ZEROWATT

[favorit]

hi Alex,
yes, it's a cold fill only machine, like the majority of the washers sold here in IT. The large snowflake button is indeed the no-heat switch. I use this cra... washer mainly for wetsuits (aren't welcome in home machines..) , so I just released the button to take the pic

You're right about the manual drain for both the FS and LCB compartements. Had the Brit version the LCB compartement too ?

Timed fill . Candy uses pressure switches since their first automatics (A3 and A5, early sixties)
These mid eighties machines used timed extra fills after the pressure switch controlled fills during rinses and in delicate cycles. These pressure switches weren't accurate, here came the need for timed extra fills. Your machine had a fault in the timer and kept on filling. Our first Candy (SA5) had somewhat seven or eight timers replaced in its lifespan (from 1964 to 1984). Frequent out of balance spins helped a lot, but those timers weren't so reliable anyway

Floods : the electric door lock is another weak point... not a case Candy never used very high levels like Zerowatt or Ariston Margherita

 

[superelectronic]

LCB compartment in UK Candy P6...

...there was a kind of dead area behind the conditioner compartment I imagine would have been for LCB but it wan't really set up for use and didn't have the push-button drain.

The UK version was definitely hot and cold fill, though I know there was a Candy range called "Candy Cold Fill" for customers who maybe didn't have suitable hot water supplies - e.g. single point instantaneous heaters over the sink. I don't think the bio-profile wash generated by heating from cold was a big draw 25-30 years ago unlike the way it's marketed today, plus machines were of course a little thirstier so H&C fill made more sense for the average British householder.

I doubt anyone in the UK would have considered washing in cold water until recently hence the no-heat wash button was probably dropped for our market.

Timed fill seems to be a feature of European made washers until fairly recently - indeed, my current Blomberg-style washer uses it for high water level processes BUT it does have a safety feature - if I try and trick it into using timed fill twice in a row without draining it trips the drain pump automatically and drain/fill is alternated once the tub is exactly half full of water. Clearly no such saftey feature was in the Candy! I'm guessing it was all a way of saving money on a pressure switch with more than one level - maybe just small load level was triggered by the pressure sensor then timer took over thereafter. The Candy only really had two levels as I recall. Seems a crazy and unsafe system to me...though pressure sensors can fail too if blocked with scale.

Thanks again

Alex

 

[aquarius1984]

Timed fill

One mention of Candy machines to my parents and nine times out of ten they will recall the flood we had in 1990 when the Domino 4 D4-104X we had was courageously set on a wash before my mother went to bed.

At some point in the cycle the door latch snapped and tripped the fill mechanism thus flooding our house over the coming hours until we rose. I vividly remember not being allowed into the lounge or dining room while all was cleaned up and had to eat my breakfast of cornflakes sat at the top of the stairs before being taken to school.

I assume that the Domino range did have pressure switches as the high rinse level would not have been reached and thus the machine continued to fill.

Serious damage was not done, new underlay was put beneath the carpet after the Vax had dried it although the kitchen did have new lino put down too.

As for the powder drawer ours had 4 compartments pre main softener and CL. Both FS and CL compartments had levers which one depressed before refilling with appropriate products as required for the next wash to drain the remaining water.

We never bothered with the FS dispenser, Mum much prefered to run a seperate rinse and spin with the Lenor just thrown into the main wash compartment when that was done.

She continued with this routine with the Electrolux, the following Candy and the Hoover Quattro. The Hotpoint FS dispenser was actually used to it being that little bit larger and not flushing the softener down when you shut the drawer and seperate rinse and spin cycles became a thing of the past. Her current LG has the FS added when the machine starts.

Heres the blighter we had in that fab grey colour. At the time it was so dull and bland to me when the surrounding houses all had exotics like Hotpoint Liberators, Hotpoint 9534's 95450's and Zanussi Washcrafts.
Now I can appreciate the colour, I mean it was the late 80's and was the chosen colour of the "Science of Appliances"

Strangely I would love to see one again, maybe even have one in the collection

 

[aquarius1984]

Now as for the earlier versions, heres a few adverts to make what you want.

 

[aquarius1984]

2

 

[superelectronic]

Candy - the diva of washers!

I don't know - floods, fires, general unreliability...you can trust Candy for touch of drama on washday! Sometimes you've just gotta love the stroppy little madam nonetheless and appreciate the good looks.

