Here’s my contribution!
UK market front & top loaders 195? to 1990 - theories, queries & rarities
- Thread starter matchboxpaul
- Start date
Help Support :
Servis
Alan, its not bad but its going for a cabinet re-spray now we know it all works, it was from a house that kept it in a rustic pine kitchen, hidden inside a cupboard with a round pin 15amp plug on which was draped over the front of the washer when door closed, hence a number of lovely round pin holes dotted along the plinth line, which has been painted over, nothing that my cousin, the sprayer of the keymatics cant fix !!
Alan, its not bad but its going for a cabinet re-spray now we know it all works, it was from a house that kept it in a rustic pine kitchen, hidden inside a cupboard with a round pin 15amp plug on which was draped over the front of the washer when door closed, hence a number of lovely round pin holes dotted along the plinth line, which has been painted over, nothing that my cousin, the sprayer of the keymatics cant fix !!
Philips
Hello Paul
Thats a great brochure from an ere when Philips started to be at their peak for laundry, I think the next brown styled ranged proved to be the best selling. Had to take a double take as one of the pics looks just like the Philips display in the Calderdale Museum in Halifax that took the full foyer display from the original Philips factory and UK head office in Hipperholme.
Have you been to the museum yet Paul ? Cheers for showing the brochure.
Hello Paul
Thats a great brochure from an ere when Philips started to be at their peak for laundry, I think the next brown styled ranged proved to be the best selling. Had to take a double take as one of the pics looks just like the Philips display in the Calderdale Museum in Halifax that took the full foyer display from the original Philips factory and UK head office in Hipperholme.
Have you been to the museum yet Paul ? Cheers for showing the brochure.
@beehiveboy
Sorry Paul, here I go again ....
I believe the Philips front loader was the last of that particular series which were made in France and Slimstar made in the UK. I have never seen that particular version of the Slimstar only the earlier verion with blue trim. No, I dont have one of those but our good friend SESteve in London does. The first UK Philps auto was also a top loading H Axis machine with the direction of travel of the tumble going from side to side rather than front to back.
In the late(ish) 1970s Philips flip flopped the production so that the top loaders were made in France and the front loaders in the UK - made sense as that lined them up to their main respective markets. The front loader looks quite similar although without the buttons (one to open the door and one to open the powder drawer) - the Slimstar was rather different (a bit narrower) with the controls on an upstand at the back although very similar in style to the UK front loader.
Now, if you care to take a trip up north ....... Actually there are two very similar sets at home - the Philips 082 (this model was actually the first automatic washer & drier I ever owned, bought in 1980) and Mike has an Electra branded version with brown fasica but otherwise apparently identical. I think Mike has a couple of other Philips models in storage too
Al
Sorry Paul, here I go again ....
I believe the Philips front loader was the last of that particular series which were made in France and Slimstar made in the UK. I have never seen that particular version of the Slimstar only the earlier verion with blue trim. No, I dont have one of those but our good friend SESteve in London does. The first UK Philps auto was also a top loading H Axis machine with the direction of travel of the tumble going from side to side rather than front to back.
In the late(ish) 1970s Philips flip flopped the production so that the top loaders were made in France and the front loaders in the UK - made sense as that lined them up to their main respective markets. The front loader looks quite similar although without the buttons (one to open the door and one to open the powder drawer) - the Slimstar was rather different (a bit narrower) with the controls on an upstand at the back although very similar in style to the UK front loader.
Now, if you care to take a trip up north ....... Actually there are two very similar sets at home - the Philips 082 (this model was actually the first automatic washer & drier I ever owned, bought in 1980) and Mike has an Electra branded version with brown fasica but otherwise apparently identical. I think Mike has a couple of other Philips models in storage too
Al
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Hi Alan.
Many thanks for posting the servis Mk72 brochure - that was a total treat to look through, to read your reminiscences of your parents machine and stirred memories that I have that machine and the following Mk300.
My aunty Madge and uncle Arnold had a Mk72 (replaced by a Model 6030 Quartz), as did my aunty Joan and uncle Philip but their machine was lost in a house fire. Have to say though that my favourite has to be the mk72 replacement - the model 300. It must be the magpie in me, but that shiny, brighter fascia is so smart to my eyes - a shame it was a short lived colour scheme.
