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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