Newest additions Kenmore 2 for 1

[delaneymeegan]

I believe this ad was posted on AW a week or so ago. By the time I contacted him, the washer had been sold separate to someone in northern WI. When he started telling me about the dryer, he mentioned he actually had 2 that were basically the same. The second wasn't in the ad. He got it for free from someone as a replacement parts machine, but he's never used it.

Nice guy. Even delivered them for me.
The only thing questionable is the hood on the almond machine. Not only is the paint severely chipped, that isn't an LK. Someone replaced it at some point. They need a good cleaning, de-denting, touch-up, waxing, and apparently rollers. I'm amazed at the drums on both, there is hardly any wear. I estimate these are 1984ish.

It's all fun.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Neat machines!

And I am glad to see you excited about them.

This whole generation of Kenmore laundry holds a special place for me, because my parents purchased a new set of these in late December 1982 for our new house in Charlotte that we moved into in January 1983. They were my first exposure to the revised control panels that had debuted in summer 1981. A few years later I bought my own set of these, which I still have and very much appreciate.

There are several unusual characteristics about your dryers that you might enjoy knowing about. First, these were some of the very first dryers made with Whirlpool and Kenmore's new EZ Loader door that debuted in spring 1983.

Next, this model is a bit unusual in that it doesn't offer a delicate or low heat cycle. I wanted this model when I bought my dryer but the salesman virtually insisted that I get the next up with the delicate. It cost $10 more in 1986. I have used that cycle about five times. The two temp models far outsold the single temp versions, so for you to find two in one trip is really unusual.

What's more unusual is that these dryers were made in the same week (week 25 of 1983), so they're practically siblings.

The top on the control panel of the almond machine is interesting. I have heard that these can be swapped, but I have never seen it done. They are fairly easy to dent or damage, so someone must have found it necessary at some point.

You are right, the drum picture shows a nearly pristine drum. That's great ! One of my Kenmore dryers has A LOT of its drum paint worn off, but it has seen heavy use since 1977.

I wish you great luck with these!!! I have a gas version if you would prefer to have that!

Let me know if you have any any questions about these dryers.

 

[delaneymeegan]

Thanks Gordon

Impressive is all I can think when reviewing .... YOU. You have the original washer/dryer you bought back in the 80s. You have a large stock in storage. You know the dates when machines were made. .... to say the least. WOW !

At several points in my life, I've had collections of major appliances. The last major collection I had was in 2002, when I had amassed about 75 machines in rather short time. About 3 months into starting that collection, I found AW.org, which only made my hobby all the more fun. I wish I had all the machines I ever 'claimed' for collection purposes. I would have probably 200 machines collectively, at this point.

By far my most favorite Washers, dryers, dishwashers, and (to a lesser extent) canister vacuums, are Kenmore. 2nd fav. would be certain GE washers, dryers, and refrigerators. Even though Whirlpool is the manufacturer of KM, I'm not really interested in them much. Very picky here.

I had not even noticed the 'one temperature' issue with these 2 dryers. I prefer the gentle heat, as well. One thing I learned a while back, is One can get gentle heat by either changing the thermostat to the 130 or 135 degree sensor, or if a machine does have 2 temps (and the temps are built into the timer, and you want to have the lower temp available on the automatic setting) reverse the wires of the two thermostats.

As for the hood, I think I've figured out what happened. First off, the hoods can be changed, but One needs to carefully dismantle the entire panel, then gently loosen the crimp used to hold the hood onto the panel, then re-assemble. Both the hood and panel is easily dented aluminum, so a gentle and patient hand is necessary.

If you look at the last picture in the picture stack, it shows the original ad, on CL. It shows this rather BOL dryer paired with the TOL LK from what looks like 1981. The hood on the washer, however, is a standard wood grain hood, the likes of which should be on my Almond dryer. Knowing what I know of the guy I bought these from, I can believe that he went through the effort of switching out the hoods (demoting the fine LK), just so that the White LK would match the WHITE BOL dryer, as shown in the ad. He and his wife had had this pair for a while, and somehow, he attained a near perfect matching dryer. Whether it was fate or what, I don't know. I mean, even the wear on the Almond dryer is similar. It's unusual, as you pointed out.

How long have you been working in sales or repairs of appliances?

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Interesting question, I'll try to make it a short answer

"How long have you been working in sales or repairs of appliances?"

Well, as I said, interesting question, which could have a long answer. The abridged version of that starts when I was about 10 years old. Our 1961 Kenmore washer needed bearings, badly, and my folks were tired of hearing the racket it was making, though it did seem to be working ok. They elected to buy a new Kenmore, in the form of our 1974 KM large capacity 60 series, though it was very upper MOL in features for a 60. I had a blast with a new washer of course, but soon missed the '61 and sadly wondered what happened to it. My last sight of it was it on its side in the back of an old Dodge pickup being driven by a guy our Sears salesman recommended to come get it.