Seeing the modifications your mum made to her mk72 (very neatly done - I like it!) reminded me of a different change my aunty Margaret and uncle Ed meeted out on their model 300, involving a tin of purple paint!
In its later years it had begun to look a bit tatty and when they moved house, fitted with an early 70s aubergine kitchen, my uncle got a tin of aubergine paint and painted the mk300 to match the units. He did a good job too - very neat and good colour match too!
Sacrilege today obviously and the matching dryer escaped the same treatment, by virtue of it not being in amongst the kitchen cupboards.
Oh for a model 300 to surface - keeping my fingers crossed that one day, one will. How many of us have a model 200 supadry, just waiting for a model 300, 301 or 302 to turn up?
Fascia image courtesy of one of Mike's instruction manuals (congrats on getting your mk72 to play ball - thumbs up!).
Not many images of the 300 about. Having looked at my images of the mk72, a lot of them are courtesy of mail order catalogues, which appeared to sell the 72 for pretty much its full production run. When that run finished, they don't look to have replaced it in their pages with the 300.
Paul
Many thanks for posting the servis Mk72 brochure - that was a total treat to look through, to read your reminiscences of your parents machine and stirred memories that I have that machine and the following Mk300.
My aunty Madge and uncle Arnold had a Mk72 (replaced by a Model 6030 Quartz), as did my aunty Joan and uncle Philip but their machine was lost in a house fire. Have to say though that my favourite has to be the mk72 replacement - the model 300. It must be the magpie in me, but that shiny, brighter fascia is so smart to my eyes - a shame it was a short lived colour scheme.
Seeing the modifications your mum made to her mk72 (very neatly done - I like it!) reminded me of a different change my aunty Margaret and uncle Ed meeted out on their model 300, involving a tin of purple paint!
In its later years it had begun to look a bit tatty and when they moved house, fitted with an early 70s aubergine kitchen, my uncle got a tin of aubergine paint and painted the mk300 to match the units. He did a good job too - very neat and good colour match too!
Sacrilege today obviously and the matching dryer escaped the same treatment, by virtue of it not being in amongst the kitchen cupboards.
Oh for a model 300 to surface - keeping my fingers crossed that one day, one will. How many of us have a model 200 supadry, just waiting for a model 300, 301 or 302 to turn up?
Fascia image courtesy of one of Mike's instruction manuals (congrats on getting your mk72 to play ball - thumbs up!).
Not many images of the 300 about. Having looked at my images of the mk72, a lot of them are courtesy of mail order catalogues, which appeared to sell the 72 for pretty much its full production run. When that run finished, they don't look to have replaced it in their pages with the 300.
Paul
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
p.s noticed that the Mk72 in the brochure has black switches. Mike's Mk75 supadrt has a black switch - must be an early machine!
Paul
Paul
Servis
Alan I take it thats the serial number marked on the instruction booklet ?
Servis MK72/ 150372 , 26/04/75 (white switches)
Mine is
Servis MK72/ 129630 , (white switches)
Paul do you think the black switches are the early models ? I never saw any with black switches and always thought they where later, I have another supa dry with white switches but the fascia was a more plastic printed so assumed that was later,
must check the serial number against the current show model !!
Alan I take it thats the serial number marked on the instruction booklet ?
Servis MK72/ 150372 , 26/04/75 (white switches)
Mine is
Servis MK72/ 129630 , (white switches)
Paul do you think the black switches are the early models ? I never saw any with black switches and always thought they where later, I have another supa dry with white switches but the fascia was a more plastic printed so assumed that was later,
must check the serial number against the current show model !!
alanlondon
Well-known member
Hi Paul (beehive), that is my all time favourite brochure out of all my collection, I have it too and I just love the way they display the machines and the design of them. My Mum replaced her Servis Mk 72 with a Philips slim star (largely influenced by me) and I adored that machine for many years until finally when it used to start its spin (full of water) it never manage to get to full speed, over heating the motor it would stop with the clothes wet...
Hi Paul (matchbox) thanks for sharing your story too, very sad (and no doubt dramatic) that your family lost a Servis in a house fire. With regards to the Servis 300 I've attached the brochure I have if you haven't seen it before.
Hi Mike, that is the serial number my mum has written on the book as I've also found a repair bill from Servis with the same number on it. Another small difference I noticed about these machines over time was my Mum's soap dispenser had plastic whitish/clear dividers like a comb (to separate the main wash from the prewash), whilst another I saw had black rubber flaps instead.
