POD 04/28/2011 Ultraviolet Lamp?

[labboy]

So the advertisement for the Whirlpool in today's POD mentions a UV lamp. Where did the lamp reside in the machine? Was it an in-line lamp to irradiate the water circulated by the pump with UV light or was it in the tub to shine on the clothes? I have heard of these in dryers before but never a washer.

 

[akronman]

Ultra Violet lamps

I'm about halfway thru my restoration of a 1959 Whirlpool Imperial Mark xII, it's TOL but doesn't have an ultra-violet light. Are they worthwhile? I'd gladly add one in if anyone knows where they were located, and why. Did they just stay on whenever the timer was running? And when did manufacturers stop this feature and why?

 

[tomturbomatic]

The lamps were a fairly new household feature in 1950s germ-obsessed America. I have seen Westinghouse ads for special wall fixtures for these lamps to be used in the kitchen and nursery. They should have made a bathroom fixture that held the bulb. Ozone was found to be an irritant and a mild poison as well as an air deodorizer so the lamps were discontinued in laundry appliances. In the washers and dryers, they gave that fresh, just-after-a-rain fragrance to the area around the machines but it was not an odor that lingered in dry clothes. TOL WP-made washers had these for a while. It had to be a deluxe machine with a tub light because the incandescent bulb served as a ballast for the Ozone lamp. On our 58 Lady Kenmore the control panel and tub lights came on when the timer was rotated out of the OFF position. The 40 watt tub light was mounted on the flat side of the D-shaped tub opening with the socket above the porcelain tub cover and the Ozone Bulb was located across from it at the front of the machine, mounted above the tub cover. You could see the blue glow in the seam between the cabinet and the top assembly, but it's not like the light was focused down onto the water; it was just shining in the area. Tiny amounts of ozone gas might have dissolved in the water, but neither water purification nor sanitizing the laundry were the purpose of the bulb. It was just a gimmick more than anything and made the area smell fresh which, I guess, was a help in some dark, musty basements where many of the first automatics were located when they replaced wringer washers.

 

[rickr]

Ozone lamp in WP/KM

Here is the mounting of the lamp assembly in my 1956 Kenmore. I have a couple machines with this feature, and can smell the ozone smell when opening the lid of the machine when the lamp is on.

 

[akronman]

Thanks Tom and Rick

Thanks, I think I know enough about Ozone lamps not to bother. But a tub lamp would be EASY, especially since I know its location. Hmmm....

 

[tomturbomatic]

Sorry I had them reversed. We never noticed much of a smell from it, certainly not like in the Filtrator dryer of a friend's mother.