Presenting the 1961 RCA Whirlpool Ultimatic. Another Gyromatic Production

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swestoyz

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Hello AW family!

I have the honor of presenting something really fun here for everyone to enjoy. John E, or better known on AW as Gyromatic, asked if I could post his recent restoration of a 1961 RCA Whirlpool Ultimatic combination washer dryer. The first portion of the post will be focused on the finished product that includes photos and videos, as this is what most folks are here for.

Afterwards, I’ll get more into the back story of this particular machine that includes a major twist! And, I'll cap it off with some history I've learned about the overall 29" combo platform that I thought folks would enjoy reading.

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The finished product

I dropped the Whirlpool off to John as a gift back in October 2023. John literally started working on it that same evening, and worked on it almost daily through January 2024. He took the machine apart completely, allowing him to clean every part. The drum was not packed full of too much lint, however the machine had a lot of hard water deposits and evidence of over sudsing.

After cleaning the overall structure of the machine John went to work on taking apart all mechanical items - pump assembly, transmission, motor, blower assembly, dispensers, water valve, various plumbing lines and fittings, etc. If something could be polished or rejuvenated, John touched it. Remarkably, the machine was cosmetically in perfect condition, with perfect chrome and almost perfect paint and porcelain finish on the top. Here are several photos of the finished product.

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Videos!

Here are handful of videos of the machine in operation. Take note of the clip that shows the balance mechanism in operation. As the base transfers vibration from the base frame up to the balance mechanism, a shutter directs water into the three balance chambers, filling them with water ballast as the drum rotates and attempts to speed up. The balance mechanism reduces the amount of air that is bleed from pneumatic clutch as it senses less and less vibration from the base.

There are also clips of the roto-spray wash action, as well as a great clip of the detergent dispenser throwing detergent out from the cup down into the drum! Lastly, enjoy the clips of the 525 RPM spin, quite possibly the only 29” combo with a functioning 525 RPM transmission!

Wash cycle - full machine shot


Wash cycle - detergent dispenser in action!


Wash cycle - close up shot


Rinse Cycle - first of three rinses


Slow motion rinse:


Tumble - low speed - high speed. You can hear the balance mechanism slowly decreasing the amount of air bleeding off to the clutch
https://youtu.be/79eBaJuhSPw

Start of low speed - close up shot of the balance mechanism bleeding off air for the clutch to maintain a slower spin while it deflects water into the water baffles
https://youtu.be/Q9ftKTW8lz8

Rear shot of the machine going into spin
https://youtu.be/jvF7XK5QGW4

Start of dry cycle:
https://youtu.be/saJT_Z5JyYI

Slow motion dry:
https://youtu.be/XRwF60Ybv4o
 
Mechanical Restoration - Part 1

John does things right. He takes the machine apart and slowly works to restore each component, one at a time. This is how he is able to get both the outside and the inside of the machines looking better than factory new. Here are a few shots of individual items that he meticulously restored. One part of the restoration effort that I thought went above and beyond was re-lining the lint filter with felt, to ensure a proper seal around both the screen area as well as the handle. Brilliant!

John also was able to mold from the original and create new shifter diaphragms, located inside the transmission. The originals have gotten hard and no longer hold a seal, effectively leaving just about all 29” combos unable to spin. With John’s efforts several late 60’s Kenmore combos have been revived, with this being the first Whirlpool!

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Mechanical Restoration - The Assembly, Part 2

Once everything was cleaned and the mechanical items restored, the machine then is reassembled. Once the basic parts of the machine were assembled he spent time ensuring that nothing leaked, and would go back and address any issues before moving forward.

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Mechanical Restoration - The Assembly, Part 4

One item that could have thrown this project for a loop was figuring out what type of belt to use to power the blower. The very early lint filter conversion machines use a poly o-ring belt for the blower, vs. the micro groove v belt used on all 1963-1971 machines.

John ended up testing some 1/4" fuel line which proved could work and eventually made belts from this fantastic 1/4" belt material. He was able to "glue" the two ends together by heating them up with a heat gun and smashing them together.

With the belts figured out, John was able to tie up a few loose ends and finished the machine!

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Machine History - with a twist!

Would you believe that there is a TWIN of this Whirlpool? Back in the late summer of 2020 I stumbled across a post on Facebook of a Philco washer that was looking for a new home out in western Nebraska. Within the photos of the Philco I could see the corner front right edge of the Whirlpool, and seeing the front trim and noticing that there was a dryer door on it I knew immediately what it was. I reached out to the poster and asked about the Whirlpool. He mentioned that he was keeping it, but also mentioned that there were TWO of them. I let him know that if he ever decided to sell one of them to contact me. Well, about a year later, he reached out and said he would be willing to sell both of them. I struck a deal for the pair and scheduled a weekend in February 2022 to drive to Omaha to pick up Greg on the way out to western Nebraska.

