The 1950's Wilkins Servis Twin Tub is HOME!!!

[mattywashboy]

Well guys, I won the Wilkins Servis Twin Tub that was on Ebay. I organised a pick up and went and got it tonite.

Its in somewhat good condition. Few issues are lack of any pipe or cable work at all, the drain hose was cut off at some point it seems and replaced with a newer alternative which was also cut off...
Also there is no power cable but my housemate can arrange one to be put on in the near future (approx 2030 knowing his timekeeping).
No fill hose at all.
Agitator has snapped at some point and lost a bit of the plastic holding it together, unsure how this will affect it should i get it back to working condition.
All in all the spin can is nice and clean, very little rust around the machine, just what you would expect from a 50 year old machine. The rubber seals around the machine are stiff as is the Lid Release switch on the wash deck.

Also this model has NO HEATER, the light is blanked out and the spin dial just simply has ON/OFF written on it.

Here are some photos, make of it what you will, any advice would be appreciated.

Many Thanks
Matt

First Pic, a happy new owner, if not slightly disgruntled i couldn't be using it tonite haha.

 

[mattywashboy]

The machine...

 

[mattywashboy]

the controls... notice the heater lamp is covered and lack of heat option on spin dial

 

[mattywashboy]

the top of the wash deck with the lid release...

 

[mattywashboy]

the wash side, notice crack in agitator post

 

[mattywashboy]

spin can, nice and clean, just needs a vaccuum and a wipe down...ahhh lady lol

 

[mattywashboy]

the broken agitator...

 

[mattywashboy]

the full controls including the 'temperature indicator' which is what i can assume it does if anything at all since the heater is non existent

 

[mattywashboy]

Look Ma! No heater!

 

[mattywashboy]

the Servis Washdog?? nah just Jet trying to be cool since theres a new guy in the house.

One question, if the pump is on, can u not wash and spin at the same time without losing the wash water?

 

[ronhic]

Looks great Matty and not a huge amount to get her rumbling away either.

 

[mattywashboy]

More Pics

Hey Guys

Just a couple more photos of the internals of this machine. For anyone that's interested that is...

Heres the back of the machine, panel off... you can see certain missing parts like oh i don't know, drain hoses, power cords lol

 

[mattywashboy]

heres where they cut the power cord off, i forgot they used that fabric like insulation back then, hopefully we can fit a modern one on ok...

 

[mattywashboy]

heres the section where the missing hoses are. I am assuming the spin drain hose and wash drain hose linked up at some point and went down the same outlet drain hose??
They have snapped off the drain hose from the spinner and put a block of wood down it for some reason. Also have taken off the outlet hose, rather annoying but they have a pseudo replacement in the wash tub, a clear peice of pipe. Will see how we go getting a replacement...
The paper like things around the hose are just flowers off a tree near our carport, they get everywhere when it gets windy,,,,sigh.

will be hopefully fixing this up within the next few weeks if i can. For now i have another possible exciting Ebay purchase to welcome into the home, more details later...

 

[mattywashboy]

and finally the rating plate, just spotted it and snapped it, couldn't find it looking for it before. Its a MK19 apparently...

anyway i will do my best with the limited knowledge i have and report back when i can.

thanks guys..

matt

 

[aquarius8000]

congratulations matt

On your new machine. It shold give good servis.

chris

 

[vacbear58]

Paging ChesterMike, Paging ChesterMike ....

Matt

"For anyone that's interested that is..."

 

Damm right we are interested! This is a wonderful find even if it is going to take a bit of work to get it sorted. It is curious that it has a thermometer when it does not have a heater but there you go...

 

You should have no problems replacing the flex as there is no heater and its only 10amps. Others will have operating instructions to advise on the controls accuratly and service manuals (no pun intended) to give more accurate details of what should be inside. However it looks to me like there is a pump missing as there seems to be a platform for one where the hoses are cut and there are cut wires dangling down.

