Two speed Frigidaire Washers

[mixguy]

How were Frigidaire washers able to provide two speed washers? was a two speed motor employed or was there a two speed transmission? I know GE had two speed washers due to a two speed transmission. Did Frigidaire and GE use reversing motors to shift from agitate to spin modes? As far as I know, all other manufacturers had two speed motors to provide slower agitate and spin speeds. If this was mentioned or described in a previous thread, I apologize in advance. Thanks!

 

[joelippard]

I'll provide you a brief answer

The first Frigidaire Mechanism, the Unimatic was a single speed only.  In 1959 the Multimatic Mechanism was introduced.  This employed a two speed reversing motor.  Slow/fast agitation was achieved in one direction and the spin in the other with the use of a direct drive clutch in the mechanism.  Pumping from the outer tub was capable in either direction.

 

In 1965 the first Rollermatic Mechanism was introduced.   This was a true direct drive mechanism using urethane and aluminum rollers to achieve the same result, spin speed was back up again in this mechanism to 1010 in Rapidry models.  There were many configurations of this model, a single speed, two speed, infinite control, and four speed.  The multiple speeds were achieved with the use of engaging different rollers with solenoids.  For example my Rapidry begins its speed on slow spin, slow motor speed, next it ramps up to a middle speed by engaging the solenoid for the high speed spin roller on the secondary clutch roller, next the motor speed is increased to fast in order to achieve the Rapidry Spin.  The infinite speed use some sort of "static clutch" if I remember correctly.

 

1970 introduced the 1-18 Models, still employing the rollermatic mechanism but it was a belt driven version and also designed to handle the larger capacities of the 1-18.  Most used two speed motors, a few rare machines were three speed.  No solenoids were used on this mechanism, only the rollers and changes of motor speeds.  It was a simple, easier serviced, more reliable mechanism

 

A good dig through the archives here will turn up more information, along with pictures.  Some posts will be mine, others from fellow members.

 

Pictured below is the mechanism on my 67 Rapidry and a 1-18 mechanism.

 

[mixguy]

Appreciate your reply

Thank you for addressing what I asked. Very much appreciated. Right now dealing with rain induced flooding in my house, bailed out over 30 gal so far. Thankful I have a small wet/dry vacuum cleaner. Washer, Dryer and two freezers in a room that received 5" of water in lower part of a split level home.

 

[philr]

About Multimatics, they did use a clutch and two belts that changed the speed between agitation and spin when the motor reversed. Even on the single speed models, but the agitation speed was controlled by the motor. Two speed motors provided two agitation speeds. There were a few variations of the Multimatic mechanism, some with faster spin speeds and solenoids, others without a solenoid.

 

[combo52]

Frigidaire Automatic Washers

Thanks for the great explanation Joe, my favorites by far are the Rapid-dry 1010 rollermatics, but I agree that the best and most reliable AWs Frigidaire ever built were the 1-18s, they were much easier to work on and longer lived.

 

[brucelucenta]

Well, I have to disagree on that point. I had much better luck with the first rollermatic machines they built with the solid tub. The 1-18 units were good units, but had pitfalls, such as the tub seal failing. Much like the first speed queen perforated tub machines, the tub seal would start leaking and since there is a plastic piece that diverts the water from the rollers, until it gets really bad, people would usually keep using it and ruin the bearing along with the seal by the time they called a repairman. I do think that the first rollermatic mechanisms that were rapidry units could be troublesome at times, but I really never had much trouble with most of them. The plain 2 speed rollermatic units were quite reliable and I actually sold many of them as used machines back in the 70's. Only real problems I ever had with those machines were sometimes the bellows under the agitator or the agitate rocker arm ball would get loose. They could actually spin something over the top of the tub that would cause problems pumping out the water. But for the most part, I found them to be quite reliable machines, if they were cared for properly and not abused. I remember at least a couple of them I sold to friends that lasted over 10 years without doing anything to them. The 1-18 machines were not bad machines, just more trouble prone in my opinion and a lot harder to work on for me. Replacing the bearings was hell on those machines! You had to completely tear the entire machine apart to do it. If you were lucky enough to get one that just needed a tub seal, that wasn't bad to replace. But most usually someone used them to the point of trashing the bearings and that was awful and sometimes nearly impossible to do because the bolts would break off when taking the mechanism apart to rebuild it. It was just an awkward machine to work on. If the belt broke while full of water, you had to figure a way to pump the water out before you could replace it. Unfortunately, that is usually when the belt broke too. I worked on many many many of them and liked the way they cleaned clothes. There wasn't a machine around that would wash as much as they were capable of. I used them in the dry-cleaning/laundry business to wash white shirts and press them wet.

