29 inch whirlpool built combination washer, dryer features
The dry control was added when they made a major redesign of the 61 combination to the back of the machine because they didn’t want to redesign the looks of the control panel and it was a clever place to put it. The dryness control was there so the machine could be customized to the desire of the user for the level of dryness they preferred, the setting also had something to do with the length of ductwork that the machine was operating with.
Of the several Kenmore combinations I’ve had some for as long as 30 years in regular use. I never had to set the control any higher than the normal setting and you never changed it from low to load, Bob doesn’t surprise me that you had a neighbor that said it to maximum dry. I saw several in the field where people just put it on maximum dry figuring it would drive faster or better and we still see that with auto dry dryers today people put it on more dry or extra dry Without really needing to do so.
When the machines were built from the factory with a dryness control, they did have one model where it was right on the control panel others. It was hidden under the lint, filter door, etc..
Note that there were several top-of-the-line Kenmore dryers that also had the dryness control on the back of the machine because again it was only intended for an initial adjustment to please the owner and to make up for the installation because of exhaust duct, etc.
I count six of these machines that are in perfect working order that are in use right now there’s maybe a dozen or two dozen more in the hands of fellow collectors that can be repaired now that John E has perfected a way to repair the transmission.
The combination washer dryer failed for many reasons, not the least of which repair people even like myself badmouthed them back in the day because of complexity. My mom‘s best friend and my kindergarten teacher wanted to get one of these combination washer dryers back in the late 60s because she didn’t think she had room for a dryer and I remember as a young child back when I knew everything told her not to get one they’re nothing but trouble I was repeating what I had heard regretted that later she would’ve been a fine owner of this great machine.
Combination, washer dryers were introduced too soon the public wasn’t ready for something this convenient, because the sales were very poor manufactures did not have the money to redesign them, all initial automatic washers had to be heavily redesigned to be successful, only Philco Bendix, and whirlpool redesigned their combination machines to any significant degree, GE continued to build them the longest and did work out a lot of bugs, but it was not a substantially improved machine.
The last US combination washer dryers rolled off the line around 1972, that was just about the time the baby boom generation was coming of age and family size was declining radically , and people started to expect laundry appliances in their condominiums apartments, etc.. They literally stopped making them right when they should’ve started selling like crazy.
Full-size combination. Washer dryers are now finally becoming a reality. It will probably take five or 10 years before they make a significant dent in washer and dryer sales.
John