell, Kelvinator did manufacture the Orbital Kelvinator washers up to about 1970, after which Kelvinator merged with Simpson and the machines basically became Simpson clones. The Simpson washers of the mid to late 60's had many Maytag mechancials, but with our own "flying saucer" gearbox which was a Borg Warner design.

The "special wool cycle" has alternating periods of wash and soak and both a slow wash and spin.

Unfortunately, no heater gansky. Plugged the machine in yesterday and agitating and spinning fine.

Rich: Look forward to the pics.

Cheers
Leon

 

[fonografmaniac]

nice machine! lid opens like a kenmore and agitator similiar to a maytag like vcontreras stated.

 

[brettsomers]

wow, independent wash and spin speed selection, rinse temp options... seems kinda TOL, no?

where did the baskets balance ring go?

any theories on what kinds of agreements had to take place with Maytag for a machine like this to be made?

love the white agitator with that cool olive-colored(?) top!

 

[mayfan69]

TOL????

Hey Brett,

Actually, this machine is one step down from the TOL. That was a "181" with a heater, bleach dispenser, a tub light and a different control knob. The control panel was Blue and Green and the agitator was all blue.

The concrete balance ring is actually part of the inner tub at the top.

I have no idea what agreements were in place at that time, but maybe Simpson had to develop their own gearbox design...who knows? I will take a pic of the mechanicals when i get a chance.

Leon

 

[toggleswitch]

The top of the tub is kinda Norge-esque

Wonderful machine. Thank you for posting.
Any chance of having a peek under her skirt?

 

[mayfan69]

Peeking under her skirt....

Just for you Toggles and others i will take a pic and post this arvo/night.

Leon

 

[toggleswitch]

Thank you kindly, sir.

I don't normally look up skirts, but this is different..........

 

[70series]

That looks like the perfect amalgam to the washers my mother had. Exterior is like her '64 Hotpoint, also her '99 Kenmore because of the side opening lid. Interior looks like her '72 Maytag, as well as the '93 Tag she has in her new house.

Have a good one,
James

 

[mayfan69]

This is what's under her skirt....

As requested by Toggles: a pic of what's under the Kelvy's skirt.

Note the similarities to Maytag's of the 60's: the suspension system, the pivoting motor and helical drive. The gearbox is an Oz design. In trade circles, its affectionally called the "flying saucer" or "sputnik" gearbox.

She does have some surface rust which will be taken care of.

Cheers
Leon

 

[brettsomers]

OPM? degree of arc?

 

[mayfan69]

OPM and degree of arc

Hey Brett,

According to my repair manuals for Simpson's with same gearbox,they state 56 OPM (normal speed) 38 (slow speed)but don't specify the degree of arc...i'm guessing it would be somewhere between 203 - 210 degrees

Cheers
Leon

 

[toggleswitch]

Thank you.

*WOW*

Interestingly, the tranny is throwing oil in typical Maytag style.

 

[Chetlaham]

Forgive me for riving an old thread but I don't know where else to ask.

 

 

Why does this washer bear an uncanny resemblance to Maytag in many regards? Tub, agitator, suspension, pump, belt system, ect, ect. Did Maytag build this washer for them? Did Kelvinator lease Maytag's patents? Was there any liability? This is new to me. 

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Hmmmm, in some ways what the Kelvinators in America should have been...

Can't wait to see more!

Thanks for sharing...

-- Dave

 

[Chetlaham]

Dave, I fully agree. I also love the control panel design both in style and offerings. Independent temperatures and spin speeds offering ever combination needed for total fabric care.

 

The Maytag dependable care mechanism (with over sized saucer but built as an equally reliable transmission) should have many more names attached to it like Kelvinator, White-Westinghouse, Frigidaire, Norge, Moffat, McCalary, JCPenney, Montgomery Wards, Universal, RCA, Tappan, Magic Chef, Amana, Gibson, Crosely, Admiral, Borge Wagner, Jenn-Air, Neptune, Performa, Hoover, Sylvania, Modern-Maid, Kleen-Maid, Sunray, Litton, Gaffers & Satler, Dynasty, Hardwick, Holiday, Glenwood, Caloric, Admiral, Jade, Kenmore, Galaxy, Capri, Moffat, Viking, Thermador, ect. 

 

 

Along with new multi syllable semi corny names names like:  Tray-Speigel, Bapko, House Craft, Plum Forest, Lewen, Relion, Lambion, Slosh & Foster, Nepperrie, Setcko, Clean House, Easy Living, Chamstraw, Breeze Clean, Clean Day, Clean Home, Bliss Ease, Sparkle & Dream, Aqua Jet, Waldwhick, Silver Clear, Leaf & Frasier, Slaw-Water, R&R, Maid Home, Kamberlin, Trust Guardian, Dependable, Heritage Shield, Clear & Silver, Dynasty House, Esquire Home, Laundry Day, Top-Line, Quality Klean, Predellair, Bright Symphony, Dullampo, Drum-Mark, Lake Stream, Domestic Electric, Sun-Home, Chadwhich, True-Line, Peak Value, Honor Star, ect. Each name highlighting and emphasizing the unique gifts a Maytag DC brings to the home.     

 

What a dream it would have been to have so many brand names all with the Maytag DC mechanism. 

 

[mayfan69]

Kelvinator connection with Maytag

Hi Chet and Dave,

I'll try and give you a timeline of the connection between Kelvinator and Maytag here in Australia from the information that I know.

Kelvinator existed as their own brand here in Australia and produced the 'Orbital' washer from about 1958 until the end of 1970. I have two in my collection. Please see here:

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?15349

During these years, there were two other brands that Kelvinator would eventually be connected with. The first was 'Pope Norge', a brand that manufactured their own washing machines from the early 1960's: these had the 'Maytag' looking mechanicals you see in this thread: so I can only guess and surmise that Pope Norge must have had the rights to use the Maytag mechanicals in their machines (except for the 'flying saucer' gearbox).

The other brand was of course 'Simpson', which mainly manufactured the Beam design 'Fluid Drive' from 1958 until about 1975. Simpson took an ownership stake in 'Pope Norge' in the 1960's and so had two different washing machine lines in production: the Beam design 'Fluid Drive' and the 'Maytag' design you see in this 184.

Once Kelvinator ceased producing the 'Orbital' design, they had Simpson produce the 'Pope Norge' design under the Kelvinator brand from 1971 until about 1976 when they were basically Simpson cloned machines with changes to the gearbox and suspension design from 1976 onwards to the mid 1980's.

Simpson phased out the the 'Fluid Drive' design in 1975 and went to the 'Pope Norge' design for their washer line.

Eventually, Kelvinator ceased being a brand of washing machines here in Australia sometime in the 1980's.

For reference, the 184 eventually died and so I kept the control panel to go onto another donor machine at some stage in the future.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Leon