Now THAT is a Kenmore!

[gansky1]

I've been washing in the new 68 Kenmore all week long now and finally got to see the WP/KM live up to it's amusing but nonetheless true reputation!

This is the first rinse of a load of towels tonight...sudslock!

 

[gansky1]

This was the wash cycle - nearly done at approx. 4 minutes left. No suds.

 

[gansky1]

A touch of Downy Simple (stupid) Pleasures, Turquoise Frost flavor - just for the name. Rinse water is pretty good for starting out with all those pesky suds.

 

[gansky1]

This is the wash cycle of the first load of towels I did tonight. No suds again!

 

[gansky1]

First load of towels, from the side

 

[gansky1]

I was also distracted by the Westinghouse tonight - a perfect suds level in here and crystal clear rinses!

 

[pulsator]

I used a machine almost exactly like this one on a vacation once, I was only allowed to do 2 loads the entire trip! (2 weeks) Furthest thing possible from a vacation if I can't do laundry!!! Anyway, it was my first experience with a BD Whirlpool/Kenmore since I was about 7 when our old Whirlpool proto-type died... Of course, not being used to these machines, I overloaded it and used too much soap... Took 4 rinses to kill the suds! I kinda got annoyed with the FS dispenser though, it's too large and blocks the view!!!

 

[j2400]

gansky1--Does this Kenmore seem to have a problem with going off balance during the spin cycle? My mother had a 60s Kenmore, and one of my more vivid memories of it was the way it would go off balance regularly. Towels, in particular, seemed to be troublesome.

 

[thor]

j2400

My family's mid '60´s BD Kenmore had something like a rubber "stopper" that pressed hard against the right back corner of the tub cover, to hold the entire tub assembly from shaking excessively during spin. At some time after some years of use the washer just seemed to go off balance while spinning any load, no matter if large or small, heavy or light.

After raising the top cover of the washer I discovered that the area of the top cover where this rubber piece pressed against had become somewhat contaminated with powder detergent, which of course "lubricated" the whole area. After some minor disassembly to remove the stopper and its holding wire clamp I thoroughly cleaned the area and the stopper, to free them of any detergent residue.

The washer worked like a charm for many years after that, and from then on I just took the habit of cleaning this area occasionaly. What I did was (without any disassembly or even raising the top of the washer) just moved the whole drum assembly to one side and then to the other, and wiped the whole area where this stopper pressed with a moist cleaning cloth.

I hope this helps,
Emilio

 

[gansky1]

John, I've had only one off-balance tragedy so far and that was with a single fleece blanket I was trying to scrub some dog hair from. It was fine until the final spin and kicked it out as it was bunched up on one side of the basket.

I did clean that whole snubber area well when I unpacked the machine - it was very dusty and dry from sitting for so many years. You're right, Emilio, a good cleaning now and the will keep that snubber working like new.

 

[thor]

gansky1

First of all, congratulations on your beautiful washer! It really looks mint.

Second, thank you very much for giving me the correct term for the rubber friction part, "the snubber". I guess you wouldn't believe me how I sometimes struggle just to get to the right English term for a given piece or part of our beloved washers (not that I would know how it is called in Spanish either, LOL!)

Emilio

 

[laundryshark]

Can You Share Some Videos?

Based on your descriptions, would like to collect some videos of that classic Kenmore. Seems as though I can never get enough of those KM demos to satisfy my never ending desire for a classic Kenmore fix. Classic Whirlpools would also fit that bill as well.--Laundry Shark

 

[pierreandreply4]

hello i would love to see a video of that kenmore washer going through a full cycle as well?

Thank you

 

[roto204]

OoOoOoh!

Very nice, Greg. That new-from-the-box minty goodness is intoxicating--and I love that dispenser in Super-Roto-Swirl gold!

Does that machine have a SRS agitator? Or is there something else stirring your towels around?

 

[~sudsshane]

Beautiful!

That is simply a gorgeous machine.. Where did you find it Greg? That is on my list of one of my "must haves" machines..

Have fun with it.

 

[70series]

Greg it is good to see that washer working, and that you are having fun with it. I am assuming this worked perfectly right out of the box. Boy, with the sudslocking and off balancing, this washer is getting life experience!

How many Permanent Press cycles have you run? You must have had fun throughout the week with the agitate/fill sequence on this washer.

Have a good one,
James

 

[gansky1]

Well dahlings...

Ya gotta pay attention to the 'pank' forum - there's a lot sloshing around! See thread #17807 for the intro pictures. I brought it back up to the top again.

I've had a lot of fun playing with the machines so far. A couple of rattles and squeaks I need to get after tomorrow, but all in all, they are awesome. There are times when I'm annoyed with the dispenser drum in the way, but then that is how I saw many from this era. Loading and unloading is a Twister game sometimes but it's authentic, strong and loving American hands put it together so improvements can come after she's been 'run in' a while.

 

[jeffg]

This washer predates by just a few years the one I grew up with. But if I remember right it had a "cool down" feature for Perm. Press (also great for synthetics), where after the wash cycle it would do a partial idle drain and then refill/agitate briefly with cold water, before going into its normal idle drain/spin/rinse cycle. I remember this "cool down" also helped substantially to avoid sudslock.

 

[70series]

Is the fabric softener dispenser one that screws into the agitator shaft, or does this agitator have the screw cap atop the mounting which the dispenser fits over? My aunt had a 1974 model 600 with gold str8 vane, and a FS dispenser just like yours. The agitator on her washer had the small gold cap which the dispenser fit over when attached. Being that your washer is an earlier model, I was wondering if there was a difference in how things were configured.

Have a good one,
James