Vintage FLs: Ever seen "spider" and bearing trouble?

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dnastrau

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Apr 9, 2007
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Lords Valley, PA
Out of curiosity, did the early front loaders like Bendix and Westinghouse (or the combos made by Whirlpool/Kenmore and GE for that matter) have issues with the "spider" drum support bracket corroding and failing and bearings going bad like many modern front loaders seem to?

Thanks for any feedback on this.

Andrew S.
 
Good Question

There were cases of bearing failure. The owners of Annapolis Bendix told me of having to hammer the bearings out of early Duomatics when they failed. The machines had to be brought into the shop for the bearing replacement.

There were no spiders in these machines. The very heavy, porcelain on steel tubs had a large hub at the back where the tub shaft attached and the very thick back of the tub supported and gave strength of the sides and the front as well as the tub vanes. Unlike the lighter weight stainless steel tubs, these had no rods going from the rear to the front through the vanes and so no spiders. Because these machines only turned in one direction, the tub shaft was screwed into the hub. In cases where bearing failure damaged the shaft, it could be replaced, if needed, when the bearings were changed.
 
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