laundramatt
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Has anyone ever seen any Apex washers? What is the "spiral dasher" all about? What was the wash action like? Does anyone have a restored Apex? I would love to see one of these running. Thanks
POD - Wednesday, April 25, 2007 (Apex)
- Thread starter laundramatt
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laundramatt
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laundramatt
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Automaticwasher.org members stumped!
Aha! I evidently stumped the experts. Sad, if there are no Apex washers left out there.
Aha! I evidently stumped the experts. Sad, if there are no Apex washers left out there.
I'm surprised no one answered.
Robert/Unimatic1140 found an Apex washer years ago. It had mechanical problems and he had no service info at that time, so the machine was sent to the Krusher (a decision he now regrets).
This info sheet may answer most of your questions. The entire tub bounced/gyrated to provide washing action, and about half the water typically sloshed out by end of the wash period.
Robert/Unimatic1140 found an Apex washer years ago. It had mechanical problems and he had no service info at that time, so the machine was sent to the Krusher (a decision he now regrets).
This info sheet may answer most of your questions. The entire tub bounced/gyrated to provide washing action, and about half the water typically sloshed out by end of the wash period.
oldwasherguy
Well-known member
the krusher
Yea, I have some regrets my self. I got rid of a 1935 maytag back in 1997, it was cherry too!
Yea, I have some regrets my self. I got rid of a 1935 maytag back in 1997, it was cherry too!
BUT I'M NOT BITTER...
Yes by some miracle I managed to find an Apex automatic back in 1996 when I was about six months into collecting washers. The washer pictured in the brochure above was the model I found from 1953. After some tinkering it worked fine, I probably did 25 wash loads in it, but the outer tub/cabinet was rusted so I wanted to pull the tub to sand it and repaint it. Pulling the tub cause me to ruin the main bearing. Due to lack of experience on my part I had no idea that I could simply take that bearing to any bearing store and get a replacement for $10 or less. Had I know that I would have a working Apex Bouncing Basket Washer! Instead I got rid of the washer thinking I would find one in better shape at some point in the future (duh).
Two early Apex automatics were found late last year, they were on their way out to me here in Minneapolis, BUT... (up organ music) the truck was stolen outside of Chicago and the thief got away with two vintage Apex washers. (Up organ music again). Hopefully the thief will post videos of the machine in action so we can all see what a cool washer it was.
When I found it that the machines were stolen, this is what I heard:
<EMBED SRC=http://www.automaticwasher.org/SOUND/TPIR-LC.mp3 AUTOSTART=FALSE LOOP=FALSE WIDTH=145 HEIGHT=55 ALIGN=LEFT>
Yes by some miracle I managed to find an Apex automatic back in 1996 when I was about six months into collecting washers. The washer pictured in the brochure above was the model I found from 1953. After some tinkering it worked fine, I probably did 25 wash loads in it, but the outer tub/cabinet was rusted so I wanted to pull the tub to sand it and repaint it. Pulling the tub cause me to ruin the main bearing. Due to lack of experience on my part I had no idea that I could simply take that bearing to any bearing store and get a replacement for $10 or less. Had I know that I would have a working Apex Bouncing Basket Washer! Instead I got rid of the washer thinking I would find one in better shape at some point in the future (duh).
Two early Apex automatics were found late last year, they were on their way out to me here in Minneapolis, BUT... (up organ music) the truck was stolen outside of Chicago and the thief got away with two vintage Apex washers. (Up organ music again). Hopefully the thief will post videos of the machine in action so we can all see what a cool washer it was.
When I found it that the machines were stolen, this is what I heard:
<EMBED SRC=http://www.automaticwasher.org/SOUND/TPIR-LC.mp3 AUTOSTART=FALSE LOOP=FALSE WIDTH=145 HEIGHT=55 ALIGN=LEFT>
Been a lot of those Apex Bouncing Basket machines stolen around here too! Those Apex machine are a hot item on the streets here too! I think the boyz are using them for the bounce in their low riders. Prolly what happened to yours Robert. The guts of those Apexs are now in the front and rear suspentions of a 1963 Chevy Impala somewhere....