The story we were told was that the shop where the Philco was located was Nelson Furniture, in Valentine Nebraska. The furniture dealer also sold televisions and appliances, starting with Philco and switching over to Hotpoint once Ford pulled the plug on most of the majors in the early 70’s. Greg had gone out to Valentine earlier in 2021 to pick up the Philco, and talked to the original store owner. There was a Whirlpool dealer across the street and he believed that the Whirlpool shop had sold both combos new. The Philco turned Hotpoint dealer got both in on trade in the mid 70’s, and kept them and a few Philcos in the back storage room of the store ever since. The guy that posted the Philco to Facebook had gone to an auction at the store as the original owner was selling off assets and closing down what was left of the business. I believe a mint mid-60's turquoise Maytag 700 set came from this location, as well.

After chatting with the second owner for a few minutes we loaded the pair into a U-Haul trailer and drove back across Nebraska to Omaha. Of course, we hauled both into Greg’s garage later that evening and hooked both up so we could turn the console lights on! After wiping off decades of dust, it was apparent that both were cosmetically in amazing condition, with the one that went to John E being a model 501 with the reset light, and the one I kept as the original model 500 without the reset light.

Once I got them back to Iowa I staged the model 500 Whirlpool next to my ’61 Whirlpool washer in my recently finished wash studio. It didn’t take long for me to decide that John E was the perfect person to take on the privilege of restoring the model 501, and I’ve decided to keep the 500. Now that John E has finished the restoration of his, it will be a combined effort between he and I restore the 500, sometime later this year.

I’ve included photos of the serial number tags of both. The 500 is serial number S 2013 34, with the 501 being S 5186 37. The S represents assembly in St Joseph, MI. What I’m unsure of is if the serial number is sequential along with Kenmores, or not. I suspect they are as the number on John L’s 1961 model 500 Kenmore is 1742 S 53, and his Lady Kenmore 800 being 15847 S 63. Quite possible John’s 500 is the 1742nd 29” combo made, and the model 500 Whirlpool is 2013, with the last two numbers being either some week of year code or assembly line/shift indication? Purely speculation, but still pretty fun never-the-less.

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Platform History

In September of 1960, Whirlpool and Sears introduced a brand new combination washer and dryer for the 1961 model year, sold under both the Kenmore and RCA Whirlpool lines. The new combination was a fully re-designed platform with the original 1957 Whirlpool combination design scrapped. The new “high speed” combination was built around a smaller, 29” footprint, fitting into the existing cabinet of a 29” Whirlpool dryer, reducing the width from 33” and shaving the weight down, from 355 pounds to 280. What made the new platform special was the absence of an actual suspension and instead the machine utilized an incredibly effective water ballast balancing system, where the machine would inject recirculated water into three balance chambers around the outer diameter of the drum. Once balanced, the machine would allow a pneumatically actuated clutch within the transmission fully spin the drum at 525 RPM, matching the spin speed of the original Bendix Duomatic and increasing the spin from 200 RPM on the original 33” platform.

Whirlpool’s use of the unique water balancing system would also have mostly been driven by patents Bendix had locked down for the Duomatic. The Duomatic would have been covered by strong patents for having an effective suspension: a hanging assembly within a wrapper cabinet, using four springs at top and two hydraulic shocks at the base. Many other appliance manufactures struggled to design a a combination machine that could spin well and get around not using a patent compromising suspension. This led to many combination machines not spinning fast enough to allow the dryer potion of the machine to operate within reason.

By the summer of 1961 Whirlpool had an issue on their hands with the new 29” combination. The original machines handled dryer lint with a similar system to the 1959 - 1961 Lady Kenmore and model 80 dryers, using a high speed separator fan that was designed to send dryer lint through a collection chamber (dubbed the “Cyclone Filter”), and would get flushed out using water and drained out of the machine using the drain pump. While on paper the design may have seemed effective, in reality the machines were getting plugged up with lint out in the field. By the fall of 1961 Whirlpool and Sears had a major repair campaign that would replace several components on all three Sears models and revisions (800-801-802/500/100), and the one Whirlpool model with a revision (500/501) with a lint filter blower system. The porcelain top, blower assembly w/ new lint filter, pump assembly, partial wiring harness, the upper portion of the back panel, contractor for the Electric versions, detergent dispenser assembly, the misc. smaller items were replaced. Once converted, Whirlpool reported a 90% decrease in lint related issues, of which they considered a success in solving the original lint packing issue. The machine also no longer ran the pump during dry as the pump assembly was redesigned to shift the pump drive belt to drive the blower belt via and idler pulley on the pump shaft. The pump also no longer needed to run during the dry cycle to handle the flushing of the Cyclone Filter.

