What led to the demise of combo washer/dryers?

[chestermikeuk]

Lint Removal

One of the Hotpoint UK engineers I worked with would always carry with him 3 large Bath size towels and would do a maintenance clean on the Washer Dryers with them.......He reckoned that with a rinse and fast spin, the amount of water that was being spun at 800 / 1000 out of the towels proved enough force to spray wash the outer tub clear of any lint, they also advised customers to do the same periodically...

A hoover guy used to select a last rinse, and when the tub was full of water, re-select a spin, ONLY for a few seconds, he reckoned it was enough force for all the water to do the same trick, throwing a tub full of water everywhere....(this was only to be done on the condensor machines) otherwise it would shoot out of the vent!!!

Mike

 

[tomturbomatic]

Baja, the Chinese already make a combo. It is imported into this country and is pretty pathetic.

The LG combo you used, was it the little one or the big one? What type of fabrics were you drying, synthetics that don't hold much moisture?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[jamiel]

Has anyone ever seen any evidence (other than the odd detergent-company sweepstakes ad) of the Caloric/One Minute/O'Keefe combo? Any advertisement, owners manual, ...???

 

[gansky1]

We shouldn't forget the Speed Queen combo either - a short run and much of the same design elements as the Hotpoint combo. A couple of these have survived unlike the Norge and Hotpoint machines.

 

[bajaespuma]

Tom,

What is it, a Haier?

I was using the small one; it fit handily inside a closet next to the kitchenette in my wonderful little Hotel on Davies suite. I was washing cottons, not many either, but enough to recognize the same actions as my LG washer at home and realize with the same high speed spin drying wouldn't take long. If I owned one, I would do what I already do now which is to remove many articles that I line dry and leave a smaller load for the dryer. That's one of the things I've loved best about switching to the high spin FL, things are so dry by the end of the wash cycle that many things air dry quickly.
I'll see if I have a snapshot of the unit from my vacation pics.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Baja, I think the name was Quiet Line or something like that. I do not know if the Haier is the same machine.

I have found the baby LG combos for as little as $1099 + shipping on some Ebay sites.

I am investigating buying the Breeze model by Supra. It is a 230 volt model and the guys that sell them give reasons why this particular model is the best of the Supra combos.

 

[rocketeer500]

Washer/Dryer combo in San Diego

I started looking on Craigslist.com for a combo washer after reading this thread. If anyone's interested, there's one that, with a little work, may be a good machine.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/hsh/294539170.html

 

[bobbins]

Wow, I find this discussion thread fascinating! My mom and dad first washing machine was a 1956 Bendix Duomatic. I believe they kept it for 6 years and replaced it with a Kenmore set in 1962. My mom recalls the combo unit was always breaking down. The clothes were not spun out. Getting parts took a long time (small town in the 50’s) and the tub smelled musty. She really did not like it. My dad said the machine weighed a lot, took four tough strong men to get it out of the house. I wished they kept it…just shy before I was born

Bob

 

[laundromat]

LG makes two combos.One is 24"wide and does a 14 pound dry load(7pounds to take out before drying)of laundry.The other is a 27"wide model and does a 22 pound dry laod(10 pounds to take out before drying.)Both run on 120 volts and have ventless drying(condensor)They retail for $1499 and$1799.As long as you do smaller loads and don't cram them,they work great and take about 2.5 hours/cycle.The 24"model spins 1400 rpms.The 27"model spins 1200 rpms.