Today's Ephemera - 1966 Lady K ALTERNATE

[kenmore71]

I think that when most of us collectors think about the 1966 Lady Kenmore washing machine, what immediately comes to mind is the introduction of the "piano key" control panel. I had heard of this "alternate" model with electronic speed control over-ride but had never seen a pic.

 

What can those more "in the know" than myself say about this super-rare model?

 

I did a seacholator search and really did not come up with much. Perhaps there is good stuff in the archives that I haven't found yet….. 

 

[kenmore71]

The machine I have always considered to be the 1966 Lady Kenmore:

 

[miele_ge]

is it similar to the GE Versatronics?

Not sure when they were made......

 

[combo52]

Variable Speed 1966 LKM Washer

I have never seen one of these washers in the flesh and I dough that many were made.

 

These washers used a GE built Variable Speed motor, it was the same motor design that Norge  [ Wards-Signature ], Hotpoint [ and Easy ] used in their VSWs.

Even though WP built this washer for Sears WP never sold a VSW under the WP brand, and all six different brands of VSWs that were sold did not sell in volume or sell for more that a year or so, it is almost certain that all makers lost money on this ill conceived idea.

 

I have only ever gotten my hands on one VSW, it was a GE Versatronic and of course it had a bad variable speed clutch so I never got to see it run as intended. It was a 1968 machine that only ran for about 6 years before getting trashed [ and people are upset today when their machines only last ten years, LOL ] I put a single speed clutch in it and sold it to a friend who used the washer for about ten years and it came back to us and we recycled it for scrap. I still have all the controls and clutch for the VS system so if I ever find one again maybe I will try harder to fix it.

 

It would be cool to have one of these very rare machines for the museum, but in the end it was almost a totally useless feature that did not sell for good reason, Thanks for posting this Mark, it would be cool if someone has any of these machines, has anyone else ever even seen one?.

 

John L.

 

 

 

[kenmore71]

How did the variable speed on this machine work?

 

Did it use a standard 3-speed motor and then vary the voltage via resistor or autotransformer on one of the three sets of windings OR was it a completely different sort of variable speed motor?

 

 

 

[combo52]

Variable Speed Washers

Hi Mark, KM, Norge and Hotpoint all used a GE motor, these motors were very different, they did look like a typical round gray GE washer Motor of the time, but not the least bit interchangeable with other washer motors.

 

The whole system was pretty simple looking when you compare it to many appliances today. There was a circuit board -controller in the control panel of the washer with the two speed control potentiometers mounted on it, the board was only 4-5" square in size.

 

The motor was a split-phase motor with a Big Electrolytic Capacitor  on it and a bunch of wires going to and from the controller and timer. I have the service manuals for the HP and the Norge somewhere, never saw the manual for the KMs.

 

On GE's and Frigidaire's VSWs they both used a standard 1 speed motor [ 1725 RPM ] and each of these makers used a specially designed clutch system they designed for their washer to allow the variable speed operation, the variable speed motor looked a lot simpler and potentially more reliable that these crazy slipping clutch systems.