More improvements came for the new 1963 model year, with a revised transmission assembly that reduced the high speed spin to 400 RPM, as well as a redesigned drum that was narrowed slightly and slight revisions to the base, detergent dispenser, and wash filter. The reduction in RPM speed and other changes were done to decrease walking and stabilization issues on wooden floors. The change in RPM speed also improved the transmission assembly, with an improved rubber diaphragm used to more effectively shift or modulate the air clutch, and a switch over to phenolic gears for the high speed spin that helped reduce transmission noise during high speed. The detergent dispenser updates were done to fill the detergent reservoir with recirculated water, rather than a direct line run from the water valve. The clean out drain trap in the drum was replaced by a maze filter located behind the kick panel. By 1965 there were revisions done to the rear leveling legs to further help with stabilization during spin, and small improvements made through the final model released by Sears in 1971. Whirlpool dropped the combination after the 1963 model year, however John L believes Whirlpool may have sold this model for several years after 1963.

The 1961 Whirlpool model panel was a carry over design from the 1959/1960 Mark XII models, with the 1961 Lady Kenmore 800-801-802 carrying over the 1961 Kenmore Model 70 panel design, and 1961 500 combo carrying over the 500 series panel design. For 1963, the Whirlpool carried over the new 1963 LKA 9920 panel redesign, with Sears starting the lagging design pattern by carrying over the 1962 4-Star 800/Lady Kenmore panel. The 1965 models carry over the 1963 Lady Kenmore 800 panel design, with the 1967 models seeing a slight refresh of the original 1963 Lady Kenmore design. By 1969, the Lady Kenmore looked similar to the 1969 Lady Kenmore washer line, and the last model, the 1971 line, carries over the frame of the 1969 Lady Kenmore but incorporates a new push to start button and a "New Feminine Escutcheon with Polished Chrome Bezel”, or whatever that means.

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I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the photos and videos that John had put together, documenting his journey on restoring an incredible and rare piece of appliance history. I wouldn't be surprised if Whirlpool came knocking on his door to see it... ;)

Thanks again John, for taking the time to restore this washer. And thank you for allowing me to post your journey and efforts here on AW, to share with everyone!

Ben

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Blown Away!!

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow!  That is an exceptional renovation!  To say I'm envious is an understatement...that has been a dream machine of mine for a long time!  It is absolutely gorgeous!  Thank you Ben for sharing, and thank you John for detailing the work done. It is stunning! </span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I had two Kenmore models (a '68 electric & a '69 gas) many years ago; they were lost somewhere in a cross country move (which is ironically how I found this site while looking for them!).  A few years ago I acquired a 1970 Kenmore model that I have yet to work on; the transmission won't shift to hi-spin and I'm pretty sure the clutch is the culprit.  I figured all was lost, but now i'm inspired to get on it!  John,  do you accept transmissions for repair? (seriously)</span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So many things come full circle...the motor to transmisson coupling used here was resurrected with the design of the direct drive platform.  The "Filter Stream Washing" concept has been resurrected with some LG front loader models (mine included!).  These were great machines once they were converted to standard venting (rather than the seperator).   And relatively fast thanks to the high speed spin.  Loads usually finished in 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, about the same as seperate machines.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations again!  Great pics!  :)</span>
 
An amazing story

Ben this is fantastic thread and the wonderful story of these amazing machines .. I’m
Always fascinated with the back storyline to machines but this is incredible . I’ve seen and lived some of Johns restoration projects but this is absolutely breathtaking as the machine looks better than when it was new !!!
I’m sure your machine will be just as good … totally amazing and thanks for such a detailed well planned thread … you could write a book !!!!! Best wishes Darren
 
What a nice read to wake up to

Ben, thanks so much for posting this and there aren’t enough. Good words to thank John for doing this, I knew this was coming. I’ve been talking to John along the way helping where possible.

I have long dreamed of putting together one of the original lint separation machines, I think I’m going to convert my 61 lady Kenmore or the gas 61 Kenmore 500 machine to lint separation operation. I have one of these 61 whirlpool combinations that was brought back from Aberdeen South Dakota that was never converted to the lint filter system, and I’m going to use components from it to convert one of the Kenmore’s back to its original design.

In addition to not having to empty your dryer, lint filter, the original lint separation machines also heated the wash water with either the electric heaters or the gas burner for a hotter wash temperature., They were able to do this in the original design, because the blower ran all the time and they could fire up the gas burner or turn on the electric heaters, and the superheated air was blown through as the thing was washing. They also could run the heaters or gas burner as the machine was in the final spin to start preheating the machine for faster trying performance, so things were pretty hot by the time it finished spinning, and the clothing started tumbling to dry.

John
 
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