Thread Number: 26868
Norge commercial machines 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 412959   2/5/2010 at 23:14 (5,187 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()        

Does anyone have any knowledge or actual Norge commercial machines? Also did Norge make an actual commercial FL washer?




Post# 413006 , Reply# 1   2/6/2010 at 04:15 (5,186 days old) by sudsman ()        
FLs were made under the name

Borg Warner for a while and were 30 lb machines I am not sure if they had other sizes or not. I had one in a old plant I worked in ,in the mid 60s. Also seems like on the front of the machine it said Norge by Borg Warner or something like that. a very good machine as I remember , I do know in this area they did have TLs coin ops in a number of laundrys. But dont really know anything about them. Think a still have some pics of it will try to find them.

Post# 413008 , Reply# 2   2/6/2010 at 04:40 (5,186 days old) by sudsman ()        
Interesting reading

About norge/ borg warner. seems they had a little spat..

CLICK HERE TO GO TO sudsman's LINK
Post# 413018 , Reply# 3   2/6/2010 at 07:01 (5,186 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

I remember Norge Laundry Villages in the 60s. Are those the type of commercial machines you mean? The top loaders were the Norge solid tub machines with the big wide agitators. They had the dry cleaners based on the Norge combo. We did not go further toward the back where the large capacity washers were the one time we took our throw rugs there.

Post# 413042 , Reply# 4   2/6/2010 at 08:59 (5,186 days old) by gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA)        

I also recall those Norge Villages. The one's I recall had the newer (18#) perf-tub machines with the big thick black agitator. There was a small turquoise plastic disc torwards the top of the agitator almost like the old Hotpoint detergent dish except the Norge one was up-side down and served to be a reminder of the tub's "dry" laundry capacity. It was placed just above the top row of small fins.

The Village 'round back at Ansley Mall had lots of those Norge F/L's that Sudsman describes and I believe 30# capacity is right. They must have been very reliable machines because that laundry had those machines in service seemingly forever! At least thirty years. They also had a row of the Dry Cleaning version that I used to use quite often. They all had a kool looking oval shaped window. I would imagine there has to be some of them surviving somewhere.

Post# 413053 , Reply# 5   2/6/2010 at 09:36 (5,186 days old) by sudsman ()        
They must have been very reliable

Steve I can assure you they sure were, The one that was in the St Joseph laundry was used for 10 hours a day for years and I dont ever remember is being down. We used it mostly for a mop machine so it had a very hard life. It was still running when the plant was closed and we moved to the new plant in the mid 70's

Post# 413123 , Reply# 6   2/6/2010 at 13:29 (5,186 days old) by gmmcnair (Portland, OR)        
Later Norge...

 gmmcnair's profile picture
When I was in college in the 1980s, the local laundromat had the Norge TL machines. I used them much more often than campus machines because they were only a few cents more, held MUCH more, and were never broken.

Plus I was amused by the clunks they made doing their job. :)

Post# 413204 , Reply# 7   2/6/2010 at 19:05 (5,186 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
NORGE COMM FL WASHERS

 combo52's profile picture
The big Norge comm FL washers were the same tubs and door as the Norge combination washer-dryers.

Post# 413223 , Reply# 8   2/6/2010 at 20:07 (5,186 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

RE: the legal fight. Judson S. Sayre, mentioned in the article was at Bendix when they were developing the combo. There are pictures of him in trade publications around the time of the Duomatic's introduction.

Post# 413227 , Reply# 9   2/6/2010 at 20:12 (5,186 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()        

Very interesting! Does anyone here have one of these machines?

Post# 413259 , Reply# 10   2/6/2010 at 22:09 (5,186 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )        
Norge commercial machines

 In the town of Lenoir N.C. where I grew up, there is STILL a laundry that has several Norge frontloaders,it also has a bunch of coin op Milnors, Judson Sayre is the guy who saved Norge when it was about bankrupt in the late 40s,early 50s,there is a great article in Fourtune magazine,1954, I cant remember what month, if I can find it I will try to post it, anyway, he was retired and Borg Warner lured him out of retirement to save Norge rather than sell them off,supposedly they paid him a ton of money,he also helped develop the first Bendix.

Post# 413265 , Reply# 11   2/6/2010 at 22:20 (5,186 days old) by a440 ()        

Doesn't Jeff and Cal have a Norge commercial front loader?

If I remember correct it had two motors. One for wash and one for spin. I think the spin motor was on top of the drum and the wash motor was on the lower part of the drum.

Am I dreaming?

I do remember the Norge Laundry Mats when I was a kid. There was one still here in Atlanta when I first moved here with the original machines. It has been closed for about 15 years or more. Had the big Norge World logo in the parking lot. The machines were all original. I pass these types of mats (not just Norge) all the time and they are all boarded up. There is a Speed Queen Mat in Griffin GA. that still has all of the multi colored machines. Front loaders. All from the 60's. It has been closed for more than 20's years. Sad. I have tried to get information on the machines and such and no one ever has a clue of who to contact.

Dang...didn't mean to ramble on.....

Brent

Post# 413272 , Reply# 12   2/6/2010 at 22:48 (5,186 days old) by supremewhirlpol ()        

Yes, that is sad, they would be nice machines to add to collections.

Post# 413339 , Reply# 13   2/7/2010 at 03:11 (5,185 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

One of the Wash In's on dvd has the FL norge, I think JasonL created the dvd for the DC wash in. The dvd definately has the norge FL. Jason gave me a DVD, but i would be useless at "flipping" that up here on the forum. I too believe they mentioned 2 motors in the norge. alr2903

Post# 413401 , Reply# 14   2/7/2010 at 12:17 (5,185 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Nope Brent, you're not dreaming. You and I were in that basement at the same time looking at all of Cal's washers. And nope, you werren't rambling on. Please dont' give up on trying to find out who to contact for those old boarded up laundrymats with the machines in those buildings. If only someone knew how much some of us would love to have some of those machines, they're wanted, needed, and appreciated.

Post# 413902 , Reply# 15   2/9/2010 at 09:13 (5,183 days old) by a440 ()        

Hello Bob,
Thanks for helping my aging memory!
I remember thinking that machine was way cool!
I will make a trip this early summer. Hopefully the buildings will still be there.
Brent


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