 

It may take a bit of creative work with hoses and possibley a pump but I hope you will be able to get it back into working order soon. Congratulations on rescuing this great machine

 

Al 

 

[autowasherfreak]

Look like a fun project.  Can't wait to see it finished, and videos too I hope

 

[brisnat81]

It looks very cute there Matty.

However I wouldnt rush to put cord on yet as it looks like the motor for the wash side is missing. I can see two leads and an earth wire, just dangling. Make sure they're connected to something before you put a cord on it.

Cheers

Nathan

 

[liberator1509]

Twin-line dual drain hose

Hi Matt

The rather unique twin-line hose is actually available in the UK - it is rather expensive, but for such a unique machine it might just be worth it (assuming the additional cost of shipping doesn't make it total madness...).  The fill hose and others are also to be had from the same source.

 

Hope this helps!  Best of luck with the restoration!

 

David

http://www.easyspares.co.uk/product.asp?c=20&c2=96&p=1645

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis Supertwin

Hi Matt

Nothing you cant accomplish but you are going to need spares, Nathan is right the wash motor is missing and the pump should be situated at the front of the cabinet if its there, the motor drives it and its connected to the slider on the control panel by a conrod...

The hose was a "Two In One" arrangement, two hoses one from the spin and wash then joined a diverter where the one main outlet hose was spilt in two halves, totally unique to Servis...heres the pic, have emailed easyspares because like most other sites that show this hose it appears its out of stock and long gone...if it isnt then a few of us will be buying them!!! If you cant get them use two seperate hoses, which are no problem...

Also, I have never seen a broken agi like that...its going to take creative flair and some strong epoxy to fix it, the drive block movement is all at the top and that break area will be where most of the pressure is when it starts to move against the clothes....I do have a spare we can send so no probs there

We do have spares between the group will chat it over and see what we can come up with......heres Jon Jetcone using the Servis on his last visit and using the hose!!

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis supertwin

Twinline Hose, see how its two halves, its very rigid but when 50yrs old they do go snap very suddenly!!!,

Mum only ever needed one replacement in 18yrs but that was used 4 times a week,usually washing 4 different washloads each time so = 16 washloads a week, which = 64 washloads a month = 760 a year = around 13,825 washloads in its lifetime...Now thats Service Service...

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis Supertwin Service

i`m sure we can get all the parts you need, and will check as the later motor can also be fitted with a creative link for the brackets...this design stayed almost the same for the 30yrs of production...heres a couple we where sorting out to make one good one, you can see the large motor sits underneath!!

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis supertwin

Heres mine after a restore washing away, still missing its bronze cap cover...(ohhh keith..!!)

 

[mattywashboy]

Thanks so much Mike.

Will have to see what we can do. Did these things have two pumps at all or did u have to wash and spin separately? Just wondering if that is the missing gap where the hose from the spin can is...

My housemate can help me with electrics but yeah...spares will be an issue. The agitator i have discovered has all its peices just needs to be glued back together. A replacement would be ideal but i don't want people to send things if we never get it working, can be costly...

Thanks again Mike

Matt

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis

Hi Matt, yes the spin & wash had seperate motors,  and pumps driven from each motor, not electric pumps until much later!!

 

See how you get on with the glueing and will let you know about motors etc..

 

 

Cheers, Mike

 

 

 

[keymatic]

Hi Mike,
Is that a MK1 with missing "gold" insert on the timer control..? It is weird i was only down the garage the other day and saw on the floor a small gold disc and wondered what it was off..however i am sure my MK1 has the two firmly attached, if they are and i don't need it i will pop it in the post to you.
I have been contacted by a guy over in Suffolk who has offered me a very early 60's machine still in the box.. never used!! I am going to pick it up next week, would have post details before now, but i have just had an op on my knee this week, and can't drive for a few weeks..I will post more pics when i get it.
Hope all is well.
Regards
Keith