The Westy CD6 dryer - success at last!

[turquoisedude]

Despite my paranoia about 240v power, I was encouraged by other members here to give the Slant-Front dryer another test - with clothes in this time.
Before doing so, I had a checklist about as long as an Apollo rocket launch... I triple-checked all wiring, connections, and anything that even remotely looked like it might carry power. I checked the 'static wire' on the drum drive bearing and set up not one, but two cabinet ground wires. And, hubby, ever supportive, had gone out and bought me an early Valentine's day present: a new fire extinguisher...
So, I figured the best way to test a Westinghouse dryer would be to feed it with clothes washed in a Westinghouse Laundromat! Test load was cottons, mostly shirts and a pair of jeans.

 

[turquoisedude]

Any excuse....

to play with the L5 Laundromat is good enough for me! Nice suds and they all rinsed away nicely with that new water solenoid in place.

 

[turquoisedude]

And now, the real test...

So, I loaded the clothes up, set the timer at 30 minutes, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and pulled the start button...

 

[turquoisedude]

And.....

The dryer, I am pleased to say, ran great! The drum seemed a bit less noisy with a load of clothes in it and I am sure that having the door back on helped. The timer ran fine (I had not really run the dryer for more than just a few minutes) and best of all, no fireworks! I did not see any sparks, flashes or flares of an electrical nature. The timer shut the machine off and the music box played it's tune! Can it get any better? Well, yeah... The clothes I put in there were just about completely dry! The pockets of the jeans were a bit damp, but all the stuff dried in just a half hour! This, to me, is incredible as I am used to a 2001 Magic Chef dryer that can't seem to dry a load of sheets in less than an hour and a half!!
Stand by for a YouTube video link (still have to post it) of the dryer running and cycling off (with the music box, of course!)

 

[turquoisedude]

Next....

I want to do some 'cosmetic work' on this 1953 CD6. I will very likely repaint the cabinet, but I will probably brush-paint it using appliance epoxy. I did a reasonable job on the L5 with spray, but I am no pro for sure...
One thing I would like to fix, but I am guessing this will mean replating it, is the chrome door trim. It's a bit pitted and I was wondering if there is anything I could do to polish it...

 

[toploader55]

Congrats Paul

Great Job on two Beauties Eddie

 

[turquoisedude]

Thank you, sir!!

Can't wait to attack the Canadian Laundromat!! However, I have a GE washer-dryer combo that is starting get jealous of all the attention being lavished on the Westys... Oh, and it looks like I may have a chance to take a drive down the Cape in late April... wink,wink...

 

[turquoisedude]

YouTube linkie

Just posted a short video of the dryer running! I made a movie of the end of cycle (the machine stopping itself and playing the chimes) but I can't seem to upload it to YouTube.. GRRRR!

 

[circlew]

Hey Paul, happy to see you got it working satifactorily - and no sparks or flames!

 

[westingman123]

Congratulations!

Wow, she looks great. Ready for a place of honor, I suspect. You do fine work, hope I can follow in those (large) footsteps.

Keith

 

[turquoisedude]

End of cycle video now on!

I actually used Windows movie maker to edit out some of the dead air time until the end of cycle! Better still - I got it out to YouTube for your viewing enjoyment. I just love that music box signal on the Westinghouse dryers, what can I say??

 

[gansky1]

Very nice work! Love the chimes at the end, just too cute. Manufacturers could do this now with electronics, but it just wouldn't be the same...

 

[swestoyz]

Great job - congrats! What a wonderful way to end a wash day.

Ben

 

[alr2903]

Turquoise dude, beautiful work. My mom had spacemates approx 57's. I bet you were amazed that jeans would be dry in 30 minutes. Old westy dryers get very HOT. again, nice work. alr2903

 

[randycmaynard]

Just gota find a set....... boy are they hard to find anymor

Love the slant front Westys - still looking for a set like my granmother had and seeing these has renewed the interest to find a set somewhere. After the winter weather breaks (been bad everwhere this year including the south) I'm headed over to
NC to get the White-Westinghouse spacemates set. Everytime I've been ready to go it's either been heavy rain, ice or snow so going to try again late Feb or early March. I will eventually get things set up and post photos later in the spring. If anyone comes across a slant front Westy set from
the mid 50s give me a shout out.

 

[austinado16]

YAY! Slant Front Westinghouse POWER!!

Great job and the machines both look fantastic.

Regarding the chrome on the door. #0000 steel wool is your new best friend. Use it on glass too. For tougher areas, #000 steel wool, and if you really want to get down to business, use WD-40 as your cleaner w/ the steel wool. Want clean glass in your car? #0000 steel wool!!

I'm really bummed that my heating element in my D-6 finally got so bad I could no longer patch it. It really put out the heat (as you saw with how fast yours blew through a load of cottons and jeans. Now with the element that I modified, that same load would take almost an hour.

 

[austinado16]

One more thing...

Don't brush paint!

If you're painting skills aren't that great, lay the panels flat, and then you can lay down the coats from a rattle can at a heavy enough rate that the paint will flow out and get very shiny.

The trick to spray painting is to push the overspray away from the new paint. So let's say you're making a pass with the spray can from your right to your left. Don't hold the can facing perpendicular to your panel, because that blows overspray in both directions, dusting back onto the fresh paint that you're laying down. This makes the paint dry rough and hairy, and keeps it from flowing out and getting shiny. Instead (in this right-to-left example), angle the paint nozzle so the overspray is going off toward your left and the fresh paint on the right is staying glossy smooth.

with this method, you don't come back left-to-right. Instead, you stop at the end of your right-to-left pass, come back over to the right, and make your next pass.

You'll find that this really makes a glossy finish, even with rattle cans.

With the panel flat, there's no worry about runs, so you can lay down successive coats without much wait time. Also, go in a different pattern/direction with each coat. So let's say your first pass is horizontal. Make a diagonal pass next, then a diagonal pass in the opposite direction, and then another horizontal pass. This will help keep you from having thin and heavy spots that wind up drying like waves in the paint.

Once dry, it'll have a finish almost like the original. If you want it to have more gloss, wait for a month for it to cure and the color sand with 1,500 grit wet paper and hand polish back to shine with polishing compound....and then seal it with automotive wax like Mequiar's #26

 

[a440]

Great Job! Loved the videos!
Love your aviator. You should get a holster that it can fit in just in case for your future projects.
Thanks for the videos and posting your progress!
Brent