Speed Queen UltraMate Gas

[thomasortega]

A few days ago I was chatting with Kevin about appliances available on Facebook and Craigslist and at the same time browsing the "free" selection on Craigslist.

Second page: Bingo! A Speed Queen Ultra Mate with a GAS dryer, patiently waiting for me in Van Nuys. Needless to say I contacted the donor immediately.

A very nice lady the said she would keep it to me until I could manage to pick it up.

Kevin comes to the rescue (Thanks Kevin!) with his super truck and my guests (a group of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu figters visiting Los Angeles for the World Championship) lent me their strong arms. Jesus! That darn thing IS heavy.

I don't want to sound shown off, but as far as I know it's the ONLY Ultra Mate with a gas dryer at AWO. John Lefever has an electric version of the same stacked top load washer and dryer. I'm glad I can share this super happy moment with you guys.

Of course I had to dry test it. It spins. the dryer sounds like there's a monster hidden inside it.

Today I'll start cleaning it up and looking for the local Speed Queen service to see what they can do for me. It is basically a regular SQ full size top load washer with a regular full size dryer on top.

Of course I'll post tons of pictures and videos. For now, the first set of pictures, a sad washer abandoned outdoors for 3 years.

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

HOORAY Thomas!

 

It's really neat you found it for FREE!   It's one heavy bast*rd too!  Neat machine, but of course the downside is you can't watch any of the action, at lease in the washer.

 

I could say more but I'll let you share the fun.  

 

Kevin

 

[frigilux]

Congratulations on your rare find--and you can't beat the price. Question: Does the washer actually tip out at an angle for loading/unloading or am I seeing it incorrectly?

 

[revvinkevin]

Yes it does tilt out (not slide out). Perhaps Thomas will post a side view of it open.

 

[appnut]

Congratulations Thomas!!!

 

[thomasortega]

@revvinkevin

That wouldn't be possible without your help. Thank you, thank you, one million times thank you!

Please feel free to share everything you want about it. Too much for me to type, considering the crazy and stressful days I'm having with my guests.

What impressed me more than everything was the washer working so silently, purring like a kitten, after so many years abandoned outside and NO LEAKS! (except for that drain hose elbow that is cracked.)

Kevin, what are your plans for tomorrow? I'm seriously thinking about going to homeless depot to get the gas hoses, more Y connectors and buy a super long hose for the drain. I'd love if you could come with me. THere's a HD 3 minutes away from here on Slauson. Want to have more fun with it?
If I'm really lucky, I'll be able to slide the KM dryer to the right (touching that weird baseboard) and fit the SQ between the KM dryer and the HP washer.

Hopefuly we can run a decent water test by connecting the drain hose straight to the pump (leaving the service door open).

Darryl found the installation and user manuals on Ebay and bought them. It has instructions to remove the dryer. If anybody has a service manual, I'll really appreciate that.

@frigilux: As Kevin said, the washer tilts to the front. It's actually lightweight enough for a short-height, super thin elderly woman to tilt it.

To move it back it's almost like closing a car door. If you just lift it it won't lock the solenoid on the back and the washer won't work. You have to slam it (gently but not so gently) exactly like a car door. When Kevin visits me again I'll make some videos opening and closing the washer. (and I hope i can make that video starting a load in it with the unit on the right place in my laundry room.)

Boring part... well.... it's impossible to see it wash, but I've found a short video on youtube that shows basically the same washer and the same agitator.

 

[golittlesport]

Congrats Thomas! Nice find and right price. Unique and short-lived design makes that a real collector's piece.

 

[thomasortega]

Thanks, Rich!

Update.

Today I started polishing the cabinet, it is actually in great condition.

Kevin came to the rescue, we moved it to the right place and made the fill and drain connections.

I can already use the washer, but still ignoring the dryer because of the rollers.

 

[thomasortega]

Quick video...

 

[whitetub]

Cool find. I have never seen that before.
Very weird to see a tilting top-loader. I guess tilting it when full of water would be a big NO NO....

The only downside is you can't watch it in action...

 

[thomasortega]

I'm shocked!

Dryer is still not connected to the gas line, but I'm already using the washer (super silent by the way) and running several overnight soak with citric acid, then full cycle by the morning.

Today I did some real laundry with it (rags) and an overdose of tide powder, borax, washing soda, oxy bleach...

I intentionally overdosed to clean the washer...

Anyway. i tried the dryer quickly just to show a friend on Whatsapp and.... IT'S SUPER SILENT!

No rollers changed, nothing! absolutely nothing! and it works great!

Now the only thing I need is connect the gas line and check if everything runs ok. SuperKevin, I'm waiting for you!

VERY soon you'll see the Speed Queen Ultramate fully operational.

Best of all:

I already have here a Samtag Neptune front load washer. It belongs to Kevin, he doesn't like it very much, Darryl loves it, I somewhat like it because it's the only washer I have that can handle my Cal King duvet.

Days ago Kevin found the matching gas dryer, with a pedestal, AND THE PRICE COULDN'T BE BETTER! Free dollars and free cents. Who doesn't love that price?

It needs new rollers, already ordered and should arrive by the end of the day (Thanks to Amazon Prime, my boss will cut my balls if he knows that I shop at Amazon)

SuperKevin also found the lightbulbs for it... now LED just to give it a modern touch.

Better than having one gas dryer is having THREE connected and ready to be used simultaneously. and best of all, with the new layout in my laundry room, I'll have 27 inches left, so I can fit one more washer.

If I'm lucky, someday I'll find the silly washer I always dreamed about having, since decades before moving to the USA. A 1.6 cu ft Whirlpool Thin Twin with a gas dryer or a Maytag stacked washer and dryer (that one with the small control panel on the right)

Or, of course, a Frigidaire Unimatic.

Now I can also start thinking about wall decoration... My laundry room is turning into a mini Laundry Disneyland.

 

[askolover]

The Maytag stacked unit you described above is the model I bought for my mother back in 1994...an LSG7804AAL....it's still going strong.

 

[thomasortega]

Sad day. I need help urgently!

I had a roommate that moved out a few months ago but he still brings his laundry to wash.

Yesterday he called me to say all his light colors had oil stains.

OMG, I washed them in the Ultra-mate.

Anyway, days ago I noticed the agitator had some oil stains, but didn't really care much. I was so busy that day that the visual information was completely ignored by my brain. When my friend told me about the stains on his clothes, I immediately linked both situations.

How fixable it is, considering that parts are nearly impossible to find?

 

[combo52]

Remove The Agitator And See If There Is oil Under It.

If so you need a new transmission, it is also a big job to replace it.

 

It might be easier to find a similar age SQ TL washer and switch out the entire tub-transmission-support assembly.

 

If it is serious and you decide to recycle the machine I would love to buy the dryer front panel and the gas burner assembly and burner box to convert the electric one we have to gas.

 

John L.

 

[felix]

Congratulations thomas!

 

[thomasortega]

John

The bottom of the agitator is horribly stained with oil.

I have the SQ Marathon, But I didn't want to kill it to save the Ultra-mate.