Twinnie Troubles

[vacbear58]

Or, who the heck got me collecting vintage washing machines anyway?

After 10 years or so of collecting vintage cleaners (about 200 or so), mixers and a few other toasters, kettles etc. I recently finally took the plunge and got my first vintage washing machine.

Presenting, from 1976 the:

 

[vacbear58]

The machine itself

The yellow sticker for the BEAB approvals

 

[vacbear58]

Wash deck

Stylish stainless steel

 

[vacbear58]

Money shot

The upper part of the agitator can be removed to give a gentler washing action, there is a lint filter in there too. Its just a well there is a form of automatic rinsing in the spinner (through the grey rubber outlet at the top of the spincan) as there is a lever which has to be moved to open the main spinner lid, then you have to lift a flip to pull back the clip to open the inner spinner lid.

 

[vacbear58]

Inside

Its in really good clean condition. The rubber pipe coming out the side of the wash drum goes to a pressure switch, presumably to stop the heater being switched on with no water in the drum. The long rod coming down from the control panel its connected to a linkage running to the front of the machine to activate the drain pump

 

[richukbristol]

Hi Al, congratulations on a great find, perfect for rinsing your thongs. I am a great fan of Servis twin tubs. I have a 108 which I love and use often, the 100 is my all time favorite. My Mum's friend Hazel had one up untill 81 and I used to love lifting the lid and watch the agitator working, followed by a stern voice saying leave that alone and go and play in the garden from Hazel lol. Hope you have alot of enjoyment with it.

Rich x

 

[vacbear58]

Washer works

Up close and personal with the agitator transmission. The machine runs quietly and smoothly.

So why no washing shot? The problem is the drain hose in the top right of the picture, the outlet from the wash tub is quite badly corroded and leaks like the proverbial sieve. Nothing that some snadpaper, primer and iospon cannot fix, just a matter of time to do it

 

[vacbear58]

Another close up

This time showing the main and spinner motors. There is also a small leak from the spinner (just a drip) i have not been able to track that down yet

 

[vacbear58]

Moving on

So, as if one non-operational was not enough, I had to get another one.

This time a Hoover Twosome from 1965.

This is actually two separate machines which can be linked with a plastic "bridge".

Its actually quite a good marketing ploy - update you old Hoover wringer washer by adding a spinner, if you have limited funds buy one machine and add another when you have the money, or if you have a small kitchen with limited storage space (as very many British ones were at the time) you can split them up and store separately.

 

[vacbear58]

Money shot

This machine has a heater hence the much larger drain grill than North American members are familiar with. The hose across the back is the drain hose - the pump is permanently engaged with the motor so the drain is effectivly stoppered off to prevent the machine from emptying. The fill hose has a special tapered end wihich fits in the end to extend it into the sink.

 

[vacbear58]

Spinner

Given what came out of the drain tube I think they must have used this as a plant pot! I think the pump will need to be taken apart and cleaned. It seems to run OK although it did sound a little laboured to me.

 

[vacbear58]

No wishy washy action here

I filled it up with hot water and left it for a couple of hours, before giving it a maiden run

 

[vacbear58]

Close up and personal again

Not as clean as the Supermatic, but no leaks either. Yay!

Unfortunatly no leaks, but no drainage either! the pump is driven by teh pully on the bottom left. This should have a ridged rubber cover (a bit like a rubber tyre on a solid wheel). Although this was partly on a piece was broken out of it, I suspect from sitting unused for years it stuck to the main pully. The seller said his wife "tested" the machine (clearly without water!) and I reckon it was damaged as soon as she switched it on. So teh pump pully is not actually making contact with the main pully so is not turning.

Anyone got one of these covers? Or a spare pump? I am even considering an electric pump and sorting out a switch for it. Any ideas? Until then its empting the drum by jug and tipping the machine over to empty it out - its actually quite light.

And yes, it has had a paint job - with Dulux! I can see this may need a trip to the spa of Bob and Neil for a beauty job.

And I dont know why there was a huge lump of insulating tape on the spinner flex, because it seems fine underneath it.

Al

 

[vacbear58]

But what about my lingerie and finer things

Rich

Thanks for the kind words, but for the moment I am afraid it will be down to river and beat the thongs on a rock :~)

Al

 

[keymatic3203]

Hi Al

Two great machines there, sorry to be so quick, just on my way out, I've got pump tyres and pump components so don't go buying any, catch up soon

Mathew

 

[hotpointfan]

What finds!

You can't beat the twinnies!

What is your daily driver Al?

 

[hotpoint95622]

hotpoint 95622

Very nice machines, brings back a lot of childhood memories for me. The Hoover twosome, my mum used them right up until about 1988 with a sort semi retirement during the late 70’s back in use late 80,s she had a service supertwin in the middle. Unfortunately all 3 went in the same skip as my first Hotpoint liberator did; I still don’t like talking about that do I DAD.

 

[ricky5050]

Oh Al

Hi Al well done , it's a slippery slope , enjoy it tho and the machines too!

