Norge Coin Op popped up in Australia!

[mattywashboy]

Picked up this rare and unique machine today, a Norge coin op!
I’ve never known Norge to be around in Australia so I was quite shocked and surprised to see one here.
I picked it up from a sweet old lady who used it when her husband was alive but once he died it went into the shed for something more compact. She was happy it was going to someone who appreciated it and would give it some care.
Upon turning it on it popped a connection on the wire between the timer and pressure switch so with Leon’s (mayfan69) guidance I was able to repair that nice and easily (thanks Leon!).
The inlet pipes and solenoids are a bit ropey but I will tinker with them as I go. The pump has also given up after the first spin so I’ll have a look at that too. All in all it works just needs its hand held as it goes through.
Very happy to have found this beauty. Can anyone give me a date for it by any chance ?

Happy New Year!

Matt

 

[mayfan69]

Looks good!

Hey Matt!

 

It looks great. Glad I was able to assist in some small way.

 

Cheers

Leon

 

[aussie-plugs]

Norge In Melbourne

There was a laundromat next to the bowling alley at Chadstone Shopping Centre when it opened in the 1960's. I'm certain they were Norge machines. I was 8 or 10 and fascinated by washing machines already. I'd never heard of the brand (family/friends had Hoover and Westinghouse). We had a Bendix, so a top-loader was quite a thing for me to see.

Are the coin slots marked in cents or pence? We went decimal on 14/02/66, so that might help date the machine as being pre/post conversion.

Great to see it's alive and well after all these years

 

[combo52]

That’s a real Norge washer

It was probably built sometime between 1967 and 1974, model serial number might help. You’ll also find dates on most of the components such as the motor inlet valve timer water level switch. The bottom of the agitator probably has a mold date on it.

Hopefully the driveline is in good shape.

This machine will stir up and agitate a big load, Norge washers were always good performers.

John

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow that is a totally cool find!!! I used a few of these Norge made coin-op machines in my youth. It has Wash/Rinse/Spin lights just like this website lol.

 

[rinso]

In my home town of Pocatello Idaho, a Norge laundry and dry cleaning center opened up in the fall of 1961. Our Maytag AMP had just bit the dust as it was never reliable or trouble-free, even when it was new. As a family, we would haul our laundry and dry cleaning down the the Norge Village once a week on Tuesday evenings. My parents were still deciding which new laundry set they should purchase. These were the days of automatic, coin-op, dry cleaning machines. My mother especially loved the place because it also had a coin operated press. It only took about 90 minutes for the laundry of a family of 7. Those old Norge dryers were very fast, of course they were aided the the washers, which had a healthy spin speed. We used the huge Wasco Big Boy for all the bleachy white things like sheets, underwear, my dad's white dress shirts for work, and towels. I also got a lot of homework completed while listing to a concert of banging solenoids from the washers.

 

[cfz2882]

very cool.

that washer is very similar to the Norges I found at the laundromat in 1979;washers were a few years old at that point and block style Norge emblem.Cycle lights were the same.The pumps were a weakness of this era of norge-impeller fins of the turbine pump were prone to strip off from debris in the drain water-same basic design of pump was later revised to mostly correct the issue-not sure of year this was done ,but probably around 1984.

 

[gizmo]

I remember using one of those machines at a caravan park in the early 1980s, somewhere in rural Victoria.

I was very impressed with it - washed very vigorously, and if you lifted the lid during spin, it pretty much stopped instantly - it must have had a hell of a strong brake. Lift the lid and - BANG - drum stopped immediately.

 

What a great find!

 

[astorobsession]

Fabulous

What a great find! Good on you

 

[qsd-dan]

Can't be too many of those left in existence. Will be a fun project getting it running again. Finding parts may become a chore though.

 

[launderess]

Congrats!

That infamous Norge "bang" and sudden break are something one gets used to I suppose.

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Matty,

That’s a really neat looking machine. I’ve got a service manual for the Dispensomat in the early 60s that I could copy if you think you could use it?

Cheers

Nathan