Vintage Apex/Vactric Washer Appears

[vacbear58]

We talked about an unusual Apex wringer washer a couple of weeks ago ....

1948 Apex Spiral Dasher Value

Hi, I am new and have been tasked with selling stuff for my father and came across an Apex as in said title. It is in good shape but not sure if functional. Have been scouring the web and cannot find any sort of value. Can I get any help.

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[vacbear58]

And some of us in the UK noticed it had a similarity to a rare wringer washer sold here

Vactric Wringer Washer

This is one that has yet to emerge - I keep hoping that Lance in Yorkshire might turn one up. I had hoped that the Which report on wringer washers from 1958 might have included it, but no such luck - although it might have been too new to be included. Its not clear from the scan but the ad is...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[vacbear58]

So...

Last week our good friend Ian (TriumphDolomite) sent me a link to a Gumtree advertisement (rather like US Craigslist) for a wringer washer.

Saturday say me heading over to Manchester to pick up this .....

 

[vacbear58]

It was in surprisingly good condition for its age - it had been literally "walled up" under the stairs of a very old house for who knows how many years - there were a couple of "new" half pence in the tub so it must have been after February 1971.

The house was being renovated and literally stripped back to the brick, they found this when the removed the panelling

 

[vacbear58]

And the workings ...

The back of the machine is to the left of the picture and the front to the right

 

[vacbear58]

And the money shot

The green fibreglass tub is of course the rarity, I put in about 2 pints of very hot water and it did not appear to leak

 

[vacbear58]

Close up on the Agitator

It seems to have a very high skirt at the bottom but that may have been to allow clearance for the heater element underneath it - it seems like the bottom of the tub is flat - heaters are normally fitted in a recess at the bottom of the tub.

The Apex referenced above had a different agitator and, of course, no heater.

 

[vacbear58]

It was late when I got home so I did not have a change to do more than give it a clean - the tube came up well. Hopefully I will get a chance to try it with a bit more water although the pump linkage seems to be stuck and I could not get the agitator out but hopefully with a bit of TLC we can get this old girl running again

Al

 

[brisnat81]

Hey Al, that tub is beautiful.

The gearbox underneath to me looks quite similar to a Belt drive whirlpool gearbox.

I can't wait to hear if it works, it's really beautiful.

Regards

Nathan

 

[triumphdolomite]

Al
That looks fantastic, for some reason I wasn't expecting it to be in such good condition. That green tub is gorgeous. What a strange thing to have done to have walled it up, I guess it must have been a pantry or such like it lived in. I'm most impressed with the lack of oil leaking from the gearbox compared to other machines, or perhaps its not done much work in its lifetime. It'll be great to see it working, that agitator and the ribbed washtub look like they could get the load on the move and 3kw of heater too!
Ian

 

[sesteve]

Found it

Hi Al

Finally found the thread! What a curious machine and even more so that it was boxed in. Looks like its in great condition apart from the mains lead. How is the pump operated? Be good to see some more pictures when you get some time at home lol

Steve