Solid tubs

[tcox6912]

Hi folks. This may have been discussed before, but I don't recall it. Of the older (vintage) washers, which ones used the cabinet as an outer tub instead of the typical outer tub? Was there an advantage or disadvantage when the cabinet was the actual outer tub? Thanks for the info. Todd

 

[70series]

I could be way off on this, but here goes.

If I remember correctly from past discussions, the Vintage Hotpoint solid tub washers did not have an outer tub, thus they must have used the cabinet for this, as it was the only place for the water to flow during the overflow rinse, and spin.

It was the first washer I had growing up, but it was replaced just after 2nd birthday.

Have a good one,
James

 

[mayken4now]

The Unimatics and other Frigidaire's used the cabinets as outer tubs for the water to exit the wash tubs. I do think I am correct in stating this, but NOT an expert. Perhaps others will know the answer.

Steve

 

[tomturbomatic]

One advantage of the design was that the whole cabinet had to be porcelain in the Frigidaires and Hotpoints so the outside did not yellow or fade like paint, but it would chip. I think I remember that my WCI58 has a separate outer tub and did not use the cabinet to hold water. You could not hear the water hitting the cabinet as it was spun out of the tub nor did the cabinet suddenly get very warm from the wash water being right on the other side of the single wall of the cabinet like in the WO 65-2. I think that you can tell the difference between Frigidaire machines that used the cabinet to hold the water and the newer design by the presence of the 4 Philips head screws in the top of the cabinet on older machines like the WO 65. Having a separate outer tub enabled Frigidaire to offer cheaper models without porcelain cabinets.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Todd the following solid tub washers used their cabinets as the outer tub to throw the water out into during spin:

All Hotpoint desgined washers from 1949-1974
Frigidaire Unimatics from 1947-1954
Early Beam style machines (Coronado, Barton, etc)
Apex washers thru at least 1953, possible to the end in '56
Early ABC and Kelvinator washers thru at least 1953.

Did I miss any? The best part is getting to hear to noise of the water being thrown against the side of the cabinet. When you used a hot wash, the cabinet gets really warm really fast. It's great in the winter.

 

[irishwashguy]

I am wondering

That may sound silly to ask, well here it goes.............I take it that the mechanism is water tight, or water proof? When I first saw the monster Unimatic 2.0, I was a little freaked and facinated by the whole system of having the outer tub be the cabinet. Can the water also drain out of the bottom of the tub in these washers? Talk about something that was really well thought out. That is Genius! My first washer, the 1967 Rollermatic, had two tubs, for some reason, i just figured that they were simmilar to the earlier machines. Do you know what promted them to change this design?

 

[laundryshark]

1947 GE Washer

Robert:

Regarding your 1947 GE model that spun up to 1140 RPM, was that a porcelain cabinet or not?

--Laundry Shark

 

[Unimatic1140]

That may sound silly to ask, well here it goes.............I take it that the mechanism is water tight, or water proof?
Hi Ritchie, no washer question is silly to ask here! No the mechanism is not water tight. The mechanism is mounted below the water tight bottom of the cabinet. See the diagram below, it shows the bottom (colored in red) and the mechanism below that.

Can the water also drain out of the bottom of the tub in these washers?
No the only way to remove water from these wash tubs is to spin the water over the top of the tub.

Regarding your 1947 GE model that spun up to 1140 RPM, was that a porcelain cabinet or not?
Hi Shark, no the '47 GE is painted, it has a seperate procelain outer tub.

By the way the only machines of this style that were all porcelain were the Frigidaire and the Hotpoint (after the first model).

 

[northwesty]

Cabinet as outer tub

Wouldn't the old Thor be in this catagory?

Say, about the Hotpoint. The '53 I used to own, it seems like it had an outer tub but didn't use the cabinet. I could take the cabinet off and run through a cycle just fine.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hey Brian, thanks I forgot about the Thor! And you're right, the first Hotpoint had no outer tub, but then for the next few years they made an outer tub machine. I know by 1956 they went back to no outer tub again, all the way up thru the end of Hotpoint designed washers in 1975.

 

[westyslantfront]

Solid tubs are fascinating to me. I cannot wait for
Manny to get Blackstone 250 back here and working.
He had plenty of work to do on it and hopefully will be done
soon.

Ross