 

[toploadloyalist]

1-18 Frigidaire Permanent Press

If the 1-18's were set on the Permanent Press cycle with the speed switch on high/high, you would still get a low speed spin, a major plus in my personal opinion.

 

[jetcone]

Joe

good point, I never thought that thru till  you mentioned it, the MM pump was designed to pump out in either direction and that was carried over to the new rollermatics until 1970. The 1-18 pumps can only pump in one direction because of the perf-tub.

 

 

 

[combo52]

1-18 Water Pumps

Will pump water in either motor direction, the early 1-18s were available with suds-savers that utilized this function.

 

[mixguy]

Suds Saving 1-18 Frigidaire Washers

Among the 1-18 models, was there just one model in the line up that had that feature? In any given model year 1970=1979.

 

[brucelucenta]

I haven't ever seen a suds saver model in these before. That must be a rare bird indeed.

 

[combo52]

Suds-Saver 1-18s

I think these may have only been around in the first series of 1-18s this feature certainly did not last long which is a shame because they finnilly had a much simpler plumbing system that did not need a 2nd water pump. Solid tub washers were always complanted with Suds-Savers.

 

1-18 Quality While the first series of these great washers did have a few problems after FD worked a few bugs out these washers were far more durable than the solid tub rollermatics.

 

I have seen maybe one broken belt in a 1-18, no main seal failures, no water bellow failures, no roller failures in the later 1-18s. We still have customers that are using 1-18s and it has been more than 25 years since I walked into a house that was still using a ST RM.

 

NOW the 1-18 dryers are another matter even though these were simple good performing dryers very few of these lasted as long as the washers.

 

[philr]

 ...it has been more than 25 years since I walked into a house that was still using a ST RM.

 

 

John, don't you have a set in your own house?! 

 

I'm wondering if the small capacity is also something that lead to the replacement of the solid tub washers.  The 1-18, once they fixed the early production problems were probably more reliable than the Rollermatics and I guess many were scrapped because of minor failures like timers that stop advancing.

Some techs that I know hated to repair the 1-18s (which they called the "American" machines here as none of them were made in Canada!) when they needed to fix a machine that leaked from the tub seal.

 

But the water bellows are certainly better in the 1-18 models than in the previous solid tub machines but their failure lead to a big mess on the floor while the same failure in a solid tub will lead to an empty inner tub and not a drop of water on the floor. 

 

The last suds saver model was a 1971 "S" model, the WCDRS which was made from 1970½ to 1971½), so they were among those early production troublesome models. I still wish I could find one of these. I have bought a 1971 WCDS (same model without the suds saver) but it turned out to be a newer machine from 1978-79 with a 1971 top. 

 

[brucelucenta]

Maybe it was the earlier production models that were more trouble prone. I just remember at the used appliance store I worked at for a while during my teen years a customer that had bought a new BOL Frigidaire set in the early 70's had traded in the dryer first and then the washer when they both failed. They couldn't have been more than a couple of years old and she traded them both off for a used Kenmore washer and dryer because the guy I worked for told her they were the best. The dryers had roller problems and that got worse in the later models because they changed the way the rollers were positioned and had just two in front and two in back. The dryers also had lint build up where the lint trap was and air flow would be a problem. Seems like really the very best dryers have always been made by Whirlpool.

 

[mixguy]

1-18 Flowing Heat Gas Dryers

My mom had one with an igniter that was frequently giving us trouble. During the 16 yrs she kept the machine the igniter was replaced 3 times and adjusted at least three times as well.