Old machine overflowing video clip

[fredriksam]

As i told in another thread here i was at a friends house and taped some stuff. Like how much it would foam if you put dawn in a washing machine. We did that with a Siemens machine but also with a very old machine.

This old machine, named Värmos was made and sold in Sweden. This actuall model was made about 1957-59. It had no electronics, you had to fill the machine with water yourself and pump it out. The only automatic in this machine is as follows: It has a timer so it wash up to 20 minutes, a thermostat that turns off when the heat is right. Or rather said it SHOULD do that but i dont think it worked tip-top.

So we filled the machine with water and dawn soap and put the temp at the highest marking. It started washing but no foam leaking out at first. We then got to film the Siemens machine and alternate checking out the old machine.

After about 20 minutes we heard a strange sound coming from where the old machine was. My friend got there and seemed to be amazed of what he saw. It did flow a lot so i got there, but then the drum just stopped moving. I had to add more water to make the machine run again. Must have been overheated. Now, here is the first clip. Look at the floor in this clip, it must have flowing for a while

 

[fredriksam]

And now here is the final clip of this. The water must have been very close at the boiling point at the end of the clip. I had to add some more water to the machine. It did smell hot in there. We then rinsed the machine clear from soap and foam and as i now.. the machine still works....

 

[foraloysius]

How on earth can you abuse such a wonderful machine like that?? That machine should be cherished and well taken care of. No oversudsing anymore please. Can you take pictures of this machine and explain the dials to us? Does this machine spin?

 

[fredriksam]

Hmm okay. The machine is in a house where a friend lives. Right now he is on vacation, but comes back in a few weeks. Good pics will probably be coming then.
In the meantime i can say following things:

"Quote Foraloysius" "That machine should be cherished and well taken care of."
Yes you are absolutely right about that. problem is that in this house theres only living my friend and people with grave alcohol problem. As i understand they abuse that machine to the limit. They have sadly already destroyed the siemens that was overflowing in that other thread. My friend has told them to be gentle with the machine.

The solution would be if someone removed the machine and put another "cheap" machine there. That way it would maybe still be working some more years. When we put dawn in it and it overflowed, it sure not helped the machine but now it has been washed at 95-100 celsius which is good for the element.

The dials is as following:
01 at the top there is a white round "screw". With that one you pump out the water. You "open" it and the water flows out.

02 next there is a wash/no drum movement/spin selector. When we filmed it was of course in "wash" position. The drum moves to the right and then left etc.

03 then theres a timer that is up to 20 minutes. With that one you select wash/spin time. When the time is gone the drum stops. It is supposed to be still when heating up but you CAN have drum movement if you want.

04 and finally theres the thermostat. You can set the temperature from 0-100 celsius. The thermostat is supposed to turn of the heat when it is right, i,m unsure if it really does that. Sligtly above the thermostat there is a "lamp" to see if the thermostat is on or off, that doesnt light up either.

The machine does spin if you turn the selector to spin mode. The speed is about 400-500 rpm depending on how much clothes you have in the machine.

 

[westytoploader]

"Yes you are absolutely right about that. problem is that in this house theres only living my friend and people with grave alcohol problem. As i understand they abuse that machine to the limit."

Well the fact that you put dish soap in it to see it oversuds sure as hell doesn't help either. You tried it with that Siemens, so what did you think was going to happen with this one? I'm surprised it still works...vintage machines such as that one need to be respected and NOT abused. This is NOT the site for Appliance Abusers Anonymous!!!

--Austin

 

[newwave1]

Man are you insane?! that machines looks really interestin....im glad i wasnt the only one wonderin why the hell you would abuse somethin thats meant to be your hobby?!:S too much time on your hands prehaps?

 

[brettsomers]

just my two cents...

but i have to agree with the others. vandalism is bad. this site is about preservation.

 

[tolivac]

Please don't use your washing machine as a floor sudser-shampooer-as the instruction manuals would say-"use your washer only for its intended purpose".Imagine what would happen if the suds got into the works such as the timer,circuit boards,etc.

 

[MrX]

That's a pretty sorry sight. Why would you wreck a perfectly good vintage machine and then post your videos here?

Also, I hope you've an RCD in your house otherwise have fun with the 230V floor suds! Old machines don't necessarily conform to modern safety standards in terms of electrical insulation.

You guys should stick to using a plastic bucket to do laundry... clearly you're incapable of using a machine! I stress PLASTIC bucket as anything else might cause serious injuries if abused!

 

[fredriksam]

Ok first i apologize for offending people with these kind of clips. Wont happen again, ok. To make you happy i have taken some clips of my own machine and show 2 rinses and 2 spins. Its in this thread (after all the text)

Just so you know, its wasnt really my idea from the start to do this. Not that i,m innocent in it, but it was actually my friends idea. We together is not a good combination. Bad things had happened before, but i just dont use my brain always.

Did you call it vandalism, brettsommers? The machine is STILL working. Even if i belive it got TOO hot in the end.

To mrX: Eh, actually i,m good on using a washing machine. This was just a "stupid" thing we did. About that RCD thing, no, i dont think there is such thing in that house. And maybe we were lucky nothing bad happened. If we hadnt check the machine and stopped it after the last clip, i dont know what could have happened. Scary thought.

After this overflowing my friend took down some clothes and run the machine on 60 celsius complete with 4 rinses and 2 spins and it seemed to work fine. It made an weird noise the first spin but it was probably because bad bearings or some stuff like coins in it.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/THREADS/MODERN/6965x5.htm

 

[fredriksam]

Notice: I have now removed the videos from youtube. I felt that people could get the wrong impression of me, so i removed them.

And... That värmos machine is throwed away, because it totally broke a week ago. The friend that lives in the house says the motor broke when they washed and almost caught fire.

He didnt think our overflowing had something to do with it.

 

[gyrafoam]

Ahhh too funny!

I remember as a kid when almost all the detergents sold here in the US were VERY high sudsing.(And all the soaps were).
I always enjoyed sticking my head in a "Rustinghouse" Laundromat on a busy Saturday morning to see row after row of those old pale blue things vommiting suds through the detergent chute built onto the door. Running down the front and out onto the floor.
In latter years the people who built the laundries started putting the machines on an elevated ledge with a bit of a lip on the front to catch the overflow before it got to the floor.

It got really dramatic during the spin when the suds would kind of "power out" of the chute.
Those laundries always had the cleanest floors---------

The really stupid thing was the laundries almost always had these wall-dispensers for detergent----that dispensed a little box that was barely enough for a full load in a top-loader-----and waaaay too much for a front-loader.
However, in as much as reading directions is such an un- American activity, Hariett Homemaker of the day blithly dumped a whole box per machine, and then stood back and watched the suds show.
I wonder if it ever crossed their minds how all that chemical left behind in the fabric would effect the people who wore the clothes! Most likely not. And I rarely saw one that completely got rid of all the suds untill the final spin.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the photo's!