Anyway, I soon accepted the '74 like I had the '61, but it had some strange mechanical maladies early in life. The worst was a backed-out set-screw in the basketdrive after only 6.5 years of use. This made the washer not spin. The repair estimate was over $225, and once again my folks opted to buy a new machine. A comparable 1980 model KM 70 was only $300 approximately, so it was an easy decision that most people would make. Once again, I was excited for a new washer, as I had always admired the black panel models, but I well knew from last time, I'd miss the old washer. This time I tried to do something about that, and worked it out with my Dad that we could install a new basket drive ourselves for less than $85. All was returnable to Sears parts if we couldn't make the machine work. Well, it did work, and flawlessly. I can't tell you the feeling of accomplishment for me, the kid who managed to save the old washer, even at the cost of the fun of a new one. We used the '74 two more years until I sold it to friends of mine (so I could know where it went) when my parents wanted new machines in our new house in Charlotte.

I had been so energized about the work we did on the washer, that my Chemistry teacher in high school noticed, and said that he could get me all the old Kenmores I wanted, as he delivered new appliances for Sears on weekends!! My folks wouldn't hear of it, not in their garage anyway, and I can't blame them. That desire never left me though.

In 1989, when my sister got her first apartment, and she asked to borrow my '86 machines that I had put in storage in 1988. I said 'no', but only because she is not fussy about things as I am, but I felt terrible, and bought her her own set that I found in the classifieds. The dryer (my 1977 Kenmore I mentioned before) started a friendship with a repairman/rebuilder that I bought it from, and the washer reenergized my drive to work on machines, as I got it from a place called "Washer Warehouse" which sold only WP and KM beltdrives. Their back room was full of interesting washer history, and it firmly hooked me. Soon after, I had my own house, with my own garage that my parents couldn't tell me 'no' to, and I started working on machines that my dryer buddy was happy to share.

I sold 50-some machines from 1991 to 1998 or so, until I was thoroughly tired of repairs for a while, and I packed up the hobby. I did a little work for friends/co-workers, but it never re-invigorated my interest until I stumbled on AW.org here in 2008. Then it was ON.

The first thing I did was restore the KMs I bought for my sister, as she had given them back to me in 2000 or 2001 after two kids and 11 or 12 years of use. I had a few machines in storage from the 1990s, and they soon got their chance at being rebuilt. I have probably re-done thirty or thirty-five more machines since 2004, but not for resale but for my own collection or use by friends. I haven't had much spare time for this lately, as I have a 1980 KM that has been in pieces in my garage for a year!! This machine is the same model that we canceled after we fixed the '74.

I didn't do a very good job keeping this post brief, but that's how I got into the sales and refurb area of this hobby.

Gordon

 

[kenmoreguy64]

About the black hood on the 80s Lady Kenmores

I wanted to mention something interesting about the 1983 and 1985 black-hooded Lady Kenmore machines. There are two models with electromechanical timers, one a full-featured 1983 model with full porcelain top and white basket, and a less common1985 model that had a powder coated top and lid, and a grey speckled basket. These both had the black textured aluminum top hood on the console. I am not sure why the '85 model was created, but I suspect it was for the Contract Sales arm of Sears.

There were two earlier versions of these machines however, albeit rare or ultra rare, that looked just like the LK, but had the wood grain hood from the factory. The first was the TOL non-Lady model from the new 1981 line. This was the fanciest 1981 machine except the fully electronic 1981 Lady. It did not have the triple dispenser, instead it had the older agitator mounted softener disp, the left front corner direct-in bleach dispenser, and the electric powdered detergent dispenser. This model is fairly rare today, mostly because most 81 models did not sell in huge numbers due to an economic recession of the time. This machine was priced at $549 in several Sears catalogs, which is very expensive for the time. Stock number for this machine was 21831, which makes it an 80 series.

The other model is ultra-rare, and was the follow-on to the 1981 21831 model. It was introduced as the best non-TOL 1983 model, only bested by the 1982 Limited Edition which was still available. This was the 23811 model. Same as the '81, but had the triple dispenser in place of the 81's three separate dispensers.

This 1983 model was not in production long, as the electromechanical 1983 Lady was developed as the first electromechanical timered Lady since 1978. I have seen literally hundreds of 1983 models of all types, except this one, which I have seen in pictures only once or twice. Oddly, a suds version of this was used as the model for photos of most of the pictures in the 1980s and 1990s repair manual for belt drives washers that Sears distributed and sold.

Gordon

 

[goatfarmer]

Great story, Gordon!

 

[delaneymeegan]

Woodgrain hood on LKs

I found some old scans of Sears catalogs from 1981 and sure enough the woodgrained hood.

So the washer in the final picture, showing the listing on CL could in fact be accurate for that LK, and the mystery of my Almond dryer with the LK hood..... continues. lol.

 

[delaneymeegan]

But....

even the LKs with woodgrain had a larger more unique label designating them as LK, and they were, according to this ad anyway, on the left side of the machine.

So, the mystery does in deed continue.

This is the thing with Kenmore, apparently, there was such volume of the machines, one can find nearly identical models that have only one or two differences in some part. I mean the catalogs would frequently offer a machine with something like a porcelain top vs a powder coated top, or a white tub vs a speckled tub. Vacuums could be identical except they'd give people the choice of two slightly different powered motors, or a model with a slightly longer cord.
I don't think one would find that with Maytags, or Kitchen aids dishwashers of the time.
I wonder if they had supplier issues, or if this was a sales enticement. Like a way to test the market to see what consumers wanted.

 

[stan]

$559.95

Was a lot of $ for a washer in 1981!
Hard to get my mind around Automatic timed dispensers now, let alone in 1981.

 

[stan]

Remarkable

Engineering!