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westytoploader
Well-known member
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- Sep 4, 2004
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Well, seeing as how 2 Bendix PowerSurge washers were unearthed in the past year, as well as 2 GE AW6 machines (one of which was a parts donor to Robert's I believe), there's a good possibility an Apex will surface eventually, when it is least expected...
OTOH, the Spiral Dasher was the proper name for the agitator used in the Apex wringer. It is a funky looking thing, and if you search for Apex ads on eBay, you will see what one looked like.
i will take a stab at it/ spiral dasher, it was strange
the wringer spiral dasher looked kind of like a Valentine candy Heart. big wide vains at the top with a hint of curve to them think roto swirl. i think the idea was this cast aluminum agitator with holes in it was an attempt to use small amt of water for fragile things at low water levels and very little agitation it was narrower at the bottom, and the wide flare at the top (when a full tub of water was present) provided a more aggressive action because the water level was high where the wide part of the V shaped agitator was, never saw one work but neighbors had a long unused one in a shed, Many moons ago, i think there where names like silk at the lower levels and like cotton sturdy forged into the cast aluminum toward the top
the wringer spiral dasher looked kind of like a Valentine candy Heart. big wide vains at the top with a hint of curve to them think roto swirl. i think the idea was this cast aluminum agitator with holes in it was an attempt to use small amt of water for fragile things at low water levels and very little agitation it was narrower at the bottom, and the wide flare at the top (when a full tub of water was present) provided a more aggressive action because the water level was high where the wide part of the V shaped agitator was, never saw one work but neighbors had a long unused one in a shed, Many moons ago, i think there where names like silk at the lower levels and like cotton sturdy forged into the cast aluminum toward the top
Robert Perdue (aka Lady Kenmore, from Roanoke,VA)) and I found one of these old Apex Wringers in the basement of an old Maytag store a year or so ago. I think Lady Kenmore still has it----the agitator was in great shape and the rest of the machine was a mess!
I have memories of watching an Apex automatic washer back in the '50's---down in Miami. It was pretty kool to watch-----I still don't get where they got the term "bouncing Basket". It just seemed to me to be a fast wobble-----like the whole tub wobbled at the speed of the wobble-plate in the bottom of a "Collapse-O"
Anyway, I remember thinking what a POS it was, as in just a minute or so of "bouncing" ---- the vast majority of water had been splashed out of the tub----leaving the clothes to flop around in what was left.(It was good it had a large round window in the lid-----you would need more than goggles to watch it through a cycle---some swim-fins perhaps----oh, and hope the machine is well grounded!)
At least in the rinse, water was flowing in to help replenish what got tossed overboard.
The fiberglass tub was a real nice shade of turquoise and had some kind of "scalloping" along the bottom.
O.K.Robert S., so from this memory you can see why these machines are such a hot item on the "fenced" market.Perhaps it was one of the Chicago "families" that made the heist. Must have been quite the lucrative take-down as I haven't heard a thing about them since.
Perhaps they ended up in an exclusive private collection. No doubt eventually to be donated to the Louvre.
I have memories of watching an Apex automatic washer back in the '50's---down in Miami. It was pretty kool to watch-----I still don't get where they got the term "bouncing Basket". It just seemed to me to be a fast wobble-----like the whole tub wobbled at the speed of the wobble-plate in the bottom of a "Collapse-O"
Anyway, I remember thinking what a POS it was, as in just a minute or so of "bouncing" ---- the vast majority of water had been splashed out of the tub----leaving the clothes to flop around in what was left.(It was good it had a large round window in the lid-----you would need more than goggles to watch it through a cycle---some swim-fins perhaps----oh, and hope the machine is well grounded!)
At least in the rinse, water was flowing in to help replenish what got tossed overboard.
The fiberglass tub was a real nice shade of turquoise and had some kind of "scalloping" along the bottom.
O.K.Robert S., so from this memory you can see why these machines are such a hot item on the "fenced" market.Perhaps it was one of the Chicago "families" that made the heist. Must have been quite the lucrative take-down as I haven't heard a thing about them since.
Perhaps they ended up in an exclusive private collection. No doubt eventually to be donated to the Louvre.
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