Turner Sapphire

[brisnat81]

Well, the Turner from Ebay finally arrived. When it first got here, I couldn't adjust the speed selector from spin to wash. A good soak overnight with some penetrating oil and it was good to go.

The Pump is friction driven and currently frozen solid, so today I'll pull it out and see if I can get it moving again. Otherwise it's amazingly quiet and working as well as the day it was new. The Service manual I have is from 1956, so I assume there were around before then also.

Spin Speed is 450RPM, Agitation is 68 strokes per minute with a 74deg Arc.

Its a 2300watt element that takes 55 minutes to heat to 180degF, it holds 7lbs of clothes and is 10 Gals per fill.

There are no gears whatsoever, it is all done with belts, pulleys and 3 clutches

 

[brisnat81]

The Speed Selector Control.

In the spin position, it declutches the agitate pulley (Fork) and clutches the spin pulley (Friction)

When you turn the knob, it pulls the shaft upwards, which declutches the spin pulley and clutches the agitate pulley by engaging the fork.

 

[brisnat81]

Pump Control

It is a manual suds saver, probably because the tub is so small, it takes lots of loads.

 

[brisnat81]

Selector control

To the left runs the motor, to the right runs the element.

The machine must be stopped to change speeds.

The Lable Readds

Caution
Set switch to off before connecting Power
Do Not switch to heat until the machine is filled to the correct level.

 

[brisnat81]

It's a Video

It is my first Youtube effort and the quality has deteriated badly from how it plays locally and after I have uploaded.

 

[bendixbubba]

turner Sapphire washer

What a great machine....by chance do you know the spin speed it runs at?

 

[bendixbubba]

oops

n/m, found it. well done

 

[mayfan69]

In excellent condition!

Hey Nathan!

Congrats...it's in excellent condition!

I have an old catalogue which states these machines came in Pink, "Primrose", pastel green, blue, ivory and white!

Cheers
Leon

 

[easyspindry]

Thanks

Very interesting machine. Thanks for sharing. Your video was superb.

Jerry Gay

 

[simpsomatic]

Aunty Hilda

Leon,
I wondered who got the machine. It brings back great memories. My aunty Hilda lived in Box Hill and had the pastel green sapphire. I used to stay with her for school holidays. I could not wait till wash day. She had a briquette hot water heater so we had to wait for that to be fired up before the wash started. Never used the on board heater. Who needs roll over when your clothes are bashed to death by the side baffles.It was a great machine. I used to put all the clothes on one side and watch the machine shake and wobble when spinning even though it was firmly bolted to the floor. I am from Melbourne originally and when I saw it posted in a suburb near my sisters I wanted to ask her to buy it for me and put it in their garage so I could have something to play with when I visit Melbourne. Congrats on a great find.

 

[peteski50]

Turner Sapphire

This sapphire has the same type of action as the gm frigidaire adjtub design. This one has a more vigerous wash action.
Peter

 

[victoriapark]

brings back memories

Nathan,

How fantastic to find this and thanks for doing the video. I remember these from my childhood but I couldn't remember how much they thrashed the clothes around - the whole tub moves and the central agitator is fixed if my memory serves me? One of our neighbours had one and she used to let me help with the washing.I remember that Blue Omo was just available and that is what she used to use in it.

I love your collection of Simpson's and hope that you will take some videos of them sometime.

regards,

Greg

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Greg,

The Agitator is fixed to the tub and the tub has baffles around the outside like a front loader. The Tub, Baffles and Agitator all agitate together. It's the baffles on the sides that cause all of the splashing

The machine does have some rollover, although it took about 4 minutes for the pink towel to go from the top to the bottom to the top again. The baffles on the sides seem to do most of the work.

According to my service manual, the pump is servicable without tearing down the whole machine. I started 1 hour ago, and whilst there are only 7 connection points, its not quite near the access door and it's being a bugger to get out. I'm hoping if I remove the drive pulley and spray some Innox up into the drive shaft, I'll be able to get it all moving again.

The pump is a bit like a whirlpool pump, it has a flapper in the top to change the direction of the water flow.

Thanks for the comments, hopefully I'll get the pump into shape soon.

 

[mickeyd]

What a wonderful, delighful treat, Nate, and the quality was

I couldn't get over all the water antics, splashing upward from the outer most parts of the tub--never saw that before! Mesmerizing! Now you've explained it above, so thanks. Watched it in fascination late last night. Just insane over the oh-so-uncomplicated suds-return system: PUMP: IN..... OUT..... Awesome and hilarious!

 

[toggleswitch2]

oooh that was marvelous. What a fun machine and a great catch/find! Thank you for posting it!

74* arc? I will never again complain of GE's 90* arc!

Why, sir, are the specifications given with the English system of measurement rather than the metric system?
Prior to Australia's conversion?

 

[brisnat81]

Australia converted to Decimal currency in 1966. The Phase in for Metric weights, lengths, volume and speed started in the late 60's early 70's and I think the cutoff was 1974.

The Manual is from the 50's, so it is in imperial measurements.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Thanks for the info.

I was about to ask about the new drain hose in panel #1, when I saw the old one in panel #2.

 

[arrrooohhh]

Thanks for the videos. What a fun machine. I imagine you could have hours of fun with this. I would love to try some different combinations, maybe a spin wash or use the wash phase for a shower rinse, and see how they work.

 

[westyslantfront]

Hi Nate. Wonderful video. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you.

Ross