Pushbutton Lady Kenmore

[sudsmaster]

Keys closeup

 

[sudsmaster]

Dial Closeup

 

[sudsmaster]

Variflex control

 

[sudsmaster]

Looks like rust stains... wonder what the outer tub looks like...

 

[exploder3211]

Great Washer.. Love all the buttons or "keys"

 

[sudsmaster]

The Lady in Repose

 

[scott55405]

You plugged it in on the truck! I can see the light! Very nice machine. I wonder what "custom care" is. I don't think I've seen a white Vari-Flex before.

 

[sudsmaster]

Actually it was just off the truck when I plugged it in. I usually back the truck up to the driveway ramp to unload major appliances - makes the tailgate lower to the ground. Then I roll the appliance into the "holding and testing area", lol.

I'm told this one leaks a little so I suspect it will require a major tear-down like the '65 RCA. Further diagnosis will have to wait until the weekend when I can do a test run and look underneath for signs of obvious leakage. The leak is coming from the left rear so it might just be a loose hose connection at the self-cleaning filter, or the filter leaking itself.

 

[appnut]

Scott, the "custom care" button is most likely the 3rd speed selection. This only affected agitation speed, spin speeds remained normal or slow, depending on cycle. Agitation on PP & Normal is regular. When the button is pushed, agitation becomes gentle. On the knitsdelicates cycle, the regular gentle speed became the 3rd ex-lo speed agitation. Incidentally, this was the only model in the line with a 10 minute knits/delicate max cycle time. The 10 minutes was for knits, I do believe the 8 minute mark on the timer was a 2 minute pause/soak. 6 minutes was for delicates & washable woolens.

 

[cehalstead]

custom care

Selecting the "Custom Care" button slowed down the agitation from normal to slow. It did not modify the spin speed. Custom Care had no effect on the delicate cycles. In 1968, my mom bought a Kenmore 900 matched set in avocado. According to the salesman, the '68 900 was simply a '67 LK that had not been sold and had "new" insignia attached....

 

[appnut]

Congratulations Rich, glad you saved her.

 

[sudsmaster]

Until I get a chance to test her, what is the interaction between the dial timer and the keyboard? Can one simply ignore the dial timer (except for in/out on/off operation) and use the keyboard to set everything? Will the dial timer advance to correct setting according to keyboard selections? Or must one set both timer and keyboard at the same time?

 

[sudsmaster]

This one has the plastic detergent dispenser (chrome plated plastic, that is), but there is no tray inside for different additions. Is there supposed to be one? The owner indicated something was missing, but she couldn't remember what. On the left front side of the basket opening there is a cut-out in the top ring, but there is no fitting for it. I wonder what that was for. It doesn't seem to have any water inlet so I don't think it's a dispenser.

I will contact the owner to see if she can find the missing three-compartment dispenser insert, if that is what is missing.

 

[appnut]

Rich, on the left where that opening is is where the fabric softener & bleach dispensers were. Since that's missing, as well as the plastic detergent tray, I venture to say the lady that owned it wasn't the original (because the dispensers are usually removed when a machine is refurbed to be resold) or the devices wore themselves out and were removed long ago due to calcium, lime, rust issues.

 

[powerfin64]

Wonderful!!

thats 70-71 Lady K. Mine is a 72. only differances are: yours keypads are color coded( mine aren't)yours has a soap dipenser where mine is a triple. Vari-Flex agitator is white, like mine.
Doing laundry won't be the same as it was with your new Lady K now!
ENJOY!!

Rich

P.S. I know where I can get you a better Timer dial, if you want one. Email me at my profile address.

 

[appnut]

As far as the interaction between the timer knob and the buttons, the buttons select the wash & rinse temps. It's been a whiloe since I saw the lid instructions, but if the wash time for cottons white & cottons colors are both 14 minutes, then that was set up so the detergent dispenser could be used. If it's 12 for colored, then the dispenser flushes for a total of up to 4 minutes. With the cycle button depressed, when you pull the knob out to "stop" washer aned rotate knob around, it will stop on the base cycle selected for the fabric (I think caused by some sort of cam). Then you push the timer knob in to start the machine. At that point, you may move the timer to a different wash time within that cycle if you so choose. If that is done, I doubt the detergent dispenser works. Have I confused you or answered the question?

 

[powerfin64]

Or you can press "selective Dialing-cancel" and turn to the cycle you want at any time increment. you'll have to press the correct cyclepad for the water temp after you press in the timer to start.

Rich

 

[scott55405]

thanks for the custom care description, Bob and Cehelstead!

 

[danemodsandy]

Nostalgia...

It almost makes me sad to see this Lady K, because I remember when these machines were new. In those days, the machines got a little nicer each year, with a couple of new features. We thought that was going to go on forever. By the 21st Century (then so far off you couldn't imagine it was ever going to get here) washing machines were going to be absolutely fantastic. Maybe ultrasonic, maybe something else- but they were going to be GREAT.

What happened? Everything's plastic now, everything is goofy electronics with suicidal control boards, and most of the brands that were around in the early '70s are gone now. I'm glad you saved this machine, as a reminder of a time when some American corporations still knew what they were doing.

 

[sudsmaster]

Lady of the Night

Bob, you're basically correct with your description of how the keyboard and dial interact. I just snapped a photo of the underside of the lid/instructions, but first,