Lovely couple of pics there, Rob - thanks.

Pics advocating the use of Persil? Very retro! I reacall P&G pretty much snapped up all the brands when it came to recommedned detergents in the 1980s. It was only Hotpoint and Philips towards the end.

The separate rinse was a performace in our house during the Hotpoint's reign - we had always been happy enough to use the Candy's compartment but the Hotpoint gave us no choice!

Toodles

Alex

 

[norfolksouthern]

I looked at the drive belt on my front loader, and it is definitely a Zerowatt. The belt was labeled "Uniroyal Zerowatt". So, I suppose I'll be looking for what ever Zerowatt parts I can find. There is some surface rust in the cabinet, and it looks like it will be a challenge to take apart. If anybody has any information on the restoration of these machines, it would be greatly appreciated!

NorfolkSouthern

 

[chestermikeuk]

Classics

Those Zerowatts are great especially like the 2005, all that chrome!!

The Candy Formula Stainless looked classy IMHO, and one of my friends has used her`s with 4 babes and it still churned along until recently, probably due to lower spin speeds etc...

The Formula Innox was always a well pushed add campaign and when most of the UK stuff was still vitreous I always thought that offered "SomethingSpecial"

Rob, could this be your Mums Comet / Frigidaire washer??

 

[aquarius1984]

Bloody Hell

That looks like the bugger Mike!!!!

Now if anyone can confirm it came in brown I'l be convinced thats the one.

Perhaps I really ought to print the picture off and question the folks.

So Zerowatt made it?, Does anyone know of any common faults with these that would of written ours off at 6 years old? I imagine they have a nice induction motor and reasonably solid bearings.

I do wonder if its worth getting intouch with Comet and/or Zerowatt/Candy to see if they have any info on this machine but then I think of the hassle trying to get through to the relevant people and it puts me off.

Now to find one!

 

[platinum6]

Those Zerowatt washing machines are interesting, I'm surprised that they offer 6 and 7KG capacities many years before they became commonplace lol.

I quite like them, the panel behind the dials on some models is a nice touch lol.

I like to see more pics and info of the models from previous years. I can see a resemblance to the Candy models so maybe the 90's designs are a clue to it's owner lol.

 

[norfolksouthern]

For reference

Here's another photo of mine after I cleaned it up some. The prior owner rigged it up with a Y connector and sink coupler, as I don't think he had a regular hookup.

NorfolkSouthern

 

[favorit]

@ Rob - nice pics !! here the Formula Inox series never came out with a 1000 rpm model ... can't imagine how noisy they were
I notice that the P 1011 has an interesting "Eco °C" button. Do you know which way does it work ? Like in older Candies where 90--->60 , 60--->40 and 40--->30 °C or like in the Aquamatic where it works only to cut down the boilwash to 60°C ?

@ Al - you're right, Candy are such comedians . The detergents/LCB/FS compartments don't have separate valves. The dial/timer is connected with a rubber belt that moves a nozzle over the compartements. When the belt gets loose the nozzle "shakes" and detergents,LCB and softener are dispensed all toghether in the first fill )

@ NorfolkSouthern . Yesterday I ran a full load in the 2005. I used the same amount of detergent I normally use in the Mieles (these use a quarter of the water while washing compared to the 2005). It made so much suds they overflooded from the drawer. Now I know I'll never use wool detergent in this machine Anyway, thanks to the high levels and slow spins every programme is perma press in this machine, even @ full load

 

[norfolksouthern]

Lately, I've been using regular Tide in mine, and the suds haven't been excessive, usually quite low in fact. I even did a couple pillows, which made quite a bit of foam but not enough to reach the dispenser. There was no suds lock at all, and the big motor just took it all in stride. And there hasn't been any problem with rinsing. So far, I like it and hope it lasts a while.

NorfolkSouthern

 

[favorit]

Zerowatt LT 487

just found on YT the very same model my gran's sister had
It's a late sixties machine

 

[favorit]

Zerowatt 64

Looks quite close to NorfolkSouthern's one
Saw it this morning behind a repair shop window

 

[norfolksouthern]

The knobs and buttons on mine look almost identical, except for the color! Could I perhaps have a re-badged version of that same model?

NorfolkSouthern