The Put Away Wet Kenmore

[gansky1]

Saw an ad for this washer on CL here today so Jamie (chromacolor) and I went out to grab it tonight. Beautiful 1972 in very clean condition. The story was that it was used by a 92 year old woman for only two loads a week on Saturdays. All the books, etc. came along with it.

 

[gansky1]

Super-Roto-Money-Shot

We plugged it in, test ran it in spin and agitate and all sounded pretty good. Hooked it up to water and all was going well....

 

[washernoob]

Saw that on craigslist too. Didn't know it was really anything special, so I didn't post it here! Glad you got it! It does look very nice!

Congratulations!

 

[gansky1]

...all seemed well, but what's that trickle of water coming out from underneath?? Could be a dried out hose? Leaky water valve?

Nope. Center Post seal.

 

[gansky1]

A good lesson for "lid stays open" or your washer will end up like this:

 

[appnut]

What a shame. Beautiful conditions cosmetically.

 

[kenmore700bill]

Gan,
The lid open is a true statement. All my childhood life my mom always kept lid open and I kept that same habit the only time the lid is closed is when the machine is operational.She said the machine needs to dry out. Today at my home in No Jersey I have my Washer in laundry room in the basement and lid is open. At my summer home I have the Maytag top and bottom I believe is A1000 Electronic Controls and there too the only time that lid is closed is when the machine is operating. We all thought my mom was just showing off her 1969 Kenmore700 when in fact she was preserving it she did in fact get 20 years out of it with no service other than Sears coming in once a year for the free maintenance check they did because she had maintenance agreement. When she gave up that machine for new one still looked like it was on the showroom floor. I do miss that washer if I knew then what I know now i would still have that machine. Best of luck on repairing the washer.
Bill "kenmore700"

 

[volvoguy87]

I live with a '72 70.

It's Harvest, but I really like the washer. It's one of my favorites.
Dave

 

[norgeway]

Yes...and something else!!

Always leave your oven door open after baking...or you will get condensation and a prematurely rusted out oven!

 

[appnut]

Hans, you are exactly right. My mom said the same thinng. I always leave the oven door ajar for a while to not only cool down but to remove moisture.

 

[peteski50]

Wet Kenmore!

Graig - what a great find!

 

[mrb627]

Awesome Console

I think this is one of the best Kenmore Consoles ever. I hope you plan on saving her!

Malcolm

 

[toggleswitch]

A gas oven has a large vent, So leaving the door open is not as crucial

 

[spinmon]

rig it

Wouldn't it be possible to clean/rough-up & J-B Weld the heck out of the tub/post? Some other rust-stop/epoxy ''repair''? If a replacement tub/post is $$/hard to come by,I would think a rigged repair would allow limited enjoyment,if not not daily driver use,of you nice woo-woo acquisition.

 

[gansky1]

The rust under the basket isn't as scary as it might have looked in the photograph, some of that was scaly rust-colored schmeg. Wire brushing and POR 15 should make that perfectly usable and WP-KM baskets aren't THAT rare yet. I will pull the tub and see how terrible the rust is. Everything else runs perfectly and cosmetically it looks great, I'm not going to count it out quite yet.

 

[70series]

Great find, and I love those chrome knobs. I am guessing this is an 800 model.

Too bad about the rust situation. I hope the rust can be removed without too much hardship, and that it will not forbid the washer from being used.

Good luck
James

 

[swestoyz]

Yum, a H/W setting!

Perfect replacement for the water-hog Warge, don't you think?

The splines on the agitator shaft look pretty darn clean.

 

[mayfan69]

Love the jewelled knobs....

Love that control panel.....those knobs!

Cheers
Leon

 

[cleanteamofny]

I had the Gold version of that same machine, but I had no choice but to curb it. It was in very bad condition.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Greg -

I noticed the same thing that Ben did - the agitator shaft splines are fantastic. Usually they are rusted due to bad spin tube and bearing seals. NICE!

The biggest issue I see here is the rust directly at the centerpost gasket. When that gets into the vacinity of the sidewalls of the tub seal area itself, it often breaks or cracks the sealing area of the tub lip due to the expansion, and makes a new gasket impossible to seal. Small breaks or chips don't usually seem to cause much problem when used with sealer, but I've had tubs come apart in chunks in this area.

You may know this already, but handle that area with care and hopefully it will come out unscathed.

Gordon

 

[Unimatic1140]

As well as those machines are built, I would wager that lack of post-washday air circulation around the centerpost was Whirlpool's biggest design flaw. They just should have used stainless steel, but that would have added to the cost of the machine.

Unfortunately they don't look like this for long, after a few weeks of washing they start to get coated and just a bit of rust starts to form within a year. They certainly can be restored though, I've done it with sanding and POR paint. I've seen them split right in half when spinning though, even after restoration.

 

[bendixmark]

thats savable

Hey everybody,I have cleaned up worse centerposts than that.I would remove the outer tub and then scrape and sand that down real good then replace the centerseal.Once the seal is in cover the underside outer edge with clear non flowing GE silicone.Next I would put the silicone on the drainhole seal and reinstall the tub.Last of all I would cover the seal support wall which tends to rust with the silicone all the way around.Ge silicone works miracles on outer tubs.I rebuilt many machines like that and I would see them ten years later and that stuff was still on there hard as a rock.That crud on the basket is usually liquid soap sludge that should clean up just fine.Good luck.