My ebay bargain - AEG Lavamat 980

[hoovermaticpete]

Hi guys,

First of all apologies if this is in the wrong forum section - although my machine was made after 1986, I believe this model was introduced before then.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my new acquisition from ebay with you - a 1987 AEG Lavamat 980, top of the range I think(?), 1200 "variomatic" spin, 5kg load, "eco-valve" which "saves 20% detergent", £399.97 in 1987! This must have been a pretty expensive machine for the time I guess.
I got it for £12 and when I picked it up I found it had only had one owner who had kept all receipts for repairs and the original invoice.
Its in great condition with no rust, works brilliantly, but was in a bit of a dirty state internally - I had to literally chip and scrub out about a dinner plate full of limescale and dried sludge/hair/grease/black mould from the dispenser, water distributor and door seal.

Anyway here's the almost finished article after much elbow grease -
(apologies for the crap mobile phone pictures)

 

[hoovermaticpete]

aeg 980

control panel

 

[hoovermaticpete]

aeg 980

drum shot

 

[hoovermaticpete]

aeg 980

literature

 

[dyson2drums]

nice machine u gt there.

plus original receipt etc.

Plus a nice bargain price for some at that cost £400.

Enjoy washing!

 

[deeprinser]

Hi .
Nice clean up .
What a bargain !
Great looking machine there.
Im impressed.
Regards.
Lou.

 

[hoovermaticpete]

Thanks, took a lot of work with washing soda, boil washes and scrubbing with hot vinegar to get it clean. Just shows what years of hard water, cool washes and liquid detergent does for a machine. The door seal was horrific - it was packed solid in all the folds so badly I thought the seal would fall to bits when I cleaned it but it was remarkably unscathed. Dispenser drawer and compartment were even worse - the flexi pipe to the tub was nearly blocked with congealed liquid detergent and there were stalactites of scale and black mould from the water jets!.

I'm really pleased with it now. I think a few other people on here have similar machines, sure they'll agree the wash is really good and the build quality is fantastic compared to most machines of today, and even many machines of this age. Stainless outer tub, cast iron weights, substantial suspension - there's hardly a bit of plastic to be seen inside. 22 years old and all its had is a few sets of brushes and a door gasket.
I couldn't believe the weight of the thing when I went to pick it up after our hotpoint 9526, and that's heavy compared to some newer machines.

I'm going to get all the covers off soon and clean up the insides, its absolutely full of carbon dust at the moment, will post some pics when I do if anyone wants to see?

 

[lavamat_jon]

Hi Pete,

Nice restoration there! I have several AEG models fromt hat era - they're my favourite machines. Definitely some of the best made out there - all mine are in good condition bar one which is in need of a new timer. Well built, wash well, and the spin is fantastic too, especially the Sensortronic staged spinning.

Whereabouts in Yorkshire are you located? I'm in Lincolnshire, next county along, not too far away.

Jon

 

[hoovermaticpete]

Jon,

Thanks, I agree the spin is very good indeed for 1200rpm, seems to hold the spin for a long time. This machine has variomatic but not sensortronic spinning, I think that came on the next series (981 & 971 etc) - machine spins up briefly, stops, tumbles, spins up again etc. to keep loosening the clothes Haven't bothered with it much yet as it didn't seem to make that much difference to the creasing, takes longer and seems to me it must put more strain and wear on the machine with all that ramping up and down in speed?

I am just west of leeds/bradford btw. What machines have you got? Any pics etc? I was really looking for a bella model with the separate inner door but when I saw this it also looked too good to pass up...

Anyone else got old aeg, miele etc? Chestermike - haven't you got a lavalux twin tub? I'd love one of those or an old Miele twinnie I saw somewhere on here - what are they like? Got the trusty Hoovermatic de luxe at the moment but thinking of swapping for a hotpoint supermatic...

 

[matchboxpaul]

Hi Pete.

Great machine you got there. Love the styling of them, although prefer the bronze facia to the white (personal taste).

Never seen one in action, as no one in my family (stops to think for a bit.....hmmmmmm.....nope) owned an AEG, all our houses being in the capable hands of Hoover and Hotpoint and the odd Servis (all vintage stuff) when this series of AEG was on sale.

Will snap one of this series up myself, in time. Still gutted that the sensortronic 1200 was delisted from ebay a couple of months back (15 minutes drive from me).

Paul

 

[aquacycle]

Hi Pete,

Great pics and great machine there. There seem to be a lot of us northeners on here now. Come on Yorkshire!!!

all the best,
Chris

 

[aquacycle]

"just west of Leeds/Bradford...."

..Halifax? Huddersfield? Keighley? Shipley? Anywhere around there? (Yes, I'm a nosey sh!t lol)

 

[rolls_rapide]

"...stalactites of scale and black mould from the water

Funny you should mention that, as I had that mould problem with a model from 1998 - one of the last true AEGs (powder drawer was on the right). The machine was a 1600rpm spin, but was classed as grade B spin efficiency.

 

[keymatic3203]

lavalux

Hi peter,
yes I've got an aeg lavalux twin tub, probably the most solidly built machines I've experienced, great fun to use especially with the clear plastic spin dryer lid, however I find the wash action a bit lack luster when compared to the hotpoint agitators and hoover pulsators, especially as the wash load is only 4lb it doesnt take many items to stall the turnover. Also a load can roll together in a ball and pick up quite a speed sending a wave of water across the kitchen even with the lid on. Anyway enjoy you more up to date Aeg.

Mathew

 

[keymatic3203]

lavalux photos

see if I can get this right lol.

 

[keymatic3203]

lavalux

Logo

 

[keymatic3203]

wash tub

Stainless steel pulsator and drain screen all removable to clean.

 

[keymatic3203]

Copper spinner drum

The spinner capacity is about twice that of the wash tub, but large diameter give a good result at a lower speed, I've found it doesn't seem to crease as much as say the hoovermatic spinners.

 

[keymatic3203]

front view

This is what Paul would call the arty shot, comlete with the illunination, the lower bulb shown lit indicates the pump is running, whilst the top lamp is for thr heater. One feature of this machine is that it has independant motors for the wash, spin and pump. This is great as you can be rinsing in the spinner, (not actually approved of in the instructions) and not raise the water level in the spinner container.

With a throw of the lever on the front its the fasted emptying wash tub I've seen, handy if your tempted with a deep conditioner rinse in the tub.

Top knob heater switch, centre wash timer, bottom pump and spin switch.

Note you can use all functions at once, heating whist washing, at the same time as spinning and pumping. But if the pump lever is draining the tub you can run the spinner.

The more observant of you may notice the top knob for the heater is showing on but no light, when I got this machine and took these photos, the heater knob was 90 degrees out, the heater switch had been replaced and the fixing holes didn't lone up, so the heater was actually off. Since then I've re drilled the pannel and the switch is as designed.

Well I hope I haven't bored you all with those ramblings, and you have a bit more knowledge of this very well made twin tub.

Mathew