Hello I thought I’d do a thread on my daily driver, how I got it and it’s repairs up to date. I’d like to see if a UK Hotpoint has similarities to its US cousins. This was the the first automatic top loader launched in the UK approximately 1965 from Hotpoint I believe, and this range ran until the early 1990s with a similar basic design but changing to a plastic outer tub and changes to the control pannels. Top loaders in the 60s mimicked the very popular twin tubs of the time but even then only a few manufacturers made this sort with central agitators as the front loader was just starting to gain in popularity. These machines became popular with small businesses and farmers etc as they were seen as work horses and having larger capacity. They in fact had a 4.5-5 kg 10-11lbs capacity which isn’t huge by today’s standards but more than most front loaders of the time. This model has enamelled drums and outer tubs, with a floating gearbox and a 2.7 kw heater. They initially had spin speeds of 850 rpm and moved up to 1050 rpm which was nearly double the front loader competitors of the era.
This machine was spotted by my friend Mathew languishing outside an old cottage in Hawes in Wensleydale. He told me about it in the summer of 2017 whilst on holiday. As my job allows I chose to travel the beautiful journey home from Yorkshire that way. Hawes is a small picturesque village popular with bikers and walkers who go there for the beautiful dales. I parked up and wandered around not expecting to find the house never mind the washer as it was 2 months after Mathew had mentioned it. But sure enough outside a lovely little cottage undergoing renovation there was the machine sitting forlorn in the garden. I went to see it and knocked on the door but the house was empty. The machine had sat for so long it was full to the brim with rain water. I left a note through the door and on the machine “please don’t scrap this I want it !!” About a month later I got a call. It was the daughter-in-law of the house holder who had sadly passed away. It had been her machine since new. She had also had two of this type of machine and praised their strength and was delighted I might save this one. So that weekend I bribed a lovely Russian chap I was seeing at the time with the promise of a pie and a pint in the local pub and a nice walk with his dog, if he’d come with me to help lift it up the garden steps and into my car ! That weekend we arrived and the machine was still there and we set about getting it to the car. The full of water machine wouldn’t drain due to the design of the flapper in the pump but all the original hoses and tap adapters were there so I had to insert them into the drum and siphoned the dirty rain water out. Sadly I found in the bottom a plastic pouch all printed with Hotpoint logos containing all the instructions and bill of sale all sadly kept for all those years and now a big pile of mush ! Hey ho ! It was loaded in to the car and as promised a pub lunch was had and we began the 2 hour journey home !
More to follow
Richard
This machine was spotted by my friend Mathew languishing outside an old cottage in Hawes in Wensleydale. He told me about it in the summer of 2017 whilst on holiday. As my job allows I chose to travel the beautiful journey home from Yorkshire that way. Hawes is a small picturesque village popular with bikers and walkers who go there for the beautiful dales. I parked up and wandered around not expecting to find the house never mind the washer as it was 2 months after Mathew had mentioned it. But sure enough outside a lovely little cottage undergoing renovation there was the machine sitting forlorn in the garden. I went to see it and knocked on the door but the house was empty. The machine had sat for so long it was full to the brim with rain water. I left a note through the door and on the machine “please don’t scrap this I want it !!” About a month later I got a call. It was the daughter-in-law of the house holder who had sadly passed away. It had been her machine since new. She had also had two of this type of machine and praised their strength and was delighted I might save this one. So that weekend I bribed a lovely Russian chap I was seeing at the time with the promise of a pie and a pint in the local pub and a nice walk with his dog, if he’d come with me to help lift it up the garden steps and into my car ! That weekend we arrived and the machine was still there and we set about getting it to the car. The full of water machine wouldn’t drain due to the design of the flapper in the pump but all the original hoses and tap adapters were there so I had to insert them into the drum and siphoned the dirty rain water out. Sadly I found in the bottom a plastic pouch all printed with Hotpoint logos containing all the instructions and bill of sale all sadly kept for all those years and now a big pile of mush ! Hey ho ! It was loaded in to the car and as promised a pub lunch was had and we began the 2 hour journey home !
More to follow
Richard
quite a few simularities to the US GE"filter flo" washers and some to~1958-72 US hotpoints before those switched to GE filter flo design:
