The Blackstone BA600 - home at last, but...

[turquoisedude]

I picked up this washer back in November at the auction in Queensbury NY but it has been stored temporarily in my vacant house off of the western end of Montreal.  But this past Friday, Phil very generously helped me move it from Ile-Perrôt to Ogden.  

 

[turquoisedude]

I was incredibly optimistic about this machine (oh, right, I usually am... LOL).  I fired it up on the day of the auction and I was able to make it agitate and spin; better still, the timer actually worked!

 

However, I thought I'd best do a good once-over of the washer before flooding the basement and causing Hubby to leave me a lump of coal in my Christmas stocking. 

 

The machine is kinda neat in that it is serviced mostly from the front.  I even have a manual for the 1963 version of this washer, so I wasn't just stabbing around blindly!

 

One big surprise - a Westinghouse motor.  

 

[turquoisedude]

And here's the 'but'...

I was more than a little disappointed when I saw the rusty streaks on the pump housing.   That outer tub (the 'collector tub' in Blackstone-ese) is badly rusted and damaged around the drain opening.

 

BUT it's not like I've never had to deal with anything like this before...  I do have a tentative plan that will involve POR15, that auto-body fibreglas patching stuff, and the wee portable grinder tool.   It'll be just like rebuilding the tub on the '57 Whirlpool dishwasher!

 

[turquoisedude]

On a more positive note, the agitator on this washer lifted out without the least bit of grief.  And the wash tub looks to be in fantastic condition.  

 

There's a wiring diagram and the operating instructions on the lid are not stained by detergent residue.  

 

But this extra hose has me baffled...  I know the higher-end model of Blackstones of this era (the BA750 I believe) had a water recirculation and filtering system.   I'll have to do some digging to see if perhaps this was for that purpose.  My other theory (again with the theories...) is that it might have been to use as as suds-saver feature.  Pure speculation on my part here.  

 

So, likewise, this one's going to have it's top removed and basket taken out at some point soon.  Let's see how bored I get between Christmas and New Years this year... LOL 

 

[philr]

Paul, instead of using fiberglass, I'd suggest that you try something like that:

http://www.europages.co.uk/Debrasel-special-fillers/CHEMICAR-EUROPE/cpid-5098277.html

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Paul.

That's beautiful. If you need a spare pump let me know. They should still be available here off the Hoover.

If they're anything like the Hoover, that hose could be an overflow, designed to let the water out away from ok the electrics if the machine overfills.

Cheers

Nathan

 

[jetcone]

I believe

that hose is to break an air lock in the pump. It may also be a relief for those horrible oversudsing detergents from yesteryear.

 

It looks like a nice machine.

 

Id JB WELD  a tail piece in before I'd por 15 that.

 

 

 

[blackstone]

'Mystery' Hose

Paul,

Some machines have that hose, and others just have a cap on the pump opening, so the hose is not a necessity. What it is good for, is to drain the water from the tank if the pump is clogged or stuck. Just bend the hose down into a pail, and gravity drains the tank. Makes repair work a lot cleaner and drier.

Blackstone also added a plastic cover to clamp on top of the motor, to keep water from dripping or pouring into the motor. Or you could just duct-tape stiff plastic to the inside of the cabinet, to make a roof over the motor.

The smaller, plugged-up opening in the pump was used for recirculating in newer Blackstones.

I have a few stainless tubs, which might be the same as what you have, if you feel the urge to change it out.

One other thing--I hope the hose from the tub to the pump is still flexible. It was hard enough stretching that hose when new. No wiggle room here. I always hated those things.

 

[turquoisedude]

Back at last!!  I was pretty sick for the Christmas holidays (figures...) but I still did some tinkering with the Blackstone!

 

Fred, if it's an outer tub, I'm definitely interested!  I believe there was a model BA650 which was just like mine but with a stainless washer tub.  The original one in this one looks pretty darn good, though!  

 

And even looking at the outer tub drain opening doesn't look too bad....  But.... 

 

[turquoisedude]

Now, as Fred mentioned, I wanted to make sure that the pump collar was still flexible.  It was, but sheesh!  Look at the rust stains..  

 

This poor dear leaked for some time it would seem. 

 

[turquoisedude]

And this is where it all fell apart.... Literally...  

 

The tub outlet area was completely shot.  As I tried to remove the pump collar, the whole flippin' drain outlet area just crumbled to bits.   Why you ask?  Plastisol!!  AAARGH!!  My arch-nemesis strikes again.  

 

I would venture a guess that this was the 'Achilles heel' of these machines.  I have a feeling that there was often a good amount of water remaining in the tub and this led to rusting out.  

 

It looks bad, but I've dealt with this kind of issue before.  The trouble was that I had no idea what to use as a new drain outlet...  I thought a sink drain flange might do it, but I couldn't find anything suitable.  However, while doing a load of table linens in a certain 1966 Inglis washer, I remembered the drain fitting that connected the outer tub to the baseplate.  I looked over the parts lists and over the photos I took during the Inglis restoration and figured it should work.  I've ordered one now and it should be at my Vermont PO Box next week.  Stay tuned!!

 

[washman]

Were these Blackstones

their own design or a badge engineered machine from someone else?

 

[appnut]

They were their own designs. 

 

[turquoisedude]

And they crept over the border, too...   Here's a brochure photo from 1963 for the Beatty 'Classic' washer - it's a Blackstone for sure!

 

[blackstone]

That is a clean-looking porcelain inner tub. I'm almost positive that the stainless tub that I have is an exact replacement. If only the collector tank had been made out of stainless! I've seen a lot of those rust through. Can't wait to see the repair job on that drain opening. I hope you don't have the same problem at the center opening.

 

[turquoisedude]

Fred, the center opening looks great (and, bonus, the boot is still nice and flexible) - phew!   A stainless tub sounds awfully tempting....  I wish the outer tanks were stainless too, but what can you do.