POD 4/12 Commercial Frigidaire

[frigilux]

I used one of these in my sister's apt. building during the summers of 67-71, when I stayed with her as a kid. Coming from a home with a 1960 Kenmore, I was amazed at how fast it would spin, and how brief the spin cycles were---especially the first spin. Loved having a window in the lid, too.

I've never seen a commercial Deep Action Agitator wth a cap. Were caps not provided for them or did they just get lost/stolen/strayed over time in commercial use situations? I thought the water jets coming back out of the agitator (when the cap was in place) were part of the cleaning/lint removal/detergent dispersal action on those agitators.

Can anyone solve this mystery?

 

[veg-o-matic]

In a different vein, I'm kind of surprised that the coin-op machines featured the fast spin. I'd think 'mat owners would want a nice, slow spin so people would spend more at the dryers.

 

[DADoES]

One of the resident experts has advised that coin-op machines did not have agitator caps . . for reason that they would get lost, stolen, broken, etc.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised GE provided FilterFlo pans for their coin-op machines . . but I suppose that could be a sales point for drawing customers to GE-equipped laundries.

 

[gansky1]

Spin speed was fast to keep the customers moving through the 'mat or laundry room - more turnover equals more money.

I've always wondered about the filter-flo pans on the GE coin ops, but of the GE equipped laundromats/laundry rooms seemed to have a pan for each washer. I suppose people did snatch them at times, but their uses were pretty specific unless you could devise a way to sieve tomatoes through them ;-) Peter has some GE's in one of his stores, perhaps he'll share some filter pan stories.

 

[fixerman]

I used to service GE coin op machines for a laundry leasing outfit and many of the pans were missing. Didn't seem to stop people from using them though.

 

[zzzzz]

One San Diego-area coin laundry I used about twenty years ago had twenty Norge machines (which clunked up a storm) and ten GEs. (All the machines have since been replaced with Whirlpools.) I always went for the GEs, and would find the filter pans left all over the GE row.

I guess normal protocol was to leave the pans resting on the open lid when done. I'd place the pan over the coin slide.

 

[laundromat]

agitator caps

The commercial Frigidaire JetAction washers DID come with the measuring agitator caps but the stupid customers or laundry center owners would either break them,not put them on,steal them or use them as ash trays.One of the many Frigidaire equiped laundries I frequently visited in Baltimore and Ocean City,Maryland,was owned by a person smart enough to glue them on permanently.Another had them stashed behind the counter and the attendent would hand it to you as you went to load your wash.

 

[kenmore1978]

GE Filter Pan protocol

I remember that the protocol in GE equipped laundries WAS to put the filter pan leaning on the open lid

 

[peterh770]

Yes, Filter-Flo pan go on the open lid.

Unfortunately, I have no Filter-Flo stories. In 6 years, only 1 has walked, 2 have cracked (easily replaced with a quick trip behind the used appliance stores), and all have ended up at one time or another between the washers and the bulkheads. The strangest thing is that some customers refuse to use them. They don't like the water recirculating thru the dirty lint that is caught.

 

[spiralactivator]

I've been in one GE-equipped laundromat, and there were no FilterFlo baskets. The made an entertaining noise, though--lots of belt squeaks. Also, they had the longest rinse of any coin-op I've used.

 

[pulltostart]

We had GE equipment in my college dormitory. I always left the filter pan standing in the open lid after using the machines. Later, in my home I would place the pan back on the activator and leave the lid open until I felt like the basket had dried out.