Tennessee Appliance Dealer Going out of Business

[mickeyd]

Great stories, Bob and John

Nice to see greed and deceit punished for a change. Go Maytag.

Whoever gets the Kitchen Aid will have her forever. This machine is a crown jewel. Just ask my mother--hers is not TOL, though.

 

[bwoods]

the Jenn-Air/Maytag RR find

Here is the old electronic RR I found in Abe's appliance store basement. It was all alone, in the dark and very dirty...

 

[bwoods]

close-up

A little better look at the control panel

 

[bwoods]

another view

Here the Reverse-Rack is getting "CAT scanned" by my little helper, Adam.

He is at my side on every project to inspect my work and make sure I am doing it right.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Probably my favorite dishwashers of all time is the Maytag and Jenn Air reverse racks.

 

[supersuds]

Inspector Adam reporting for duty!

Between the two of you, I'm sure the Jenn Air is in good hands.

I'm tempted by the KA washer, but have no room for more than one at a time, so this one would have to be fixed and ready to go into service immediately.

Hypothetically, how hard is it to replace the fill solenoid on the KA washer, and is the part still available? Are NLA parts a problem for these machines? And what problems would I like
I encounter trying to use a washer that has sat in a basement for 15-20 years?

I remember Robert cautioning against treating unused old washers as if they could become daily drivers right off the bat.

 

[combo52]

KA Push-Button Washer

The inlet valve is still VERY available and cheap and there should be no problem pushing this washer into immediate service as it was so new when stored, it wouldn't have any problem with dry seals etc. This unique washer was only made for a year or so and few were sold, luckily all of the mechanical parts are just regular DD parts [ very reliable and easy to fix ] the problem is if you have any problem with the controls these parts are all NLA. We have an almond pair of these at our warehouse-museum that do work. It was an interesting idea to make an electro-mechaneally controlled washer and dryer so late in washer history. This was 1959 technology, WP had already been building electronically controlled washers and dryers for 10 years. I think that was an idea that came from someone from the Kitchen-aid side of things as these machines used a similar control system to the mechanical all push-button TOL KA Supbera DWs.

 

[jetcone]

that widowed WP is

cool and for $100 bucks thats nothing! Who's going out there??

It would match my windowed EASY Spin Drier for sure!

 

[macboy91si]

Windowed WP

Actually Jon I really wanted, but I have tried calling Joy several times and she not only doesn't answer, but her voicemail is full, I'd really like to get a confirmation before making a 2.5hr drive in my truck... I will keep trying as I think it's neat. For all I know it may be gone?

 

 

-Tim

 

[supersuds]

You guys are a bad influence

With all this encouragement, I decided to take a shot at the KA washer and see if I can fix it.

Same problem in that I can't get thru to Joy and the store's landline has been disconnected. I work out of town so I can't go by until this weekend.

I kind of doubt the windowed WP washer is gone. There didn't seem to be exactly a flood of customers there on Saturday. I will certainly be glad to check this weekend if nobody can get through until then.

 

[bwoods]

Tim,

I can go tomorrow and ask Abe if he will hold it for you. I am sure he will be happy to do this. Give me your last name and the approximate date on which you will pick it up. If he requires a deposit, I can pay it and you may reimburse me later. I've made the same offer to John, so I might as well put yours on hold while I am there tomorrow.

I cannot get a hold of Joy either. I think she may be overwhelmed with members from this site. I know several were going to call her about parts. They are not a parts store, just a dealer. What parts they do have are thrown, relatively unsorted, in boxes in the basement. My guess is no one there is probably wanting to rummage through these.

Barry

 

[macboy91si]

Barry

I will contact you via email tonight.

 

[appnut]

Barry, wow, I"m pea green with envy!!! Interior shots when able to please.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

OMG

I love those Pushbutton KA washers. My friends mom had one for 17 years. I always loved the flourescent lighted console.

 

[jetcone]

Tim thats great with me

You go for it, I'll come down and see it in action someday. I get a jones for something and sometimes its just that I want to see it saved.

Jon

 

[macboy91si]

Clear WP DD

Of course there will be video if this all works out!

 

I'm pretty stoked and thanks to Barry for really going out of his way, will know soon if it's actually a go.

 

-Tim

 

[mickeyd]

Great fortune, Tim

You know, I couldn't figure it out. See-thru outer tub, yes, but where is the inner tub--how can the machine hold water?

Then it dawned on me, just now: TWO see-thru tubs ( actually one window and one whole see thru tub.) Won't it be cool to see that jet turbotator go!?

 

[mickeyd]

Okay

On first seeing it......interesting, where are the perforations in the tub? Well, it's a window. Then how do the tubs line up perfectly, after each spin to make the windows "work"? Are they engineered to do so, and I simply don't know enough?

 

No, silly, the whole tub is plexiglassed.

 

Fine. Then how does the water circulate/drain? Are the 4 ports in the bottom enough to do the deed?

 

Will we have to wait till Tim gets the machine, or do you guys know, and I'm in a blind spot?

 

[supersuds]

It's very interesting. The inner tub is mostly white porcelain on steel with no perforations in the side, only in the bottom. At first glance I thought it was a solid tub!

I'm guessing it doesn't spin at all. Abe said it was intended to demonstrate the agitation. Could be wrong, though.

 

[mrb627]

Timer

Yeah. If you look closely at the timer, it is clearly not a normal machine.

Malcolm