Why was Frigidaires Agitator Design Abandoned?

[supersuds]

<blockquote>
The earlier WCI "frigdaire"washers were westinghouse machines of a design that came
out around 1966(earlier T/L westys were rebadged Easys IIRC) these had porcelain
inner and outer tubs and the tub indexed.

 

</blockquote>
Thanks, cfz!  It gets complicated at times.

 

[mrb627]

Don't Blame WCI

GM is the Company at Fault. They should never have sold the appliance division off.

Malcolm

 

[norfolksouthern]

It's been a couple years since I last visited

But anyway, on with the topic. In spite of the cost of manufacturing, and the final purchase price of a typical 1-18, these machines were built to last for years, perhaps generations. Remember "Alice"? Well, that machine is still a champ and keeps going without a hitch. Just now, I pulled it out, and swept the area where it sits, which remains bone dry with just a little dust accumulation. Every few months, I take out the front panel and inspect inside the cabinet, which stays clean overall. Knowing the difficulty of finding parts, I use it very carefully for the lighter loads. This is to keep "Alice" exercised and in good shape. Over the short period of time I've own it, I believe my 1-18 has saved me some good money over the cost of repairs for a typical HE front loader. I will not sell or trade that machine for anything except another vintage Frigidaire in similar condition: A working Pulsamatic, for example.

A little on maintenance: Springs, motors, belts, and even the wiring are very easy to replace on a 1-18. The exception would be the transmission and drive train assembly, but not impossible if parts and a service manual were available. Overall, I have found it less difficult to fix than a belt-drive Whirlpool or Kenmore, especially when replacing a belt. All WCI would have had to do, was fix the design of the transmission for easier removal, including the clutch and bearing assemblies. Same with the agitator assembly, bellows, and seals. Then, they would have had a winning product. Both greed, and laziness were the main contributing factors to the demise of Frigidaire, leading to the eventual bankruptcy of WCI and its purchase by Electrolux.

 

[circlew]

To the best of my knowledge, production at Frigidaire's Moraine (south Dayton), OH plant ended by Dec. of 1979. By the Summer of 1981, GM had converted this plant to make the S-10 and Blazer - Jimmy trucks, which continued there until a couple years ago. This location had opened in 1951; prior to this Frigidaire products were made in the downtown Dayton factory. I think some products continued to be manufactured at the downtown complex, but don't know what was made where. A trip to the Dayton Public Library would give me all the details, but don't have time to go up there at the present. BWoods probably would be able to tell us more about all this.

 

[peteski50]

Frigidaire GM / WCI!

This is one article from the New York Times from June 1980 when Frigidaire was still being built by GM. It states in their that they are still with the old agency and trying to make a go of things.

 

[peteski50]

Frigidaire GM / WCI!

This article was from the New York Times October 1980 and I remember before this I was told that WCI was going to be pulling out by the end of the year and than release their updated products. Here it states after a layoff some people were called back to GM frigidaire (but obvious not for to long)

 

[gansky1]

But the article does not state that Frigidaire was still being built by GM only that WCI kept the same ad agency that Frigidaire used prior to the buyout.

 

[peteski50]

Frigidaire!

I got this awhile ago (Frigidaire Historian Collection) - If you notice on page 8 it states various dates contained in the literature that end in 1980. I wish I could see the literature. It would be exciting to go through!

http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/collection_guides/guide_files/ms262.pdf

 

[maytagbear]

I hated that campaign.

because it was not honest. "In the last 15 years....one refrigerator," a GM built Frigidaire.

Hated it.

To me, the American appliance industry was never the same. It would have been better, I think, to have let Frigidaire die completely.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[goatfarmer]

NorfolkSouthern, you say that your machine is still a champ, and hasn't needed any repairs. Well, yeah, because you say it's used carefully for the lighter loads.

 I would say that if it were used like a typical family in the 70's used their washer, the outcome might be a bit different.

 

BTW, is that the green one you got from me several years ago?

 

[macboy91si]

"In the last 15 years....one refrigerator,"

And 3 cars with 6 transmissions, I hope they weren't GM! Since the brand used the GM relationship so heavily, I don't think it's a great advertisement to anything. Cute ad, but I'm not sure where it's going? Also the tag line: "Frigidaire- Here Today, Here Tomorrow" and possibly only tomorrow as was published in June of 1980.

 

-Tim

 

[steved]

from what I have

My earliest post-GM Frigidaire full-line catalogue is dated 04/80, with all the WCI clones. Plus I have issue # 1000 of Tech-Tips with WCI listed on the back from April 1980.

 

[cfz2882]

early westy "1-18"

a while back,supremewhirlpol made a thread of an early westinghouse"1-18"-early
enough that it looked a lot like a GM frigidaire 1-18,it's motor had a late-'79
date code and the machine serial#90EM3786-can anyone date this washer by the serial
#? This washer did not have a window lid,but i have seen a few early westinghouse
"frigidaires" that did.

 

[peteski50]

Frigidaire GM / WCI!

Steve I dont dispute the catalogue and Tech-Tips with WCI were dated April 1980. They were making their own designs behind the scenes at that time. Lets not forget the horrible immations that were made and how they tried to pass off their cheap stuff saying it was as good as GM quility. I just know in my area nothing was actually released to the market until Jan 1981.
It's to bad instead of making immations and look a likes they could have just moved the factories and have had a good thing going.

 

[sudsmaster]

The way in which I was able to enjoy using a GM Frigidaire washer in the mid-1960's was totally by chance.

We had moved into a flat on the east slope of Parnassus Avenue in SF. The landlord and his family lived upstairs. He said his wife got tired of the washer and they put it down on the ground level, in the garage area, on a little landing. It was turquoise, and I've been able to identify it by my memory of the green rubber agitator cap as being a late 1950's model.

Anyway, one of its quirks was that it could very easily become unbalanced, trip the cutoff switch, and then I'd come down expecting my load to be finished and have to restart it. The landlord said it had always been a problem, and that they had it repaired several times but it still had trouble with spins. So she banished it to what amounted to the basement, and I assume he got her some other better behaved brand to replace it in their flat.

In the washer's defense, I never really read the owner's manual (hey, I was about 13 years old) and didn't follow the "sectioning" advice it most likely contained. Also I would load it with everything from my room: twin bed sheets, pants, shirts, underwear, towels, the works. All in one load. Usually the pants and the sheets would twist into rope, and that probably exacerbated the spin balance issue.

Still it was fascinating to watch it in action. I spent many hours down there watching it go. The turnover was always great. It wasn't until we were about to move out (we stayed there a year) that my brother showed me how you could pull off that rubber cap and add detergent. I had just been adding the detergent to the laundry,. Never did know about the lint filter in there, either.

Of course I'd love to have that machine today. Who knows what eventually happened to it. I still know the building where we lived... maybe it's still there... ;-)

 

[MaytagA710]

So what is going on here with this machine? It is a WCI Frigidaire, but it has the Westinghouse mechanicals, and 1-18 panel (and its not a 'hybrid' because the water level selector has a diagram of the agi and not the Jetcone)? It looks like after they abandoned the 1-18 they "slapped" together what they could and sold it.

 

 

[tolivac]

I was there when the salesman offered the appliance choices to my Mom-The neighbors next to her chose the Westinghouse package.and the choices were in the Levitt sales literature that was given to my mom.we all read thru it.

 

[arbilab]

Surely we all appreciate how unique this forum is. Look at this thread alone. Many perspectives, some conflicting, yet we remain objective and evaluate the available evidence without hostility or contradictory stances.