Cheers, Alan
Hi Paul (matchbox) thanks for sharing your story too, very sad (and no doubt dramatic) that your family lost a Servis in a house fire. With regards to the Servis 300 I've attached the brochure I have if you haven't seen it before.
Hi Mike, that is the serial number my mum has written on the book as I've also found a repair bill from Servis with the same number on it. Another small difference I noticed about these machines over time was my Mum's soap dispenser had plastic whitish/clear dividers like a comb (to separate the main wash from the prewash), whilst another I saw had black rubber flaps instead.
Cheers, Alan
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Hi Mike.
re the black switches on early machines - purely conjecture on my part, though based on never having seen any other images of a Mk72 with black switches.
The machines in the brochure also have slightly different fascias to every other Mk72 and Mk75 that I have seen in photographs - 'SERVIS' is written in orange, whilst 'AUTOMATIC' and 'SUPA-DRY' is written in white.
The earliest image I have is from the pages of KAYS catalogue Autumn/Winter 1972/73 (attached below), showing a regular looking Mk72, with white switches and the titles all in orange.
Machines in the brochure could be pre-production or early production, before settling on white switches before the end of 1972?
So frustrating that there doesn't appear to be a date code system on servis machines, cause your black switch dryer could give a clearer indication of what the situation was, based on when it was made.
As it is, all my witterings above is just a bit of a theory and a lot of waffle
Paul
re the black switches on early machines - purely conjecture on my part, though based on never having seen any other images of a Mk72 with black switches.
The machines in the brochure also have slightly different fascias to every other Mk72 and Mk75 that I have seen in photographs - 'SERVIS' is written in orange, whilst 'AUTOMATIC' and 'SUPA-DRY' is written in white.
The earliest image I have is from the pages of KAYS catalogue Autumn/Winter 1972/73 (attached below), showing a regular looking Mk72, with white switches and the titles all in orange.
Machines in the brochure could be pre-production or early production, before settling on white switches before the end of 1972?
So frustrating that there doesn't appear to be a date code system on servis machines, cause your black switch dryer could give a clearer indication of what the situation was, based on when it was made.
As it is, all my witterings above is just a bit of a theory and a lot of waffle
Paul
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Thankyou Alan, for sharing the Model 300 brochure.
The kitchen that I first remember seeing my aunt and uncles Model 200 and 300 in (pre the move to the aubergine kitchen house), had very similar kitchen units to the ones on page 2 of the brochure. Just brings those memories flooding back
Thank you.
Paul
The kitchen that I first remember seeing my aunt and uncles Model 200 and 300 in (pre the move to the aubergine kitchen house), had very similar kitchen units to the ones on page 2 of the brochure. Just brings those memories flooding back
Thank you.
Paul
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Something rather rare for my 5,000th post!
INDESIT - for years the builders of affordable and reliable automatics, if a little bit primitive perhaps and usually slow spinning, got advanced all of a sudden around 1983.
Before the delivery of a 1983 Ideal Home guide to kitchen design, I never knew the following models existed and the images were a total surprise.
Ever since they were being sold in the shops and up until about three years ago, I had believed that the top of the range Series 2000 machine was the '2103' all bells and whistles model, offering variable temperature and spin, with an 1100rpm maximum.
Always striking me as a really smart looking machine, the 2103 was one of those machines that I really hoped would one day surface for preservation and recently it has - sort of. Congrats to Chris on managing to preserve a '2256E', which was the 2nd generation series 2000 equivalent to the 2103, the only difference visually being the model number.
I will leave it to Chris to introduce the machine to Discuss o Mat, though he has posted a video of it on YouTube to celebrate 10,000 subscribers to his channel. Congrats again!
I've digressed though.
The 1983 Ideal Home kitchen guide arrived and I was shocked to see something completely different for Indesit - the Computer Wash, model '2104'.
I then managed to secure a 1984 Ideal Home kitchen guide and there it was again, but in its 2nd generation form as model '2257E'.
Looking like a veritable button and light festival, the 2104 was described as having a 1200rpm spin, though this was reduced to 1100rpm for the 2257E - pictures of both models are attached below.
