This weekend's estate sale finds

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Sweet Kenmore dryer.
Model # 110.7308200W
Ser #F33448441
Stock # 63201
Runs, heats, tumbles quietly. Found a fossilized bird, some grubs, and lots of leaves and debris inside the vent. This was buried under a heap of clothes in a laundry closet beside a newer Kenmore set that was already marked "sold." Had to be heaved up out of a basement that resembled something from "Hoarders!"

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This beautiful Maytag set, though not a matched pair, was found in a much neater home, still connected and in use. Again, had to be drug out of a basement and then up hill to the street! These are almost pristine (at least to me) especially considering how old they are. First, the dryer.
Model # DE502
Ser # 700593QL

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Then the washer.
Model #142
Ser # 210716PP
It has the stainless braided fill hoses but the drain hose broke into 3 pieces when I pulled it out of the stand pipe. I had forgotten how much heavier these old machines are than the newer stuff! The fluorescent panel light still works but the tub light does not. The safety switch is missing.

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A little oil has been slung around. Is this enough to be worried about or is this common for a machine this old? There was no oil on the floor beneath when moved. The discoloration seen is just grime, not rust. There is no bearing noise during spin. Hope to do a water test tomorrow.

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DE 502

So familiar! Ours, though, was a DG 502.

We had it from 1966 to 1981, all it ever needed was a new lint screen!

The one thing I disliked about it was the speckled blue drum without an interior light. We worked around that with a magnetic flashlight (electric torch for those reading on BBC).

It was fast, quiet, reliable, and the dryness control worked very well. The dryness sensors are in the drum vanes. Scrub them with warm-to-hot water, and a coarse terrycloth, one cloth for each vane.

Yeah, yeah....drum size to cabinet width, continuous gas pilot rusted the drum, but still one of the best dryers I have ever used.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Great finds

That wearing of the white porcelain means good sized loads were washed in it. The high agitator vanes rubbed the load against the tub in the area opposite the vanes. If you want to see some really great agitation and top-notch turnover, put a 50 cycle pulley and belt kit on it and get a short black or turquoise powerfin agitator off eBay for it. You don't need the new style with the fins on the barrel. What makes the powerfin work so well in this tub is the blank space with no holes opposite the agitator fins. It really causes the water currents to rise up the tub wall instead of going through the fabrics and out through the holes in the newer tubs with holes all the way to the bottom.

With the KM dryer, you get the older Kenmore control panel look with the solid bulkhead drum for much more efficient and faster drying.
 
Thing found under the washer

That is the button from the off balance/lid switch mechanism. Hopefully the rest is still intact under the console. It looks exactly like the one on our A700.
 
I forgot to add........

 

 

The inner workings look to be in really good shape.   I wouldn't worry too much about the very light oil "splatter" on the cabinet. 

 

If you do a full cycle water test and it's flinging small amounts of water of the transmission while spinning, then the main tub seal is leaking.

 

Kevin 
 
Maytag 142

This was an early Helical Drive Maytag Washer, these were the only HD MTs that really agitated a heavy load properly because they had the motor mounted on a pivot that caused the drive to tighten for agitation and then allowed the motor to swing the other way for a smooth spin acceleration with plenty of belt slippage as the water drained out .
 
Replaced the crumbled drain hose, did 2 full loads today. Injector is leaking, otherwise no problems found. I have new belts and will put those on before any further use. Dryer works perfectly! Will disassemble it soon for cleaning, check belts, etc.
 

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