Philco-Bendix Coin-Op Motherload in North Minneapolis

[Unimatic1140]

So to make a long story real short, there is a guy in north Minneapolis on Craiglist who wants to sell the reamins of his 1960's Laundromat. The Philco's have been in storage since 1974. They are in rough shape, but they can be restored. Right now he is looking for the keys for the machines because without the keys its gonna make it real difficult to restore.

 

[Unimatic1140]

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[Unimatic1140]

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[Unimatic1140]

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[pulsator]

Wow, now there's a find! If only I had the room! I hope you plan on taking a few and making a glorious one? lol

 

[Unimatic1140]

Check out the Gravity Drain Troughs!!! No pumps here, how cool is that!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Maytag

 

[tlee618]

That is so cool Robert, I have never seen a gravity drain before. I bet that would be so fun to watch.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Early 50's Kenmore Dryer

 

[Unimatic1140]

Neato Air-Way Vacuum

 

[pulsator]

Is there a Unimatic buried in there somewhere? lol

 

[Unimatic1140]

What you see is what's there Jamie.

 

[goblue]

Robert nice kenmore dryer you gonna tackle that too??

 

[tlee618]

Robert, by all means get that vacuum!!!

 

[swestoyz]

Would some of these machines - or parts of them - have been made in Fairfield, IA?

Very cool stash - wonder if they all are 'trough' machines or that maybe some have pumps.

Ben

 

[Unimatic1140]

no on the Kenmore for me. Ben none of the machines have pumps. The laundromat had a trough system.

 

[volvoguy87]

Maytag!

I tawt I taw a Suds Saver...
I did, I did taw a Suds Saver!

(at least the hose for it)
Dave

 

[mickeyd]

The Double loader is a real gas.

Wonder what Jon Jetcone has to say about this Bendix Bonanza

Was shocked to learn how many sophisticated electronic commercial front loaders have gravity drains. Guess it's a long tradition among them as it is with the Maytag Wringers.

 

[peteski50]

Bendix

It's a pleasure to see front loaders that actually wash quickly and use Enough water. I hope they go to a good home.
Peter

 

[decodriveboy]

Love those Philcos

Hope the Bendii go to a good home....would be a shame if not!

I sure wish we had these finds down here!

 

[gansky1]

Interesting finds - lots of restoration work there!

 

[westyslantfront]

Hi Robert. I spent plenty of time hanging out in the laundromat down the road that was filled with those Philco Bendix front loaders. I also remember how many people used Wisk in them and withing 3 seconds, the suds were coming out the top of the washer. I would tell them to use fabric softener (Sta-Puff or NuSoft) and then the suds would come down.

Ross

 

[peterh770]

My favorite was the red pull knob on the side of the coin slides. You'd start the washer, and then pull the knob if you didn't want the prewash. The lever bumped the timer past the prewash directly into the main wash. Primative, but it worked.

Robert, were you considering taking one of these home? Install it in the garage or back porch and let it drain onto the lawn?

 

[tomturbomatic]

The Double Load machines had the larger tub of the old Duomatics, easy to do without space consuming suspension. Life is so much simpler without the pump, no clogs, no sudslocks, no bearings to go bad. The design of the Bendix machines used a drain valve that opened to allow water to enter the always turning pump so leave off the pump and you still have the drain valve opening to allow water to drain. It was always fun to walk to the end of the row and watch the water splash into the trough. Coin-op Frigidaires often used gravity draining as did the Milnors, Troy Big Boys, and I guess almost all of the front loaders. I never got to check out the Kelvinator and Hotpoint coin-op machines for drain type.

 

[cycla-fabric]

Say, great machines from the past, I remember my mom going to the local laundromat when the westinghouse front loader died, that had those very same machines. They were neat to watch as they had lots of action. No hesitation when it came time to spin either, click/klunk drain and on to the spin cycle, no hesitation and re-distributing the load to make sure it was balanced. Say were these machines bolted down to the floor, does anyone know? What a blast from the past!

 

[toggleswitch2]

I believe even today's Wascomats have a gravity drain. Water exits by gravity via a 4 inch (100mm) flexible rubber hose at the base of the machine.

IIRC the drain solenoid is energized to PREVENT draining. In a power outage, therfore, the machine automatically drains and unlocks.

 

[gansky1]

It would be interesting to see what the drain assembly looks like. I would imagine it would be easy to convert these with an electric pump. Here I go, talking myself into one...

The Wascomat I use at one of my commercial accounts for rags, etc. is a triple loader (30lbs) and uses a drain valve actuated (closed) with cold water pressure. The valve is open all times other than wash/rinse cycles.

 

[launderess]

Think "softmounts" are the exception in commercial front loaders in that they have pumps. Gravity draining units have been around for ages and with good reason. No muss, no fuss, all one needs is a pit and or trough, and that is all she wrote. Lacking a pump is the reason so many commercial/laundromat front loaders last ages. OTHO have been told when units are moved, and or the trough cleaned, one finds all sorts of things down there.

Oh yes, lack of a pump means less chance of suds lock during spinning, and or the washer having to slow down spinning because too much water (as when doing a heavy load of very absorbent items like towels), enters the drain at once. Always find it amazing when the 40lb Speed Queen is at our local laundromat is packed to the gills, and goes into a spin. Cascades of water start streaming down the window glass, enough water that would surely choke a domestic machine.

L.

L.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Greg/Gansky, would you be so kind as to get a pic of that valve?

 

[peterh770]

Commercial softmounts don't have pumps and do gravity drain. Some of the smaller, newer ones may be ordered with a pump, but that is only because some owners are using them to replace toploaders. To ease the installation, they can come with pumps for the existing standpipes; otherwise an owner would need to take on the added expense of removing standpipes from a row to accommodate a gravity drain.

As far as cleaning out a trough or any drain system, it is an ugly, dirty, smelly endevour. It is mostly full of sludge and coins, some jewelry, and some bra wires that catch the lint. Besides tending to a public restroom, it is the most unpleasant task in a laundry. Ick!

I will see about getting a pic of a Wasco drain valve over the weekend while I do some repairs.