Santa came early..sort of

[gregingotham]

Just joined this website recently, amazed at all the knowledge of vintage appliances here. As a kid I was always fascinated with appliances, especially washers. I enjoyed them all, but my favorite was my Aunt's Frigidaire 1-18. Fast forward to this weekend and I'm coming back to Kansas City for the holidays; I looked on Craigslist and much to my amazement was a white 1-18 (model W3T1)that someone posted on Saturday morning. I picked it up today, along with a late 60s Kenmore gas dryer. The dryer appears to work although haven't connected to gas yet, but the washer is silent. Any advice on getting repairs/restoration? It's in KC and I've already reached out to see if anyone here works on these machines; no word yet. I'm not a repairman but willing to pay if it can be done.

The cabinet and insides of the 1-18 are all in pristine condition. Interestingly it has a plastic lid. Not sure if this came with it, although it has all the Frigidaire instructions inside it (as well as all the manuals that came with both.) Sadly, when we went to hook it up to water we realized the connections coming from inside the machine for water (plastic) were broken off, although the hoses were inside the tub.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. Hopefully one that can be saved.

Greg

 

[combo52]

KM Gas Dryer And 1-18 Washer

That dryer is a very good dryer, and it sounds like the 1-18 is in great shape as well. The inlet valve is easy to replace and still available.

Email me if you have any questions, John L.

 

[washdaddy]

Greg,
Welcome to AW. This site is definitely full of knowledge for those who like to admire and collect appliances of all ages. You couldn't find a group of nicer people who are more friendly and helpful when it comes to appliance concerns, issues, or topics.

Don't hesitate to contact John L. aka Combo52. He's an excellent person for information and resources when it comes to machines. He's worked in the industry for some time and always likes to lend a hand when possible.

Again, welcome, and of course, have a safe and happy holiday!

 

[roto204]

Plastic lid?

That's interesting.  Is this a 1-16 variant?

 

[gansky1]

Glad you got this set.  I saw it on CL a couple of days ago and stared at the picture for a while thinking that lid just had to be plastic!  

 

The water valve is a very easy fix but by "silent" do you mean it doesn't run at all?  

 

[gregingotham]

yes, by "silent" I meant absolutely nothing happened when I plugged the washer in and tried to start it. Not like "silent" in a good way!

 

[washdaddy]

don't worry Greg....Someone here will surely chime in and help you get that machine up and running giving you some guidance on what to look for to get it thumping away like it's meant to be.

 

[whirlcool]

In the meantime, more photos please. You know how much we love photos.

 

[quincyman]

Fuse/Circuit breaker.

Had a friend on the Cape that had one of these many years ago. I was doing a wash one day and machine just stopped mid-cycle. I was upset thinking I had broken the machine. He got home and just laughed. There was a button somewhere that he pushed and all was well. He called it a reset button and said it happened quite often. Hoping it's that simple for you.

 

[goatfarmer]

Might be the lid switch is bad, or unplugged.

 

[e2l-arry]

1968

My Mother had that exact Sears dryer. She bought it new in 1968. A very nice dryer with the lighted console and top mounted lint filter. There was even a connection next to the lint screen to add a container of "scent", which we never used after the container it came with was gone. Moms was electric.

 

[gregingotham]

Good news!!

Got the washer working today. There was a tiny safety switch that had to be depressed for operation (or the lid down). Great jet action at both speeds; spin working well. Very quiet. Now just have to get water in it by replacing the inlet valve.

 

[rp2813]

Kenny nailed it!

 

[goatfarmer]

Sometimes we all get lucky......

 

[gregingotham]

A few more pics

a few more pics (including the broken inlet valve)

 

[washerlover]

So what's the deal with the plastic lid?

 

[gregingotham]

plastic lid

Not sure. It appears to be original; has all the Frigidaire instructions inside. Maybe someone else knows. Also curious if anyone else knows the exact year. Model is W3T-1; serial 30EC 5456. can't find it in the manuals.

 

[mytechtime]

My source says March, 1973 is the DOM.

