Taming a Rollermatic - Custom Deluxe style!

[gelaundry4ever]

Frigidaire!

That is a nice Frigidaire! How does it sound with the lid shut with nothing but water in it? It's a shame what GM and WCI did to them.

 

[jetcone]

I

Just love the Rollermatic Cross Reference Chart !

 

Ill sleep well tonight !

 

[cycla-fabric]

Ben, all I have to say is that you are super talented in the restoration of this washer. You really should pat yourself on the back for the time and effort to get this machine up and running again. My hats off to you.

Doug

 

[Marky_Mark]

Well done, Ben!  Great work and thanks for documenting it -- I often refer to these "tutorials" to help me fix my own machines!

 

Mark

 

[jons1077]

Amazing work

Ben, you do the finest restorations, I swear. I am terrified of Frigidaires and particularly of this multimatic.

 

[joelippard]

How Wonderful!

Ben, this is one the finest tutorials on Rollermatic restoration I have ever seen here.  I would love to know if you have any advice on how to tame the Sure-Spin Rapidry clutch.  I have ran into several issues on those machines, including my own where you can get it to develop torque and spin the tub on takeoff but then loose torque when it shifts the solenoid on for the middle and high speeds.  Numerous adjustments and tear down and reassembly efforts have proved no result, and it is not the rollers slipping...  It's even too tight to start and throws the overload or presents the condition I outlined above. 

 

Congratulations on a beautiful restoration!

 

[sambootoo]

Again, job well done, as usual. I appreciate your talent, hard work, and your sharing this with us

 

[appledude1]

Was the early machines more reliable than the up and down agitator models from the 70's?

 

[swestoyz]

Was the early machines more reliable than the up and down agitator models from the 70's?

If by early you mean the 1964-1969 Rollermatics vs. the 1970-1979 1-18 Rollermatics, I'd say they both have their strengths and weak spots. Many of us have found both versions that just needed a bit of cleanup and were able to wash without issue. The pot metal base of the Rollermatic water pump can easily corrode and the seal fail; spin roller issues on some of the earlier Rollermatics; noisy rollers on both platforms, water bellows issues on the 1971-1973 1-18s; lint filter latch weakness on the 1-18, etc.

Like all vintage washers, we love them for both for their strengths and areas that need improvement.

I've been using the '65 weekly since February and it is still running perfectly. I love how efficient it is and the almost whisper quiet full speed spin.

Ben

 

[rinso]

In my experiences, the Unimatics were known to spin small items into the outer tub. The 1-18's had a spin clutch that was not all that robust.

 

[agiflow]

In my experiences, the Unimatics were known to spin small items into the outer tub. The 1-18's had a spin clutch that was not all that robust.

I would have thought with the design of that tub in the Unimatic that it would have kept small items in. There hasn't been a video that I've seen where a sock or something small gets thrown over the side in one of these machines. Not discounting your experience, but maybe it wasn't all that prevalent with Frigidaire washers in general ?

Come on you Frigidaire folks who own these machines. Be honest. How often does clothes get caught between the tubs ?

 

[rinso]

I would have thought with the design of that tub in the Unimatic that it would have kept small items in. There hasn't been a video that I've seen where a sock or something small gets thrown over the side in one of these machines. Not discounting your experience, but maybe it wasn't all that prevalent with Frigidaire washers in general ?

Come on you Frigidaire folks who own these machines. Be honest. How often does clothes get caught between the tubs ?

Hi agiflow: My experiences and knowledge with the Unimatics from the 1950's, when I was a kid, was extensive. In the small city in which we lived, there was no Sears. Most folks either had the affordable Unimatic machines, or they had Maytag ker-BANG! AMPs. The socks in the outer tub problem was reported by many of my mom's friends and my aunts that had the Unimatics. Mr. Lund was the appliance repair guy. I watch him fish socks and some small items our of my Aunt Virginia's machine. Oh! BTW, those old Maytag AMP's weren't all that reliable either. The insides of the lids rusted out quickly and the mercury switches often would become dislodged.

 

[agiflow]

Oh wow. I remember seeing some old consumer reports reporting about the higher likelihood of clothes getting caught between tubs with solid tub spin drains from the 1950s. All our favorite machines have pluses and minuses. Whirlpool/Kenmore BD with their slower spinning is a negative to many on this site, but it doesn't bother me because they have wider tubs and as far as I'm concerned are the coolest sounding washing machines ever produced !

 

[dishmobile]

Nothing but respect...well done! My father sold Frigidaire (and Maytag) during the time this delicious machine was new, and I remember a neighbor's house with a turquoise laundry pair just like this. So satisfying is this restoration, thanks for sharing.

 

[bajaespuma]

I learn amazing amounts of information from this post. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. This generation of Frigidaire washing machines is my all-time favorite and the aquamarine color scheme is the icing on the cake.

One persistent question: what is the "PUSH" button next to the dial (reset, I presume?) and why was it eliminated for future Rollermatics?

 

[swestoyz]

One persistent question: what is the "PUSH" button next to the dial (reset, I presume?) and why was it eliminated for future Rollermatics?

Ken, this is a great question (and I apologize for the windy response).

The PUSH circuit breaker button on the 1965/1966 Rollermatics provided the same motor protection that prior generations of Frigidaire mechanisms required (Unimatic/Pulsamatic/Multimatic). The early 1964-1965 1/2 speed and 1965-1966 Rapid Dry mechanisms employed what GM called an "Impact Clutch", in so much that the spin wheel doesn't perform any actual clutching during the ramp up of spin, but rather the clutch disc within the wheel is intended as a safety to protect the motor and spin shaft if the brake were to be engaged at the same time as power was restored to the motor. Imagine the lid being opened for a brief moment and closed while the tub was coasting to a stop via the engaged brake. The initial torque and force from the motor would cause the spin wheel to spin at a different rate than the keyed spin shaft and the clutch would slip for a brief moment until the brake was released.

With the early Rollermatics functioning similarly to the direct drive Unimatic, the PUSH circuit breaker is protecting the motor for any number of scenarios where the ramp up to spin could be impacted by an external factor. All torque required to spin the tub was absorbed by the motor and start capacitor, and the circuit breaker trips current to the motor if the draw from the motor exceeds the rating of the breaker.

When GM shifted the 1/2 speed mechanisms in 1966 over to the Sure Spin clutch, the need for the legacy motor protector was eliminated. By using the Sure Spin clutch the motor was was running a full speed for either agitate or spin at all times, and the clutch within the spin wheel was taking the brunt of the initial torque required to get the tub up to full speed spin. The Sure Spin clutch was adapted to the Rapid Dry mechanism in 1967 for the L line and used for all mechanism speed combinations for the 1968/1969 N line, as well as on the later 1-18 belt drive Rollermatic platform.

Ben

 

[Unimatic1140]

My experience with small items going over the tub in a Unimatic, in 30 years of using Unimatics on a weekly basis it only happened once to me and it was a small cleaning rag, it has never happened to me with socks. I wonder if that has to do with severely overloading the machine? I always somewhat overload but never to the point that the turnover stops.