WCI/Franklin Trannys

[ingliscanada]

When WCI formed and bought out Kelvinator and Westinghouse, did they keep the Franklin transmissions in their washers, or did they use the Westy trannys for a time period? I remember the Kelvinator/Viking washers from the 60's with Franklin trannys. The WCI/Electrolux washers from the 90's on also had the Franklin trannys. I recognize a Franklin tranny by that pig-like "oinking" sound during agitation, along with the indexing tub, and no tub brake for spin. The Westy operates similar, but with faster agitation (like a GE Filter-Flo). Did WCI washers from the 70's and 80's also use the Franklin tranny?

 

[ingliscanada]

I wonder if WCI decided to use the Westinghouse tranny for the time being, since it operated similar to the Franklin, with the indexing tub, but with shorter swifter strokes.

 

[ingliscanada]

My folks W-W washer

My parents in their other home had an early 90's White-Westinghouse washer. It definately had the Franklin tranny, as it had the agitation speed similar to a Whirlpool, with the indexing tub. It had the "oinking" sound, accompanied by a somewhat Whirlpool-like "woo-woo" sound. And it had that plastic tub. It had a spin-drain, unlike the present models. It also had that crazy lid lock, and when we thought it was finished, we'd attempt to open the lid, to have it violently pull back (oh for christsakes!). So we'd wait and wait until the tub would finally stop, and then the lid would let go.

 

[roto204]

Both

WCI used both the Franklin and Westinghouse designs concurrently at implemented each under different marques. Sometimes a BOL model in a brand would be Westinghouse while upper-end models were Franklin.

Later models can be difficult to discern. Sometimes subtle cues--such as a clothesguard at the top of the tub (Franklins don't have those) and the tub ring with a "lump" at 10 o'clock can give away the Westinghouse design.

 

[ingliscanada]

Hi Nate,

Thanks for sharing that with me; I was so curious about that. I see you're a Kelvinator fan; that's cool. I always had an interest in them, and am trying to learn it's timeline. Here in Canada, we used to have a department store called Eaton's, and they had a line of appliances named Viking, which was their competitor to Kenmore. Viking was sourced by a few different companies, and in the 60's, they were made by Kelvinator. I noticed that after Kelvinator left AMC, they redesigned their machines, and the dryer copycatted the old Whirlpool belt-and-pulley layout, with a top-mounted lint filter. They even sounded similar to a WP, but I know it was a genuine Kelvy. Then in the late 60's or early 70's, the dryers restyled again, with the lint filter relocated inside the door. Now I'm curious, did WCI also use both Westinghouse and Kelvinator dryer designs like they did with the washers? Also, do you know if Kelvy restyled the mechanical layout of their dryers again in the more recent years. They now have that reverse tumbling feature, as you may know. Cheers!

Gary

 

[roto204]

Dryers

I'm a little hazy on the dryers. I'm not familiar with true-Kelvinator designs, and the only dryers I've seen are decidedly the WCI/Electrolux design that seemed to evolve from the old Westinghouse dryers of the late sixties, with the typical triangle-shaped baffle at the back of the drum. I think there may be other designs drawing on other acquired vendors' technologies, but I'm not familiar with them...

The Westinghouse design had the filter in the bottom-front of the door opening.

 

[ingliscanada]

You know what?

Nate, I think that perhaps WCI may have sourced a few dryers. I saw an ad on an early 70's Kelvinator set, and the dryer appeared rather Norge-ish. And through the 70's, WCI dryers seemed to come in a variety of styles. My guess is that Norge made the dryers with the extra large door, Kelvy made the majority of the models, and some may have used Westy mechanics. It's similar to the washers, which used both Westy and Franklin trannys. WCI (I think) was a merger between Kelvinator and Westinghouse major appliances, therefore combining seperate companies into one. As you know, they also swallowed Frigidaire in the 80's.