Does anyone remember ever seeing these models in the shops, cause I have zero recollection of ever seeing them in stores and haven't been able to find any evidence of them being advertised in the press?
I looked back in the pages of Which magazines and consulted their model listings. For 2104, I cant actually remember what I found, but I do know that model 2257E did not appear in their listings, although a model 2258E did!
Was this just a typo and they meant to type 2257E, or were they unaware of model 2257E, in which case what was 2258E?
Assuming Which magazines mystery 2258E was actually the 2257E (or vice versa), potentially means the Indesit Computer Wash models were sold from 1983 through to 1986, yet no one has ever mentioned them to me and when I have shown them to others, they have been completely taken aback by their existence as well.
Do any Italian members remember them being sold in Italy?
I really hope someone will be able to flesh out some of the background to the Indesit Computer Wash.
Paul
INDESIT - for years the builders of affordable and reliable automatics, if a little bit primitive perhaps and usually slow spinning, got advanced all of a sudden around 1983.
Before the delivery of a 1983 Ideal Home guide to kitchen design, I never knew the following models existed and the images were a total surprise.
Ever since they were being sold in the shops and up until about three years ago, I had believed that the top of the range Series 2000 machine was the '2103' all bells and whistles model, offering variable temperature and spin, with an 1100rpm maximum.
Always striking me as a really smart looking machine, the 2103 was one of those machines that I really hoped would one day surface for preservation and recently it has - sort of. Congrats to Chris on managing to preserve a '2256E', which was the 2nd generation series 2000 equivalent to the 2103, the only difference visually being the model number.
I will leave it to Chris to introduce the machine to Discuss o Mat, though he has posted a video of it on YouTube to celebrate 10,000 subscribers to his channel. Congrats again!
I've digressed though.
The 1983 Ideal Home kitchen guide arrived and I was shocked to see something completely different for Indesit - the Computer Wash, model '2104'.
I then managed to secure a 1984 Ideal Home kitchen guide and there it was again, but in its 2nd generation form as model '2257E'.
Looking like a veritable button and light festival, the 2104 was described as having a 1200rpm spin, though this was reduced to 1100rpm for the 2257E - pictures of both models are attached below.
Does anyone remember ever seeing these models in the shops, cause I have zero recollection of ever seeing them in stores and haven't been able to find any evidence of them being advertised in the press?
I looked back in the pages of Which magazines and consulted their model listings. For 2104, I cant actually remember what I found, but I do know that model 2257E did not appear in their listings, although a model 2258E did!
Was this just a typo and they meant to type 2257E, or were they unaware of model 2257E, in which case what was 2258E?
Assuming Which magazines mystery 2258E was actually the 2257E (or vice versa), potentially means the Indesit Computer Wash models were sold from 1983 through to 1986, yet no one has ever mentioned them to me and when I have shown them to others, they have been completely taken aback by their existence as well.
Do any Italian members remember them being sold in Italy?
I really hope someone will be able to flesh out some of the background to the Indesit Computer Wash.
Paul
Especially in the 1980's I loved looking at appliances and browsed many shops and department stores. I am pretty sure that model wasn't sold in the Netherlands.
@matchbox Paul
Do you have any brochures on the Indesit Omega? We had one back in the late 80's it was grey and black and had a ripping 1200 spin..... Sadly the bearings went so the wiring and timer was transplanted into a brown facia model which had the 1100 spin or at least it did until I swapped the innards It was a superb machine and the only I know of at the time that did a tumble fill. Sold it to my sister after her Indesit L8 died she had it for a good few years until her house got flooded and because the laundry was a step down from the rest of the ground floor it filled up first and got the washer and dryer both replaced with new on the insurance with like for like.
Austin
Do you have any brochures on the Indesit Omega? We had one back in the late 80's it was grey and black and had a ripping 1200 spin..... Sadly the bearings went so the wiring and timer was transplanted into a brown facia model which had the 1100 spin or at least it did until I swapped the innards
It was a superb machine and the only I know of at the time that did a tumble fill. Sold it to my sister after her Indesit L8 died she had it for a good few years until her house got flooded and because the laundry was a step down from the rest of the ground floor it filled up first and got the washer and dryer both replaced with new on the insurance with like for like.Austin
servischris
Well-known member
Indesit Series 2000
As Paul said, I recently picked up a 1983 Indesit Series 2000 model 2256E. The machine is pretty much brand new, Its an 1100rpm brushed motor machine with variable temperature and spin speed dials...
