Platinum Whirlpool BD set?

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For the most part, this thing is functioning 100 percent. After several rinses a very small dribble started from the front left hand side. I'll inspect the sump tomorrow. Hopefully the seal between the outer tub and the sump is not the issue.

Otherwise, this has been a fun and quick clean-up of a belt drive Whirlpool. It has been years since I've cleaned one up, let alone had one hooked up at the house.

The A712 Maytag that lost it's spot is not too happy right now... :)

Ben

swestoyz++4-4-2012-23-09-53.jpg
 
What a beautiful bedtime sight, Ben

It's like something out of the sky: cloudy blue and white cumulus on gray and black.

 

So Platinum is a model like Imperial, a take on color--kinda in the dark about the significance of the name.

 

Glad she's working.
 
Great Tutorial

Ben - you've done a great tutorial for these machines. While I've not done any extensive restorations in years, I find inspiration to go further on similar machines. Your finished product has the "Wow" factor. Great job!

John
 
Ben -

GREAT machines. Its that fifth temperature and the white basket which takes these from the LA7680 to the LA7800. Very nice!! It was the LA7800 which apparently holds the distinction for being one of the last, if not THE last BD model in production. KMs were done in fall '86, but Whirlpool kept making certain models in limited fashion until April 1987, and the LA7800 was one of them.

Yours was made in Clyde, Ohio in the first week of 1984. In fact, it is unit number 01399, so it may have been made the first working day of 1984. Some of the workers were probably still nursing hangovers.

The stamping you see on the bottom of the agitator are called date plugs, and are put in there several years at a time. There is probably an 83, 84, 85, and 86, yes? The one with the dots in it is the active year, how many dots means how many months. This agitator could have been molded in December 1983 for sure since the machine was made the next week.

Gordon[this post was last edited: 4/5/2012-04:45]
 
Ben - beautiful pair! Those 'platinum' models were very rare. I'm glad to know at least one pair has been saved.

Michael - 'platinum' is simply the color. It and 'toast' were short-lived colors offered by WP and Kenmore in the mid 1980's.

Lawrence
 
Platinum Whirlpool pair

Good clean -up Ben they look great, the LA 7800s were the top model of the electro-mechanical machines only the LA9800s with electronic controls were more expensive.

 

And while the MT A712 may be unhappy just think how longer your clothes will last while still getting clean to say nothing of more wrinkle and lint free.
 
Thanks for the comments guys!

Jon - it's either the glacial water Eddie speaks of, or I just happened to spill a few cans of Hamms Beer into the mix. "From the land of sky blue waters..."

Gordon - you know, I did look for a dot, but I was looking at the 85 and 86 stampings. When I take the tub out to inspect the leak I'll look to see if there is indeed a dot for December of '83. Love that the washer was produced the first week, if not the first production day, in '84! I can hear the headlines now... "A terrible snow storm blew over the northern counties of Ohio this week, causing many factories to cease production and travelers to find temporary lodging along routes 80 and US 20 for the New Years celebration. Factory production at the local plants may be further halted by large amounts of sickened employees. In other news, alcohol sales have all but tripled during the snow storm….” LOL

John - considering the Whirlpool is now without a lint filter, I suspect all traces of lint to be tossed down the drain, while the Maytag still has a *chance* at trying to catch something that randomly floats past the filter... ;-)

Ben
[this post was last edited: 4/5/2012-11:06]
 
Lint Filters in washers

In truth lint filters in any washer do not catch the majority of the lint that is in the water. But that said the WP without any lint filter will leave far less lint on a load that the A712 would for several reasons.

 

1 The WP has a far less damaging agitator towards the clothing so less lint is produced.

 

2 The WP has far larger holes in the basket which allows larger more visible lint to escape and go down the drain.

 

3 The neutral drain allows far more lint to go down the drain unlike the MT where the clothing is turned into a giant lint and floating scum remover as it tries to drain and spin at the same time and the dirty water is sloshing over the top of the basket and being pulled through the clothing over and over again.
 
Oh interesting Mother Superior

"In truth lint filters in any washer do not catch the majority of the lint that is in the water."

So you've caught and drained and removed all the lint in the water? Just how much is left in the wash water? Say on a percentage basis?? 70% , 80%, 55%?

My Bendix Duomatics don't need lint filters as they don't create lint in the wash or drying process. But they do catch nickels all day long!!

"3 The neutral drain allows far more lint to go down the drain unlike the MT where the clothing is turned into a giant lint and floating scum remover as it tries to drain and spin at the same time and the dirty water is sloshing over the top of the basket and being pulled through the clothing over and over again."

Just like my Sunbeam Coffeemaster! All that nasty coffee grinds are held back by the fantastic straining action of the "lint" screen at the bottom of the bowl, so to the clothes in a neutral drain Kenmore act like a nice coffee filter for all that Kenmore wash generated lint and soap scum that isn't removed by the built in lint filter on the machine.
 
John - considering the Whirlpool is now without a lint filter, I suspect all traces of lint to be tossed down the drain, while the Maytag still has a *chance* at trying to catch something that randomly floats past the filter...
I too Ben would put that filter exactly where it belongs, in the museum of bad and cheap design lol. Into the trash it goes.

Just like my Sunbeam Coffeemaster! All that nasty coffee grinds are held back by the fantastic straining action of the "lint" screen at the bottom of the bowl, so to the clothes in a neutral drain Kenmore act like a nice coffee filter for all that Kenmore wash generated lint and soap scum that isn't removed by the built in lint filter on the machine.
I totally agree with you Jetcone Jon. And in my opinion the best lint filter ever produced was GE's 1947-1950 self-cleaning filter ring. Never a chance of it clogging as the lint is dispersed around the entire filter ring due to the very minor indexing of the tub during agitation. No place for it to clump up in one spot, and unlike the WP/KN self-cleaning filters which spit-out a huge clump of lint all at once which causes laundry sinks to clog over and over, the GE sends the lint down the drain in small sporadic pieces which prevents sink clogging issues.
 
YAY to lint

down the drain in sporadic pieces just like the Duomatics!

We never has a sink back up with the 1956 GE FF but when we installed the Kenmore 70, well every week the basement would flood until we had to put in a lint filter in the sink drain to catch can clean all that lint from the Kenmo'.
 
Great job with the Whirlpool set Ben.

I got rid of that filthy lint filter on the 1984 Whirlpool set I did for Amanda and Dan too. In fact, the restoration went about the same for your platinum set. Funny how the same problems show up in the same model machines isn't it?

See the link....

www.automaticwasher.org

Clean up photos of Amanda and Dan's Whirlpool

I worked on the 84 Whirlpool Saturday, for my niece Amanda. The machine did not have much use, however the previous owner (Dan's grandmother) must have had well water with a high iron content. Plus the machine had sat in a leaky basement for the last five years without being used. The gross ring...
www.automaticwasher.org www.automaticwasher.org
 
Ben, sorry to say, Dan lost his job and Amanda and Dan gave up the house about 6 months ago. They are living in an apartment now. Their house goes up for auction April 18th, and the WP set goes with the house. Dan is working again, but it was too late to keep the house.
 

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