Well done

Richard x

 

[vacbear58]

Light at the end of the tunnel

Matt,

Great news that you have pump tyres & pumps - hopefully it should be a simple fix. And thanks all for your encouraging comments, when I was young we did not have a twin tub at all, so it will be a novelty using one for myself

My daily drivers are a Miele Washer and Hotpoint tumble drier although I line dry my laundry when I can. They are built into a corner of my bathroom. If nothing else, the Hoover washer will be great to clean the condensing unit of the drier out as ChesterMike proved a couple of years ago - it wil be worth it for that facility alone

Al

 

[electron1100]

Twins

Hello Al

Well done on both machines, I wondered who bought the Hoover Twosome, well you better get one of those " we rebuild/alter your house" TV shows in to do some mods so you can get these in so you can use them ;-)

I always thought the stainless steel top decks on those Servis machines was such a practical and good looking idea

I hope you enjoy using them, dont forget you need a fag hanging out of the corner of your mouth, your hair in rollers oh and a house coat on to acheive the full twin tub wash experience

Gary

 

[keymatic]

Morning Al,

Congrats on both Twinnies..the Servis 100 looks fab !!

I have to say that, that is the first blue original "Bridge" I have seen on a Twosome.

I guess i was always a bit on the hardcore side, jumping straight into the washing machine collecting from an early age. I have recently acquired a 3309L, it has needed a little bit doing to it, ie; new timer, wash & spin sump hose's & a new control facia, but it is nearly good to go now, will give it a trial the weekend.

Happy washing !!
Keith

 

[arbilab]

I'd love to have any of those. But you should have seen 1973 Panasonic TT. So simple internally, so effective. Timed dual-speed wash and spin. No transmission and only the wash disc had a belt, spin and pump direct drive. Ingenious engineering, surpassing even Easy Spindry which I consider nearly the grail of twintubs. Smaller scale, but the Panasonic WAS the grail. Utterly simple, the least to go wrong. No offense, but the Hoovers were laughable by comparison.

I don't think the Panasonic was distributed in the US outside Hawaii. Panasonic Hawaii was not related to Panasonic US, which at the time sold TVs and clock radios and little else.

 

[macboy91si]

"No offense, but the Hoovers were laughable by compariso

I think THAT is arguably laughable.

 

-Tim

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis & TwoSomes

Great first washers sets there Al, the Servis 100 is very stylish and best suited to you being tall, I would say by the water marks that the tops need a squirt of mastic sealant and around the spin lid bolts and the controls etc, also the top of the spin can looks as if its moved, (Shiny metal) might just need pushing down

The Hoover Twosome takes me back, my Nan had those, bought as the Hoover 55 as it was on special offer at £55 guineas....

Keith, isnt that the 2nd series bridging unit, the first didnt have wings, and isnt that grey coloured, didnt know they did them in blue..

 

[macboy91si]

To Elaborate

The Panasonic machine was labelled under several different names (National, Bradford, etc) and sold across the country. While I do think they are neat, I have a 1973 or so Japanese twinny, but there are aspects that are less than perfect as with all machines. I would actually challenge to say that while the machine may be more technologically advanced than an old Hoover, the wash performance may not necessarily be better.

 

The Jap machines from that era were usually 24", meaning the tub was fairly deep but narrow width and length-wise. The offset impeller can cause an odd waving in the water that can throw a lot of water over the edge if it grabs a large item. Also many early Japanese machines did not reverse the impeller, only one way like a Hoover and tangling could be just as bad. I've not seen many that offer spin-rinsing either. While the brush motor in the Hoover is loud, it is much more powerful than the ~1600rpm direct-drive than the Panasonic would have used. Also the Hoover had a slightly larger diameter spin-basket that spun at ~2300rpm and with a much higher torque-curve for better extraction.

 

The wash-timer on my Japanese twinny goes to 12 minutes and the spin timer goes to 4. I can place clothes from that spinner into the Hoover and get more water from them even after the 4 minute run. With your machine you wash, drain, fill, rinse (possibly twice) and then spin then drain. That's a lot of time after is all said and done. With the Hoover you fill it, wash (4 minutes max wash) and then spin-rinse while the 1st load is washing. After that you drain and it's done, 30 minutes for a Maytag Big-Load dryer's worth of laundry.

 

So to the laughable comment, we all have our likes, but that's a bold statement, and one that I don't feel is substantiated.

 

-Tim

 

[keymatic]

Hi Mike,

As i have never seen a blue one before i just thought it must be the 1st edition, however after a quick dash up stairs and rumage, I see what you mean about the 2st bridge not having wings, although i couldn't define the colour on the pamphlet.

Bit of a leaning curve on that one..lol
Cheers
Keith

 

[arbilab]

JMO. I wasn't trying to revise the bible or Star Wars. I was totally pleased with the Pana and I admire simple elegance in engineering. After I left it in Hawaii (1975) I looked for another (none) and looked at Hoovers but they cost more and not as appealing, decided against and stuck with landlord's Whirlpool which was perfectly adequate but not as fun.