Thread Number: 20423
Belt Drive or Direct Drive
[Down to Last]

automaticwasher.org's exclusive eBay Watch:
scroll >>> for more items --- [As an eBay Partner, eBay may compensate automaticwasher.org if you make a purchase using any link to eBay on this page]
Post# 324921   1/17/2009 at 21:51 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

I found this on our local online classifieds and was wondering if it is a BD or DD model. It's only $75.00.




Post# 324922 , Reply# 1   1/17/2009 at 21:52 (5,548 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)        

swestoyz's profile picture
It is a Design 2000 machine - meaning it is an early Direct Drive.

Ben


Post# 324924 , Reply# 2   1/17/2009 at 21:57 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

I was guessing it was DD. I wouldn't mind getting it anyway.

Post# 324925 , Reply# 3   1/17/2009 at 22:01 (5,548 days old) by nmaineman36 ()        

That would be a direct drive Design 2000 washer. From the mid 80's when they first came out.

Post# 324929 , Reply# 4   1/17/2009 at 22:06 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

Were they a good machine for being DD?

Post# 324934 , Reply# 5   1/17/2009 at 22:11 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

I tried to enlarge the picture, so I could read the control panel, I see where it says Design 2000. I might offer him $50.00 and see what he says.


Post# 324937 , Reply# 6   1/17/2009 at 22:20 (5,548 days old) by chaskelljr2 (Washington, D. C.)        
Whirlpool Design 2000 Washer......

"autowasherfreak"

The washer in question that is in your picture LOOKS LIKE a Direct-Drive.

This was one of the VERY FIRST Direct-Drives to hit the market. So...... we're talking 1984 or 1985 here. That was during the time when we still had Belt-Drives on the market.

Both Whirlpool and Kenmore did not go completely Direct-Drive until about Fall 1986.

But we won't know for sure until you open the lid and show us that infamous "money shot".

--Charles--


Post# 324940 , Reply# 7   1/17/2009 at 22:28 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

Thanks for the info guys, I'm going to call tomorrow and see if he will take $50.00.

Post# 324955 , Reply# 8   1/17/2009 at 22:51 (5,548 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)        
A couple I.D. suggestions

kenmoreguy64's profile picture
In addition to the "Design 2000" i.d. mentioned above, here are a couple ways to pick-out a Direct Drive from a Belt-Drive:

-- The belt drive washers never had those dual indentations on the sides. They were/are there in DD machines to add some rigidity to the cabinets, which were made of considerably thinnner gauge steel. This was allowed because the cabinet on a DD machine is just there for show basically, whereas the cabinet on a BD is the machine's support structure.

-- Whirlpool belt drives, to my knowledge anyway, always had some sort of lid handle, either metal or plastic.

-- The lids are wider in the DDs, and the cabinets narrower by two inches, at least in the full size machines, so if the lid seems to take up a significant proportion of the top, it's a DD.

I hope those suggestions help. The machine in this photograph is interesting though because it has a console styling which was shared with belt-drives in the 85/86 time frame. Oddly, I recently saw a Whirlpool belt drive that was built in the 10th week of 1987! Must have been one of the very last.

Gordon



Post# 324959 , Reply# 9   1/17/2009 at 22:59 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

Thanks Gordon, I will have to remember for the future.

Post# 324960 , Reply# 10   1/17/2009 at 23:00 (5,548 days old) by autowasherfreak ()        

Here the description of the machine, I probably should have included in the original post.

Whirlpool large capacity washing machine. Design 2000, Stylemaster, 9-10 years old. Used modestly, in fine condition. . Can be seen in Hampton, IL.


Post# 324982 , Reply# 11   1/18/2009 at 01:38 (5,548 days old) by 70series ( Connecticut.)        

Yes this looks like it must have come out in the 1987 time frame. The console style right down to the knobs matches those of the last BD Whirlpools.

Gordon: Thanks for clarifying about the indents in the cabinets. I never understood why they were there. It seems that this is a staple on machines of most brands from the 1980s to present. Also, I am not too surprised about the 1987 built Whirlpool. Although the DDs took over inventory in the stores by 1987, there must have been a few belt drives being built beyond that point. My neighbors across the street had bought a BD Kenmore in the summer of 1987. In addition, I saw a BD Imperial Seventy model Whirlpool for sale in a local appliance store, and this was in September 1988. However it must have been sitting there a couple of years. There were several GE Filter Flos on sale that had console designs from the 1985 time frame. The store was better known for selling television sets, not as much for washers. It was always empty when I went in there, which was a lot.:)

Have a good one,
James


Post# 325035 , Reply# 12   1/18/2009 at 09:59 (5,547 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)        

kenmoreguy64's profile picture
James -

I do know that Kenmore BD production wrapped up in fall or late summer 1986, BUT it is not at all unusual for items to linger in inventory, especially after they've been taken off the floor display. There is a Sears outlet here that recently opened which had a floor full of 18-month and two year old DDs, just a couple weeks ago. Before outlet stores, sales people wanted to sell what was on the floor and didn't always know what was sitting in a forgotten corner of the warehouse until a stock review found the old stock, made sales people aware of it, and put it on sale.

Kenmore was always first with changes and innovations in WP's production, so it does not surprise me either that I found an early 1987 Whirlpool BD home washer. WP did tell me more than once that commercial machines were BD for some time after the end of household production.


Post# 325043 , Reply# 13   1/18/2009 at 10:19 (5,547 days old) by everythingold (Grand Rapids, Michigan)        

everythingold's profile picture
Keep in mind too that the early DD's did not have a neutral drain. They might have been built better to withstand the added stress, but a neutral drain is a good idea. You can tell the difference because the transmissions look different. Matt

Post# 988824 , Reply# 14   3/30/2018 at 11:29 (2,189 days old) by appliancedude16 (Sunnyvale,California, U.S.A)        
That Whirlpool is one of the first direct drives ever made.

I'm pretty sure my parents had that same machine or something very similar. It was equipped with the same or a very similar dryer to the one in the link here:

www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/T...



Forum Index:       Other Forums:                      



Comes to the Rescue!

The Discuss-o-Mat has stopped, buzzer is sounding!!!
If you would like to reply to this thread please log-in...

Discuss-O-MAT Log-In



New Members
Click Here To Sign Up.



                     


automaticwasher.org home
Discuss-o-Mat Forums
Vintage Brochures, Service and Owners Manuals
Fun Vintage Washer Ephemera
See It Wash!
Video Downloads
Audio Downloads
Picture of the Day
Patent of the Day
Photos of our Collections
The Old Aberdeen Farm
Vintage Service Manuals
Vintage washer/dryer/dishwasher to sell?
Technical/service questions?
Looking for Parts?
Website related questions?
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy
Our Privacy Policy