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You`re such a tease , you know theres gonna be tea spilt all over that computer stitching machine.....thats why he has to use two layers and rip the one thats been spilt over off...........Slaaapppp...

The pic shows the water as a roll over effect, side to middle etc...do we know if it was like that...any experiences???

Mike
 
Wow ... sort of like the Kelvinator or ABC-O-Matic, huh? Thanks, Greg for scanning these in!

I don't believe I've ever seen one of these. Must not have been very popular? I sure like the idea of it; I bet it was easier on clothing.
 
I'll Take on with a Turquoise Formica Top please.

This would be an incredible machine to find. Look at the size of that basket seal boot, oy.

Well you never know, we've all been on a Roll lately to say the least. The washer gods are in a giving mood.

That brochure is great fun Greg!
 
Is the mechanism in these the same as the Thor which was also a dishwasher?

I think these were sold here as a "Healing -Thor Trimatic". That three sided agitator is very familiar though the Trimatic had round flattened rubber pieces at each corner of the "agitator", not the vertical fins shown in these pics.

I have only seen two Trimatics - many, many years ago my uncle was a washer repairman and had a Trimatic, years later I saw a wrecked one out on the nature strip for hard rubbish collection. Never seen one in action.

Healco were the Melbourne agents for Bendix, Thor and Healing.

Thanks for posting these pics Greg!

Chris.
 
Believe me, if we had found a Power Surge or an Apex down here, they would already be shipped to Omaha or Minneapolis respectively!
 
This washer beside the dryer looked so gross with the way the dials did not line up, sort of like bilateral strabismus.

It's true that this washer was a victim of the sale of Bendix to Philco. I believe that another reason not many of these were seen is the reputation that the Economat was earning about this time and people were not interested in any top loader with the Bendix name on it. Granted the Economat and the semi-automatic Dial-a-mat were cheap, but with things like water leaking into the transmissions,tubs tearing and children having to sit on the lids to make them seal, people were not interested in something that looked so much like what they had and were getting rid of when other makers were offering the high styling that we know and appreciate. Every time CU rated washers, they harped on the lower performance of the front loaders so Bendix was heading down a rough road for many reasons. It's funny how there seems to be a pattern with innovators, the ones that make it first. They do very well with their design until other people try their hands at a similar appliance. The innovators, who had sold so many when it was the only thing to sell, become as damned for their early technology as they were praised when it was new. Then, in spite of their sometimes slow move to improvements, they always seem one step behind in styling or features, introducing things so revolutionary that their patents are studied years later, like WP studied this idea for the Colapso, yet not seeing how other washer manufacturers had moved to having controls on the backsplash. This machine still looked like a portable, not like a serious, full sized washer for a family. Bendix went with updated styling for their TOL front load washers and combos,but this was almost like a stepchild. It's a shame, too, because dressed up by Philco, a very similar wash action, comlete with perforated tub liner, proved successful. Of course, Philco did have the tower above the twirling flapper at the bottom that did the washing so that it looked a bit more like what people expected when they lifted the lid of a top load washer.
 
I'll bet when people installed these as shown in the photo (built in along the kitchen cabinets) they were bummed to find no other brand's machines would fit in the same space when it came time to replace their Bendix set.

Having said that, a very cool-looking machine! Would love to see it in action.
 
Here's my guess that the way this worked was to vibrate in a circular pattern.

For example think of a clockface with a ball bearing that rolls around its circumference clockwise. Now put another disc of the same size above the ball bearing. As the ball bearing rolls around the circumference of the clockface, it lifts the disc above the point where it is located. So first the disc is highest at the 12:00 position and lowest at the 6:00 position, and then the ball bearing moves around to 3:00, so the disc is highest at that position and lowest at the 9:00 position, etc. etc.

Well, instead of a clockface and a disc, you have the bottom of the washtub and the underside of the surface whose top is the oddly-shaped "agitator." So the "agitator" moves with a circular "wobbling" action, although it does not actually rotate. And those scoop-shaped paddles along it would each in turn "throw" the water in front of them at a tangent to the central vertical axis.

If this was mounted on a pulley that provided a 3x reduction via belt from a regular AC motor, you'd have something like 1200 rpm / 3 = 400 rpm or approximately 6 to 7 revolutions per second. If the tub were sized correctly, this could produce a resonant action to amplify whatever other movement of water was occurring.

Very clever. Someone gets points for thinking this one up. And it wouldn't even be particularly noisy in operation.

One possible issue: the rubber gasket that sealed the moving "agitator" to the bottom of the drum, would be a potentially significant maintenance item. If it developed a leak, there could be much trouble. Any cases of that type would become associated with the "unusual" design, leading to a perception of more instances of trouble than were actually occurring (i.e. "she has that new Bendix with the weird agitator, but it needed a repair..." vs. "she has a new washer, I don't know what make, but it needed a repair...").

With some of the new materials available today, it would be interesting to see if any of the present manufacturers would stick their necks out by trying to reintroduce this design to the market.
 
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