Washer & Dryer Saved From Scrap In NJ

[brianl]

While coming home from the store last night, I saw a 90's vintage Whirlpool Washer/Dryer pair sitting at the curb on a pile of snow. Being only 1 mile from my house, I went home and got my car to bring them home.

Unfortunately no pics of them where they stood or in the car, as it was cold and a busy street. Here is when they made it safely home and in the living room before moving down to the basement tonight. I did some light cleanup after taking these pics, so pardon the dirt.

 

[brianl]

Washer Pic

 

[brianl]

Washer Timer Pic

 

[brianl]

Washer Tub Pic

 

[brianl]

Dryer Pic

 

[brianl]

Dryer Timer Pic

 

[brianl]

Dryer Drum Pic

 

[yogitunes]

How cool is that......hard to find thrown out ones.......your first DirectDrive washer?

I really need to get to your house and run water and drain lines to the other wall for you.........another mini-meet?......

is the dryer gas or electric?.....

 

[peteski50]

Great Finds!

Hi Brian,
That is really a great find. Looks like someone wanted to get rid of the set to make room for something new - maybe a renovation.
I hope to chat soon,
Best Of Luck
Peter

 

[cornutt]

That washer looks like the exact same model I purchased in 1991. The dryer I had was slightly different: it had a wrinkle-guard extension to the PP cycle in the area where this one has the fluff cycle, and it used an exhaust temp sensor rather than the drum-back moisture sensor for the auto cycles.

 

[brianl]

your first DirectDrive washer?

Yes it is. I am normally a belt-drive fan, but it was a set, fairly vintage at this point, and looked to be in good condition. I couldn't resist! lol Yea we will have to talk more about plumbing, as there is some hurdles to cross first.

Nice hearing from you Pete, it's definitely been a while since we last chatted.

They are fairly rust free and the feet are loose and adjustable. The washer has an awful smell to it which I can only imagine is the remnants of liquid detergent and probably some mold. Any ideas on cleaning? The only thing I recall is something about filling the washer up with hot water and lots of soap. I don't have any bleach as I was never really a fan of it. Is that required or necessary? I prefer not to use bleach on anything unless completely necessary.

 

[brianl]

Asterisk on the washer timer dial

I am curious what the asterisk is in the "OFF" position of the Knits/Gentle cycle, right before the Super Wash cycle? Why would it be positioned where it is on the dial?

 

[polkanut]

Congrats Brian, the stars must have been aligned just right for you to find such a nice set.  Have fun with them.  Direct drive machines deliver some very nice washing results.  What does Matt think about them? 

 

 

[yogitunes]

Most times you can get by with hot water and Dawn dish soap....this will remove most grease/slime........bleach will help disinfect and remove most mold, sometimes a bathroom mold killer spray works better

but for these DD machines, most of the scum and mold/mildew issues is found around the splash shield/upper area of the unit, where the water never touches......

probably best to remove the cabinet, pop off the splash shield, and thoroughly clean/scrub this area......also take out the agitator, and clean all the hidden areas too......

you can also replace the agitator cap with a dispenser.....simple change out

that asterisk after the Knit cycle could be a suds return section...if a model would have that option.....set the timer there and pull out to see what happens, you may have to advance an increment at a time to see what happens.....

SuperWash too!....

only thing that bugs me about these Whirlpool machines....is that GentleWash step down to the lower agitation speed......

 

[brianl]

Hey Tim, he was actually the one who encouraged me to get them. I saw them on the same side of the road we were driving down, and I did a quick turn-around to get a 2nd glance. Once I realized what they were, I was like "ooh, I these are nice machines." So Matt being in his passive fashion said let's pick them up then. As usual I was shocked, but did not question lol. Both my wagons are shot, so I had to use my 1998 Cadillac Deville of all cars! Turns out the mouth of the trunk is around 36 inches wide and from lip to open trunk lid, was about 34 inches. There was enough dept to slide about half the machine in. We just shoved one machine at a time head first in to the trunk and secured it with 2 bungees to the car and drove each one home slowly but swiftly. Being 11pm, it was little traffic, but enough to made things annoying. The shared driveway we used to get the machines of course had 2 residents who both wanted to leave at the time of us picking up the dryer. It was 2 trips, but being so close to home, it was like 3 minutes each way.

 

[brianl]

OK Martin, I will see what I have in my arsenal at home. I was going to fill it up with hot water and let it soak with some additive to help clean it up.

What I really like about the dryer is the infinite tempatures on the dryer. My pieve with my current dryers is the high, low, or air. There was times where I had to line dry stuff because even the low seemed to high. This dryer will fix that big time.

Almost forgot to attach, here is the washer tag.

 

[brianl]

And now the dryer tag

 

[brianl]

I never understood the step-down from high speed agitation to low speed. Was there a purpose for this?

Does anyone have scanned manuals for these?

 

[cycla-fabric]

Whirlpool Washer Instructions

Hey Brian - you will like those Whirlpools as they are great machines. I have almost that same washer and my dryer is one model up from your dryer. Mine is gas too. The attached link will get you a copy of the washer instructions my next post will give you the dryer instructions Enjoy

Doug

Whirlpool LA558OXT Manual