 

[philr]

That's a rare machine! It's the basic Gold Crown version with a plastic lid instead of a window lid.  The plastic lid was featured on some basic 1-18 machines as well as all Laundry Centers and GMini washers. (I have a 1973 GMini) but it's the first time I see a 1-18 with the plastic lid! In Canada, we never had these. We had 1-18 machines since late 1976-1977 and I don't think any model still had a plastic lid at that time...

 

A few weeks ago, I got a similar "Custom Deluxe" washer from May of 1973. The timer didn't advance and someone had set the timer pointer incorrectly so the cycles were reversed! I was lucky to have a timer motor on hand and just had to replace the timer pointer in the right position to make it work.  

 

Good luck with yours! Here are a few picture of my washer's controls, if you could take similar pics of yours, I'd like to see that!

 

It seems that yours has separate wash and rinse temperature selectors (which allow cold water wash. On mine, you can't select cold water for the wash) and "Normal" and "Gentle" cycles rather than a speed selector switch?

 

[jetcone]

Similar cycles Phil

but I found they used several different wiring harnesses so that called for several different timers which I find odd since the cycles were so the same!

 

 

[combo52]

Plastic Lids On 1-18s

Frigidaire used these on a number of different lower priced models, I would assume that this was done to save money, I saw a lot of these over the years.

As Phil mentioned all the 24" laundry centers had plastic washer lids and dryer doors, these were changed to metal after WCI bought Frigidaire from GM and WCI was making a deal with GE to build the LCs badged with the GE name. GE insisted on this change for liability reasons because many FD LCs had gone up in flames and the plastic doors and lids increased the chances of the fire spreading to the rest of the house.

The entire heating element assembly was also redesigned and encased in a steel box on the LC dryers because of the very dangerous cheap design the the GM built LCs used. All you had to do was put something like a blanket or pillows on top of the dryer and if it blocked the vents at the rear top of the dryer you could have real problems.

 

[philr]

Jon, your machine is the exact same model as mine, a 1973 WCD3T. It's just a different color, so to blind people, they would be the same! 

 

But there are differences between years and models. No 1971 models had the Permanent Press cycle. Many 1974 models added a Knit cycle (same as Permanent Press but with intermittent agitation) and the Soak cycle was gone on most.

 

One thing I don't know is the differences between the 1972 "T" models and the 1973 "3T" models like ours. If you have info on that, I'd like to know!

 

John, did the plastic lids cause problems in washers too? I can see how the dryer section of the Laundry Centers must have been a fire hazard! 

 

[hippiedoll]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

on the "thumper".
and i'm glad that to make it work, all you had to do was push the reset button!!

hopefully you can replace the water valves easily and get this frigidaire "thumpin" away!!!

keep us posted.....

;o)

 

[gregingotham]

controls on 1-18

PhilR and all -

Here are two pics of the controls. hard to get a good pic in the light available, but the controls are very simple. Wash temp - choice of hot, warm or cold; rinse temp - warm or cold. Two cycles on the dial- normal speed or gentle. And the water level selector. Really about all you need in a very simple format. And allows for a cold wash which PhilR said he can't get.

I love the instructions for a soak cycle (not on the dial but in the manual). Fill the tub with clothes; let the water fill; agitate briefly, push in dial. let it soak 30 min or more; advance to spin; spin and start the cycle over. Its a DIY soak cycle!

 

[gregingotham]

Up and running again after 42 years

Got the water inlet valve installed this weekend. Hooked it up and took her for a spin. No leaks anywhere, quiet, great jet action. Plowed through two loads of laundry like nothing at all. Not too bad for 42 years old. Inside of the cabinet was in amazing shape.

 

[whirlcool]

Amazing, isn't it? You'll enjoy that washer for years to come hopefully. It has just about every wash option you could want in a vintage washer. Congratulations on reviving it!

 

[jetcone]

Phil

I forgot about that knit cycle. I really liked that! 

Now I have to start searching all over again.

 

Nice machine Greg great save, it looks like a low use one to me. You'll enjoy that for sure.