Questions about a Whirlpool PORTABLE Washing Machine

[mjg0619]

Hi all, this portable Whirlpool washer popped up on Facebook Marketplace near me for $100. The lady selling it is going to send me more pics of it tomorrow.

What can you guys tell me about this machine? Rough age, belt drive or direct drive, pros/cons, etc.

 

[dustin92]

I'd say mid 90's juudging by the controls, which I believe would make it a Direct Drive. If that's the case, it's an easy to repair, nearly bulletproof washer. They can be a tad rough on clothes, but if you don't overload and don't over wash (too much wash time for the soil level) you should be fine.

 

[combo52]

This Is A DD WP Compact Washer

These were very good machines, the biggest serious problem they could have are broken suspension tri-pods.

 

This DD washer was actually very easy on clothing as 80% of the agitation was done with the low motor speed, there was only a very short period of hi-speed agitation available at the very beginning of wash on the regular and for one minute at the start of the rinse agitation period on the heavy-regular.

 

John L.

 

[mjg0619]

Thanks for the info.

John, are those rods difficult to obtain or replace? How's the capacity on these units?

 

[combo52]

This Is A DD WP Compact Washer

Hi Matt, The capacity of these washers is about 5-6 pounds of cotton clothing max. The tub is 1.5 CF.

 

The suspension tri-pod that can break is the frame that holds the transmission, clutch and also supports the tubs etc. To replace it you have to take the washer entirely apart, but its not that bad a job but takes about an hour even for me. Good news is the part is still available, bad news the part costs more than you are paying for the washer.

 

Keep in mind the TPs while we saw a lot of them break usually only broke of machines that got a lot of hard use, most owners never had that problem, and other than that problem these are really rugged little machines.

 

John L.

 

[stevet]

Spin speed?

Does this unit also have the faster spin speed like the belt drive portables had? I had a belt drive one for a while and it washed better than our Duet and it damp dried the clothes as if we used the high speed on the FL machine. I miss it!

 

[combo52]

Spin Speed On A DD WP Compact Washer

Unfortunately these spin the same speed as the regular larger DD washers, around 640-650 RPMs, but still better than a vintage Maytag helical washer.

 

 

John L.