New acquisition: 1979 Whirlpool 2299 Electronic control (the one Dame Edna advertises!)

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mayfan69

mayfan69

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Hi guys,

I recently acquired this Australian made Whirlpool 2299 fully Electronic control washer from 1979.

It came from an estate sale and is in lovely condition: working very nicely too.

This is the same machine that Dame Edna advertises in this old advert.

Videos to come.

Cheers
Leon

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hddu3_w1yE
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Noice...

but... Holy Smokes that is "Out There" for 1979!!!

That is obviously some sort of "touchpad" control-panel on the right-hand side!

Gosh, the Aston Martin Lagonda (the world's most advanced car back in the 1970's) must have only beat Whirlpool to bringing that particular technology to market by a couple of short years!
(I hope it turns out to be more reliable for you than your average Aston Martin Lagonda, by the way...)

That's an epic find Leon - a significant machine by the looks of it, and well and truly worth adding to The Collection.

Best Wishes,
Mike.
 
First Whirlpool Electronically Controlled Washers

WOW Leon that is a cool find, I had never actually seen a picture of one of the Australian versions of this machine.

 

It looks to use the same membrane touch pad as the orignal 1977 American versions of this washer, what year do you date yours to ?

 

It also appears to be a standard capacity Belt Drive machine with the manual-clean lint filter, did WP ever sell a BD washer with the Magic-Clean self-cleaning lint filter in Australia?

 

Can't wait to see more pictures and videos about this washer.
 
 
"Foreign" Whirlpool models are often a fascinating mix of this-and-that compared to the equivalent U.S. models of the time, which makes them always interesting.

The comparable LFA9800 had the same touch panel layout but otherwise a different console layout with toggles for Power and water level instead of pushbuttons, 18 lb capacity, self-clean filter, timed bleach & softener dispensers, variable water level, white porcelain basket, and the winged Double Duty Super Surgilator.
 
Eek!

Another of your superb finds, Leon!

The machine looks to be in impressive shape, and hopefully is still in possession of its "electronic faculties." (In other words, it hopefully hasn't gone nuts).

It will be interesting to see a demonstration of the machine, as John mentioned.

My curiosity is also wondering about the typical reliability of the control in these machines... Was it failure-prone, or is it likely a lot of these TOL BD WP machines still exist?

Now - seeing as you found this awesome gem, Leon, I think that's some sort of sign your dream Machine isn't too far off. Fingers crossed!

P.S. Loved the commercial. It plays on Australian attitudes of foreigners from the time too.
Am I the only one who noticed she chose a "cold wash," and "warm rinse?"
 
If it's good enough for Dame Edna...

I always have to ask the question, "If Whirlpool was able to make a washing machine like that for the Antipodes, and pack it into a 24" wide cabinet instead of the 29" format to boot, why the hell couldn't they make one for US?"
 
I've seen it in the flesh and it is a beautiful machine. Whoever owned it has looked after it very lovingly since new.

We only ever had the 24" whirlpools here from 1960 until they ceased production in 1979. The self cleaning filters were available here up until the tub rings changed from Metal to Plastic in the mid 70's. From then on it was the cartridge bed of nails filter.

In the early models there were three filter choices. Agitator mounted with little fins to burp up the water into a Norge style filter pan. The Magic Mix filter with the brush and the Magic Clean filter. I've only ever seen the flat plastic Magic clean filter with rubber bladder and the circular water paths in Australia, I've never seen any of the earlier versions.

It is a very pretty machine and those electronics would've been mindblowingly expensive in 1979 here. Its surprising that it survived from a rust perspective, by the 21XX and 22XX models in the late 70's the quality control was very poor. The models that Choice reviewed in 1979, they complain about how the hob surface is rippled and uneven beneath the porcelain.

Congratulations Leon, this is an awesome find.
 
I looked at those when I came here in 1980, but felt that the program options didn't allow for the same operational flexibility of other, less expensive, machines with electromechanical controls. How do you select warm wash? Do you touch both hot and cold pads simultaneously?

When I moved out of home in '82, I purchased a fully optioned, second hand Whirlpool washer that was only 10 years old. It was superb machine in all aspects.
 
Warm wash

Warm wash is automatically pre-programmed into the 'Regular/Heavy' cycle.

I've not tested the other cycles as yet: just the regular cycles with an extra rinse option.

@washer111: from repairers that I've spoken to who worked on these machines, the touchpad controller used to give problems but was repairable.

Personally, I love these types of TOL machines of this vintage.

John: the 2199 version was introduced sometime in 1978 and as Nathan mentioned, the 2299 would have to have been introduced in 1979 before Whirlpool
Australia ceased local production, so a very short production run.

According to my price guide, the 2199 was AU$655 RRP in 1978, very expensive for that time!

Cheers
Leon
 
Shazaam! What a great find. I don't have the same perspective of experience to have the depth of appreciation, maybe, but I can say it's just straight out cool and beautiful, which is an achievement considering some industrial designed appliances are flat out boring and bad with the electronic panels. Wonderful find, thanks for sharing.
 

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