As Paul said, I recently picked up a 1983 Indesit Series 2000 model 2256E. The machine is pretty much brand new, Its an 1100rpm brushed motor machine with variable temperature and spin speed dials...
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Thanks for the feedback Louis.
The ComputerWash models are something that I never saw either. Perhaps they were like the Zanussi Input Systems and were quite simply rarer than hens teeth to find in the shops.
Hi Austin.
I don't have any brochures for the Indesit Omega sadly. They look to have only produced a handful of 1200rpm Omega's - models 1230 (I think this was the core range model, so will have had a brown fascia - just me guessing though!), 1232 (Rumbelows exclusive, with a white fascia) and 1237 (Comet exclusive, with a grey fascia).
The grey fascia models, described in Which magazine as Comet exclusives, also appear to have been sold through the pages of mail order catalogues, with the 824 (800rpm) and what I think is the 1037 (1100rpm) appearing in one of the attached pages below.
Hi Chris.
The 2256E looks in stunning condition! It's really good news that one of these machines has finally surfaced and has been able to be preserved
Paul
The ComputerWash models are something that I never saw either. Perhaps they were like the Zanussi Input Systems and were quite simply rarer than hens teeth to find in the shops.
Hi Austin.
I don't have any brochures for the Indesit Omega sadly. They look to have only produced a handful of 1200rpm Omega's - models 1230 (I think this was the core range model, so will have had a brown fascia - just me guessing though!), 1232 (Rumbelows exclusive, with a white fascia) and 1237 (Comet exclusive, with a grey fascia).
The grey fascia models, described in Which magazine as Comet exclusives, also appear to have been sold through the pages of mail order catalogues, with the 824 (800rpm) and what I think is the 1037 (1100rpm) appearing in one of the attached pages below.
Hi Chris.
The 2256E looks in stunning condition! It's really good news that one of these machines has finally surfaced and has been able to be preserved
Paul
During my time at Frigidaire in the 70s
There was an automatic front loader [The Auto 50]running along side the Frigidaire TTs .This was in the early 70s when Auto washers were just sort of catching on over here .It was a basic machine [800 spin i think] but sold very well. Later in the decade it would morph into the Auto 51 [same machine just some cosmetic changes .I have never seen one since that time .Also worked a lot on the similar Ariston front loaders
There was an automatic front loader [The Auto 50]running along side the Frigidaire TTs .This was in the early 70s when Auto washers were just sort of catching on over here .It was a basic machine [800 spin i think] but sold very well. Later in the decade it would morph into the Auto 51 [same machine just some cosmetic changes .I have never seen one since that time .Also worked a lot on the similar Ariston front loaders
@matchbox Paul
Thank you Paul, So that means the grey one I had was a Comet model and that would indicate why there were so few of them about.
Austin
Thank you Paul, So that means the grey one I had was a Comet model and that would indicate why there were so few of them about.
Austin
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Hi Austin.
Sorry for delay - I would presume so, re your machine being from Comet. I have been trying to figure out the Indesit original Omega series and its proving a tad confusing, with some sources saying exclusive to this shop or that store, then I stumble across the same model seemingly being sold somewhere else.
I would say its fairly certain that it was a Comet sourced model, but you never know.
Paul
Sorry for delay - I would presume so, re your machine being from Comet. I have been trying to figure out the Indesit original Omega series and its proving a tad confusing, with some sources saying exclusive to this shop or that store, then I stumble across the same model seemingly being sold somewhere else.
I would say its fairly certain that it was a Comet sourced model, but you never know.
Paul
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
Back to the 1960s ....
and a bit of Duomatic action, in the form of the 'AUTOQUEEN' from 1964 ....
and a bit of Duomatic action, in the form of the 'AUTOQUEEN' from 1964 ....
matchboxpaul
Well-known member
March 2nd 1964
and Duomatic were staring to advertise their automatic offering, in the form of the 'AUTOMASTER'.
I state the date cause here we have a machine which I think is derived from a san Giorgio model ...
and Duomatic were staring to advertise their automatic offering, in the form of the 'AUTOMASTER'.
I state the date cause here we have a machine which I think is derived from a san Giorgio model ...
